Dr BLT's Blog n Roll Studio
an innovative fusion of music and discussion centering around a variety of topics
A blog about Arts & Entertainment, Health & Wellness, and Kern County.
Real Name: Bruce Thiessen Member Since: July 29, 2006 Last Signed In: July 23, 2008 Profile Views: 14565 Blog Views: 79452 male/female Bakersfield's Next Buck contestants team up for duet about Buck and Bonnie Owens What this Country Means to Me: A tribute to Kern county country music I'll pull some Strings for You: Lyric today, hear it tomorrow Bakersfield sound pioneer helps younger songwriters pen tribute to the Blackboard where he played Roots, Rhythm and Boots to Fit In: Lyric today, hear it tomorrow I'm going to try to get Sonny Langley and Red Simpson to record this duet Sonny Nights: Latest from Songs inspired by Sonny Langley Shadows: I can't believe I got to produce this Hank Ray song Are You the New Hank? That's what I asked him in this interview question that doubles as a song Music critic Michael Dalton's review of Buck Owens Studios Farewell Session CD August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 http://www.drblt.net 
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The presidential hopefuls are slowing gaining steam as we plow past '06, into 07, with an eye on the big prize in '08. Each presidential hopeful has put his/her best foot forward, but who will rise in prominence in '07, and who will become burried in baggage and scandal? If the election were held today, McCain would beat Hillary. Will McCain's momentum slow down in '07? Will Hillary gain momentum and pull ahead? And what about Osama, or Obama or whatever his name is...
Most mistakes, whether on a personal level, or a public or political level, may be traced to an attitude of pride. That's why the best way to approach the coming year is with an attitude of humility, the attitude so poignantly portrayed in the song, Why Me Lord? by Kris Kristofferson.
The extent to which you succeed, and the extent to which you fail, in 2007, will, to a large measure, be directly attributable to the extent to which you applied humility to your situation at...
Well, now that you've heard the song, here's your opportunity to share your experiences and answer the question: Can faith, or devotion to Jesus, keep a spouse faithful? Is a person committed to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ any less likely to cheat in a marital relationship? Moreover, are all faiths equal in terms of their influence on marital fidelity?
Do you have any personal experiences you would be willing to share as it pertains to this issue? Did...
John Lennon, when he was alive, urged us all to Imagine. Can you imagine a world in which the Beatles actually claimed Bakersfield as their home town rather than Liverpool? What if, instead of calling London, I had just grabbed the local phone book to interview the Quarrymen, the band that Paul and John were in just before they formed the Beatles?
http://www.tollbooth.org/20...
What if we were lucky enough to have the Beatles as our claim to fame---as...
When I released Bakesfield (This Ain't Life as it Should Be), arguably my biggest local blog n roll hit song of the year, some questioned my sense of civic pride and my love for this beautful city of Bakersfield. Well, I hope this here new song puts all rumors to rest and removes all doubts cast by those who would think I was anything less than proud of Bakersfield.
How about you, how deep is your pride in this town? What are you proud of, and what are you ashamed of...
To follow Jesus in '07, you will need to leave the worries and fears of '06 behind. To follow Jesus from the cradle to the cross, and beyond, you will need to suspend your doubt and cynacism long enough to take hold of the reins of faith. To follow Jesus through his death, you will need to leave your burdens, and all of your sins at the foot of the cross. To follow Jesus through the resurrection, you will need to leave beyond what Freud described as Thanatos, or "death...
For my final Christmas blog post, I'd like to introduce the subject of Christmas as a romantic time of year. How many of you are in love this Christmas? How many are falling in love? How many are rekindling the flames of an old romance? What sorts of romantic memories do you have that correspond to the Christmas season? What are the most romantic Christmas songs? What other elements combined together put you in the mood for a Christmas romance? By the...
There's one song I never seem to get tired of as Christmastime rolls around. It was a hit song penned by Johnny Marks that Brenda Lee turned into a timeless classic.
This year I decided to pay tribute to Peggy Lee and songwriter Johnny Marks by covering the tune myself. I don't think it's possible to duplicate, or to even come close to capturing the innocence, charm and delight of that original recording, but if you have grown weary of Brenda Lee's original recording and...
A world without Christmas would be a very sad world, as would a world without Easter. It seems like district trustees had their priorities straight, voting 4-1 Thursday to change the names of Kern High School District breaks to Christmas and Easter.
This is a small step towards reclaiming holidays that have, and continue to have, a profound impact on American culture. While I believe the trustees made the right decision, and I applaud them for their actions, I am against...
Have you got an axe to grind? Are you one of those last-minute Christmas tree shoppers who can't find a tree because folks bought them early this year and you're up against the shortage? I've got the solution, and it's contained in this song.
Perhaps who were among those who purchased your tree early, but you can't stand the last-minute-Christmas-shopping crowds at the mall? Once again, I've got the solution. Escape the way the two redneck Christmas tree huggers in this...
