'Flee Though None Pursue'
The new album from Ed Alstrom

LISTEN HERE
LANDING PAGE HERE
EPK HERE
ALL REVIEWS HERE

January 2025

New Jersey's Ed Alstrom has a long and illustrious career in all types of music, as well as formidable talent in many different areas.
Here, he fires an opening salvo into Blues community with this first self-produced and recorded effort, an album of 18 songs that ranges from straight blues to adventurous variations on it, to a few things that are not blues at all.
Ed recorded this at home and played most of the instruments, in addition to writing and singing lead on all the tracks. He has significant guest contributions from hyper-talented friends: Guitarist Robert Hill, Saxophonist Jerry Vivino, the Harmonica of Rob Paparozzi, SInger Ula Hedwig, a wonderful lyric contribution from Kay Murcer, his wife Maxine on piano, and three drummers: Don Guinta, Frank Pagano and Dennis Diken (of The Smithereens).

REVIEWS:
"With Flee Though None Pursue, the lively imaginative lyrical wizardry of Ed Alstrom is on full display. His instrumental prowess is remarkable. Totally and, thankfully unpredictable and untethered, Ed just plays the music. Filled with more than enough heart and soul, alongside eighteen masterful tracks , an excellent effort that is wildly entertaining.
Ed Alstrom is, simply, extraordinary. If you're looking for a great time - start right here!" 
John Muller, Blue Notes and Conversations

"With Flee Though None Pursue, Ed Alstrom has created a magical lyrical journey crafted with lively, imaginative storytelling that draws you in with his word wizardry and carries you along on his instrumental genius. You are hereby invited along for the joyous ride." - Jim White, Blues Roadhouse

"When I choose to feature an album, I listen to the entire thing in headphones, examining production along with art.  After 35 years on radio, it's still a joy. 
But much more so when it's a release like Ed Alstrom’s, loaded with surprising content and very individualistic tendencies in a genre drowning in imitation.

It took close to an hour to decide which five songs to play (four was my original ideal, but the availability of so many songwriting gems forced another one). 
While we have some fine current lyricists in the blues world these days, I can think of none who sound like they might have fashioned the score for a stage musical.  Except for Ed Alstrom.  Turning phrases is one thing; laying out definitive syllabic diagnoses from verse to curse is quite another...  
I hope Ed Alstrom's work gets the attention it deserves.  It has secured mine."--Dave Gallaher, Talkin' the Blues with Microwave Dave, WLRH FM / WJAB FM / WUTC FM

‘The true heart of the IBC lies in its competition, where the best of the best vie for recognition and a chance to shine on a global stage. BLUES People and Ed Alstrom delivered spectacular performances that propelled them into the semi-finals. Their passion resonated throughout the venue, capturing the hearts of both judges and fans alike.

Performing in front of a rapt audience, Ed Alstrom entranced listeners with his poignant storytelling, inviting everyone into his musical world with every note. Reaching the semi-finals is a significant accomplishment for BLUES People and Ed Alstrom. Their dedication, effort, and enthusiasm for blues music were evident.’ - North Jersey Blues Society

Flee Though None Pursue – A Recording Of Great Depth Deserving Of Wide Appreciation - originates from an artist whose world, at least looking from the outside inward, is dedicated 100% to music.  I ask myself whenever I joyously and way too infrequently come across music of this caliber that is so far out of the mainstream music fan’s consciousness, “How does this artist fly under the radar?” The songwriting is brilliant and varied, touching, moving, inspiring, and often, deep.  Alstrom’s voice is an instrument greatly capable of prodigious emotive affectation, the arrangements and engineering are top-shelf, and all involved dispense efforts of the uppermost quality. Bravo to Alstrom, his crew, and this rousing testimonial to his musical passions! 
This one needs to be heard! - Curtsblues.com

Wow, what a product, with 85% done by Ed!  And I just happened to be looking at the Roots Music Report for the week of January 18th, and it's jumped from # 23 to # 2, after only being out for a week! That spot is usually reserved for the blues people we know and love, but now, you need to add Ed Alstrom to that list. He worked very hard on this one, which is so much better than I was anticipating, and you need to get this fun, thought-provoking, musical masterpiece ASAP.  - Kyle Christen, Blue Monday Monthly, MN

 A master composer and storyteller, Alstrom captures life’s raw emotions with genius-level musicianship. I didn’t know Ed Alstrom before, but I feel cheated for not discovering him sooner. This isn’t just a blues album—it’s an experience. Expect it to top many “Best of the Year” lists. Thank you, Ed Alstrom, for this extraordinary gift to music. - Peter Merrett, PBS 106.7FM Melbourne

_____________________________________________________________________________________

CONTACT: Ed Alstrom - edalstrom@aol.com - 973-722-5423

PROMOTION by BLIND RACCOON, Memphis, TN - https://blindraccoon.com

SOCIAL MEDIA: https://www.facebook.com/ealstrom/
https://www.instagram.com/edalstrom/
https://x.com/YankeesOrganist
https://www.youtube.com/@edwardalstrom1583

LYRICS AND LINER NOTES FOR THE ALBUM ARE BELOW.

__________________________________________________________________________________

ED's BIO

Ed Alstrom grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Started playing organ (the family Hammond M-3) at age 5, guitar and bass as a teenager. Didn't acquire a piano in the Alstrom household until he was 12, at which time his father brought home an old pedal-pump player piano, on which he activated the broken player mechanism by connecting a canister vacuum cleaner and running it in reverse, which caused the piano rolls to play at blinding speed. Young Alstrom found this highly entertaining. He performed in the requisite rock bands through high school, but also studied church organ and dabbled in every other conceivable type of music. He attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and escaped with a B.M. in Organ Performance, despite playing in disco lounges nearly every night.

