Summary, tl;dr Pay $10/square via PayPal to cklimecky@hotmail.com to get the password and pick your square(s) for the HBS Super Bowl Squares pool (linked)! Picks must be made by 11:59pm on Friday, 2/5/2016. Numbers will be auto generated on 2/6/2016 or when all squares have been sold so everyone has […]
Those of you who know me as definitely not “a runner” might be wondering what all the running has been about recently. Before I tell you that story, I have to tell you this story…
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Arrival Lyrics by Chris Klimecky Come on in, the water’s fine Let me pour your glass of wine Kick off your shoes I’ve got some news for you Now don’t be shy, come on let’s go I’ve got your ticket for the […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey This Journey Lyrics by Cait Rosellini and Chris Klimecky The sun burns on my back but I keep going down the road like nothing’s wrong Over and over in my head plays this long forgotten song My past is looking younger, the […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Sunshine and Misery Lyrics by Chris Klimecky Can’t blame it on the weather anymore Inside it keeps on rainin’ Stayin’ cool for the change of season Long shadows still remainin’ Try to soak it up Feel the burnin’ light upon my skin […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey The Age Old Story Lyrics by Cait Rosellini and Chris Klimecky How young were you when you saw your first star? It’s like angels called your name from afar They aren’t just happy accidents awaiting your reply How many times have you […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Lap of Luxury Lyrics by Chris Klimecky Hiding in the light, you can see right in plain view All the damage done, what a scene, what we’ve come to Try to close your eyes, bite your lip, stop and listen Hear the […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Energy Lyrics by Chris Klimecky I love how you run Running circles ’round my life You never tire and I can’t find How you light your fire so bright It’s burning like the sun Run like water down the mountain side So […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Water Colors Lyrics by Cait Rosellini and Chris Klimecky Smooth sailing to the captain and his crew Safe waters and a prayer that the fair winds blow through Before setting off they looked to the sky It would be their only constant […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Not Your Hero Lyrics by Chris Klimecky An emergency call is going out tonight but no one’s answering Our chance of getting through the night is quickly lowering Like an island, we’re on our own It’s the last chance for the final […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Ride the Wind Lyrics by Chris Klimecky Say it ain’t so, gotta go It’s a long way home Red skies, sunrise, so low Good times that we leave behind Gotta start something new The memories I take with me, so true Gonna […]
All song lyrics from the album This Journey Afterglow Lyrics by Chris Klimecky Season’s end, my friend Party’s over, time to send You all back home, nothing here will stay Make it last a little more Take a picture, time to store These memories before they fade away Now whatcha […]
Alternative rocker Mark Nettleton (aka Bitsyras) is interviewed by SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky. Listen to Mark’s stories of moving around the country and playing music along his way to settling in Seattle, the origin of the name “Bitsyras” and his songwriting process. He finishes with a live solo acoustic version of Into the White.
Eric Tingstad has a long and storied (not to mention successful!) career as a guitarist, instrumental songwriter, and recording artist. From his first release in 1981 to a Grammy award in 2003 to his latest release, Badlands, Eric has carved a unique niche in the “Ambient Americana” genre. Blending country, folk, rock, new age, and Native American sounds, he creates a musical tapestry of his own.
So it was a real pleasure to sit down with this Pacific NW native for insights and stories of his musical journey. Friendly, open, and accessible, Eric has an honest desire for the growth and success of the NW music community and helping up and coming musicians attain their goals. He has been through a lot of changes in the music industry and continues to make music on his own terms, which is a testament to his skill and talent!
It’s time for the Spring cleaning edition of the Songwriters in Seattle podcast! Out with the old, in with the new – you’ll be happy to know we did something a little bit different this podcast. My guest, David Guilbault, did such a cool experimental project recently, we centered the entire discussion around 4 recordings of his songs. The idea for his project was to give songs to 4 different producers and, only using his vocal, see what they would come up with. It was an idea that yielded some great results and you get to hear the stories behind them!
