John Train - Mesopotamia Blues - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

JOHN TRAIN responds to Neil Young's challenge and returns with the MESOPOTAMIA BLUES In 2006, Neil Young released his Living with War CD. In several interviews, he stated that he had been waiting for a younger songwriter to stand up and write an anti-war record but, alas, none did. Jon Houlon, singer-songwriter for John Train, took that as a challenge. InchI understood where Neil was coming from. But I also felt that his approach to the war was somewhat ill-considered. I decided to hit the books.Inch And hit the books Houlon did. In addition to reading about the current conflict, he studied Iraqi folk tales, read a history of Britain's involvement in Iraq (which was previously called InchMesopotamiaInch), and, in general, Inchpulled the threads.Inch Mesopotamia Blues, John Train's 4th CD and first for the Philadelphia-based Chapter 7 Records, represents the fruits of his labor. InchI think it's crucial to see this war as part of a much larger continuum. It goes back at least as far as England's involvement in the early 20th Century.Inch Houlon continues, InchI also see this conflict as a continuation of what happened in the Vietnam Era and during Ronald Reagan's war against homeless people in the 1980s. It's all connected. One long war.Inch Houlon felt it important to include other voices and opinions. In addition to setting a Rudyard Kipling poem to music, he draws on the catalogues of some of his favorite songwriters Butch Hancock, Tom T. Hall, Terry Allen, and John Stewart. Houlon adds, InchIn a way, I didn't feel qualified to write about, say, Vietnam. So I pulled on some of my heroes. The particular songs I selected aren't very well known but, in my book, they're as good as it gets. I wanted to see if I could write some tunes that could compete along side of them. I hope I succeeded!Inch None of this would matter if Mesopotamia Blues failed to deliver the sonic