The Ninety and Nine
When three adorable sheep ask you to sing their favorite song, how can you refuse?
Continue readingTag Archives: thumbpicking
Christmas Joy
Joy to the World and How Great Our Joy round out this year’s Thumbpick Thursday posts with a little more Christmas music. I hope you’ve enjoyed the Thumbpick Thursday posts so far. If you would, please drop in a comment and let me … Continue reading
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
No, he’s not been hitting the eggnog early; he was born that way. This week’s Thumbpick Thursday features a perennial Christmas favorite, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was fun to work out this thumbpick arrangement of the tune, but I … Continue reading
I Wonder As I Wander
I Wonder As I Wander has been among my favorite Christmas songs for years now. Composer John Jacob Niles combined a beautiful melody with pensive lyrics, and today the song is one that stands in sharp contrast to what our culture … Continue reading
Play On, Pauline
Play On, Pauline is one of my few original songs. I wrote it for a lady I met in Nashville, Indiana, when I played the Taste of Brown County Festival a couple of years ago. I was playing on the porch … Continue reading
The Gospel
When I was about 16, a friend turned me on to an album by Goose Creek Symphony, Words of Earnest. One of the songs on that album stuck with me. It was a tune by the group’s leader, Charlie Gearheart, called The Gospel. … Continue reading
When We All Get to Heaven
It’s been fun to work this tune up for thumbpicking, and the song works really well on guitar. When We All Get to Heaven was written in 1898 and first appeared in Pentecostal Praises (Philadelphia: Hall-Mack, 1898). Eliza Hewitt penned the … Continue reading
I Am a Pilgrim
This is the first installment of a video blog I’m trying called Thumbpick Thursday. I got the idea from my collaborators in The Champions. Ted Yoder posts video on YouTube for Fan Friday, and Brian Keith Wallen posts New Music … Continue reading
Bio
Dean Phelps plays heart-friendly songs to the toe-tapping beat of Travis-style guitar.
Continue readingThe Value of Competition
Final Four weekend is coming up, and my two favorite teams are in Houston preparing to compete for the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Growing up in Kentucky, I’ve been a fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcats as long as I … Continue reading