Jason Wilber captures his take on the songwriter’s life right out of the gate on this week’s radio hour with his first song, “The Poet’s Life”:
Life is like a puzzle with too many pieces,
Love is like an oasis.
Somedays, I can’t get up,
Somedays, I can’t quit,
I may be some kind of genius,
Maybe an idiot.
It’s never black or white,
It’s just a poet’s life,
Never wrong or right,
It’s just a poet’s life.
Later he adds:
I’ve got my own time and places,
And you can be there too,
I make my own outer spaces,
I don’t know why, do you?
Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jason moved to Bloomington and acquired his musical chops there, hanging around the scores of musicians influenced by Indiana University’s renowned School of Music - as Jason points out - the largest in the world. As a young guitarist, Jason was surprised when, after auditioning, he was hired to tour with legendary songwriter Joh Prine. For the next 24 years, he played with John as he toured worldwide, contributing to John’s Grammy award-winning album, Fair and Square, and playing on a whole host of television shows, including The Colbert Report, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Mountain Stage, and Austin City Limits.
Jason reflected on John’s songwriting during the show. “I feel the reason John’s songs resonated so deeply with people–for instance, in his song, “Paradise,” was because it literally tells about the loss of a childhood home and everyone can relate to that … (the song) is specific but very universal, and deeply felt.” (Jason has reflected further on John’s work, in a marvelous piece published in American Songwriter, August 2, 2021, entitled, “The Zen of John Prine.”)
Since John passed in 2020, Jason’s solo career has continued to grow. With eleven albums to choose from, he effortlessly fashioned a warm, thought-filled concert and radio show for the Wild Rose Moon studio audience. He introduced his next song on the program, “Another Saturday Night,” this way: “This is Saturday night, and I love Saturday nights, and I hate Mondays. And I’ve been thinking for a while that we should get rid of Monday entirely and just have two Saturdays.” The song, modeled after a 50’s rock ballad, unwinds on the chorus:
Fridays finished and we can start unwinding,
Saturday morning we’re free,
Sunday we’ll be sorry to see you go,
Still have to wait a whole week,
It’s been alright,
But I’d love another Saturday night.
After the break, the show returns with a song from the band Bobcat Opossum. The band comprises Sean Hoffman (Guitar), the most recent addition to the Wild Rose Moon Radio Hour Band, and Ellen Coplin (Cello). They perform a cuddly lullaby, “Kissin’ In the Rain.” Written appropriately in the middle of the night by Sean, the song delights the audience with some lovely wordplay throughout:
Here we go, and here we are,
Wishin’ on a wishin’ star.
There we are, and here we is,
Kissin’ in the rain like this.
The “Shoot the Moon” game show follows, with contestants Rex Davenport, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Hugh Purcell, from Oxford, Michigan, vying for prizes (each receives a sticker and WRM mug) while answering questions related to Jason Wilber. The questions include “Sasquatch Watch,” referring to a Wilber song concerning Big Foot; “B-Town Big Leagues,” referring to another Bloomington-based songwriter Hoagy Carmichael; “Cause Pause,” about a benefit project Jason helped produce with musical luminaries, Willie Nelson, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, Kathy Mattea, Natalie Merchant, Tom T. Hall, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Jean Ritchie, and; “Mighty Prine,” referring to a movie, directed by Billy Bob Thornton, in which John Prine played a role.
Jason Wilber returns for the last part of the show, obliging the audience with a song referencing one of the previous game show questions, “The Disappearance of Big Foot.” The song serves as a metaphor for humans and their rapacious relationship to their planet.
She’s heard crazy tales from the hawk and the deer
About a nasty little creature not far from here
Almost bald with tiny feet
That’ll kill the bear and just leave the meat
But that Little Foot's just a backwoods myth
Something to scare baby squirrels with
Ain’t no creature would be so dumb and selfish
Jason closes the show with his “science fiction” song, “Reaction Time,” the title song off his tenth album. The lyrics, like the album itself, explore a search for meaning in a world of inner and outer spaces – a world both attractive and alien – and the song unwraps itself like a riddle in search of a solution–it leaves you feeling the mystery of its unfolding–and a sense that all time is ephemeral–a chimera waiting in the wings–something always there and waiting to be discovered. Enjoy!
Within your inner circle calculations whirl around
Enchantments and advancements threaten to bring us down
But why would we be waiting if we weren’t going to come
To know another secret before this secrets done
And oh oh
Reaction time is slow
Circuits overload . . .
The output is unknown
Sometimes you let it go
- George Schricker
Airs: Monday March 3rd at 7:00 PM EST - Jason Wilber on The Wild Rose Moon Radio Hour - 88.1 WVPE.
For more visit: https://wildrosemoon.com/