Listen! * Checkered Past

Listen! * Checkered Past

Poignant, playful and sweetly subversive with warm harmonies - acoustic music that zings!

Checkered Past Montage

Playful music in support of creating a world that works for all:

See us on YouTube!

Martha's Mandolin duet with Jamie Logan

Backwater Blues

Search YouTube for "Checkered Past WWWDZ99" to find more.

"Music ripped straight from today's headlines." - KC

As dedicated social capitalists, we wield guitars, bass, mandolin, fiddle, flute, and vocal harmony in the war against gloom and resignation. From sweet and personal love songs, to crusty blues, silly social commentary and jitterbugs, if we can't find the song we are looking for in the repertoire of the last 500 years, we just write one.

Need bigger text?

Bigger Text?

DigStation - Indie Music Downloads

Listen to samples of songs on our new EP "Fortune's Fools" with Kelly Werts as engineer and producer:

"Backwater Blues" Words and Music by K.C. Compton, ©2006 - K.C., vocals. Martha, Harmony and fiddle. Lynn, guitar. Kerry, bass.

"Fortune's Fool" Words and Music by Kerry Stanley, ©2006 - Kerry, vocals and guitar. K.C., harmony. Martha, mandolin. Lynn, bass.

"Back In The City" Words and Music by Martha Haehl, ©2006 - Martha, vocals and bass. K.C., yodeling and commentary. Lynn, harmony and guitar. Kerry, guitar.

"Coyote Song" Words and Music by David Hakan, ©1994 - Lynn, vocals and guitar. Martha, flute, fiddle and harmony. K.C., harmony. Kerry, guitar and bass.

"Isn't It A Miracle" Words and Music by Kerry Stanley, ©2006 - Kerry, vocals, whistling and guitar. Martha, harmony, flute and bass. K.C., harmony. Lynn, harmony.

Here are a few live recordings from our recent performance in Columbia, Missouri.

"Across the Great Divide" K.C. Compton, lead vocals. Martha Haehl, flute and harmony vocals. Lynn Snyder, harmony vocals and guitar. Kerry Stanley, bass.

"Ball and Musket" Words and Music by Kerry Stanley, ©2006 - Kerry Stanley, lead vocals and guitar. Martha Haehl, flute and harmony vocals. K.C. Compton, harmony vocals. Lynn Snyder, bass.

"It's My Lazy Day" Martha, lead vocals. K.C. Compton, harmony vocals. harmony vocals. Lynn Snyder, guitar. Kerry Stanley, bass.

"Why Don't I Believe You?"

Habitat ReStore's Fall Festival 2006

Bill's original topical song was used on Mike Murphy's Wednesday Morning Buzz Show on KKFI, 90.1.FM. Rebecca Roche also picked it up for her show Eclectics. Here's what Bill says about the song:

"This song was written only a few weeks ago (September 2006), inspired while I was watching a mainstream media newscast and all I could think was, 'Why don’t I believe you?'

"It is dedicated to all the spokespersons out there who masquerade as journalists. Who it is directed at should be obvious!"

"Why Don't I Believe You" Words and Music by Bill Langsdorf, ©2006 - Bill, lead vocals, and guitar. Martha, mandolin and harmony. Lynn, harmony. Kerry, bass. (Lyrics)

Check out Neil Young's "Living With War Today - Songs of our Times web page. "Why Don't I Believe You" has moved up from 1046 to 432 in popularity.

Contact the band and/or the web master: info@CheckeredPastMusic.com