.............................................Well , if you haven't guessed by now, it's a freshly broken heart? How many of you have suffered one of these just before the holiday season? How many of you have had to take back a cornucopia of gifts because the one you bought them for left you out in the cold just before Christmas? Now let's try putting the shoe on the other foot. How many of you have broken somebody's heart just before Christmas? That's right, how...
Merle Haggard's If We Can Make it Through December, inspired this blog post and its concomitant single-song "soundtrack." Merle's seasonal signature hit is a song about holding on through the storms of life. Merle Haggard has faced many a storm, many of his own creation.
What storms do you face this holiday season? Human beings are great at creating their own storms. We can start a snow storm by taking a light snow fall and whipping it...
It is the centerpiece of the Christmas story? Is is merely a fiction that makes us feel warm and fuzzy during the Christmas season, or is it a miraculous historical fact? If true, the implications are ineffably profound: A holy God coming down to earth to walk among men and women; to feel the trials, tribulations, and temptations known to heart of humankind; and to bear the burden of the sins of the whole world on his shoulders. If an 'immaculate deception," what...
As a young man, I had, and have, more of the temperament of an artist than a construction worker. So the sight of me working as part of a construction crew with a bunch of hardened blue collar workers presented a rather sorry mental portrait. As a young college student, you do what you have to do to make those tuition payments.
In the summer of 1979 (or perhaps 1980), I took a job laying concrete pipe underground for a company called Wapel Construction in Saskatoon,...
Walter Stormont, a friend and fellow band member asked me when I had written a particular song we were working on in the studio in late November. I don't him, "Two weeks ago," and he replied, with his signature wit, "Oh, then it's one of your old ones." Well, then I guess that makes this one positively antediluvian.
You may have heard this song on the radio as it generated some local airplay when it was initially released in the Christmas of '04. Today...
What do Johnny Cash, Bakersfield, Christmas and South Carolina share in common? Well, the answer is contained in the song you are about to hear, and so is the story. Let's just say that getting an all-expense-paid trip to South Carolina to be a keynote speaker on the subject of Music as a Therapeutic Tool can be a dubious blessing at best, especially right smack dab in the middle of my wedding anniversary, and right smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season. This song came...
Bing Crosby. Andy Williams. Burl Ives. Frank Sinatra. The Carpenters. These are a few of my favorite singers of classic Christmas songs. But every once in a long while, I'm ready for something new. How about you? If you are ready to hear a new Christmas song, it might as well be one of my very own. This song has already recieved nearly 200 download hits in the last 24 hours. No, it's nowhere near my chart-climbing Christmas hit from...
I've listened to nearly every Christmas song Johnny Cash ever recorded. There's something decidedly dark and haunting about every one. Though he loved to laugh and to have a good time, Johnny Cash was not a jolly old soul. But he was an old soul with deep convictions, deep sorrow, and deep compassion. His songs he sang, and his consistent advocacy for the down-trodden reflect the real spirit and real meaning of Christmas. This Christmas, as every Christmas, we...
The song, You're Not the Kind of Ho (That Santa had in MInd) is based on my own personal experience. In the first verse, I draw from my father as a role model, reflecting on a situation I experienced as a youth, as I witnessed my father's refusal to allow a hooker to come in between himself, his family, and his efforts to gather food to feed his family. In the second verse, I draw from my experience years ago, when I worked as a Program Coordinator of a runawy shelter in Modesto,...
It's called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Poets identified it long before mental health professionals like myself analyzed the heck out of it. It may make for romantic muse, but once it gets you in its throes, it can be quite painful and disruptive. This mood disorder seems to be associated with a decrease in the time period in which one is exposed to sunlight, and so onset is generally in the late fall and early winter. Symptoms include lethargy, sadness,...
I recall Christmas in June, 1969. That's right, June. That's when the real Christmas came for me and my brothers. That's when we discovered the guns that were to have gone with the Johnny West sets we received for Christmas in the Christmas of 1968. My mother had apparently tried to burn the little plastic guns by placing them in the family burning barrel and setting them on fire along with the other burnable items. As it turned out, like Shadrack, Meshack and...
Some parents sacrifice everything just to give their children a good Christmas. Other parents sacrifice everything, including their children at Christmas, just to get high on cocaine. This song addresses the issue of cocaine addiction and the price families pay during Christmas for the addiction of one or more parent.
Before they Were the Beatles: My Interview with the Quarrymen
By psychologist, Dr. Bruce L. Thiessen, aka, Dr. BLT
For the past two years, Santa has been extremely good to me. Last year, I had the distinct honor and pleasure of interviewing Pat Boone. This year, it’s a Quarrymen Christmas. That’s right. If you can believe it, I had an interview with the Quarrymen, the very boys who used to jam with John Lennon and Paul McCartney---the...
The lights seems dimmer, the Christmas tree, less compelling, and the Christmas songs seemed slower and decidedly more solemn. It was the first Christmas without George Harrison. The United States, and, indeed the entire free world was still reeling from 9/11. More than ever, we needed a spiritual place to seek comfort and strength. Now, "the spiritual Beatle" was gone.
We lost George Harrison to lung cancer on November 29, 2001. It's now been...
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