The Deviant Dulcimerist
I had such a blast writing and recording this album. It originally started out as a three- four-song EP with no intention of doing anything but putting the songs up on the internet. But as the project grew, I kept writing and recording.
I had just moved back to San Diego when this began to unfold. One day towards the end of the recording process, I was listening back to the album to see what was needed besides recording the real vocal tracks. I was sitting on my couch with Bosco and my cup of exotic coffee and was shocked. This album had magic to it. It was fun, musical, different, and yes deviant. With renewed energy, I sang my ass off and put the finishing touches on the tracks. Then I thought I really needed to go back on the road and sing these deviant ditties to people. In a strange way, this album surprisingly brought me out of a decade long hiatus.
I had three dulcimers built for the project. One was by Jerry Rockwell, who crafted a four-string hourglass dulcimer I call “Uncle Eddy,” and then another was built by Bernd Krause which was a double dulcimer with a bass fretboard on one side and a treble on the other which I nicknamed “Bubba”. I played that on Banksy and Stormy Weather. Ron Ewing built a beautiful backpacking baritone Dulcimette for me which I used on the song Adrift. The only other instrument I played besides some keyboard was my Guitarcimer.
My original cover art came in the middle of the record. I couldn’t get the eyes right, so I gave myself sunglasses. Perfect solution. Bosco turned out better than me, but I like the beatnik look.
I don’t know why some albums have magic, while others just seem to be good. I’m very grateful this turned out the way it did. There are new songs being written now, and no doubt more to be recorded.
In a mostly traditional folk dulcimer world, I’m very glad to be deviant.
Kevin Roth- San Diego
Songs
Click the Song titles for lyrics and samples of the songs.
Crazy Love
01 – Crazy Love
Come, sweet darling, sit down beside me I love looking in your eyes
Their big and round, honey-colored brown, our love was a sweet surprise
Chorus:
Some people day I’m crazy, maybe who knows.
All I know is I love you baby and I’m glad that it shows
Angels show up in unusual ways
We fell in love and you carried my heart away
When I met you I was feeling blue, life was a lonely ride
You know It’s darkest before the dawn, sometimes the light takes so long
But now I’ve got an angel by my side
Chorus
Some things are meant to be like me for you and you for me, love always finds a way
We’re a song that must be sung, our harmonies blend as one
You lighten up my darkest day
Chorus
words and music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Swami's Cafe
02 – Swami’s Cafe
Down at the Swamis café, south of LA
I’m sipping some brew with a brownie or two
There’s a painting inside, with the Swami’s arms spread out wide
On a surfboard he rides, the big wave in the sky
Chorus:
If you’re feeling uptight, if things don’t seem right
I know a special place for good vibes and sacred space
If you’ve got the money and time, you can buy some peace of mind
Even get your chakras aligned, down by the Swami’s café
Down at the Swami café, there’s a woman who plays
Her guitar out of tune, a little buzzed as she swoons
Across the street, there’s the sea, blue and calm as can be
It’s always a beautiful day down at the Swami’s café
Chorus
Everyplace that you see has got some mystical, magical, mystery
Even the Yoga and the Taco stores have some deeper meaning that you’ll want to explore
Chorus
words and music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Dorothy
03 – Dorothy
I told a friend I was moving to Kansas he said; “What kind of person decided to move there?”
I said, “I’ve got a feeling it will be a respite, so I’m packing up my Toto and all my affairs
I said, “I’ve got a feeling all kinds of things will turn around and come around and be what I need
Just like Dorothy landing in Oz, riding the tornado into make believe”
Chorus:
Dorothy are you there I could use some company
Don’t forget to leave those ruby slippers for me
I’ve got a fast track for making my way back
To the Lion and the Scarecrow and the Tin Man
It all turned into quite a cosmic Kansas, who would have guessed, who would have known
And no one would believe the crazy life I’m living between the yellow brick road and the twilight zone
Chorus
Don’t mind the man behind the curtain, smoke and mirrors is his game
Take the time to find the answers, isn’t that the reason that you came?
