I was playing a house concert in Charlotte, NC last spring and there, in the audience, was my hero, Si Kahn. He knew me as a radio host, but not necessarily a performer. He sang on every song, laughed at most of the jokes, and invited me out to breakfast the next morning. At breakfast, Si handed me a sheaf of papers with the title: The Far Si: The Si Kahn Funny Song sing-along Songbook, performed by Matt Watroba. He must have stayed up all night. The packet included a dozen or so songs Si had written but never recorded. He followed up with demos of the melodies and I fell in love with them. Si turned 75 in 2019. It is with great pleasure that I pay tribute to a man who has given so much to the world we live in. His contributions include unforgettable songs, plays, and books as well as several decades worth of community organizing and leadership. The songs are full or word play and fresh, humorous perspective. After hearing two of Si’s songs, “Will’s Will” and “Walt’s Waltz,” I was inspired to write my own tribute to the man called, you guessed it, “Si’s Sigh.” With your help, I will finish up in the recording studio, get the CD designed, printed and distributed. Any extra will go towards promoting it to the world. The release date to the public is January 28, 2020.
After years of being a musician, I have built a very talented team of folks to pull a project like this off. Timing is always a challenge. December and early January is traditionally slow time for concerts, so this seemed like a good time to get this done.