ante-meridiem-ly
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As you might have guessed, this is an answer song to the Leadbelly classic, “Good Night Irene,” inverting that eve’s hope-tinged despair for the new morn’s despair-tinged hope. In October 2007, I needed a song to help my three-year-old daughter, Irene, wake up as the mornings got colder and darker. I also needed a song for the Paint Branch Ramblers to learn that we could call our own.

Here’s the song as played by the Paint Branch Ramblers (the old time group I played with in my Maryland days). I very much like Susan Keown’s harmonies on this, and you get to hear her (usually buried) autoharp playing as well:

With The Viper & His Famous Orchestra, the Cajun went a little more Calypso, thanks to the trombone playing of Rob Henn:

And here’s what it sounds like when played by a Viper & His Famous Orchestra / Mississippi Sawyer Milwaukee supergroup. Come for the musical saw, stay for the incredibly disciplined triangle solo.