Well I packed my bags and moved back to California
You know there really is no place like home
You’ve got to have the heart, the courage, and the brains
To follow your rainbow wherever you roam
Chorus
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
The Incredible Lightness of Being
04 – The Incredible Lightness of Being
He headed west with nothing left, just a broken dream and a new beginning
He turned the headlights low when it began to snow
Sometimes you’ve got to just ride right into your own sweet sunset
A second chance again to let it all go
Chorus: Oh, the incredible lightness of being
Colorado, Arizona, California one long highway
Life’s a byway, just one long song
He drove for hours steeped in silence, only heard the hum of eighteen wheelers
Riding through the night into the light of dawn
Chorus
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, and it doesn’t matter where you’re going
Life’s for knowing, what will be is gonna be
He used to have a lot of expectations, now it’s come down to the realization
That only love is gonna set him free
He pulled into his new apartment, four white walls and big wide window
He closed his eyes and leaned against a sunny wall
He heard the dog bark in the distance while the cars rushed past his window
Everyone’s in a hurry, going nowhere at all
Chorus
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Rollin' in a RV
05 – Rollin’ in a RV
Some days everything seems possible, other days you just want to cry
Life is what happens while you’re making plans, no rhyme, or reason why
I told you don’t hold onto to anything, nothings gonna last
The future is now and in a cosmic eye, time flies by so fast
Chorus:
So, take that RV head down your inner-state, the red road is waiting for you
Either roll it, chew it, either way you chose it- just lighten up those blues
Don’t look back there’s nothing left behind you, just memories chasing some dream
It all comes down to row, row, row your boat navigating the stream
One day you’re going to just close your eyes and be absorbed into the milky way
They’ll find a memory of you in a photo somewhere, looking like a renegade
Chorus
Some hear the call of wanderlust, some hear the same old lie
Some let go of the life they know when hitting bottom opens their eyes
You don’t need bucket lists or analysis, you know what your heart desires
Its scrambled strangers in some greasy spoon, while burning up those rubber tires
Chorus
Some live for their stocks and bonds, some for retirement dreams
Some long for the world to change, but they don’t even know what that means
Some find Jesus, some find Buddha, sitting Za-Zen in trance
Some sit on their ass in Washington, never giving man a chance
Chorus
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Deeper Than Blue
06 – Deeper Than Blue
Just when our love found its cadence, you changed the rhythm to our song
Our harmony was so appealing, until you turned the dissonance on
Now I’m deeper than blue, deeper than blue
You said our love could not sustain itself, you were happy playing solo being free
But your improvisations were so misleading, you modulated everything in me
Now I’m deeper than blue, deeper than blue
I remember the colors of the chords you played, they were wide, wide open full of hues
Then you muted, and you left me there suspended the moment I sang I love you
Your melody runs around my head, my foolish heart repeats the same refrain
The rhythms and the rhymes have all been left behind, as this maestro misguided love remains
Feeling deeper than blue, deeper than blue
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
The Butterfly Boy
07 – The Butterfly Boy
He was in his cocoon wrapped up and immune to living the dream in the sky
You could see in his eyes the look of surprise when he finally learned he could fly
Discovering himself he became something else, his enigma he never had known
Feeling vibration in each situation, he discovered a world of his own
Chorus
With his butterfly wings and the song the wind sings, he was musical art flying high
Landing on flowers for hours and hours lived the butterfly boy in the sky
The look on his face showed surrender and grace as the epiphany came to his eyes
Once his body was spreading, now it was shedding like watercolor rain from the sky
Everything changes, life rearranges, and nothing is quite what it seems
And on his last day in a colorful blaze, he flew right into his next dream
Chorus
He was a pallet of color form one wing to the other like Monet taking flight
He painted each scene as he flew through his dream, going gently into the night
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
The Holidaze Turkey Tune
08 – The Holidaze Turkey Tune
There’s a turkey farmer I know who one day decided to grow
Turkeys that fed on cannabis instead of the usual grass seed and so,
He sold them as organic birds but never mentioned a word
And on the holiday, all I can say are families acted strangely absurd
All the families that don’t get along after three bites broke into song
And everyone laughed as they fell on their ass, the entire day nothing went wrong
And the next day when they were asked, how was the family they said ‘What a blast”
With a snicker and sneer and a sweet little tear they said: “I just can’t wait till next year”!
