This episode of our Song Spinner series, which takes you into the hearts, minds and hands of local musicians and their creative process, tells the story behind New London singer/songwriter/guitarist and his new song "Mask of Love."

Bio I: New London guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Don Cash grew up contemporaneously with the Reducers and the early rise of the city's e'er-fertile music scene. Active in local rock bands with his longtime best friend, drummer Art Falconi, Cash got serious about music when his admittedly "long shot" application to the Berklee School of Music was accepted.

"I couldn't believe it," he says of the acceptance. "They had you rated by levels, from the basement to a 10-story building. I was UNDER the basement." Mike Stern was a classmate, and folks like Pat Metheny were guest lecturers. Cash was in awe. "But after three years, I knew my (stuff)." He continued studies after Berklee, taking lessons from the likes of Steve Swallow and John Scofield.

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Bio II: Back in NL, Cash reunited with Falconi and other old friends Frankie John Monte (bass) and keyboardist Peter James to form rock band Mars Slingshot. In 1999, they released their self-titled debut, and their second gig was on a bill at Toad's Place. The New London music scene was starting to ride a big wave, and Mars Slingshot was appearing with bands like the Rivergods, Incognito Sofa Love and Band of Humans. Then ...

Not so fast, boys: Onstage one night at the Bank Street Café, Cash damaged the ulnar nerve near his elbow on his left arm. He didn't play guitar for over a year.

"I never set out to 'make it' in the music business with a record deal or whatever," Cash says, "but that was a huge setback. We were having fun and doing well." By the time he healed and could start practicing again, the other band members had joined other groups and/or were going through their own personal issues. Gradually and occasionally, the quartet would regroup and write and record, but the original energy to compete in the local club scene had abated. Instead, they focused on making CDs and enjoying time spent together.

Remembering Art: In September 2017, Falconi was killed during a storm when a tree uprooted by a 95-miles-per-hour wind gust fell on top of the car he was sitting in. Cash says, "He was my best friend for 40 years. We were our own Lennon and McCartney; we'd just play three to four nights a week, and it was a devastating shock to lose someone like that. There was a memorial and that helped, but still, (I thought), 'Where do I go from here? What can I do?'

"My initial answer was, 'I can't do anything. I'm done.'"

Bidding adieu to Mars: But Cash wasn't done. Monte and old friend and keyboard player David Frederick were solid in support, as was Don's wife Susan and his son Ethan, who is a Whalie Award-winning singer-songwriter. Don Cash, who makes most of his income giving guitar lessons, continued to teach and gradually started to write and play on his own again. It's fun again — and definitely therapeutic. Somehow, he says, "Twenty years have passed, and we ended up with 10 Mars Slingshot albums that explored all kinds of styles. I think the band was kind of like a garden, and you have to let it go at its own pace."

In 2019, Cash oversaw "Global Village," the final Mars Slinghot album — which included the final four tracks Falconi had performed. Monte was on bass, old friend David Frederick replaced James on keys, and two other pals, drummer Bob Burt and percussionist Kenny "Doc" Frasier, filled in for Falconi on the newer tracks.  

Cash stayed busy with other music, too. He's recorded five solo albums and even a few duet albums and has a new solo CD tentatively scheduled for a fall release. One of the songs from the impending album is the already completed song "The Mask of Love."  

Lazing on a summer afternoon: Last August, Ethan called his father. A drummer friend of Ethan's was in from out of town and visiting, and Ethan wanted to know if they could jam. As all three had recently quarantined and passed COVID tests, Don agreed — particularly as he had a cool blueprint of jazz chords he'd been playing with and thought might be a fine launching pad for a song. That afternoon, in jam mode, they adjusted the rhythm to more of an R&B feel, and it took off.

"It's basically variations on the same three chords as 'Fly Me to the Moon,'" Don laughs. "And it worked, so we recorded it. The only problem was that I had no lyrics or vocal melody."

That 'Mask' thing: Cash says vocal melodies have always come easily for him once he had music. As for lyrics, he usually keys off a list of song titles he keeps that might suggest a narrative. In the case of "Mask of Love," though, he says, "It was a blank slate. I had no idea."

But, given COVID, Cash had been preoccupied with masks and started writing words in that context. "There was sort of a political slant," he says, "about having to deal with the various attitudes people have about wearing masks. But one of the things about being a songwriter is that, while sometimes you just go with it, other times, you have to be willing to say, 'You know what? This just sucks.' And that's when I realized it wasn't a song about politics; it was a love song."

Thus inspired, Cash finished the lyrics and melody to describe a boy/girl situation — "It can be non-gender specific," he says — in which the male suitor, confident and persistent at the outset, reveals his own certainty at the end. "It's also true that, because of the original jazzy arrangement — and that we'd recorded it with Ethan and his friend — I was stuck with structure that had no verse or bridge. There's no standard hook. But after 47 years, I think I've finally figured out how to work with what a song needs. And I think it worked out with 'The Mask of Love.'"

Postscript: "You know, when I was young, I used to feel trapped because there was all this music inside me, and I worried that I couldn't get it out or I wouldn't get it out," Cash says. "Then I had the arm problem. And THEN, I was lucky enough to have a 10-year run of non-stop writing. Now? I'm happy to play and help my son Ethan or my friend Dave Frederick on their projects. I'll always be grateful I've been able to express myself musically in a lot of different ways."

To purchase Mars Slingshot of Don Cash music or for more information: Don Cash Music Studio Facebook page, doncashmusic@gmail.com

MARIA, I CAN PUT THESE LYRICS IN A GO BOX THINGY IF YOU WANT. JUST LET ME KNOW!

"THE MASK OF LOVE"

You can mask your feelings

You can try to hide your smile

You can guess my motives

I think you've known them for a while

You can mask for safety

Try to shield your heart from pain

I only hope that you will notice

That you've got all of me to gain

You can mask the sunshine

But I'll blow those clouds away

Cover up in darkness

But I'll be the light of day

I think you care about me

I think the walls are coming down

Your resistance seems so futile

Pick up the love that you have found

You know that I adore you

I'm gonna steal your heart away

Melt the ice that surrounds you

Pull you close and hope you'll stay

c 2021 Don Cash