September 2022 - "All the Texas Weather Has Gone to Mexico"
In 1984, David Schnaufer was finishing up a new recording that was to be released as an EP. An EP ("extended play") was a 7" vinyl album that held a total of 10-15 minutes of music. He had already recorded the two tracks for "Side A": "Rosie's Arms", an original song of his that was to be the title track, and a Latin jazz instrumental he had collaborated with Alan Freeman on called "Viper Moon". The first cut on "Side B" was his arrangement of a traditional fiddle tune called "Santa Ana's Retreat" (one of the tunes he had played when he won the first-ever National Mountain Dulcimer Championship contest in Winfield, KS). He needed to decide on one more track to fill out the album.
David's home state of Texas had been in the headlines around that time because of the unusually harsh winters it had been experiencing (the city of El Paso had recorded a record 18" of snow the previous December). Always ahead of his time, David and his co-writer J. Bentley came up with a pop tune that foreshadowed the effect of climate change. The prophetic lyrics detail how ordinary people might have to cope with the new weather normal. They titled it "All the Texas Weather Has Gone to Mexico".
David's skills as a songwriter and wordsmith are fully on display in this early example. I especially love the turn of phrase he uses in the second verse:
..."I've been smoking insulation, and drinking anti-freeze.
What I want, and what I need is a difference in degree."
David provided his own unmistakable baritone voice for the vocals for both "Rosie's Arms" and this track, which turned out to be an unusual occurrence. He didn't sing on any further recordings until the release of "Uncle Dulcimer" in 2001.
When the EP was finished, David hit the road to promote it by playing in bars, coffee houses, and street busking, always with a cardboard box of vinyl EPs at his feet. At his very first event outside a pub in Dallas, TX, he had chance encounter with Deb Porter that grew into a lifelong friendship. After David's untimely passing in 2006, Deb decided to honor his legacy by starting the "Dulcimers for David" project, which aims to get dulcimers into the hands of young people who have expressed an interest in learning to play.
Here is a link to a YouTube video I've put together that uses the original track of "All the Texas Weather Has Gone to Mexico" as the soundtrack, and a series of photos of David over the years for the video. I am indebted to Tom Harleman of Carmel, IN, for providing a digitized version of the recording created from the original vinyl EP.
Enjoy the tune, and as David would say, keep on pickin'!
As a reminder, a DVD of a concert David did in 1999, recorded and preserved by Dave Haas, is now available for purchase. This remarkable video capture's every detail of David's playing for a full hour-long concert. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this video go to support the "Dulcimers for David" project, spear-headed by Deborah Porter, with the goal of getting mountain dulcimers into the hands of young people who have expressed an interest in learning to play.
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