Cort Armstrong, Chicken Pickin' Liner Notes

Cort Armstrong

On Sunday, December 27th, 2009, Cort Armstrong self-released his debut solo recording, entitled Chicken Pickin', to the public. The CD project was quite simple... just Cort and his guitar singing his original songs. Cort enlisted the help of friend and musical co-hort Tyler Richart to record the tracks, which was done at Nash's Corner in Dungeness Valley, WA. Tyler added a little harmony vocals to a few of the tracks, but generally the CD is pure undistilled Cort Armstrong music.

Despite the simplicity of the undertaking, the CD project, including recording, mixing, mastering, graphic design and production, and the million other dteails, took nearly a year to complete. In the interest of humans and other beings enjoying a long and prosperous existence here on earth, the CD itself has as little impact on the earth as possible. The packaging is paper, and the inks used to print on the packaging are all vegetable-based inks. There are no more disposable materials involved than there needs to be, and a side effect of this choice is that the liner notes on the packaging are minimal. For this reason, this web page exists to offer ample information about the CD project, its songs, its creator, and its production. It is hoped that you find everything you'd like to know about it here on this page. If not, and you have questions, please feel free to contact us with questions.

The Songs

  1. I Don't Mind - Written early in the year of 2009, this song shows a bit of Cort's rather fatalistic approach to relationships in the past. In a long life of failed relationships (before recently finding a bride), he developed fairly low expectations of companionship. A little slice of love went a long way, as is portrayed in this comical autobiographical account. The guitar style is reminiscent of a lot of blues heard in the Piedmont region (Appalachians and east).
  2. Chicken Pickin' - In 2000, Cort was working on developing a songwriting partnership with his good friend Mark Hintzke. This song came from those early beginnings, but didn't ripen until this year. Like most Armstrong/Hintzke collaborative efforts, the theme tends toward poking a little fun at Cort's lifestyle while traveling to and living in Asheville, NC. The music was originally intended to lean toward a bluegrass sound, but it has worked well with varying instrumentations.
  3. Sinnin' Shoes Blues - Based on a line from a Delmore Brothers song, this song revisits the country blues sound, with its heavy thumb-driven guitar picking, and the theme of being driven to travel, due to lost love. Not only is our hero's shoes worn out, but he is probably going to have to spend a good deal of time in purgatory!
  4. Slam & Bail - This barroom country song is surely destined for AM radio. Ever since the earliest days of "shotgunning" beers, Cort has used this expression with his buddies... "We're gonna be late! Let's slam & bail..."
  5. Stone Cold Blues - This song goes back to a 1994 songwriting collaboration with bassist Kevin Sandri. Kevin told a story of a friend who died of a heroin overdose one night after a gang of old friends had a wild reunion. His friend had quit the drug, but being with old friends invoked old patterns, and a decreased tolerance led to an unintentional overdose. Amazingly, Cort had met this fellow (from NJ) in Seattle through a mutual friend (Cort went to college with this friend in Eugene, OR, and Kevin went to high school with him in NJ... neither Cort nor Kevin knew they had this connection), and heard later vague stories of his passing, but never knew how it happened. When the two collaborators eventually found out that they both knew this fellow, the eerie coincidence of the story filled the room with a chill.
  6. Cort's Blue Rooster Rag - This is the only instrumental on the CD. It features a style reminiscent of the "buck dance" guitar of Rev. Gary Davis.
  7. Coming Home - The music to this song is the first Cort ever came up with, dating back to before 1990, but it always seemed to need lyrics, and they never came, until 2009. It is a slightly altered story of Cort's life on the farm with his wife. Both of them love to be living in the most beautiful place in the world, but it is difficult to appreciate that when they are apart.
  8. Unseen Hand - Another barroom country number, this song relates Cort's feelings of paranoia about the 1% of US that owns 50% of its wealth, with its ever-presence of watchfulness over the rest of us, and the paranoia he has felt wondering if an ex-girlfriend is stalking him.
  9. Can't Keep Livin' - Another collaboration with Mark Hintzke back in 2000, Cort recorded this song previously with his band Blue Rooster in Asheville, NC, in 2001. Cort never really had such great luck with the ladies, and this song delights in making fun of him. Another ragtime-infused Piedmont style blues, this song evokes Cort's personal experiences in North Carolina.
  10. Stray Dog Blues - Originally started in 2000, this song finally came into its own in 2009, and is another vamp on Cort's experiences with relationships. Men can be dogs, and they can certainly be treated that way too!
  11. Stupid Blues - Another song written in 2000, this blues reminisces about the folks Cort would often meet on the street outside his favorite pub in Asheville, the Jack of the Wood. Often some drunken fellow would come by looking for someone to share his misery with, after being kicked out of his girlfriend's house. I'm sure they didn't deserve such shabby treatment.
  12. Me & Casey Jones - This is the first song Cort finished writing, back in 1994, and was recorded on Blue Rooster's first CD back in 1999, just before migrating to Asheville. It is a new vamp on an old theme of an over-zealous train engineer.

The Production Crew