The Kitchen Musician ~ November 2025

November 14, 202517 Comments

Hello Friends,

Come into my kitchen to hear my friend Charlie Koch and me sing a song we just wrote about someone you may recognize – “Call the Old Folksinger.”

Index

  NEWS:
  THIS MONTH’S MUSIC: “Call the Old Folksinger”
  UPCOMING SHOWS
  FEATURED NON-PROFIT: Greater Boston Food Bank (or Your Local Food Pantry)

Tom at HCAM: Hopkinton Community Access and Media

News:

I had the honor to be interviewed by my friend Dan Cloutier on his new video series for HCAM Hopkinton Community Access and Media (see photo above). It is called Dan Cloutier’s Community. We talked about how music (and the arts in general) is an important tool for building community, and we share a few songs along the way. You can watch the 50 minute interview at this link.

I have also been singing songs for about 700 new friends as we bear witness weekly at the New England ICE Detention Center in Burlington, MA. It feels good to do something positive.

Singing with Dean Stevens (left) and Aaron Tornberg (right) at the ICE Detention Center rally, Burlington, MA
Photo by TWS Photography – used with permission

Upcoming Shows

November 21, Friday, Dedham, MA, 7:00 pm (doors): Cosy Sheridan and I return to the Third Friday Coffeehouse series at First Church Unitarian in Dedham – joined by Charlie Koch and Seth Connelly. Don’t miss this one! We filled the room when we played here last year. Tickets at this link (no service fee when purchased online.) I guarantee that you will leave this show feeling better than when you arrived.

December 14, Sunday, Freeport, ME 4:00 pm: Joining Jud Caswell, Mark Stepakoff and Chris LaVancher for a songwriter showcase. This will be a great session!

All show details can be found at upcoming shows.

This Month’s Music: “Call the Old Folksinger”

“Call the Old Folksinger”
℗© 2025 Charlie Koch and Tom Smith (ASCAP)

I became aware of Charlie Koch and his wonderful music about 15 or 16 years ago at an open mic in Concord, MA. My admiration for his music grew as we both attended one of Bob Franke‘s songwriting classes in Cambridge, MA. As time passed, admiration matured into friendship and now at his invitation, we are musical collaborators as co-writers of this month’s new song – “The Old Folksinger.”

I don’t co-write very often. In most co-write sessions I feel awkward, and my mind instantly goes blank. So when Charlie invited me to do a co-write, I agreed but only on the condition that he would accept the likelihood that nothing would come of it. Charlie was OKAY with that, and said we would put a three hour limit on it, and if nothing happens we would at least have had a good conversation.

Over a cup of tea, we started with no rough drafts and no idea of what we were going to write about. We talked about our common experiences as “old white guys with guitars” – how the music industry gives “extra points” to the young and beautiful artists; how our bodies are betraying us in various ways (arthritis in our hands, a memory that betrays us at the worst possible moments on stage, etc.) From there we reminded ourselves that age does have certain advantages; giving us a rich perspective on life and lots of material to write about; to say nothing of the built-in empathy that old folk singers have with an audience that seems to be primarily other old people with similar life issues.

From there I mentioned that I really love his rendition of the Wilson Pickett song, “Mustang Sally.” If you haven’t heard Charlie sing “Mustang Sally”, you are missing one of the great musical experiences. I said that I had always wanted to write a song like that one. I compared it to Sam and Dave’s song, “I’m a Soul Man”, and pictured a possible song sung by an old folk singer bragging about all of his desirable qualities. From there, I laid down a few chords and a groove and we were off to the races.

The song was essentially written in our three hour session. Although it was definitely not finished, we declared that it was a song and decided to revisit it over the following few days. With a bit of editing and several demo phone recordings exchanged, the song tightened up to the point of sharing it with you.

As always, thank you for listening and being a part of my musical journey. I hope to see you at one of my upcoming shows.

Call the old folksinger!

Tom

(If so inclined, I invite you to leave a comment by scrolling to the end of this page.)

Featured Non-profit: The Greater Boston Food Bank

The Greater Boston Food Bank “works passionately to end hunger across Eastern Massachusetts by providing our neighbors in need the healthy food and resources they need to thrive… Your support enables GBFB to distribute healthy food to neighbors in need as well as nutrition programs and resources for sustained, healthy lives and healthy communities.”

Please join me in supporting The Greater Boston Food Bank, or click to find a food bank in your area.