“Introduction to Calico Triptych (live)”

Mike: Tonight, I’m gonna be just playing only songs that I wrote, um, they’re like, they’re kinda like movies in my mind, so that’s kinda how I came up with the idea for the tour because uh, these songs are set in my head in these imaginary narrative settings. They’re set like a gemstone in a ring or a bracelet. It’s not what the song is about; it’s more of where the song takes place, you know, how it applies. So I thought I would share that with you as introductions to the song. So here we go. Figure that it’s late 1880s, and uh, we’re in the uh, northern plains of the uh, U.S., next to Mississippi River, in a small town, a small town train platform. Uh, he is a big man in his late forties, a full beard, big barrel chest. She is a slip of a girl, eighteen years old, brown eyed, and has a bright red hat tied around her hair. Through hard winters, and famine, and flood, they’re all that’s left of a family that came here years ago. So today, she’s excited, she’s a little nervous, because she’s on her way to school in the east. And so she steps on the train, she waves goodbye to her dad until she can’t see him anymore. Now, dad goes, gets behind his best horse in the buggy and heads down a dirt road to this sprawling ranch that he’s created over the years with his own hands. And he thinks back on the times with his daughter, the good times, the affections as well as the fights, and it brings a smile to his face. It’s new beginnings for both of them. So, he clicks up his horse into a canter, and the memories flood in as this new day begins. This is uh, from Magnetic South, it’s a triptych of songs, it’s uh, “Calico Girlfriend”, “Nine Times Blue”, and “Little Red Rider”.