music

– Eric Tingstad Podcast Posted

Chris Klimecky | October 29, 2012

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!

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– Weekend Double-Header!

Chris Klimecky | July 11, 2011

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

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– Jean Mann Podcast Posted!

Chris Klimecky | April 27, 2011

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…”

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– ReverbNation Featured Artist!

Chris Klimecky | April 19, 2011

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. 🙂

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– Inspiring Songwriters in Seattle

Chris Klimecky | March 21, 2011

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.

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– Video Killed The MP3 Star

Chris Klimecky | March 13, 2011

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?

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– New Song Released: “Water Colors”

Chris Klimecky | February 14, 2011

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.

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– Two Songs Being Mixed

Chris Klimecky | February 5, 2011

I wanted to give you a heads up on two songs coming down the pipeline. They’re both very close and should be finished and released over the next few weeks. Although it can be an arduous process, mixing and mastering is ultimately so rewarding that it’s worth the pain and fine details work that goes into it. There is nothing better than pushing play on the final test CD that sounds fantastic blasted out of the home stereo system!

Anyway, the two songs are: 1. Water Colors, the latest from my upcoming album, and 2. A re-mix of David Rix’s Carry On with Jessica Lynne sharing vocal duties. Here’s a little more detail on each of these…

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– Jessica Lynne’s Version of “Colored Life”

Chris Klimecky | February 3, 2011

Just a quick note about the new posting of my alt-country/Americana duet “Colored Life” now featuring Jessica Lynne on vocals. Jessica and I have been working together a lot lately and I thought it a fitting opportunity to go back and try to improve on this song. I’m thankful to Jessica for doing it (and even coming back for a second shot at the middle break to put it over the top!) and I think it turned out great.

A little note about Jessica, she’s only been in the US and Seattle for a few months now, but is already tearing up the country/Americana scene out here. Don’t ask me how someone from Denmark ends up singing with a southern twang, but here’s the evidence it can happen! She’s working on an EP now and I’m helping her develop some songs and backing her up live. Always nice to work with great up and coming talent from any genre and Jessica’s about as friendly and straightforward as you can get – just my style! She also knows the amount of work it takes to make it in music and I love supporting that kind of effort. So please wish her good luck and if you’re into that style of music, please keep an ear out for her new recordings – I’m sure they’re going to be fantastic!

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– Let’s Talk Americana

Chris Klimecky | February 2, 2011

Have you ever noticed the number of new music genres that have popped up over the last, say 10 years or so? Now, prior to the last couple years, I had my head down in the rock genre pretty solidly, so when I started opening my eyes to the wider popular music world the genre selection was all very confusing and fascinating. As a musician and a fan, I questioned not only what genre I was in personally, but what would you call the music that I liked to listen to? So many of these “smart” playlist systems try to push specific genres on you and I’d choose one and then say, “oops, that’s not it” when I heard the artists they thought fit there.

One exciting genre I had never heard of before recently is Americana. Now, I’m not much of a country fan, but I grew up listening to a bit of John Denver, the occasional Kenny Rogers, and even watched Hee Haw here and there. Not necessarily big into folk either, but folk/rock a la Crosby, Stills, and Nash or Simon and Garfunkel are okay with me. But as country itself has gone more toward rock, and folk has people going every which way, I hear more and more about “alt-country” and “Americana” as a description for a style of music that’s not quite country, not really folk, not rock, but perhaps a bit of all three. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong on that description or has a better one.

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– February Preview

Chris Klimecky | January 28, 2011

Down to the last few days in January, already? Wow, it’s been a productive start to 2011 and I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the fruits of that labor. There have been two major song releases, a podcast, a start at Twitter and YouTube, my regular blog, and then lots of behind the scenes effort to get all of my web presence pages looking consistent, easy to use, and packed with as much content as the various sites will allow!

There’s still lots more to do and tons of content in the pipeline for February. Here’s a glance at my upcoming “to do” list:

– The third major song release for this early group of new recordings, “Water Colors”: It’s another with lyrics passed to me by Cait Rosellini. It’s got a different feel that I am really digging – those who have heard it think it has a David Bowie sound. I’m a bad judge of these things, but perhaps because of the metaphor-style storytelling? Anyway, I’m excited to have you listen and tell me what you think of it yourself.

– Two new recordings with Americana singer Jessica Lynne: I’ve got two recordings coming with her that are cool variations on already released songs. One is a version of “Colored Life” – you can hear a preview of that from the (horrible visual quality!) live video that was taken of us performing the song together. Jessica has a great voice that fits the song perfectly and I’m very happy to have a fully produced version of the song with her. We also got her recorded on a version of David Rix’s “Carry On” which takes the song in an interesting duet direction.

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– 50 Songs in the Store!

Chris Klimecky | January 21, 2011

With the posting of “The Age Old Story,” I thought it was interesting to take a second and celebrate a cool milestone – 50 songs in my store! Two Jester’s Crown discs, two solo discs, a handful of old unreleased singles and a handful of previews from my upcoming disc “This Journey.” These are exciting times! 🙂

I’d like to think that there’s something for everyone in there, from the dynamic modern rock of my newest work, to the old school heaviness of songs like “The Chimes.” From the delicate pop sounds of “Cider & Roses” to epic prog like “A Voice of One.” Songs that border on country or folk like “Colored Life” or “Don’t Tell Me Why” to Billy Joel/Elton John inspired songs like “What Brings People Together” and “All It Takes.”

