In 1976 I was living in Memphis, having a great time playing music and hanging out with a bunch of other musicians. Eight of us lived in a massive 1904 mansion we called the Big House. Once the home of a wealthy family, it hadn't been maintained meticulously for 20 years or so. But it was a solid and magnificent house, and an awesome place for eight musicians to have a great time living the single life. There was this girl...let's call her Paula...who I had known for a time as a friend of a friend. One night we ended up together at Solomon Alfred's on Overton Square, and the warm sparks flew. We said goodnight around midnight and I went back to the Big House floating on a cloud. I sat down in my bedroom with my Yamaha FG-160 guitar (which I still have today) and an uplifted attitude. My fingers started playing the song's signature lick and words soon followed. I've never really been depressed, but at times I've been discouraged. But as I sat there in the early morning singing...after a nice evening with a soon-to-be very close friend...I'd say I was encouraged! And New Way tells the story. This version was recorded live by Pluto Jones one afternoon in June 1980 at the Brass Monkey Lounge in Marathon in the Florida Keys. I hung two Shure SM-57 microphones from the ceiling and pressed 'record' on an $80 Sanyo cassette deck. Somehow, I kept track of that old cassette, and I still have it. There's also a newer version, from 2008 during the session celebrating Michael's 50th birthday and Pluto Jones' 30th anniversary. And there's an earlier version on the site recorded by the Memphis Rockers around 1978. New Way © 2024 - Joey Arata