Buddy's voice is comparable to holding a downy duckling in your palm of your hand; his songwriting is like reading a good book in a cozy chair; and he himself is one of those rare individuals whose smile and heart radiate love and kindness. Buddy will delight you with two 45-minute sets and a 30-minute intermission to grab another cuppa joe, visit the necessary room, or take a brief walk outdoors. It also is a good time to visit Buddy's merch table and pick up his newest CD, Filament.
We hope you accept our invitation. To RSVP, simply dial our ‘little house on the prairie’ at 903-583-2661 (landline; no texts). Leave your name, contact info (preferably an email address, though a phone # will do) and the number of seats desired. Reservations are $25 per person. You can pay at the reservation table in our dining room, either in cash or by check payable to Buddy Mondlock (envelope in a basket). Seats are limited, so, if you make a reservation, please show up. No-shows are a no-no. If you can’t make it, please cancel as soon as you realize that you'll be unable to attend. Who knows? Someone may be on the wait list hoping there will be a cancellation.
Harmony House is located 10 miles north of Bonham (about 65 miles NE of Dallas) down a county road — on 160 acres of woodlands, prairie grasslands, and ponds. Our vintage reclaimed home will bring memories of visiting grandparents, feeling breezes against your face, and having goodies to snack on. Please visit our website, www.WildscapeAcres.com, for a preview. If you've never been here, inform us when making your reservation and we'll get back to you.
Also, we'd love to have you join our Facebook page, Harmony House Concert Group. And, speaking of goodies to snack on, we request that you bring a finger food to share with others on one of the grazing tables throughout the house. We provide bottomless cups of coffee, assorted teas, and at least two varieties of delicious punches in the kitchen and the breakfast room. If you feel inclined, you may leave $1 cash on a plate in the breakfast room to help defray our costs. All other proceeds go directly to the artist.
More about Buddy
Buddy Mondlock’s songs have been recorded by Garth Brooks, Joan Baez, Guy Clark, David Wilcox, Janis Ian, Peter, Paul and Mary and a host of other artists. Nanci Griffith fans will recognize Mondlock's "Comin' Down In the Rain" from her Grammy Award winning collection, Other Voices, Other Rooms. He’s also made his own recordings including a collaboration with Art Garfunkel and Maia Sharp called “Everything Waits To Be Noticed” on EMI/Manhattan Records. His solo release, “The Memory Wall”, reached number 3 on the Folk DJ Charts and was nominated for an Independent Music Award. In 2023, Filament, his latest of seven CDs, made its debut with much acclaim. The CD has an interesting history which Buddy describes in stages on his website www.buddymondlock.com. (You’ll find videos and music from the CD there, too.) In fact, Buddy’s website is a work of art in itself and is so easy to navigate.
Mondlock began his career in Chicago playing at the famed “Earl of Oldtown” — opening for artists like Steve Goodman and Gamble Rogers. But his big break came in 1986 on his first trip to the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. Legendary songwriter Guy Clark heard him play a song at the ballad tree and liked what he heard. Clark started passing around Mondlock’s demo tapes to music biz professionals in Nashville and Buddy’s career took off from there. He found himself heading down the highways of Illinois, his home state, toward Nashville pulling a U-haul trailer. He signed on as a staff songwriter at EMI and soon he was writing songs with the likes of Janis Ian and another young arrival in Nashville named Garth Brooks. Both these artists would end up recording songs they wrote with him.
His newest single, "Girltown," was released in February '24. This poignant song is the true story of its co-writer, Chelsea Ewing, who finally was able to deal with part of her trauma of being arrested and branded as a juvenile deliquent when she had barely turned thirteen. She spent nights in pods with only boys and a questionable guard. Later, she was sent to Girltown, where she remained till she graduated from high school. For years, she has worn the scars of this one mistake. She still cannot bring herself to sing the song herself, but after writing it together, she could not have chosen anyone better than Buddy to record it. Here's what Buddy has to say about the song and Chelsea: "This song is right from Chelsea’s own experience and it’s about her journey too. I sure appreciate her sharing it with me and I’m honored to be a part of bringing it into the light. It’s seems especially relevant right now with the recent release of the NPR podcast, “The Kids of Rutherford County”, about a judge who sent children as young as 7 years old to jail. Seems like the way our criminal justice system deals with young people is long overdue for a compassionate overhaul. I love this song and I’m proud to sing it."
In recent years Mondlock has been writing songs with military veterans through a program sponsored by an organization called Music Therapy of the Rockies. He includes several of those songs in his shows. Says Mondlock, “This has been such a powerful experience and I’m honored to have been trusted with these stories — of trauma, but of triumph too.”