We take a fascinating genre turn for the podcast in April with my interview featuring Erin Jordan. The descriptors read “Old time Americana and Lounge” or “Retro-cabaret” and the songs have a fascinating blend of a New Orleans or Dixieland music flavor wrapped in colorful storytelling and fantastical character vignettes. This is some really interesting music, people!
Erin talks about the journey from a more “typical” singer/songwriter background to the development of her unique sound and the band Bakelite 78. They have a new album out called What the Moon Has Done and are currently playing shows throughout the Pacific Northwest. Look for them at a lounge or cabaret theater near you!
Welcome the warmth of spring with a voice you can just melt into, my podcast guest this month, a wonderful singer – Rebekah Ann Curtis! I’m so glad we had the opportunity to talk and discuss her background, her songwriting, and all the other musical work she’s doing these days. Not only will you get to know her better, but she brought new, unreleased tracks! This is a real treat to hear the latest music she’s working on.
While she does already have one album out, Stay Close, the podcast features songs from her upcoming album, Lessons. The first is a great demonstration of that beautiful voice she has – it’s called “You and I Are We.” Second is a slightly rougher mix that is still a work in progress, but shows off an upbeat, playful energy and is called “It’s Magic To Me.” Lastly, she pulls out the acoustic guitar and plays a new song live in the studio, a groovy little tune called “What Goes Up.”
Hooray! It’s celebration time – This Journey is officially released! It’s been a huge endeavor of heart, soul, and effort – a dream project to have the time to realize my vision as best as I possibly could. In songwriting, performance, and production, this is a new high bar that I am thrilled to share with you! In celebration, I’ve posted the opening song “Arrival” for you to preview on Reverbnation (check the mini-player on my sidebar here, too).
Over the course of the next few months, I’ll be sharing stories about each song, lyrics, reviews from the press, and more, as news about the album’s release gets out to more and more people. Thank you so much for supporting me and sharing with your friends. This is a critical part of helping an independent artist promote their work, as I have neither the time nor the budget to do a significant marketing campaign on my own. I need rock fans telling other rock fans that This Journey is worth their time and money to check out!
It’s always fascinated me to hear what people think about my music, especially outside the generally protective realm of family, friends, and known fans. In any random and anonymous large group there is going to naturally be good, bad, and ugly responses. It’s important to me to try and get some sense how the songs from my new album, This Journey, would hold up against the mass of music releases the market is constantly assaulted with. Is it actually as good as I think it is? Specifically, which songs are getting the best responses and should thus be put forward to make a good first impression of the new release?
I used a professional music market research firm through Soundout.com to try and get some answers. For each song submitted, I not only received some good market comparison stats, but also the actual unedited comments from the 80+ listeners (who generally seem to have somewhat of a discerning ear and thoughtful comments, though it’s not clear if they are music industry related somehow or not – regardless, it’s completely anonymous).
I am thrilled (and relieved!) to announce that the new album is officially done! It is at the replicators now and should be ready for distribution, both in hard copy and electronically, within a couple weeks. I am so proud of how this came out, both musically and visually, I can barely contain myself! Huge thanks goes out to David Cook of OriginWest, who did all the graphic work and re-design of my visual presentation. While I assume you’ve seen the cover art he did (which I’ve already plastered all over the place), I would like to take the rest of this post to show you more the album artwork that he did.
How are you going to spend your one extra day of February this year? Listening to the new Songwriters in Seattle podcast, I would suggest! My guest this month is Jabi Shriki, who brings a great combination of thoughtfulness and emotion to his music and our discussion. His new album, Puzzle Pieces, is out now and has a poetic depth to a pop/rock sound (think echo-y U2 guitars with a mellow tenor voice).
Jabi has a substantial catalog of recorded music and has been playing in bands for a while. For Puzzle Pieces, he played all the instruments and recorded it all himself, so a lot of effort went into it. He’s also a doctor (radiologist) and a book author, which all came into play with the concept of the album. It’s very interesting to hear him describe how he melds the different parts of his life in the expression of his music.
Welcome to the start of a new year of Songwriters in Seattle podcasts! If this first one is any indication, 2012 is going to be a great year for us, as our recent songwriting contest winner, Charlie Heinemann joins me in the studio for great music and discussion. Charlie has some unique songwriting insight and humor to go along with it!