Ed has been Music Director/Organist at CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in Montclair, NJ since September 2016, and can be heard there at most Sunday morning services at 10:00am.He has been Accompanist (piano/guitar/organ) and Choir Director at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, NJ since 2010, where he plays at all Shabbat and High Holiday services.

Alstrom has performed with Bette Midler, Chuck Berry, Leonard Bernstein, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Fisher, Odetta, Dion, Larry Coryell, Blood Sweat and Tears, Darlene Love, LaLa Brooks, Ronnie Spector, Lou Rawls, Zubin Mehta, Donald Fagan, John Sebastian, Hubert Sumlin, Uncle Floyd, Peter Noone, Levon Helm, Al Kooper, Stanley Jordan, Eddie Brigati, Steven Van Zandt, Ben E. King, Cissy Houston, Chubby Checker, Rick Derringer, Melanie, John Lloyd Young, Jimmy Vivino, and many other notables.

His Broadway experience includes a 3-month stint as Interim Associate Conductor on 'Hairspray' (where he subbed the Key 2 chair regularly), as well as 'Leader Of The Pack (The Ellie Greenwich Musical'), 'Catch Me If You Can', 'Smokey Joe's Cafe', 'Taboo', 'Brooklyn', and 'Hot Feet'. Off-Broadway, he has been Musical Director for 'Give A Man A Mask' at the York Theatre; 'Once Around The Sun' at the Zipper Theater; and 'Dream A Little Dream (The Mamas & Papas Musical)', featuring Denny Doherty himself..

Alstrom realized a childhood dream in 2004 when he was asked to be the weekend (Sat/Sun) Organist at YANKEE STADIUM, where he filled the seat at the mighty Hammond Colonnade (now an Elegante) formerly occupied by the great Eddie Layton, who retired after a 37-year stint. A childhood dream come true, that's still being lived!

Ed worked at Casio Inc. in Dover, NJ, where he was the Product/Marketing Manager for the Keyboard Division for the better part of 16 years. He had design input with Casio's R&D in Japan with the musical instruments, and composed and arranged a lot of the music that went into them for many years.

Ed began his venture in to the Blues community by placing as a Semifinalist at the IBC (international Blues Challenge) in Memphis in January of 2025. His first Blues CD, 'Flee Though None Pursue', has received wonderful reviews and voluminoss airplay upon its release.

ED ALSTROM - FLEE THOUGH NONE PURSUE - LYRICS 

BE NICE

It's a mean world we livin in - So much drama and disagreement
Some folks trying to get us all together - Others trying to get even
Some people trying to make peace - Some trying to make you pay their price
I wonder what it might be like - If folks would just be nice

Now I don’t wanna complain - Go off on some diatribe
But we need a better message - And then we’d have a nicer vibe
Anger's one letter from danger - And angst is such a lonely vice
Best let no one be a stranger - Best we all just be nice

Let's try reconciliation - And negotiate a plan
Create a better creation - If we discuss and not demand
We got to curb this aggression - So before you sound off, think twice
Here’s my simple suggestion - Why don't we all just be nice?

We all preach precepts  - That we don't even do
So if you'll try and do unto me - I'll do the same for you
And so as if to remind myself - And heed my own advice
I'll make one request for all the world - Why don't we all just be nice?

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

THE BLUES AIN’T ALRIGHT

Let the hype trains roll - Let the rumors fly
Let the death bell toll - Let all the flowers die
Let the rules get slack till the noose gets tight
Till there's no turning back - and then the blues ain't all right

Let the floody waters flow - let the howling wolves bray
Let the lightning strike - let Big and Little Walter say
The founding fathers frown - and their ghosts conjure fright 
When you’ve lost up from down - then the blues ain't all right

Don't matter if you're well to do - or you ain't got a pot to pee
Don't matter if you're black as coal - or if you're white as white can be
Don't matter who’s your God - the blues will overcome his might
You fight the pain when times are hard - and know the blues ain't all right

Nobody's troubles are the same - but they're all troubles nonetheless
You may take sides, you may lay blame - but ultimately it's your mess 
Nobody's blues are unimportant - nobody's misery is trite
Nobody’s served right by sufferin’ - and the blues ain’t all right

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

SLOW BLUES

I know what it means when things are lookin’ mighty bleak
I know what it means when you had bad karma for a week
When you’ve about given up and you’ve got no optimism
It’s the slow slow blues that might help you cross that lonely schism 

Your day is ruined when you rise - You wipe the nightmare from your eyes
You stumble down the stairs face first - And from here on things just get worse
You wait for the nighttime just to end your horrid day
And go hear the slow slow blues - the only thing that can wash your troubles away

 Every song you hear is one of abject pain - Or how bad lovin’ and romance is such a drain
Or how there’s no such thing as luck - and how bad people really suck
Or how badly you are stuck - or just don’t give a flying… fish
MIsery has found you - and you just can’t be free
Until you hear these slow slow blues, and then you’re in mighty good company

 You see that drunk there at the bar - Gets into his beat-up car
Driving recklessly and wild - he’ll likely kill some little child
Seems everything now is bad news - from the bottom to the top
And the hits just keep on coming - and the sadness just won’t stop
Yes, you got the blues, my friend, and you need that lowdown groove
So put on some slow slow blues - then your condition might improve 

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

 

FLEE THOUGH NONE PURSUE

I'm off to my crossroads to face that awful day
If i can find my keys and if i can find my way
And i'd start to runnin now but i can't even locate one shoe
Guess I was born to run, coz i flee though none pursue  

I've heard about about the bargains, what's been written, what's been said
I know that i could really live, and just Iike that be dead
But I'll make the deal at this point, what do i have to lose?
The answer is nothing so I'll flee though none pursue  

I was a god fearin man with a crushing debt to pay
Til Satan posted the job, and I sent my resume
But if there's a third good option i think I might try that too
I haven't got a prayer so i flee though none pursue  
______________________________________________________

