Trooper smiles, rounding out a Joe Pesci face under a baseball cap ratty from countless miles on the road. Songwriters all, and proud to be learning at the sneaker-clad feet of a real folk bard, whose songs have been recorded by Vince Gill, Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Lucy Kaplansky, Robert Earl Keen and others who appreciate the majesty of a three-minute dose of melody and lyric.