From the STCU performance stage at KSPS, tonight on Inland Sessions... it's the Matt Mitchell Music Company.

"Send me down St. Helens" Matt brings some of his friends along with his signature folk style to the studio to share original songs of love and life.

♪ You say you saw it coming you knew it all along You never been one to follow no shepherd but the wolf still sings its song So go on, make yourself a home behind some cold stone walls Build em high up around you, so nothing gets in at all If the flock has lost their way It's their own damn fault for playing the game You been told for so long how most everybody else they got it all wrong So hard to believe it's true but you know exactly what you've got to do So go on, make yourself a home behind some cold stone walls Build em high up around you, so nothing gets in at all If the flock has lost their way It's their own damn fault for playing the game Sometimes I get lost waiting Wondering 'bout the size of the mess I'm making But anything worth your time in this life Is bound to spin you round take you out for a ride Make you wonder if you'll survive If the flock has lost their way If the flock has lost their way If the flock has lost their way It's their own damn fault for playing the game ♪ Sitting up high like a mountain top It's hard to come to terms when you tower above But nothing ever stays that way You'd be a fool to think it ain't gonna change I've seen mountain tops give way They take down their surroundings as they tumble And when they do the whole world breaks loose Turned inside out ripped all the way through The very air is poisoned Light of the world now stolen A thousand voices join in a chorus You hear how it's gone now?

Feel the ground rumble.

Oh my God, send me down St. Helens With a deeper understanding of what went wrong, a story worth the telling It's true now I have no doubts I have been humbled From this far out it's like a dim echo A murmur off the bass but nothing from the tremble There ain't no song could ever be sung No melody whistled or hummed Try as you might it just can't be done You do your best to stay up but you still go under Oh my God, send me down St. Helens With a deeper understanding of what went wrong, a story worth the telling It's true now I have no doubts I have been humbled Adams, Hood and Rainier they all knew the day was near But that don't make a difference when the day comes Looking ahead to a distant day, mountain top hiding atmospheric haze Just because you don't see it, don't mean it's gone Oh my God, send me down St. Helens With a deeper understanding of what went wrong, a story worth the telling It's true now I have no doubts It's true now I have no doubts It's true now I have no doubts I have been humbled This next tune I wrote at the very start of the pandemic when it felt like it could turn into the zombie apocalypse, and the grocery stores were all empty.

The feeling was just like that we just have to wait it out a few weeks and everything will be back to normal.

But I think the sentiment was appropriate.

It's called "After Today".

♪ I tried myself, I tried a name I've tried my hands at so many things Recent days sure took a toll But spring rains gonna wash me clean, make me whole.

Giving up now ain't got no use, son of a bitch I'm gonna see this through.

Gonna give it time, gonna give it hell Gonna shine a light through the dark days, finally cure myself.

Everyone here is just like me Counting the days till we're set free Don't matter much the number you make It's the ones that are gonna come to ya after today Oh, after today.

Oh ♪ Freeze dried n' packed up n' put away Some things you could use now, but you make the decision to save I'm gonna be hungrier than I am now I'm gonna need it more before the time runs out Hope I don't die before it comes about Don't mean to be rude no I can't talk now Cut down, limbed n' rounded n' hauled away All them years of growing tall don't matter much today But I remember birds like a symphony It was shining love it was raining peace Now you're looking at a new break in the skyline A little more space to make for the sunshine So hold steady stay the course You're dying slow but you're mostly just bored A little more sorry than the day before But it's a scary world, yeah it's hard to be sure Ooh You drop it down n' you bring it up again Drink your fill from an empty cup, it's a casual conversation But I got a thirst I can't satisfy And there ain't no shame in staying alive Every time i go n' take what i think I'll like I find there's something new I need to be satisfied So hold steady stay the course You're dying slow but you're mostly just bored A little more sorry than the day before But it's a scary world, So hold steady stay the course You're dying slow but you're mostly just bored A little more sorry than the day before But it's a scary world, yeah it's hard to be sure Ooh ♪ I can see the veil lifting The fog in your eyes is gone holding on to a memory like a dress worn only once when you were young On the other edge of something We knew it all along Love between the margins we both agreed eventually Everything goes wrong But that's just part of the deal Anything real in this world's gonna make you hurt from time to time So make it easy now you can build it up, or you can tear it down Ooh I remember when I first saw you It's like we never know The stranger on the street could be the next lover you will hold So don't you let it slip no don't you let it go This ain't about yourself my love it's a problem all my own.

I'm on my own But that's just part of the deal Anything real in this world's gonna make you hurt from time to time So make it easy now you can build it up, or you can tear it down Ooh Are you gonna keep running your whole damn life?

when you grow up, settle down and do it right?

just doesn't seem right to an old man like me I've traded my life for the idea that someday I'd be free I bore the brunt of the burden and my back broke They said take pride in your work, a tired body is a happy soul now here I am living a life I just can't afford I traded my time for the idea that someday I'd have more.

I said I'm gonna stick to the road until there ain't no doubt I know it doesn't seem fair after everything you've been about but if there's just one thing, we can both agree it'd be a shame to waste the life that you gave to me Oh when I met your mother, I was younger than you she liked to move fast so I did too it wasn't long before I was running to catch the price of yesterday is a debt, I never could pay back.

I said I'm gonna stick to the road until there ain't no doubt I know it doesn't seem fair after everything you've been about but if there's just one thing we can both agree it'd be a shame to waste the life that you gave to me Oh A big thank you to Inland Sessions for having us.

And PBS, and KSPS in general, public TV is pretty amazing, and you should support it.

It serves your community.

And, I'm happy to be here.

This next song is called "Captive of the Mind".

It's the title track off an album I released in January of this year.

I hope you like it.

And, if you do like it you can support us through Bandcamp.

You can get a digital download.

Or just follow us on social media, we're playing all sorts of shows.

Matt Mitchell Music Company.

Yeah, this is "Captive of the Mind".

♪ Someday soon I'm gonna meet myself A forgotten version of someone else I wonder if we'll have enough to say We're gonna talk about the weather and mistakes we've made Just another captive of the mind I gotta plan to break free you can join me if you like Just another captive of the mind I gotta plan to break free you can join me if you like Ooh I know some things they can't be helped Some things you can only blame yourself You can make it hurt and you can make it sting You can do yourself a favor playing make believe Just another captive of the mind I got a plan to break free you can join me if you like Just another captive of the mind I got a plan to break free you can join me if you like Ooh I been chipping away for years and years I've emptied my pockets in the yard Now the time has come for it I'm gonna make a run for it I just need you to watch for the guard Stayin' calm Just another captive of the mind I got a plan to break free you can join me if you like Just another captive of the mind I got a plan to break free you can join me if you like I got a plan to break free you can join me I got a plan to break free you can join me I got a plan to break free you can join me if you like Ooh ♪