Eric Blakely: " I used several musicians from around Austin , all of who are on the  cov er photo , w ith the exception of Paul Co lll ns and Chris Von Sn i der.  Paul and Ch r is con t r i buted some backing vocals . Paul Collins ha s  se veral albums to his cred i t. and had a h i t i n 1980 with a song ca ll ed , " Rock And Roll Girl. " Whan I had a rock band in the early 80's i n California , I used to do shows w ith his band called Paul Collins Beat . He had j u st been passing through Austin, we ran into each other , hun g out for a few days and he ended up coming in the studio to s ing on a couple tracks . He w as traveling with Chris who i s from the San Francisco Band , Flying Colour. The title track is a song that I wro te for my Uncle who died in 1980. I came across a journal I had kept from the year he d i ed, and had d iscovered I had never had a chance to thank him for all the th i ngs he had done for me . That's what set this wh ole project in motion."

GAJOOB #7:  Uncle John's Farm i s distinguished by B l akely ' s excellent songwr i ting and guita r work , along with a h ost of bac k ing musicians playing a variety of acoust i c-or i ented instruments : cello , ban j o , harmonica and aocordlo n . Styles range from down-home country barn-burners to more personal observations. Blakely w r i tes about real life and reveals something in the process - about him and a bout you. And what makes this such an enjoyable tape ls the obvious lov e of music ma k ing In evidence by all involv ed . High ly recom mended . -- Bryan Baker

Selections are available on the CD The Payne Anthology , from CDBaby.

Listen to the title track.

Uncle John's Farm