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– Hear Ye, Hear Ye: “The Age Old Story”

Chris Klimecky | January 19, 2011

Have you ever wished upon a star? I’m proud to present to you the first song I wrote with lyrics from Cait Rosellini, “The Age Old Story.” I was inspired by the different thematic material and sense of wonder in the words. This was a fun one as it just came out so smoothly and naturally – I’m very excited about this song. I hope you enjoy it and share the link with friends. Thank you for your support! Here are the full lyrics:

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– “The Age Old Story” Drops This Week

Chris Klimecky | January 17, 2011

Heads up, All! Incoming mid-week I’ll be posting my second new song of 2011, “The Age Old Story.” It’s the first song I wrote with lyrics by Cait Rosellini and I think it’s one of my best EVER. I know, it’s always easy to think the last thing ya did was the best, but I gotta tell you, I think this is a special one. I hope you agree!

It’s also the kind of song that I think really represents my creative identity at this point – strong melody, dynamic flow, buttery harmony vocals, and a kickin’ guitar solo all wrapped up in a tight pop/rock structure.

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– Playing Live w/Jessica Lynne This Friday

Chris Klimecky | January 12, 2011

Just a quick announcement about a show I’m playing with my friend, Jessica Lynne. She’s a great singer in sort of an alt-country/americana style. We’ve got a nice little band going with a few other Songwriters in Seattle members David Rix, Adena Atkins, and Derek Medina. We do all original songs, some of which I’ve had a hand in, such as Colored Life. See the video of Jessica and I doing that one on my video tab here.

Anyway, the show is at Skylark Cafe in West Seattle, Friday, January 14, starts at 9pm with a $5 cover (the flyer is wrong that it says “free”), and includes Lucky Suns and Guns of Nevada. It should be a fun time for all and from my perspective, I really enjoy stretching out creatively from the big rock guitars once in a while. Collaborating with good people and excellent musicians is always a plus as well.

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– Jester’s Crown Now in the Store

Chris Klimecky | January 10, 2011

Who is Jester’s Crown, you may ask? Well, they’re my old band from the 90’s! Known for epic rock songs, deep arrangements, and excellent musicianship, we put ourselves in the genre of “melodic prog.” Progressive rock is a niche with a lot of variations and we were by no means hardcore, but there was enough of a tilt towards the complexity that fans of the genre liked that we held appeal to that group. If you listen to enough of the songs, you’ll understand what I mean.

While the songwriting had moments of collaboration between all members, the majority of the songs were written by me with my brother Pete’s lyrics. I still play many of the “classics” today when I do solo acoustic sets: After the Rain, It All Comes Together, The Chimes, A Voice of One, Certainly, Not a Moment Too Soon, Setting Sun, and more still pop up now and then. Many of these songs still hold a special place in my heart and I enjoy performing them, often evolved slightly toward my current tastes.

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– “This Journey” is Now Posted!

Chris Klimecky | January 5, 2011

Starting off 2011 with a bang! New rocker “This Journey” is now available for streaming from any of my music players and you can download it at my store for just 99 cents. Many thanks to Cait Rosellini for the lyric inspiration – you can look forward to a few more coming from Cait and me over the next few months…I hope you agree it’s a winning combo! Full lyrics below:

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– New Song, “This Journey” Coming This Week

Chris Klimecky | January 3, 2011

All right, folks, it’s time to start showing off the new songs!!! I’m very excited to have the first of this group to be posted be “This Journey” which is in fact my newest song at this point. It was only written last month and went through full production exceptionally fast. It shows off a different side of me, not only from a songwriting point of view, but vocally as well. Split into two unique sections, no guitar solos or thick harmonies are employed in this arrangement. I hope you find it to be as refreshing a track from some of my usual productions as I have. It has been a lot of fun to put it together!

A little bit more background on this song. It is my fourth collaboration with lyricist Cait Rosellini, whose name you’ll be hearing a lot more of as these songs get released.

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– Three New Songs Coming Early 2011

Chris Klimecky | December 20, 2010

I’m excited to announce that I’m putting the finishing touches on the production of three new songs of mine, to be released early in 2011. These songs were all co-written with a new lyric writing partner Caitlyn Rosellini, so they all have a fresh sound and a different perspective. Being recorded in with my new home studio setup also gives them an upgraded quality in the production I am thrilled about. So far only Energy and Carry On have been released using this studio configuration, so producing more at that level is something I want to get out as soon as I can.

The three songs, in the order I will likely release them, are called This Journey (just need a final mix & master), Age Old Story (a guitar solo away), and Water Colors. Each has unique qualities and each rocks in its own way – no acoustic numbers in this group. I’ll give more detail as each song is released, so for now have a very Merry Christmas – musical presents from me are coming soon!

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