The final podcast of 2011 with my friend and very talented songwriter Adena Atkins is now available for your enjoyment – capping off a fantastic year of getting to know my fellow Songwriters in Seattle! If Adena’s name (and voice) sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve talked about her before as […]
My November podcast was a ton of fun as my guest, Jennifer Cadence, has both a great sense of humor and great insight into the music business. Oh, and she’s a fantastic singer/songwriter as well! Multi-talented, indeed. I always come away feeling enlightened whenever I’m in touch with Jennifer, as she always seems to have a few golden nuggets of info that I had never heard before. In this podcast, we not only talk about her new EP Mr. Universe, but she brought a list of five essential tips every musician should follow to help you succeed in reaching your goals. You’ve got to give this a listen and take notes!
We also discuss her challenges with defining her genre as pop, but remaining outside the Britney Spears imagery which would follow that kind of label. How’d she do it? By defining her own descriptive label: “Sapphire Blues.” It’s pop with soul and sass – take a listen and I think you’ll find it a pretty appropriate description. We talk about and play 3 songs from her EP: The title track “Mr. Universe,” “Fallout,” and “Dirt On Your Shoes” (with a great story behind that one!).
Whether you call him “The Wanz,” “TeeWanz” or just Michael Wansley, you’ll find that this is a Seattle R&B/Hip Hop/Soul artist with a ton of talent. With a beautiful, smooth singing voice, infectious modern beats, and mature songwriting chops, Wanz has evolved his approach from funk rock bands in the 90’s to a one man non-stop mobile production house these days.
This is a guy with some great stories and an understated sense of humor. What a fun podcast this was! Unfortunately, he has so many stories I had to cut some to get the podcast closer to the 1/2 hour target length. This will no doubt make for some great additional material in the future! But don’t worry – there’s still an overtime’s worth of discussion along with three of his newer tracks to get a taste for his style and substance.
The whole idea in re-visiting some of these was to improve the quality, right? You may wonder how that part of the process is going…well that’s where it gets interesting. But before I get into that, I want to share a story from way back that I was reminded of last weekend: During my pre-teen through college years, I was a huge Van Halen fan. To give you an idea, Eddie posters covered my room walls for over a decade. Anyway, I read an interview during the making of one of their albums where they were hootin’ and hollerin’ and carry on about how they were measuring how good they were doing by how the hair on their arms tingled and stood when they listened (and anyone else who’d listen). They’d call to each other “Show him your arm!” I remember thinking how cool that would be – to listen and have your body tingle in response – but as they were usually drunk and carrying on about something or other anyway, I considered it as much hype as anything, though the interviewer played along nicely.
Now, because I’m a poor judge of my recordings right when I finish one – I always like them at the time (or else I wouldn’t call it finished) – I’m skeptical about my own excitement. I had my friend Jessica Lynne over on Saturday to do my latest podcast and we had a little extra time when we had finished recording. She was really interested to hear the difference between the old and the new, so I played her the one song she’s most familiar with – “Water Colors.” Somewhere in the middle of the first chorus she turns to me with big eyes and gives me a “Whoa!” and tells me her arms are tingling. Her excitement carried through the rest of the playthrough. Wow! Now I’m pumped – confirmation of the fur raising nature of these new mixes. Thanks Jessica! I think I might be onto something special here, and I can’t wait to play the results of this effort for you all.
When Jessica Lynne brought her stunning voice to the Pacific Northwest from Denmark a year ago, little did she know how involved she would become with Songwriters in Seattle. But she quickly jumped right in with both feet and took fast action to kickstart her country music career and connect with other musicians here in the states. What a year it’s been! Her newly minted EP, Spiritual Cowgirl, is a great representation of what Jessica can accomplish and is no doubt the beginning of even bigger and better things to come for her musically.
