Duck Hunting in Quicksand

  Duck Hunting in Quicksand is a tale of humility and heroism, from the melting pot of Delta blues on Beale Street in Memphis to the Pacific theater of WWII. 

Arthur Campbell, one of several colored guides at a hunting club in north Mississippi in the 1930s, prescient, expert in the ways of the woods though barely literate, enters the employ of a prominent Memphis family until the late 1950s, profoundly impacting them even across the Pacific, becoming a second father to the narrator (in the absence of his father) through the War years and after... 

Ensign Charles Deane Smith was listed MIA after his ship, the USS HOUSTON was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese in the early hours of March 1, 1942, a surprise attack on their flotilla of Allied warships. His survival would not be known by his family for many months, but that morning and the next day Deane rescued many men, leading them to the isle of Java until they were captured by the Japanese after 3 days. Ensign Smith's three-and-a-half-year ordeal as a Japanese POW was foretold by humble hunting guide Arthur Campbell well before the War began. 

Soon after America declared War in December 1941, the hunting and fishing retreat where he was employed closed, and Arthur Campbell sought employment in the household of one of the club members, Charlie Walterlane of Memphis. News of the demise of the HOUSTON had been the catalyst for all adult male Walterlane and Smith family members not already engaged to enlist or regain their commissions in the armed forces. Without their father or uncles the five Walerlane children found a role model in Arthur Campbell. Carlo narrates the story— sharing his perspective from his teen years through young adulthood. Arthur unintentionally became the family leader, and  shared his outdoors and life skills through many adventures during and after the War. He was beloved by all Walterlanes until he died in 1957. 

Look for this album of 12 original songs: music videos posted to the Will Sonnet & The Brokers YouTube site (and accessible here). It's mostly about the four main women in my life: my lovely Mrs. and our three girls, but with a song or two that aren't exactly that. Until it drops, check out some of the videos below. I learned to play by copying the masters, Bela Fleck, Alison Brown, Jens Kruger, and many others, but quickly learned that banjo music sounds like noise, or the same to non musicians, and they would rather hear vocals. I started with guitar at aged 15, and picked up the 5-string about 20 years ago.