I read in my Bible in Proverbs 28
The righteous live without fear, but I fear I'm way too late
My wickedness and guilt all manifest that awful day I'll come to rue
And lions they scare me, so i flee though none pursue  

I been to all the mystics, I've seen so many shrinks
All they did was tell me not to care what no one thinks
So I'm weighing all this input until i don't know what's from who
Yes the burden sure is heavy when youre fleein though none pursue  

I been on all the highways from 49 to 66
I've beaten all the backroads and sauntered thru the sticks
And now I'm right back here to tell you that I still don't have any clue
You sure can't enjoy the journey when you're fleein though none pursue  
_____________________________________________________

So don't feed me no black cat bone or lend your mojo hand
Unless they'll help me run away from this invisible man
And i know that he's with me, chasin me the whole night thru
His cackling is what's causing me to flee though none pursue  

Heard about the hellhounds but they're not after me
Coz if they howled I'd hear them and if they chased I'd see
No, I'm trailed by a vapor, or some non-existent residue
And seeing ain't believing when you fleein though none pursue  

Been thru west memphis, turkey scratch and tupelo
From pencil bluff to pangbum, yazoo city to soso
Traipsed all round Tunica and careened around Clarksdale too
Something ‘bout the South makes me flee though none pursue  
________________________________________________________

So i remain marooned with this insanely troubled mind
And try to map a future while I run from what's behind
But what's behind me is not there, so what is there left for me to do?
Face eternity’s uncertainty and keep fleein though none pursue  

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP 

THE TRUTH 

I’m like the man they call The Seeker, I’m a real truth speaker
And I always cut right to the core
And you know I wield the ax because I cut right to the facts
To get the answer to what I’m lookin’ for
I can pronto peg a liar, I’m a tireless inquirer
I’ve been a theorist thinker since my youth
My motives all above ground, I’ve always been a bloodhound for the truth - the truth 

You can lie and you can run, but the truth is like the sun
You try and block it, but it ain’t goin’ away
You can run your game by nighttime, but by the time it’s light-time
The truth will always carry every day
If you give a man a mask, you won’t never have to ask
If he’s jivin’ ‘coz you’ll know he’s speakin’ sooth
You can jake it, you can fake it  You’re eventually rendered naked by the truth

Now a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth can put on its pants
So my mission without fail is helpin’ truth prevail, got to give the truth a fightin’ chance
Beauty’s truth, truth is beauty, and it’s my civic duty to always find the reality
More than love, money, fame, more than rep or your good name,
It’s the truth that will set you free

On the road to truth you take, there’s only two mistakes:
don’t go all the way or don’t even start
Sometimes truth is pain, and sometimes it’s all for gain,
but you got to live it real  in your heart
Lot of truth is said in jest, but it’s always for the best to let factualism be your sweet tooth
When there ain’t no clean way out,  whenever you’re in doubt  - go with the truth

 Truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent,
And we know it can be stranger than fiction
Malice may barrage it, and ignorance camoflauge it
But honesty’s always the best prescription
Don’t matter if you a skalawag, a sham or a shark , a shamus or a spy or a sleuth
It’s for sure you’ll be exposed as soon as everybody knows what is the truth
You won’t never catch me punting, cause relentlessly I’m hunting for the truth
I’m a walkin’ talisman with a purpose and a plan to find the truth 

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

SICK

I’m sick of all this travelin - And I’m sick of these Holiday Inns
I’m sick of these places I’m goin - And I’m tired of the places I’ve been
I’m sick of being the mouthpiece - For somebody else’s good name
I’m tired of puttin’ on  & posturin’ pride - To hide unfulfillment and shame
I’m sick, sick, sick, sick.. 

I’m sick of this blind chase of rainbows - And promises grounded by fear
I’m sick of being told of what’s out there - When I ain’t well enough to be here
I’m sick of my terminal ignorance - Of whatever’s tramplin’ my bliss
Splash of water, hit of Scope, and I’m ready for action - Whatever action this is

 I’m sick of being suckered by my psyche - I’m tired of being stuck in this bind
I’m sick of being trapped in this body - And I’m tired of bein’ tricked by this mind
I’m sick of these visions of grandeur - Disappearin’ when the smoke dissipates
I’m sittin’ on a box of explosives - Too demoralized to relocate -
coz’ I’m sick, sick, sick, sick… 

Sick of livin’, Sick of dyin’, Sick of livin’ and dyin’ all at the same time
Sick of tryin’, Sick of cryin’, Sick of this saga that’s nobody’s drag but mine.

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

I’M ALWAYS NEAR
(Lyrics by Kay Murcer) 

Someday when my orbit moves clear of your view
I’ll leave these requests, in hopes all that I knew
Will remember me best by the moments we shared
Feeling loved and inspired, knowing how much I cared.

 Read a note I once sent you... better yet, send your own
Keepsake words age so sweetly, they are gifts when you’re grown
Dance to music I gave you, think of me dancing still
Sometimes crying while laughing is the best prescribed pill  

Find a passage of prose that might trigger my name
Read it over and over, til I’m focused in frame
When a train whistle echoes, late one night from your bed
Know I always loved dreaming with that sound in my head.

 Keep the names of your family & friends in your prayers
Deal out kindness like playing cards, only do it in pairs
Write your feelings and thoughts, never question their worth
It’s a short ride we’re traveling while circling the Earth

 Leave your mark, share your passion... I surrender mine to you
Feel my love and my heartbeat in all that you do
I’ve been blessed with a charmed life... planted seeds, watched them grow
Hold my memory, make some new ones, take me on where you go.