The summer has officially ended. I held on for as long as I could, but the kids are in school, the sweatshirts are on, and the clouds and rain have returned. My self-imposed end of August deadline has past and my new album This Journey has not been released. In fact, one could say it’s gone backwards. But before I tell you that story, I have to tell you this story…
It’s only been a few months since Val D’Alessio started attending events with Songwriters in Seattle, but she’s one of those people who the instant you speak with her and the instant she starts playing music, you know there’s an extremely talented and caring person you’ve got there. While very supportive of SiS, she’s also fairly quiet and humble, so it quickly became a goal of mine to try and get her to tell a little more about herself with a podcast invitation. Lucky for me (and all of you as well), she accepted! During our discussion, Val opens up about her musical and spiritual journey that changed her approach to expressing herself well into adulthood. “Allowing” herself to be a songwriter, and really owning that gift when talking to others has been an obstacle that continually challenges her.
My 12th podcast for Songwriters in Seattle is now posted! My thanks to Val D’Alessio for capping the first year of the podcast with a great discussion and beautiful music. To account for the larger number of podcasts I now have (and will continue to grow), I’ve re-structured how they are presented on my website, with each getting its own posting. Among other benefits of efficiency, this also allows each podcast to have a unique link and its own set of comments. Also as part of the “one year celebration” I just submitted a working podcast subscription xml link to iTunes (I’ll let you know when it’s available). This will make it easier for people to find it and stay up to date each month. It was also an opportunity for me to properly fill out all the meta-data in the podcast mp3 files, so no matter what platform you’re listening on, you’ll get proper descriptions, file organization, and the SiS logo graphic.
Chris has been hosting the podcast for Songwriters in Seattle since mid-2010. Also featured on www.songwritersinseattle.com November, 2010 Chris Klimecky interviews songwriter and former SiS Organizer Jeff Hatch. They discuss his album “Rosa Mystica” under the name Ponyno, his longtime Seattle music ambitions and where he goes from here. Click […]
Chris has been hosting the podcast for Songwriters in Seattle since mid-2010. Also featured on www.songwritersinseattle.com October, 2010 Chris Klimecky interviews melodic folk musician Todd Christoffel. They discuss his history and band Don’t Ask, among other topics, and he plays a beautiful live version of his song “The World Don’t […]
Chris has been hosting the podcast for Songwriters in Seattle since mid-2010. Also featured on www.songwritersinseattle.com September, 2010 In the first Songwriters in Seattle podcast, Chris interviews solo Americana musician David Rix. They discuss David’s long and colorful musical history as well as current recording work. David plays a live […]
It’s the end of July already and time to get to know another member of Songwriters in Seattle! This month my guest is Andy “Roo” Forrest – a creative entreprenuer outside of music, who brings both a clever lyrical and harmonic sense to his songs. He has a great blend of pop, folk, jazz, and country that feels familiar yet is wholly original at the same time. To me, it is really indicative of how creativity crosses boundaries, and influences from other parts of our lives can gel in a songwriter’s music to produce something unique to the individual songwriter.
For the podcast, we dive into Roo’s new, self-titled CD out now (“Roo”) and we play a couple cuts from the disc as well as discuss the many great guest musicians he has on the recording. As an independent businessman, we tackle a little bit of music business discussion as well for a different perspective than one might usually get from a musician. As a grand finale, Roo plays a new song live in the studio – a sweet solo acoustic and vocal piece perfect for the summer(!) called “I Like the Snow.” A little Christmas in July for ya!
I haven’t been performing that much recently due to my current focus on finishing recording of the new album and producing multiple side projects, so it’s a rare coincidence of timing that I would be playing back to back shows on weekend evenings. Both this Saturday and Sunday (July 18th & 19th) I’ll be doing unplugged shows at Soulfood Books in Redmond. I love this place and I love the people there, not to mention these will be two very different shows. First, on Saturday the monthly Songwriters in Seattle showcase will kickoff at 8pm. There will be four performers for the evening and while I host the evening from the beginning and make sure everything is running smoothly, I will be the closer for the night actually performing around 9:30. My setlist for this one is looking like this:
I Can’t Say
Bankrupt Generation
*What Brings People Together
Certainly
*Colored Life
Angels Don’t Hide
*Cider & Roses
The monthly Songwriters in Seattle podcast continues to fascinate and inspire me with the variety of talent and level of musicianship we have in the group. This month symphonic rock pianist Thom Schroeder gives us insight into his classical approach to composition which combines epic forms, extreme dynamics, and modern textures to create a unique sound. Emotional performance and technical virtuosity make for an intense listening experience – you’ve got to hear this!
