The New Millennium Minstrel is Brother Bruce, Doctor of Divinity, singer of songs and teller of tales. He is joined in his full time RVing adventure by his gorgeous, sexy and extremely intelligent wife Gwyneth and the infamous Hiram Testosterone Twaddle Jr.

We live in 34 foot Escaper fifth wheel pulled by a 1999 Dodge One Ton Diesel Dually. We are the true definition of tramps, traveling from one place to the next where we enjoy the people, the sights, the food, the music and the nice warm air of the desert Southwest.

We also enjoy doing volunteer work. We are heading to Ely to work as train crew for the Ely Ghost Train of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum. Being able to do various tasks offer experiences that will end up in one song or another. We also meet some really neat folks who add to our fun.

Come in to visit a bit. Enjoy the photos, stories and music. Order a CD or two, send Hiram a present, but mostly enjoy life to the fullest.

Tessie Mc Manus

I have the pleasure to introduce you folks to Tessie Mc Manus. She has been working via email on redoing Summer Moon as a duet. Tess introduced herself via a package that enclosed two of her CD's, "Does This Make My Butt Look Big" and "Warts and All." (I could tell you that Ed the Bass Player had a bit to do with this, but you probably already figured that out!) It just goes to show that the liitle town of Yellville, Arkansas produces some great musicians.

Gwyneth and I listened to both CD's and realized she is not just a very talented writer but a hell of a singer too. Gwyneth mentioned that she and I write some very similar songs and it would be frightening if we lived close together to work on what would come into our twisted heads. Tess has the ability to laugh at ourselves but also gives us some thought for food.

While that would be great, but what I heard was a voice that would work very well with me on Summer Moon and I was sure right about that. Tess has been very patient with me as I do not explain things very clearly since the stroke. Add to that our method of making changes were vial email.

With the harmonies and her share of this duet, Summer Moon went from a pretty good song to a damned fine song. Intuitively she knew where she needed to add either harmony or to just add to my lines. A real joy to work with.

Take a few minutes to visit her site and send her some money for both of her CD's.

Ed Evans - Rock and Roll Legend

Sometimes in life we are fortunate enough to meet that one person who makes one hell of a difference in our lives. For me it was Ed.
For you old farts like me who were in and around California in the days of free love and good times, the Evans Brothers were the band to go see and hear. I am constantly amazed when talking to folks all over this country to find an almost hero worship attitude about the Evans Brothers.
Recently I had company who looked at some of the photo's on my walls. One of which is Ed, Jeep and I at the release party for Strange Porch Music. Max looked at the photo and said, "That's Ed Evans, isn't it?" Damn!
Gwyneth, Hiram and I took some time off from full time RVing to spend three years in Northern Arkansas. Someone was watching over us as our neighbors were the Evans Brothers. At that time it was Brother Mike and Brother Ed.
Suffice it to say after I was fired from the Grizzly Bear Boys, Ed offered me the opportunity to play some good old rock and roll with the Square One Band. It was shortly thereafter Ed and I started with Music From the Holler.
Ed and I have become fast friends and still talk on a regular basis. Not only is he one hell of a bass player, but a song writer, rhythm guitar player and singer. He became Hiram's Gawd Father when we were doing the albums.
Hiram was one of the "guys" those days. When we had a good take, it was "smoke 30". It was Ed's job take make sure Hiram came outside with us each time. If we forgot him, the damned fool dawg would sit at the door and bay until one of us let him out.
If there is a better person on this planet or any other inhabited planet in this or any other galaxy, I sure as hell don't know who it is. It doesn't get much better than Ed. Drop him a line. Tell him how good he really is.
Thanks Ed.

Hiram What?

Who the hell is Hiram Testosterone Twaddle Jr?
Hiram is a 20 pound Dachshund mix. He has everyone around him very well trained. The truck we now pull the trailer with and use each day is the one he picked out! Yes. He also goes by other names as well. Puke dawg, Stinkie dawg, pal, numb nuts, and so on. He is a very good dawg. He keeps us warm at night and during the day holds the couch down so it does not float to the ceiling. Of course this is assisted by a blanket and a toy.
This spoiled rotten puke dawg is known far and wide. He has people who send him presents, call him on the phone, and folks who stop just to visit Hiram.
Hirams Momma was a purebred Dachshund but his Daddy was a traveling man. The vets has has been to tell us Jack Russell.
Besides being spoiled he is also a great hunter. Loves to hunt rodents. He loves prairie dawgs and ground squirrels. He did a bobcat some serious damage when we were in Campo.
You will hear about Hiram in a lot of my songs. He's my pal, my companion each and every day. He is a constant source of laughter for one reason or another. Stop sometime to say hello. Be prepared though, he will lick the skin off your body.