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

THE RECORD PEOPLE ARE COMING

The record people are coming, they’re coming to my gig
It’s my chance to look notorious and maybe make it big
I’ll have to be my spiffiest, mix chaos with repose
No train wrecks on the endings, and pray they like my clothes

 The record people are coming, I’m nervous as can be
That all these heavy people will be watching little me
I know that they’ll listening, and that they really care
I must be pleasant-sounding and overtly debonaire

The record people are coming, they’ll sit in one long row
They’ll stew in solemn judgment the duration of my show
They know no peaks or valleys, they feel no highs or lows
And at some point they’ll exit, I may not even know

The record people are coming, they’ve come from many miles
They are my judge and jury throughout this lawless trial
They regale me with scowls as I bring the people smiles
They dock like anchors while I’ve got em dancing in the aisles 

The record people are coming, I must control this fear
As my creative failings fall on these almighty ears
My heart and soul pours forth as the house keeps pouring beers
And all my life I knew I’d get a jury of my peers

 The record people are coming, now here’s my magnum tune
A lyric miracle about two sweethearts in a swoon
I sing with such bravado that the whole house gets the blues
And the record people meanwhile plan tomorrow’s power schmooze

 The record people are leaving now, there’s nothing I can do
I’ve never played for so many and been heard by so few
Another so-called showcase, another sordid mess
I’m better off home watching some beat flick on TBS 

The record people came tonight, they came to dig my sounds
Their ears know no libido, their egos know no bounds
They proudly pronounce stillborn the career they came to save
The record people came tonight, they came to dig my grave

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

SOMETIMES 

Sometimes I wish I was a big bird way up high - Flying and floating carefree across the sky
Then I get shot down or hit by a plane - Or fly into somebody’s window pane
And all that’s left is the mess and the pain sometimes 

Sometimes I see myself on the biggest stage - Singing grand odes to love and spouting rage
Then they open the door and let the critics in - And all of sudden I’m a has-been
Show biz is a tough one to be in sometimes 

Sometimes I’m playing the blues and working the crowd
And the sounds are magic and the vibe is fast and loud
Then some sucker spoils all the fun - Pulls the plug and he says you’re done
Music is one big conundrum sometimes 

Sometimes you feel like nothing can go wrong
You’re all in love and singing that happy song
Then you hit that wall and the going gets hard
And your sweet love song is now avant garde
Everyone gets feathered and tarred sometimes 

Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down
Flying high, then six feet in the ground
Sometimes you’re high, sometimes you get low
Sometimes you’re sure, sometimes you just don’t know

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP 

SCREWED    

I got a new way of movin’ - I’m in a mad-ass mood
I’m gonna stop bein’ stupid - I’m gonna start bein’ shrewd
No more Mr. Nice Guy - Right now I’m outright rude
One way or another - I’m gonna stop gettin’ screwed 

I got a fresh obsession - I’m in a perilous place
New mode of expression - I’m gettin’ right in your face
Don’t care if it’s offensive - or if you think me crude
Bein’ a fool’s too expensive  - I’m gonna stop gettin’ screwed 

I’m gonna binge if I wanna - be all kinda incorrect
I’ll make you cringe if I gotta - until I get some respect
I’m gonna puss and pout - I’m gonna bluster and brood
No more this coppin’ out - I’m gonna stop getting’ screwed 

I been screwed so many times - and let it roll off my back
Now you’ll know by these rhymes - that now I’m on the attack
You better tread with discretion - around my new attitude
Let there be no question - this boy’s through gettin’ screwed 

I got a new determination - I’m gonna get what I need
Come at me with condemnation - I won’t let you succeed
You know that I’m a survivor - with fiber and fortitude
So put away your screwdriver - coz’ I’m through gettin’ screwed 

Gon’ be a badass dude…

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

H-O-P-E-L-E-S-S

H is for the hell that‘s my existence - O is for blown opportunity
P is for my paucity of persistence - E cause errors are my specialty
L is for the lowly life I'm making - Another E for effort that I waste
S is for this sorry path I'm taking - And more S for the success I'll never taste
Put what coulda been a good man in a blender
Shake him up and spit him out till he's on an endless bender
And that's me - Hopeless as I can be 

T is for my terminal trepidation - R is the revulsion at my being
O is for my constant obfuscation  - U's the underwhelming me I'm seeing
B for the bewailing of what coulda been - L for all the lemons that I've laid
E is for the enmity I'm drowning in - D for this disaster that I've made
Throw what mighta been a fruitful life into the rubble
Hand every man and woman a pin to burst the bubble
And that's me - Troubled as a man can be.  

But somewhere in my hopelessness there's comfort
That maybe even a wretch like me'd get saved
And somewhere in my troubles could be justice
I'd be rewarded for the trials that I have braved
So H is for having some resilience - And O is for new opportunities
P means things are positively peachy - And E I'll execute that with great ease
Gonna rise up from the depths and gonna grab that big brass ring
Gonna get my due and do what's right and even do my thing
It's the new me - hopeful as can be - hopeful as I can be

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP 

GREAT NOTCH

Lookin for a joint I can get to with ease
Hoist a few brews and say just what I please
With a friendly bartender and a waitress that's fine
And astute clientèle to soothe my troubled mind
And you don't even have to drive to the sticks
Coz it's right here on route 46
it's the Great Notch Inn - it's the Great Notch Inn
You can guzzle your beer and then chase it with a scotch
World’s your oyster at the Great Notch

Now, You can go by car, you can sure bring your bike
You can uber it home, you can even hitchhike
You can hang on the porch or belly up to the bar
You can be someone else or be just who you are
And if you got troubles or just wanna bitch
Pull up a stool and tell it all to Rich
He's at the Great Notch Inn - Yes the Great Notch Inn
You can decompress or just plain debauch
No restrictions at the Great Notch

Now, I heard a band made up of lawyers and brokers
They weren’t too bad but they were sure mediocre
They tried to play the blues but they were lacking in feel
Cause they were dressed up in suits and too rich to be real
And speaking of Rich, sometimes he’ll jump behind the kit
And restore the groove lickety-split
He's at the Great Notch Inn - Yes the Great Notch Inn
You can grab a cold one, or grab a crotch
The grabbin’s good at Great Notch