During our discussion, Thom talks about how he came to this genre, his search for a vocalist, and thinking big! It was a pleasure to have Thom in the studio and thank him for coming by for our 10th podcast to share his music and personal story.
The incredible talent in Songwriters in Seattle continues to inspire! This month we get to know Grammy nominated artist Henta Ellis in the monthly podcast. What a fascinating story she has of being drawn to Seattle from Engliand due to music collaboration and then flourishing with the music community here. The details of her Grammy experience are also not to be missed!
We are very fortunate to have her be our first keyboard player to do a live performance for the podcast – and what an emotional performance it was. Her song “Rain” from her upcoming album takes on a very different character live than on the studio recording. I always love that we get a unique version of a song for the podcast when someone plays live!
Yes, I realize it’s not Grammy season – that passed us a few months ago. However, I’ve recently taken in a couple of great Recording Academy events with the Pacific NW chapter that have gotten Grammy on my mind! The Recording Academy is the group that runs the Grammies if you weren’t aware. Last weekend was a fantastic day long Producer/Engineer Studio Summit which had great panels with insight into the ever changing music business. It’s definitely a rough road, but passion (and in some cases obsession) seems to still lead to success.
Then on Monday at the beautiful Gibson Guitar showroom in the Belltown area of downtown Seattle was the informational Grammy Awards 101 with VP of the Recording Academy Awards group, Bill Freimuth. Long story short, I now understand the whole process that goes into giving out those little statues, though my chances for getting one is only slight better now that I may submit rather than not at all. I’m really driving to finish up my new album, This Journey, in time to get it into consideration for this year – that’s a deadline of August 31st…I’ve got a lot of work to do!
It’s been a busy month for Jean Mann: preparing the release of a new album (Dream of Goats), a new tour, promotions and an interview schedule, she is gathering momentum on this 4th release that will surely propel her to new heights and popularity both locally and far beyond. I feel extremely lucky and honored to have gotten a slice of her time to discuss her background, her songwriting, and this bit of a whirlwind she’s creating! Not only did we have a great conversation, she brought her ukelele as well as her regular 6-string and played a few songs for us live. Awesome!
So you’ll hear “Memory’s Dusty Road” from the new disc, a solo uke and vocal live version of “Sweet Peas on the Vine” (also fully arranged on the new disc), and a live version of the beautiful “Blue Sky” from her 3rd album Daisies and Fire. Jean has a warmth and sweetness that I know you’ll enjoy, as well as an honest, artistic, and organic songwriting style that has a lot of heart. As she puts it, “…part poetry set to music…storytelling, and a little bit of journal…”
It was a beautiful sunny Spring Saturday in the Pacific Northwest (one of the few)…with McChord AF Base on my right and a windshield full of Mt. Rainier in front of me, I soon entered an unassuming Tacoma studio to start my swim in The Aquarium!!! As part of NWCZ Radio (Independent Northwest Music), The Aquarium is a talk show hosted by Ray “King Fish” Hayden and “Big Mike” Renville that highlights singers and songwriters from the Pacific Northwest. “We will focus on getting to know the artists and what drives them to pursue the life of being a songwriter.” In a nutshell, these guys are huge music lovers and supporters of the NW music scene – and they and their crew were not only total professionals, but a great group to hang out with! I had a fantastic time!
Airing Tuesday, April 26th from 7-8pm (then posted later on iTunes), you’ll hear some details of my songwriting and recording history, my current works and promotional endeavors, and my own efforts to support the Northwest music scene through Songwriters in Seattle. Musically, I did a solo acoustic live performance of “Come Back To You” which will be fun to hear back. We also got to goof around a little bit with some Bohemian Rhapsody shenanigans so we’ll see what Ryan the sound engineer comes up with putting that together! So please tune in and check it out.
