I’ve talked about the Fogelberg Weekend on Facebook, but not here at the blog. It’s a pretty amazing thing that’s fallen in my lap in the past month.

The last weekend of August, the City of Peoria, Illinois will dedicate a memorial to Dan Fogelberg along the riverside there. You can read about it here.

The weekend will feature the dedication of the memorial, followed by a Saturday night tribute concert, with some local Illinois musicians offering their tribute to Dan. But, about three weeks ago, I got a call from Deb Jelinek, who works with Jean Fogelberg. The call was to invite Rusty and me, as members of Connections, to perform at a “welcome party” on Friday night, hosted by Jean and Deb.

The night will feature musicians from all over the country who have done tributes to Fogelberg, along with several members of Dan’s band: Jim Photoglo (who I’ve met at Kerrville and SWRFA) and Michael Hanna.

Wow.

We’re both still a little speechless about it all. It’s an incredible offer and gift to be asked to be a part of this. Just amazing.

So, of course we’re going. Right now, we’re trying to figure out which of Dan’s songs we ought to offer to do. Deb’s asked us to put together a list of five.

So, for all you Connections’ fans who have seen our Fogelberg tribute, let us know:

What songs do you think we should do? Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think.

When I got back from Kerrville, I had a song rattling around in my head…a tune, really. It dawned on me about ten days ago that it was a tribute song for Dan. I’ve titled it “Fogelberg.”
There’s a demo below, for your enjoyment.

As a tribute song, this one is dripping with Fogelberg references. The music and production are blunt homage. And so are the lyrics! This song contains twelve distinct references to twelve different Dan Fogelberg songs in the lyrics. I kid you not. Some references involve clear and direct “borrowing. Others are allusions or song titles.

I won’t give them all away here, but I’d love for you to take your best shot at guessing them. (Hint: none of them repeat, and none of them are in the bridge) Some are obvious. Others may take some work. I’ll post the lyrics below to help you out.

Not quite sure what I’ll do with this one, still working out the kinks.

So, let me know what you think, and take your best shot at guessing those lyric-references.

“Fogelberg”
words and music by Eric Folkerth

At home high on the mountain
Or sailing on the sea
A poet from a river town
Who set his spirit free.

A troubadour, a gambler
With his place in the world
And every time he sang his songs
Our lives are what we heard

You once thanked your father,
For giving songs to you
And we’re forever grateful
That you shared your gift too
So may we ever be…
Your living legacy.

A soundtrack for each passing year
Through all the joy and pain
Days that seemed part of the plan
Nights snow turned to rain

Along the road, you gave to us
A wisdom spelled out plain —
Like it’s always gonna to be a day
And that love is not so strange

You once thanked your father,
For giving songs to you
And we’re forever grateful
That you shared your gift too
So may we ever be…
Your living legacy.

But you left us far to soon
Cold tears in our eyes
Wondering ’bout the missing years and
Full of questions why

But maybe in your leaving
You helped us all to see
That death just keeps us honest
And reminds us we are free.

When the weary journey’s ended
And all our days are gone
Time will still our singing
But songs live ever on.
And they will ever be…
They will ever be…
They will ever be…
Your living legacy.