Hemorrhoid Holler

When we moved to Northern Arkansas we lived in a holler with a non county maintained road. At the top of the hill from the county road a left was made to drop down into theholler via a hill with a ten perent grade. I quickly named this Hemorrhoid Holler because if you didn't have hemorrhoids when you got to the bottom, you sure as hell had them when you got back to the top. Try backing a motorhome down that blasted hill for close to one quarter of a mile. Nasty. Scarey.
Across the road from our property was a junkyard. People came late at night to steal car parts as there was no one there to stop them. Then we had Aldo the Meth head, one of four neighbors down there.
Everything in The Hemorrhoid Holler Blues is true. And some stuff got left out, even in the remake. The junkyard owner got a bit miffed when he came with a crew to remove the transmission from a car he had left there for a customer. The only thing left was the body! He decided to have all the cars but a few crushed so he got something out of all of this.
Some idiot came down while this was going on to steal car parts. He got what he wanted, got in his car, but it would not start. He walked out to return the next morning to not be able to locate his car. It had been the first thing crushed that morning! The junkyard owner had sprayed a bright orange dot on the windshields of what he wanted to keep. This guys car did not have the dot!
Ed and I created a mess of folks who lived in our fictional holler, Hemorrhoid Holler. The Hemorrhoid Holler Salve Company came out of my sick mind as did, Morley Slick of Slick Liquor, Skeeters Skillet, Major Flare Up, Owner of KHEM, the voice of Hemorrhoid Holler, The Marijuana Farmer, Myrtle and Weasal, The Slick Twins, co-joined at the elbow, short and fat tending to wear polka dotted dresses, Dr. Feel Good of the Cannibas Research Center and more. Let's not leave out Eunice and Nesbit of the Holler Stop and Rob, Buford and His brother Butch, and last, but far from least Yard Sale Annie.
I'd like to thank Jeep Carlisle, Mike Wilke, my lovely, young, slim, large breasted wife Gwyneth, The lovely Margaret Taylor and many others who encouraged us and came to listen to what we wrote.

Bio stuff

I'm a cantankerous old fart who plays guitar, mandolin, bass, keyboard and sing a bit. I've been playing for a long time off and on over a forty year span. I write my own stuff. I no longer do cover music, nor do I have any desire to do cover music. If I had a dollar for every time I played House of the Rising Sun or Woolly Bully I'd be rich.

I'm originally from Gardiner (pronounced Gahhhhhd Nahhhh), Maine on the banks of the Kennebec River. I left there for the first time in 1957, heading for North Chicago, Illinois. From there it was all over the country, then as I entered the military added a few other places to the list.

Now in 2005 we are in a 1994 Escaper Fifth Wheel with a 12 foot slide. We have a nice Dodge Dually to pull with and life can be good. We have been in California twice working once at a park and the most recent at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. We spent three years in Northern Arkansas where The fisrt two albums were started. At this writing we are in Sierra Vista Arizona where the mountain chain to the Southwest is snowcapped. In March of 2005, we headed North to be volunteer train crew at Ely, Nevada, home of The Ghost Train. This update finds us in Vancouver, Washington.

My music reflects the feelings and trials that go along with this particular lifestyle. To many being a full time RVer is an idyllic image,and to be honest at times it can come real close. Nonetheless there are hard times, frightening times, but as with anything in life it all works out. Breakdowns in the middle of nowhere can make the day go very bad. We move our home with us, with all that represents.

I have a complete recording studio in the trailer. I recently finsished a custom recording desk set up ergonomically for me. I use a pc with Cakewalk Home Studio XL 2004. A Fostex VF160 is used for recording. An Alesis SR-16 drum machine for percussion, a Behringer Eurorack MX802A mixer and the V-Amp 2. The newest addition is a Zoom PS-04. I use numerous guitars. My favorite acoustic is a Cort I bought at the Am-Vets thrift store in El Cajon, California. I have a Peavy Raptor, A Peavy 5 string bass, an Ibanez Acoustic electric bass, a Dean Acoustic electric, a Crafter acoustic electric mandolin and a Chinese Octave Mandolin. (Added on our trip from Ely to Vancouver was a cheap, I MEAN CHEAP, a Rogue acoustic guitar and mandolin that can be left in the truck most of the time rather than an expensive guitar. Add a fiddle to that roster as well as an autoharp from a pawn shop in Wendover, Utah.)

So enjoy. If you like something send me an email. Let me know. If you've got a PAPER grocery bag full of $20 you just can't find a use for, give me a call. I'm sure we can work something out. If you're an attorney with a gleam in his eye and a big hard on for the VA, give me a call. We can work something out. If you're in the neighborhood, where ever that may be, stop by to jam a bit, buy some of my CD's. Hey I know we can work something out.