This is an exciting week for spreading the music – for the next few days I’ll be a featured artist on ReverbNation! They get 15 million+ visitors per month and 75 million+ page views per month so this is an opportunity I’m very thankful for. I also want to thank anyone visiting for the first time – I hope you take a few minutes to listen to some of the variety of songs and videos I have on ReverbNation, then drop me a note or a comment. I love meeting new artists and fans through RN – there is a great musicial connection we all have there which I have not found anywhere else on the web. BTW – they rotate 10 featured artists into 4 slots every few minutes, so if you don’t see me up there, it’s just a matter of timing.
For the indie artists reading this, what has been your biggest single promotional push and how did it come about? I’ve got my fingers crossed that this will be a biggie for me and help get that snowball rolling downhill! I’ll report back on that next week. 🙂
It’s been a few weeks since my first live event on uStream and a few recordings from that performance are now up on my YouTube channel. It was a fun show that was very different for me in a lot of ways and overall I’m really happy with how it turned out. I’m also SUPER appreciative of the folks who showed up to watch/listen (and chat so there was some audience interaction!). Was the uStream event a success from your point of view? Would you come to another one? If you didn’t attend the first time, is it something you would be interested in logging on to view a different time?
I’ve been thinking a lot since then about what my fans/friends want to hear and see from me. Obviously, I want to put my time into projects people will enjoy the most. I realize new songs are at the heart of it, but I’ve also got a huge back catalog that is as good as new to most people. Would you like to hear more of those songs in current form? More live performances? More studio recordings? Do you prefer video or just audio? Or is it the variety that is compelling and you just pick and choose based on whatever the specific content is?
The website went through some changes this morning as I re-organized for easier navigation, quicker access to new content, and one big new addition: photos! I found a nice Flash photo gallery plug-in that had some nice features like viewing as a slideshow (the SL button), and easy full screen viewing (the FS button). There are only 10 recent photos in there at the moment, but the foundation is now available to add much more.
Speaking of more, I definitely plan down the line to post some photos from my Jester’s Crown archives as well as keeping up to date with brand new photos. The only downside to these being Flash based is that you can’t download them yourself if you wanted/needed to for some reason (press or marketing, especially). So please contact me directly if you would like to have an individual file.
It’s time for the March Songwriters in Seattle Podcast! This month I spoke with local songwriter Bill Derry, who performs regularly throughout the Pacific Northwest. As he says in the podcast, he just “likes to perform” and has many variations with his band, solo, duo, trio, etc. playing a mix of classic rock, folk, and jazz. To me, he just has a a very laid back and easy to listen to style – no doubt in part due to his smooth, mellow voice.
He has a cd out with his band, entitled “This Old Dog” – which you can get at a live show or on iTunes here:
Bill Derry Band – “This Old Dog” on iTunes
In addition to the song Friday Afternoon that we spin during the podcast, Bill performed 2 new previously unrecorded songs live in the studio. What a treat to be able to broadcast new songs like this!
I just got back from the monthly Songwriters in Seattle networking meetup, and I must say “Wow”! The amount of talent in the room was insane – try to imagine a small room with 20 or so musicians packed in, each playing an original song that showed off their personal style. Every one put a smile on my face. It was super-inspiring to look around and think about what a supportive musical community we have.
There were no “hacks” there tonight. Sure people are at different points in their musical journeys – some played their best song, some played a recent song, some played a song to ask the group for feedback, so it’s not necessarily always a “best foot forward” kind of situation. But the variety and energy that came through whether it was live or recorded was phenomenal. If you’re a musician and you can possibly get to one of these events, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Originally video killed the radio star – yes, they’ve been popular since the 80’s but the category of “music video” has changed greatly since then. Especially with the advent of YouTube and the proliferation of high speed internet connections, the idea of making and distributing videos of a variety of musical endeavors is as wide and personal as one’s imagination. In fact, I have yet to make a “traditional” music video, but I find myself spending more and more time sitting in front of Adobe Premiere making videos of one sort or another. More time than I’m spending songwriting and recording, even. Call me crazy, but I find video editing to be fun and addicting!
