#49: They'll Come Looking For You

Quick note: I'm honored to be a singer/accompanist at a terrific event here in NYC on October 28 called "The Power of Women's Voices" at the Triad Theatre, sponsored by The Three Tomatoes Book Publishing. I'll talk more about it as the date gets closer. Link here: https://www.thethreetomatoes.com/power. But Cheryl Benton has a knack of finding lost or ignored female voices and bringing them to life.


Note 2: I'm also performing as a back-up musician for the great pop star, Corina. We'll be doing an acoustic version of her latest, incredibly powerful album "Spanglish."
https://shows.donttellmamanyc.com/9153-corina-spanglish-unplugged-new-york-city-9-27-25


Now, to today's song and video. I got so excited about the response to the last video I right away jumped on another "lost" song I've loved but never quite figured out how to record, "They'll Come Looking For Us" in honor of a friend of mine, Billy Block, a promoter of Americana music and open mics in Nashville, who had just died. So it's dedicated to him.


It's a message of hope for any kind of creator (like the wonderful women authors at the Three Tomatoes Publishing). That if you stay on your path and stay true to your vision and work on it, preferably with a creative community around you, and if that vision has any kind of real meaning, people will find you. They will come to you.

For some reason -- maybe it was the way I was raised -- I have always lived with great positivity. The belief that no matter how bad things get, we can and will get over it and defeat it.

Or rather, that people inherently, once they realize they've been hornswoggled, will go looking for Truth. We humans can be conned and fooled and led astray easily, but when Truth hits us, when we hear it, we recognize it. It's something beyond and above the normal stream of culture.

When we performed The Last Session, or even earlier when I sang those songs on my own, I saw people's heads practically spin off their shoulders once they heard Truth in my lyrics and felt if in my music. I watched it every night. I could see their bodies change shape as they became totally frozen in the moment.


So here is the video. I spent about four days imagining and then using AI tools to create the musical setting and the animation. If you are a creator, yourself, I hope this song gives you inspiration to fight on and make your mark!


https://youtu.be/27d9jc7Wl2Y


THEY'LL COME LOOKING FOR US
©2025 by Steve Schalchlin

BILLY BLOCK RAN THIS OPEN MIC
HE’D SAY, SON, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG
DON’T BEG AND PLEAD FOR ATTENTION
IT’S DEMEANING AND IT RUINS YOUR SONG

THERE’LL COME A TIME THE PARTY’LL CRASH
GAMES AND FUN WILL BE IN THE PAST
FOLKS WILL WANT SOME SUBSTANCE
SOME GUTS AND TRUTH THAT WILL LAST

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY IGNORE US NOW
AS WE HUDDLE TOGETHER
STORYTELLER AND TROUBADOUR
BUT THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US

THEY'LL COME LOOKING FOR US
CUZ FAKE IS FUN FOR A SEASON
THEN IT GETS OLD AND WE ALL WANT MORE

I SAID YOU’RE JUST A PROMOTER
SELLING A ROMANTIC DREAM
THE TRUTH IS THE WORLD DON’T CARE
AND WILL SPIN ON WHETHER WE’RE HERE OR THERE

HE SAID MAKE LOVE AND SURVIVE
FROM YOUR HALF EMPTY SHELVES
CUZ WHEN THEY’RE ALONE WITH THEIR
HALF-EMPTY SELVES

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY MAY NOT KNOW OUR NAMES YET
SO MUCH NOISE THEY MUST CUT THROUGH

BUT THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY MAY KILL US, THEY MAY EAT US
THEY MAY STICK US UP ON STATUES
CUZ THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE DO
TO THE ONES WHO SAY WHAT’S TRUE

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU
HE SAID TURN YOUR BACK
MAKE ‘EM LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU

#48: Doctor Follow-Up & Inspiration for Creators

Jim is back to totally normal.


The doctor told Jim that his partner had a similar occurrence, several days of chills, no fever, no appetite, sleeping all day also just recently. And like Jim, bounced right back with no lingering effects. He also speculates a mild kind of new little virus or "bug" popping up. (He googled the symptoms and then proudly announced he had malaria. Thank you, AI. He did not have malaria.)


I also forgot to mention that the video for "If You Don't See God" last week was created by me. I thought it should look like a homemade project made of felt, something a kid might bring to school or church.


In case you missed it: https://youtu.be/J1kfRAs1rRs?si=zoB1Qq7z40rRrn4a


I'm excited by September. I'm working with the pop star Corina again, assisting her on her own show at the end of the month.


My arm is healing slowly. It's a bit harder to walk for long periods of time, as I love to do.


So, I'll finish this off with a promo video I just made for Gavin and me.


https://youtu.be/K1OKR0igFnM


(And today is my late mom's birthday. Love you, Carolyn.)

#47: An ER Visit & Universal Gospel Song

1. ER
Close friends know that Jim was in the ER this weekend. He had a very bad weekend where he was almost catatonic, sleeping 23 out of 24 hours. It was so weird and inexplicable, when he finally agreed to go to the ER on Sunday morning, we were relieved that there was no one in the waiting room and we went right in.


They tested everything but nothing came up positive. On Monday, I was really in a panic because it seemed like they had no diagnosis and he looked worse.


Then suddenly, he came out of it and was absolutely normal. We will be seeing his primary doctor today to see if there is any explanation. Thanks to everyone who wrote and expressed sympathy.


