Over the course of the past 10 years or so Chuck has released a collection of discs that stand up against the output of the very best folk singer/songwriters. His early albums contained some stunning tracks with biting sarcastic lyrics, but his real strength is as a storyteller, whether he's recounting tales of memorable baseball characters or telling tender tales he really makes the listener pay attention.
He's always had an eye for the memorable modern story, and this disc takes this theme and expands on it as many of the tracks are chronicles of strange and remarkable events that took place in the US over the past 100 years. From the story of an elephant that killed it's handler (Mary the Elelphant); a curse placed on the Cubs by a disgruntled fan (Curse of the Billy Goat); a hijack, ransom and the disappearance of the perpetrator (The Ballad of DB Cooper), through to a wonderful tale of a stand in Santa being pelted by snowballs at a football game (The Great Santa Snowball Debacle of 1968) these are all self contained stories but with facts and backgrounds that can be found and expanded on by a few minutes spent on the internet.
As ever Chuck's excellent guitar work provides the backing for the 13 songs and there's a good amount of instrumentation including fiddle, mandolin, accordion and banjo to add detail and depth to the tracks.
Stunning intelligent lyrics and subtle backing make 'Tulips for Lunch' a memorable - he's a fine singer/songwriter and this disc has some exceptional tracks and the fact that many are based on real events make them all the more interesting.

Track listing
1 The Curse of the Billy Goat
2 Old Song Handed Down
3 A Toast to the Woman in the Holler
4 The Great Santa Snowball Debacle of 1968
5 The Point
6 Death Row All-Stars
7 The Unreliable Taxi Company
8 Mary the Elephant
9 The Man Who Blew Kisses
10 In the Beginning (by Nick Annis)
11 Liar Liar Pants On Fire
12 Two Left Feet
13 Ballad of DB Cooper

£13.49