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There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wives' tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

I have been the lead singer for The GroanUps since 1985. Other previous bands include The Consumers, Second Wind, Three Sheets in the Wind and a slew of garage bands with funny names. I have been performing professionally since age 11 or 12 (my first paying gig was for a dollar and a ham sandwich for Jeff King's birthday party). My band (along with my brother Jay) at the time, Funky Mud, played for my eighth grade graduation! For more about The GroanUps, go to www.thegroanups.com. I have 4 kids, 2 of who are professional musicians: Richard, 29, bass/guitar/singer/songwriter for The Subcons out of Portland, OR, and Jack, 18, who is exceptional at guitar, vocals and songwriting. Genny, 21, and Dominic, 24, are both music lovers. My wife, Marie, sings in the church choir, so my house is usually permeated with music. My day job is as a graphic designer in the communications dept. at Arkansas Blue Cross. Richard and his wife (my daughter-in-law) Mary just gave me my wonderful first grandkid (a girl, Tillet {Tilly} Starling Bruno, 10/31/08). My latest musical excursion is The Flying Balloon-o Brothers at http://www.myspace.com/theflyingballoonobrothers

Below is Jules Shear doing Steady.

Below is a little something my work pals and I wrote and my studio pals recorded with me singing lead. Recent video of Waterside live. Drove down to see Todd Rundgren in Birmingham, AL on May 9. This is from that show. Below is my trio The Flying Balloon-o Brothers performing Todd Rundgren's Love Is The Answer at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock on 7/25/08.