I realize I’m a bit behind the curve here – just as I have only recently gotten on the blogging and Twitter bandwagons, I’ve only begun to post videos to my YouTube channel. But I do have a vision for what I want that channel to look like and I’m beginning to populate it with some content I’m proud of. I would like it to end up as a tasty mix of live show recordings, in-studio performances, vlogs, uStream performance recordings, and at some point hopefully a good old fashioned music video or two. Any other ideas that you’d like to see? Or something you’ve seen someone else do that you liked?
An artist’s original vision for his/her own works can be an interesting thing. Especially when collaboration is involved, the vision can evolve, shift, even become something almost entirely different, but in the artist’s mind, there is always the memory of that original intent. When I first heard David Rix play “Carry On” I knew it was a great song that had lots of arrangement potential. Over time I formed my own vision for the song and put that into production. David was very happy with that end product, but something was bugging him. His original vision…
He had always thought of the song as a male/female duet where the couple is “discussing” their hard times but pushing through knowing they were meant for each other. Though our Traveling Wilburys-style first arrangement was buttery smooth, it didn’t capture some of the emotional resonance that the presentation of a couple in a longterm relationship would have. So with the help of our local Spiritual Cowgirl Jessica Lynne, I proudly present a re-mix of “Carry On” that more closely resembles David’s original vision. I hope you enjoy it and I welcome your thoughts on how the two arrangements affect you differently. Also make sure you check out my video blog for a quick behind-the-scenes comparison of the two.
February’s podcast features a fun conversation and live performances from Songwriters in Seattle member Andy Glover. Andy is a great guy and talented musician whose positive attitude shines out brightly in his songwriting. One of the most interesting things about Andy’s songwriting development (that we talk about in quite a bit of detail) is that he has documented it on YouTube at a steady pace over the last few years. Being able to share this growth and artistic evolution in almost realtime video is a great example of how modern technology can build strong connections with fans around the world.
Andy also talks about his new studio recordings that he’s working on, and as an exciting first for this podcast, performs all his podcast songs live! So these are unique recordings that are a great reflection of his personality. I’m thankful to Andy for doing this and for being a part of this podcast. Please connect with Andy at the following links:
Oh boy, it’s that time again – I’ve finished up with my main group of songs in production and it’s time to start new songs from scratch. There’s a longstanding debate whether creativity can be forced or can only be allowed to flow naturally when it’s ready. I guess I subscribe to a creative philosophy somewhere in the middle, in that I can definitely shut it down – turn it off, or maybe distract it, if you will. But when I “allow” myself to be creative and am open to receiving creative inspiration I generally don’t have a problem finding it. I don’t generally find myself with the proverbial “writer’s block” for any substantial period of time. I can get stuck, but can work myself out of it over time without too much struggle.
I should qualify this as applying only to music, however, as lyrics are always a struggle for me. Always have been and likely always will be. I absolutely can’t force lyrics or process my way to poetic ideas. So I generally seek out lyric writing partners to do the heavy lifting. That being said, I think I’m pretty good at editing lyrics and adding the right touches to finalize them – it’s the starting from scratch part that’s really tough for me. On the rare occasion though – maybe once or twice per year – a set of lyrics will come to me, almost all at once. I don’t know how or why, but they fly through my head and I have to write them down before I forget. Of course, I’m usually in the car at the time, so rushing home to get lyrics down on paper can be a challenge. It happened again this morning!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you are feeling loved ’cause I’m sharing the love today with the release of a new song, “Water Colors”. This is the fourth preview from my upcoming album due in the Fall of 2011, This Journey, and the last you’ll hear from that for a while. Sure, I’ve got other songs in production for other folks that I’ll be releasing in between, but as far as the rock tunes for my own album, there will be a few months break.
So, what’s with “Water Colors”? It’s a slight change of pace, a little longer form, and a little more complex arrangement that I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. A guest vocal on the bridge from the lovely and talented Adena Atkins puts this one in a category of its own: the first rock song I’ve ever recorded with a female voice as part of the arrangement! I’m thrilled she agreed to do it as I believe the tone and quality of her voice fits perfectly as a sort of ethereal distant “siren song”. It serves the lyric/traditional phrase well as a reminder that the seductive beauty of life holds both joy and peril.
