Search - Dean Phelps :: Give Us a Song

A voice from the past led Dean Phelps to record his third CD, Give Us a Song. Phelps received an email from a woman asking if he was the guy who used to sit and play guitar in a courtyard at the University of Kentucky years ago. He was. Turns out Phelps had recorded a few songs for the woman and her roommate when the three of them were UK students in the 1970s. She still had the tape, and she sent it to him. For Phelps, hearing that old cassette brought back a flood of memories. It also motivated him to return to the studio two years after releasing This Old House, his second CD. Give Us a Song includes updated versions of two numbers from his 1970s dorm room recording session, including the title track by singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards. The CD features folk tunes such as John Prine's The Hobo Song and Kate Wolf's Across the Great Divide, as well as updates of the traditional hymns Marching to Zion and Leaning On the Everlasting Arms. Give Us a Song also includes My Dog Jesus, a song written by C.J. Watson and Kurt Fortmeyer with Al DeTrolio that he performed live, but had never recorded on a CD until Give Us a Song. "It's the most lyrically clever thing I've heard in a long time," Phelps says. When he heard Watson sing it, he asked for permission to add it to his own repertoire. Phelps considers himself mostly a refinisher of old songs who occasionally writes his own. Give Us a Song contains the original song If You Come Up Empty, one of the CD's standout tracks. His love of folk, gospel, and Americana music dates back to his childhood in Maysville, Ky. He started playing guitar at age 9. His father was a skilled carpenter and an engineer but also a self-taught musician. "If it had frets, he could play it," Phelps says. Phelps released his first CD, Going Over Home, in 1997 a collection of favorite hymns and gospel music. His second CD, This Old House, was a broad exploration that included rhythm-and-blues and rock influences. Give Us a Song is more of a return to his roots. "I wanted it to sound like music you would hear in the living room, or on somebody$#39;s front porch."