Now, I met a woman there and she was kinda unique
I knew it for sure when she began to speak
She wove deep concepts and spun long tales
She had lime green hair and rainbow fingernails
She had rings on her fingers and things on her toes
And she spoke in emphatic elliptical prose
And when she made her move and hit the dance floor
I knew I hadda run for the door
And leave the Great Notch Inn - Yes the Great Notch Inn
There was no time left when I looked at my watch
But i can never leave the Great Notch 

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

FRUITCAKE 

I call my baby Fruitcake - coz of the crazy way she do
She’s a wackadoodle woman - she bats in the belfry thru and thru
But I love her like crazy - guess that makes me crazy too 

They threw her out of Greystone, wouldn‘t let her in Creedmore
They was scrapin’ her off the ceiling, or peelin’ her off the floor
The doctors see her coming and they all run the other way
But I love my crazy-pants woman, we both cray cray cray cray cray 

If you want to start her talkin’, don’t have to light no fuse
She’s talkin to her pretend friends, the Moon Man, or her muse
She’s bafflin’ all the experts coz’ her disorder can’t be defined
But I know my fruitcake woman well, she just straight up outta her mind 

She's on the water's edge, hangin' out on the abyss
Screamin’ at the segulls, she’s a most peculiar miss
The clothes she wears are crazy too, to suit her personality
And I love this 5150 woman, because she’s j-cat just like me

All day, she’s meditatin’, eyes rolled back in her head
All night it’s pure elation when we rollin’ around in bed
There’s nobody quite like her, nobody that anybody knows
And I’m keepin’ this girl forever, I love my fruitcake so

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

YOURS IS A PLACE 

Yours is a place where the facts are never fiction - Ideas have no restriction
And parts move without friction grinding free
Yours is a place where is no fraud or folly - And deadlines take the trolley
And there’s no melancholy reparteeYours is a place where I can’t help overindulging - ‘Til synapses are bulging - And secrets beg divulging openly
Yours is a lovely port I love to call home base - I hope to halt forever at your place

 Yours is a place where I cross each daunting chasm - swith bald enthusiasm
And orbital eargasm of the psyche
Yours is a place where it’s temperature controlled - Natural marvels just unfold
It’s none too hot or cold, whate’er I like
Yours is a space where the storms and floods may batter  
But in here that hardly matters - Our scintillating chatter builds the dike
Yours is a foolproof and well-insulated space - I bask in rapt phantasm at your place.

 Yours is the place where love and joy are bubbling
There are no troubles troubling - and there are no downs a-doubling needlessly
Yours is the place where emotions are emphatic
Crepuscules charismatic - and ecstasies ecstatic - In our wonderfully dramatic balcony
Yours is the place where I hide from the sadistic
And cultivate the mystic - and feed on the artistic alchemy
Yours is the complex where my calm is commonplace
Consumed by the contentment at your place 

Yours is a place where there are no bromides breeding  
No barren fields need seeding - And frenzies need the feeding, not the care
Yours is a place where statues turn elastic - And no dream is too drastic
The vistas all fantastic from your lair  
Yours is a place where I’ve lost all inhibitions
And broken all traditions - And breached all past conditions
And all my superstitions are laid bare
Yours is a warmth enveloped in your warm embrace
Yours is a void devoid of venom or disgrace
I am, as written, smitten by your smiling face
I long to live my lifetimes at your place

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

SUCCESS WAS NOT TO BE HAD

I would say that we tried - But it was just not to be
The effort was there and it's somewhat unfair - But logic won out logically
Yes, some moments were quite good - But far outweighed by the bad
And so my friend, we're up against the end - Success was not to be had

I would say that the odds - Were never tilted in our favour
The prospects were dim and the chances got slim - And we just couldn't grab the life saver
Oh yes, there were some happy hours - But let's not get sappy and sad
Let's just admit that our thing wasn't it - Success was not to be had

I figure we should cut our losses - Work doesn't work with two bosses
It doesn’t even matter now -  which one of us was the albatross 

I would acknowledge I'm difficult - Obstinate, moody, unstable
But I'm sure you surmise that you too are no prize - And we jointly piled angst on the table
Maybe we were never meant for each other - Despite all the dross we believed
We survived the collision that drives this decision - Success just can’t be achieved

I figure you've already started - To map out your future sans me
And with all points moot, I've now followed suit - And it all now flows quite naturally
I wish you all good things going forward - I hope you wish me that at least
But I'm guessing by virtue of how you think I’ve hurt you - you probably want me deceased
And for that I guess I can't blame you - So rather than us both going mad
Let's just see it straight and resign to this fate - Success was not to be had

CROSSFIRE 

Just when you thought that it was safe - To come out of your cave
The firefight begins - the bumps, the bruises
Just when you thought the coast was clear  - The armageddon’s near
Is this a battle no one wins? Or no one loses?
Don’t you see – see that me and he – are mortal enemies - In the fight for your affections?
And the spoils of your folly - Are just another deadly volley in this crossfire of love 

Lying awake these wartorn nights - With just you in my sights
I dread another sunrise - and subsequent sunset
Just when things couldn’t get more strange - We’re firing from close range 
No element of surprise - our goals still unmet
Can’t you see – we take this seriously – we’re plotting strategies
From our foxholes pending your inspection
Just when you thought that you might hunker - Down safely in your bunker, you’re in our crossfire of love 

We bombard - and fire fusillades - marooned in love’s jihad
A broadside, romantic insurrection
One day I’ll at my fate arrive - But can I emerge alive from this crossfire of love?
So confess - if you would acquiesce - only you can mop this mess
To one say yes - the other, thank you for your service nonetheless
I pray I’m finally close to free - Alone with my PTSD, from this crossfire of love

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

I DRUNK, U DRIVE 

Out for a night of revelry - But I reveled a little too recklessly
I tried to be cool and stay out of trouble -
But now the room’s spinnin’ and I’m seein’ double
So if you wanna get home alive - Take the keys, baby - I drunk, u drive 

I’ll have no lectures and right or fair - Or how you can’t take me anywhere
None of your blarin’ diatribes - Let me enjoy my dizzy vibe
Just hold that guilt on which you thrive - Start it up, baby, I drunk, u dirve 

Too late to crow ‘bout I shouldn’t have done it - Too late to hear that again
I got a big hangover waitin’ in the morning - Won’t you be glad to see me then? 

