There are a few stories that go with this photo and song. The man in the middle is Dr. Les Salmon. He is the father of Chuck Salmon, a dear and lifelong friend of mine. Pat and I spent lots of evenings singing with the extended family. In many ways Les became like a 2nd father to me. In this photo is from the night that Dr. Salmon became an honorary "Brother" in the band. There have only been a few in all these years.
The story of the song: Les's dad was a preacher in the segregated South who did not believe in Segregation. Everyone was welcome. He paid a personal price for preaching Jesus' love story. It seemed a good reason to write a song about it.
There is also a neat story about the recording. When I was growing up Paul Prestopino was one of my musical heroes. He accompanied Peter, Paul, and Mary, the Chad Mitchell Trio, as well as John Denver. In 2009 he agreed to play on an album I was recording, Following the Light. I was thrilled. We recorded "Everyone Is Welcome" at that session with Prestopino on banjo.