words and music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Stormy Weather
10 – Stormy Weather
In the city that sits below the sea he stares at a refrigerator in a tree
As Jazz sizzles in the humid breeze down on Bourbon street
Sixty-knots of angry wind and rain, there’s another storm about to be named
It’s churning up the gulf again, towards what levies remain
Crypts in crowded in the cemetery, are ghostly architecture of eternity
He stares wondering how his life will turn out to be, there’s something eerie in the air
Chorus:
Nobody knows you’re here, you can be who you want to be or disappear
But sooner or later you’re gonna have to face your fears and find out who you really are
At the spotted cat club, the trumpet blew, he numbed out on whiskey and bourbon too
Checking out the waitress in her high heeled shoes, strutting her rhythm and blues
Stumbling to the refuge bar on the block, He orders last call on the rocks
Trying to avoid the ticking of the clock that tells him it’s time to choose
On Basin the street he gets his fortune told, he hopes the tarot tells him what his future holds
He hasn’t had much luck watching life unfold, so he slaps twenty-five bucks down
The psychic speaks in tongues as she begins, spreads the tarot across the table with a sneaky grin
For twenty bucks more she lights a candle for him, that absolves him of all curses and sins
And he’s pulled right in – thinking maybe with a little luck something will change within
Sitting alone with Jambalaya stew, he doodles on his napkin a thought or two
But reaches no conclusion, not a damn thing new to the quandary on his mind
The boarded-up shops on nervous streets are a sign to head north in retreat,
But you can’t outrun the storm way down deep, still he keeps looking for a sign
words and music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Banksy - (Love is in the Bin)
11 – Banksy – (Love is in the Bin)
Subversive epigrams
Are painted with satirical hands
Dark humor from the anonymous man
Banksy takes yet another stand
As the gavel at Sotherby’s falls
‘One point four million sold! ” is called
The painting shreds itself on the auction wall,
And the artists laughs somewhere ‘screw you all.’
At the Chardonnay affair
Jaws drop and the rich look scared
As ghosts of Van Gogh everywhere
Ask; ‘who sets the price on my despair’?
The artistic vandal made his mark
From walls in Bristol to children’s parks
And in this day and age the worlds a spark
From bombs in cafes to artists hearts
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Adrift
12 – Adrift
We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust
We’re just waves of possibility there really is no us
There is no time, there is no space it’s only just a dream
There really is no birth or death, and nothing in between
He asked me, well then how do you explain this life to me
I said: It all exists as a dream my friend within relativity
It’s a picture show on a cosmic screen perceiving through your eyes
The only question left to ask yourself really is who am I
Some say that it all began with the big bang long ago
But what created that cosmic bang, no one seems to know
No words can explain the infinite, yet silence speaks to me
So, let come what comes, let go what goes, adrift in the cosmic sea
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
Bonus Track - The Gift
13 – Bonus Track – The Gift
What can you give to the one who has everything
What can you give when they need nothing at all
What can you buy that’s a sweet little somethin’-
The last gift you gave them, you can’t even recall
Maybe this time you’ll find something funny
Maybe a gift card, to the funky new store
But something inside you says this time should be different
Your heart wants to give just a little bit more
Chorus:
Tell them you love them like it’s the last time you’ll see them
Don’t leave a hug or a kiss left behind
Hold them in gratitude a little bit longer
Embraced by the gift that only love finds.
You may find it odd when they look at you strangely
Asking if there’s anything wrong
Just look in their eyes and smile when you tell them
You’ve just rediscovered where your heart belongs
Chorus
There isn’t a day when I’m not thinking of you
In every song that I sing, in everything I do
You can give them a gift, with ribbons and wrappings�
You can give them some flowers and a sweet card that rhymes
But the gift they’ll remember, and never see coming
Is the way that you tell them you love them this time.
Chorus
Words and Music by Kevin Roth copyright Kevin Roth Music/BMI all rights reserved.
People who helped make this amazing album!
The Team

Mike Tappero
Engineer Percussion

Steve Dillard
Trumpet

Nicholas Morales
Cello

Mitch Schecter
Drums Bass Percussion