Take a little tip on this tipsy night - Fussin’ and yellin’ makes nothin’ right
So when I’m out on my drunken spree - Best thing to do is just let me be
No one’s hurt, everyone will survive - You just stay sober - I drunk, u drive

Too late to worry ‘bout how it looks - Too late to save my dignity
Too late to worry ‘bout what everybody thinks, and every other drunk here agrees with me

Maybe tomorrow I’ll rue my behavior - In case you didn’t know, I ain’t no savior
Maybe someday I’ll have regrets - But I wouldn’t advise you placin’ any bets
Come on darlin’, let’s blow this dive - Take us home, baby - I drunk, u drive

© 2024 Edward Alstrom - Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

DON’T CRY AT MY FUNERAL 

Don’t cry at my funeral – Crying won’t make it alright
Instead of your sadness, I’d rather see gladness - I’d rather you party all night
Remember my life for the music – And the heights that I’ve helped you climb to
No, don’t cry for me, wherever you be - Cause I won’t be cryin’ for you 

Don’t burst at my burial – don’t ruminate with regret
Dispense with your tears, and remember the years that we shared and be glad that we met
I’d rather you wax reminiscent, and have some laughs at my expense
No, don’t cry for me, it’s not with it, you see - I’ll land on some side of the fence 

Don’t cry at my funeral – Cryin’ is just not allowed
Just look at you all, startin’ to bawl – I’m glad I’m not workin’ this crowd
I’d be mortified if you left here with less than a smile on your face
So, don’t cry for me, I’m finally free  - And off to find some better place0 

Don’t shriek at my shiva – this sobbing is really passé
So wipe off that frown and party on down – You’ll see me again some old day
And when you do, I will greet you, and we’ll hunker down and hoist a few
So don’t cry for me, no more misery - I’ll soon share the next world with you

 Don’t rue at my requiem – remorse isn’t part of this deal
After all the great times, it’s really a crime that sadness should be what you feel
I see that you’re all dressed in black now, but why waste this time bein’ blue?
No, don’t cry for me, that’s my simple decree - Sad ain’t what I want from you 

And when it’s all over, you’ll walk out that door, and wonder what all of that cryin’ was for
Don’t cry for me, I’m happy, I’m free  - And I won’t be cryin’ for you. 

© 2024 Edward Alstrom- Sophimatic Music/ASCAP

ED ALSTROM - FLEE THOUGH NONE PURSUE
LINER NOTES


This album has taken many twists and turns before it got to you. It began life during the Covid scare of 2020, when the world seemed to shut down for a while and everyone went into isolation. For musicians, this meant that a) we had little to no work in the same room with other musicians, and b) we had lots of time on our hands not working. For me, this meant a) I was making music all by myself, and b) I had lots of time to get caught up on things I never had time for, notably learning to competently use all the recording gear I had accumulated, and for actualizing old songs I had written, and writing new music.

The first original song I dug out was written in the 1990s sometime, and was called ‘Don’t Cry at My Funeral’. It was completely written but never recorded at all. I knew early on that I wanted this to be an overly thick and complex production, and now I had time to do that. I did take me 4 years to finish it to my liking, but it surely got this ball rolling. After that came more dusting off of old songs and lyrics I had never done anything with, and writing some new material.
So now, I was on my way to having enough material for an album, but what would that album be? Originally, it was going to be either a pop-type of thing, or a ‘sampler’ of as many different genres as I could manage and have it still hold together. Then came… the blues.

In the Spring of 2024, I decided on a whim to enter the IBC (International Blues Challenge) in my local chapter of the Blues Society, really not with the intent of winning anything but just to see how it would shake out and how I myself would arrange and perform music for it. I entered as a solo act, and it turns out there was very little competition and I did win. This catapulted me into the actual worldwide IBC in Memphis of 2025.

So, as I was writing new and resuscitating old material, the whole project suddenly took a left turn and became largely a blues album, or at least one that would be marketed that way. Some tunes fell by the wayside, and others took on new forms from what they once were. So many of my previous concepts for projects got hamstrung and delayed and buried as a result of having no concrete direction, and at least now this one had some kind of a guiding pretense. I’ve always been too versatile and scattered for my own good, and the blues was now reigning me in. 

Working in isolation became a ‘thing’, so I continued it well beyond Covid because it was working and I liked the way things sounded. I decided to go as close to full megalomania as I could, knowing that I could play most of what I was hearing - on keyboards, guitars, percussion and bass - except for the drum parts, at which I am not good. I either programmed reference drum parts on a machine or did crude recordings of me on drums, and then passed those along to actual drummers, who came down to my basement and recorded their parts. My three closest comrades as drummers - Frank Pagano, Don Guinta, and Dennis Diken - all contributed brilliantly. I asked a few friends to contribute magical things that were their specialty - Robert Hill on guitar, Rob Paparozzi on harp, and Jerry Vivino on saxophones - and all their parts were done in their houses and sent to add to the project remotely. At no point was there a full band in one room recording. Worked out just fine, I’d say.
Then the icing on the cake was the incredible Ula Hedwig, one of the greatest background (or foreground) singers I’ve ever had the good fortune to connect with. I just sent her finished tracks via email and gave her no direction whatsoever, just said, ‘put whatever you think on this’. She turned this into an amazing creative venture, and became my Greek Chorus. This type of creativity can be yours too, folks; she does this at home.

