The Blues Train

The Blues Train App(Blues Release) which include blues songs from the first of its kind “novel with a soundtrack” Gonna Dig Myself a Hole . . . ‘n’ bury myself in it. The app contains two Original Performance Videos by 5x Grammy winner Tommy Sims who co-wrote “Change the World” performed by Eric Clapton which won Grammy for Song of the Year. Sims also produced Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” which won Oscar for Song of the Year for Springsteen for the movie Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks, who won Oscar as Best Actor in the Film.

Sims plays the role of Tin Can Willie in the novel and co-wrote two of the songs with author and singer/songwriter Sebastian Brown and sings three songs in the novel. The novel is not considered a musical. The music appears in scenes like when Tin Can Willie meets a runaway 16 yr. old boy on a boxcar the two of them share alone on a cold and rainy night. Tin Can has seen many runaways and the boy, Shep, had just hopped the train and was soaking wet from the rain. Tin Can consoles him, gives him a blanket, and pulls out his guitar, Rosemary. He has seen many runaways and this night on the train, Tin Can felt he and Rosemary needed to welcome another lost soul into their house. An image appears in the novel as one reads and gets to that part of the story where an image, a rendering not intending to ruin the imagination of the reader is there on the app, and when tapped, the image enlarges and the music begins with the train tracks heard in the background. The lyrics are seen on the page and the beat of the boxcar on the tracks keeps time to Tin Can as he plucks his 1927 Gibson L3 guitar and sings his blues song Rosemary’s House. It is a song he has played to many runaways but only those he felt has the heart that Rosemary would approve of. The reader can read the lyrics while the song plays or go back to the book. In the app the same experience occurs with the image and the lyrics appearing. In the novel, the reader can continue listening to the song or turn it off as they continue to read on. There are 30 songs in the novel. Many occur with just the guitarist while some are more involved productions but all occur around a scene designed to pull you deeper into the novel and the scene. Each song is written and performed by the fictional character in the novel. The Blues Train App is just the first release of the music of the soundtrack in the blues genre.

The Blues Train App also includes behind the scenes videos of recording sessions from artists such as Mickey Raphael, harmonica player extraordinaire for the Willie Nelson and Family Band for 30 years; The late, great Bee Spears, in some of his last filmed recording sessions, who played with the Willie Nelson and Family Band for 40 Years as Bass Player; Dave Roe, great Bass player for Johnny Cash for 10 years, Tony TC Coleman, who was BB Kings drummer for 30 years, and many other great artists in sessions and behind the scenes comments about the process of the novel and soundtrack.

Artist: Sebastian Brown & Hole In The Ground
Genre: Blues