2. If You Don't See God.
With AI music proliferating, a single person can "create" and upload hundreds of phony mediocre "songs" based on nothing but a "prompt," thus denying actual songwriters royalties by flooding the market with this crap.


THAT BEING SAID, if someone told me when I was a kid that a song I wrote (YES, THAT I WROTE WITHOUT AI), could come to life almost immediately, I know I would have jumped on it. Now, others may disagree and that's fine.


So what I've done is I've taken a gospel song I wrote some time ago but always wanted to hear in its full glory. But what it needs is a killer soul vocalist, a huge choir and instrumentation. I couldn't afford this kind of production even if I did have the right singers and musicians.


I said above, in the title, that this was a "universal gospel song" and it came from my desire to write songs that could universally apply across any and all faith traditions based on my belief that, in all ethical religions, there is a lodestone of truth-love that runs beneath them all.


Since the rules of the use of AI in streaming is still being worked out legally, I'm only releasing this on YouTube because, frankly, I want everyone SINGING this song.


Long ago, when I left my home church due to their rejection of gay people, it was 25 years before I ever darkened the door of a church again. I'm still not back in or out. As I wrote in another song, "I stand outside," not because I think I'm better but because that's where I am. Period. Pushed out and now outside. And that's fine with me because I have found that I'm welcome in any congregation with an open mind. Whether that's Christian or Jewish or Unitarian or any other other sacred space, it doesn't matter because Truth is Truth and Love is Love.

So, here is the song! I hope it is meaningful to you.


https://youtu.be/J1kfRAs1rRs?si=bqs44AXz-QADY6fO


IF YOU DON'T SEE GOD

If you don’t see God
In the eyes of the people
Then you don’t see God

Search in the stars
Check all the nooks
Know every word
Found in your books
Sort through creation
Sift all the clues
Pay all the dues, but…

If you don’t see God
In the eyes of the people
Then you don’t see God

Pray every prayer
Follow each rule
Learn every lesson
Taught in your school
Wear the right clothing
Walk the right way
Know what to say, but…

If you don’t see God
In the eyes of the people
Then you don’t see God
If you don’t see God
In the eyes of the people
Then you don’t see God
Then you don’t see God
Then you don’t see God

©2004 by Steve Schalchlin / Lil Shack O Tunes ASCAP

#45: When Beatles Magic Happens

First of all, after my breast-beating end-of-the-world night sweats I poured into your generous souls last Tuesday, something really wonderful happened that reminded me there are larger things going on in the world and the best thing I can do is simply be in it and let opportunity happen.


I woke up Wednesday morning suddenly filled with energy and positivity. And thanks to all of you who wrote me and expressed your love.


[Summary: After seven and a half hours of performing in a sweltering Strawberry Fields, Gavin and I witnessed something truly magical. A small circle of strangers who had just sung "Imagine" with us began sharing where they were from. The crowd included people from Israel and Palestine, standing together in a moment of absolute love. This experience was the ultimate testament to the song's promise—that music can transcend differences and bring people together, one heart at a time. It was the moment I had been waiting for, and it finally happened.]

WED JULY 30

This was an epic day. When we arrived it was hot and muggy. We set up beneath the branches where we were most likely to avoid the arriving, arcing sun. Not many people came through. And if they did, they didn’t stay long. Too hot.

I was buying bottles of water from the women along the path, who are manning insulated coolers. “Agua, un dolar!” The first one I got was almost frozen solid so it lasted through the whole morning.

After three fruitless, difficult hours, we finally stopped when the next guy showed up. He didn’t even bother with his electrics. Just brought a guitar doing his best avoid the sun.

Then we were told the next three people have all canceled because of the heat and if we wanted to hang out or go eat something, we could have the 1pm slot. We quickly said yes. I got a lamb on salad from the cart and we rested under a tree while Dave did his set. He had Blue, his new puppy with him, who was just sleeping in the roll cart.

We went on at 1 and then watched the clock tick by as each hour passed. No one came at 2. No one came at 3. No one came at 4. Finally, someone came and took over at 5:30. That means we performed for 7 ½ hours total. I could believe my voice held out.

Gavin leads the way as we run through our set. Then, he'll say, “Time for Imagine. Do the circle.”

First I tell my story about playing the piano and the cigarette burn groove. Which brings an image and a story into the mix that we can all focus around. Then we sing. Everyone is shy at first. They giggle at themselves when the first “I” comes up. That little musical figure that leaps up high.

By the time we get to the last verse, they are almost singing full out. Almost. The phrase “Sharing all the world” is where I turn it over to them. And they usually deliver, surprising themselves with how good they sound.

Then Gavin, still over on the bench, vamps while I ask everyone where they are from. The usual countries are Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina. Today we also had Senegal, Luxembourg, Lisbon.

Then a man quietly said, “Israeli.” Then the next man said “German.”

Then a man said, caution in his voice, “Palestinian.”


I treated it as normally as if he had said my hometown. Welcomed him, as I did all the others, and then moved on to the next person (Peru, then Mexico). No one winced. No one reacted. It was a circle of absolute love amongst a group of strangers standing around a mosaic with the word IMAGINE on it.

I have been waiting for this day. I knew – I hoped – it would someday happen. And today it happened. (And I can’t help loving that Germany was in the middle).

(Remember, all of us had just sung “Imagine” together.)

I said to them, “When we sing this song together, all superficial labels fall away. We are just human beings. We fulfill the promise of the song when we sing the song. Put it in your heart, spread it around because that’s how change happens, one heart to another heart, one at a time.”

Then they all broke out into applause.