I finished by getting the CD mastered by Jon Gordon (that’s a dark art that I can’t do). I then contracted with Betsie Brown and Blind Raccoon Promotions out of Memphis, who started getting me airplay and reviews before the CD was even formally released (!) in January of 2025. This was a matter of days before I went to Memphis, competed in the IBC as a solo act, and got to the Semifinals.

And now, here we are: this is out there, and you are hopefully hearing it, and I am grateful to you for coming on this journey with me! Here’s more details on the tracks.

1) BE NICE
EA: lead and background vocals, Hammond B3 organ, piano, bass, guitars, percussion
Don Guinta: drums
Ula Hedwig: background vocals
This song outlines a path toward world peace and universal respect, which we are less likely than ever to see in this polarized world. I snagged the basic groove from a Magic Sam song, so on that basis I guess this is a ‘blues’.

2) BLUES AIN’T ALRIGHT
EA: lead vocal, B3, piano, bass, guitars, percussion
Frank Pagano: drums
Ula Hedwig: background vocals
Little Milton put a well-known song out in 1983 called ‘The Blues Is Alright’. I guess it can be, but it most certainly can be less than alright, and frequently downright undesirable. So, this has already been touted as an ‘answer song’ to that, and not by me.
This and the previous song demonstrate the background vocal wizardry of Ula. With no instructions or guidelines or guardrails, this is what she does!

3 -  SLOW BLUES
EA: vocal, B3, bass pedals, bass drum
Robert Hill: guitar
I recorded an album in 2003 with my piano trio (of which Don Guinta was a member) . The group and the CD were called ‘Acid Cabaret’, and we did gigs around the NY area. That group played everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Great American Songbook to Cream and Mountain tunes, all arranged as oppositely as we could to the originals. We even did the NYC Cabaret circuit, and garnered a few awards somehow, despite being decidedly the antithesis of what they were all about - women in ball gowns sitting on a stool singing Gershwin tunes.
The lyrics of “Acid Cabaret’, the title cut from that CD, turn up here as the bulk of the song. Why waste them, right? Recycling is good, and they work as a blues.
Robert Hill’s guitar is just perfect; he’s from Arkansas originally, and you can hear that when he plays anything.

4 - FLEE THOUGH NONE PURSUE
EA: all vocals, B3, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, bass, percussion
Robert Hill: guitars
Don Guinta and Frank Pagano: drums
This is a mashup of two ideas: the whole Robert Johnson mythology about the ‘deal with the devil’ at the Crossroads, and a bible passage that I am fond of. It is from the book of Leviticus originally, but was reprised in Proverbs 28, and states: ‘The righteous will be bold as a lion, but the wicked will flee though no one pursues’. Roll that around in your mind for a sec: the latter person is running away, but nothing is chasing them. They are fleeing from… nothing, or more accurately, their own imagination. That must be the blues, folks.
I was touring the South in the fall of 2023 with Robert Hill, and we were tooling around in a van through Arkansas and Mississippi, even on Route 66 itself for a time. We were frequently sitting in the van not talking much, so getting the vibe like I was at ground zero for this, I grabbed my phone and started writing lyrics, welding the Johnson story and that bible verse together. Over the course of a few days, I had 10 verses written.
Now, the music? It’s a 12-bar blues form slightly ‘modernized’ on each verse, and then the verses progress in 1-4-5 form as well; e.g. the 1st verse is in Am, the 2nd in Dm, and the third in Em. So, there are kinda two blues progressions going on simultaneously. Then, the guitar solo (again, brilliant stuff from Robert) goes into a different key altogether, just because.
I had both drummers, Donnie and Frank, record this because I figured they would approach it differently and I would choose one of the other. I chose to use both! And Robert's guitar on this is authentic and bone-chilling.

5 - THE TRUTH
EA: all vocals, piano, guitar, bass
Jerry Vivino: tenor and baritone saxophones
Frank Pagano: drums
I got the idea for the hook of ‘The Truth’ about 30 years ago probably, and never hatched anything to go with it until this project. I searched all of the quotes I could find about ‘truth’, and got everybody from Abe Lincoln to Winston Churchill to Oscar Wilde to Elvis involved. Lot of fascinating things said about the concept of truth here, elucidated from the standpoint of a mythical poor soul who is crusading for it.Jerry Vivino has been a great friend of mine since the late 1970s, and his brothers Jimmy and Floyd (yes, that would be ‘Uncle Floyd’) have been integral parts of my musical development. I emailed Jerry the track and his parts, and he just did ‘em and sent ‘em back, one shot, and provided the absolute perfect solo on tenor. Frank gives us that New Orleans, John Boudreaux, quarter-note groove to perfection. These are two guys I met when I was a teenager, I’ve been to hell and back with both of them, and I am so grateful I can still make music with them to this day.

6 - SICK
EA: vocal, piano, guitar, B3, bass|
Frank Pagano: drums
Wrote this while I was working for Casio Keyboards in the ‘90s, and traveling like a madman all over the world, and getting really sick of it. I know, it’s ‘Lonely Avenue’, but it worked for me

 7 - ALWAYS NEAR
EA: lead vocal, acoustic guitars, Fender Rhodes, CASIO VZ-1 synthesizer, bass, drum programming
Ula Hedwig: background vocals
My good friend Kay Murcer wrote these lyrics. Kay is the wife of the late great Yankees centerfielder Bobby Murcer, who is very dear to every Yankee fan. Kay and I became friends during Covid when she took to following me on Facebook when I was posting my organ playing non-stop, because I had nothing else to do.
I saw her post this poem on FB, and I told her it should have music, so here it is.

8 - RECORD PEOPLE
EA: vocal and piano
I recorded my first CD, ‘The Record People Are Coming’, in 1996. During that time, I was in a band in which the bandleader would pull us aside before every gig we did, and breathlessly tell us, ‘Guys, the record people are coming tonight!’. After a while, we realized they were not.
On the 1996 CD, it was a Beatnik-style recitation over a free-jazz kind of track. I thought I would resuscitate it here as a straight blues, so I could play it at the IBC for judges and… record people!

9 - SOMETIMESEA: vocal, piano, bass
Rob Paparozzi: harmonica
Frank Pagano: drums
At my house we have a large bay window that, unfortunately, birds occasionally fly into and splatter down below. Last time it happened was when this song got hatched and written, as a metaphor for life.

10 - SCREWED
EA: lead vocal, all guitars, bass, B3, clavinet
Ula Hedwig: background vocals
Frank Pagano: drums
I told Pagano, ‘gimme straight-up Howard Grimes on this’. He did. Another example of Ula’s boundless creativity. Re the song, I guess we’ve all felt this way, no?

11 - H-O-P-E-L-E-S-S
EA: vocal, piano, B3, bass pedals.Rob Paparozzi: harmonica
Frank Pagano: drums
I was driving to a gig. I stopped at a traffic light, and saw an office building on the opposite corner of the intersection. The lighted sign on it said ‘THE CENTER FOR H-O-P-E’. The songwriter in me was instantly piqued, and I pulled over to the side of the road and started furiously typing lyrics into my phone. I think the Center could and should use this as a theme song or bed for a commercial. And it does actually have a happy ending, too!

12 - GREAT NOTCH
EA: lead vocal, guitars, B3, piano, bass
Rob Paparozzi: harmonica
Ula Hedwig; background vocals
Don Guinta: drums
 If you live in Northern New Jersey, you have surely heard of the GREAT NOTCH INN in Little Falls. It is as close as NJ gets to a legit roadhouse, and many of us in NJ think it well qualifies as one. The proprietor is Rich Hempel, along with his sister; they are the grandchildren of the original owners in 1924. The ‘Notch’ as we call it, was slated for demolition due to highway renovation and condo development in the area, but somehow it survived and even thrived, the state being forced to leave it in its existing state and build around it, and in the negotiations it even provided them with an new updated parking lot! It houses all types of interesting characters; many people are afraid to go there because they think it’s a ‘biker bar’, which it can be, but in point of fact the clientele is quite diverse and peaceful and fun. It also is one of the few places left in NJ to go and hear the blues and rock and roll in its purest available forms. It deserves its own theme song. Long may it live!
I did try to get Rich Hempel himself to play drums on this, but we just couldn’t put it together. He’ll get his chance someday!

13 - FRUITCAKEEA: vocal, piano, Farfisa VIP-600 organ, bass, percussion
Jerry Vivino: baritone saxophone
Don Guinta: drums
Don Guinta and I have been playing Professor Longhair's tune ‘Her Mind Is Gone’ for many years. This is our arrangement of that with new words, same concept - clinically insane women. Don’t be offended, ladies; it can be easily gender-reversed .
The Farfisa’s ‘Syn-Slalom’ feature, which makes it so the notes you are playing are kind of immaterial, adds extra insanity.

14 - YOURS IS A PLACE EA: vocal, piano, Fender Rhodes, acoustic bass
This was written for my beautiful, personable, smart, talented, riotous, and extremely patient wife Maxine, who has endured my nonsense for 40 years. This is about as close as I can get to an actual love song.

15- SUCCESS (WAS NOT TO BE HAD)
EA: vocal, piano, acoustic bass
Don Guinta: drums
Donnie and I have also played another New Orleans song frequently, Lee Dorsey’s ‘People Gonna Talk’. Again, I have recycled our groove on that for this tune.
A lot of my songs come from a line somebody said; this one comes from a line that I said to somebody. A friend and I were discussing some situation we had been in where it was doomed to failure, and I said, ‘Well, success was not to be had’, and we both started laughing uproariously. What I wound up doing with the title was applying it to an analytical and business-like assessment of a relationship gone bad.

16 - CROSSFIRE
EA: lead vocal, 12-string and electric guitars, bass, piano, synthesizers, background vocals
Ula Hedwig: background vocals
Dennis Diken: drums
I had first envisioned this as a Mamas and Papas kind of tune. I recorded most of the tracks, and passed it along to Ula, giving her no instructions at all, and she filled in the vocal end of it, and it soon grew bigger than what I had imagined. My good bud Dennis Diken of the Smithereens plays drums on this; we do a duo together in NJ called ‘TWO GUYS’ where we play and sing 50s/60s chestnuts, and have a riot doing it.I had my simplistic drumming on it as a reference, and Dennis did two complete takes based on that, only far more competently. Then he said, ‘I wanna do one more, and I’m just gonna go for it and take it out’. Mission accomplished, my friend!

17 - I DRUNK U DRIVE
EA: vocal, piano, Farfisa VIP-600 organ, bass
Don Guinta and Frank Pagano: drums
In support of the Designated Driver, especially if it’s your partner.

18 - DON’T CRY AT MY FUNERAL
EA: lead vocal, acoustic and electric guitars, acoustic and electric bass, Fender Rhodes, B3, pipe organ, mandolin, accordion, melodica, theremin, alto saxophone
Maxine Alstrom; acoustic piano
Ula Hedwig: background vocals
Frank Pagano; drums
The first song recorded for this album, and the last to appear on it. This is what will get played at my funeral, if I have any say, and I hope other people can use it at other people’s funerals.
This turns out to be a ‘story of my life’ song, as it contains instruments that I actually played 40-45 years ago (some quite poorly), like my father’s accordion, my alto saxophone that I plated in junior high school, and theremin. There are also recorded quotes from musicians who influenced me hidden in the tag.

Thanks for listening!

Ed Alstrom, January 2025
www.edalstrom.com