Song No. 13 - Call Ripley's

Song number 13.....lucky 13...took long enough

Well for anyone that's actually following this blog...I'm running behind. Life is changing, my schedule is changing and so are my priorities. I found that when I did make time for myself to write, I couldn't find the inspiration and confidence to write good songs. I know they all can't be good, but I do have to hold myself to certain standards. I just couldn't find the inspiration. And that contributed to a period of writer's block.

BUT. Here we go. Picking up the slack. Gonna have to work overtime.

This is a simple song. A soul song, about my parents.

Its called:

Call Ripley's

Let me know what you think.

Song No. 12 - I'm Taking It Down

This song came out in a very straight-on, train of thought fashion. I came home picked up the guitar and recorded the sound and music that came out of it. I tried to treat the rest of the song in much the same way.

I also played it in an odd key and for the life of me couldn't find the right harmonica to use. Damn. I love the harmonica. My xylophone just didn't have the right notes either. Damn. I love the xylophone....So in lieu of other instruments to play, I used my voice as an instrument to some interesting results. And listening back on the finished song...I think I'm glad.

Musically you can probably thank Spoon and that Cadence Weapon guy.

Geez.

Gonna try and get the songs back up on Sunday nights. That means another song in 3 days.

Yes!

This Week's Song is Called:

I'm Taking It Down

Song No. 11 - Lets Talk

Yes...lets talk. This song is very late.

Inspiration was hard to find inside myself this week (and a half). And energy.
So after letting the song slip for two extra days I forced myself to make finishing it I priority...and had I actually given myself more time to hang out with the idea and explore it more, this song would be great. Really time constraints hinder my performance most of all, because I don't get comfortable with the song. I don't own it, I just get it done. The next thing that gets hurt is arrangement. Maybe I'll revisit this song when I have some spare time and a fuller, well rehearsed version will pop up on myspace.

Not too much more to say. Just that its done and I can continue moving forward.
One song a week for a year. Every week. Back on track.

This week's song is called:

Lets Talk

Let me know what you think.

Song No. 10 - Nite Nite

I was stuck this week.
Playing around with a number of different ideas, none of them really led me anywhere. Originally I had wanted to write another 50s inspired song. Randy Bachman's program on CBC Radio this week was about nonsensical lyrics in pop songs. I dug it, and tried doing one of my own....not so much.

Eventually I had to force the creative process by putting myself in an unfamiliar situation. Experimenting with different sounds, and creating an instrumental track. Its interesting...There are a parts of it I like and will return to in the future.

Let me know if it worked.

This week's song is called:

Nite Nite

Song No. 9 - Pumpkin Pie

Maybe it was all the tryptophan in the turkey from last night's dinner...but I felt really uninspired to write a song today. Its true. I had nothing ready, and I didn't really want to do it. There was some trashy Lindsay Lohan movie on TV I was half watching, and I had to do laundry, and I just wanted to eat nachos, and there was cleaning to do blah blah blah. So I plopped myself down in front of the computer intent on rehashing some old chords I had kicking around into some sort of instrumental number. Cheating...I KNOW!

But I started jamming out some chords just to see if I could come up with anything. After about 5 minutes I had the verses of the song down. Again, I decided to not to stress, and just keep it simple stupid.

Now...what to write about. Well how about being hung over the day after your birthday? Yeah? Yeah! Honest. So the words came very easily...the event still being very fresh in my mind (ie. Saturday morning). Whenever I was stuck for words I just thought "Well...what happened next on Saturday?"

Upon listen back to the song with just vocals, harmonica, and acoustic guitar I decided to add one more minor guitar track. You'll hear it in your right speaker. Just a simple one chord strum. It emphasizes the important notes, and the transitions. Short of having a band at my disposal it finishes off this simple recording of this song very nicely. Another production note - the new (birthday) harmonica...obviously had a positive influence on the sound of the song. And the new (birthday) guitar sounds fantastic. Just wonderful instruments to record and write with and I'm grateful to have them.

This week's song is called:

Pumpkin Pie

Let me know what you think.

New Song On Monday Night

Due to turkey related activities keeping me out of the studio (and out of Toronto) the new song will be posted tomorrow night.

And I have new harmonicas...that are actually in tune. Just imagine what that's gonna sound like. So tune-in tomorrow night ya hear!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Song No. 8 - Just Don't Leave Me OK?

Well that turned out alright!

I was feeling like last week's song got really bloated. Too much thought, too much time, too serious. Ugh. Confused, and complicated and it sounded that way.

This week's goal was - simple, don't think too much and have fun with it. I began the writing process with the most fun instrument I can think of...the Ukelele. Actually I had some of the lyrics and a concept in my head before I even picked up the Uke. I wanted it to have a classic, 50s sort of vibe. Kind of like The Platters.

So I started plucking away at these fun sort of chords on the Uke...and then something very interesting happened. I found a really dark nasty chord progression too. I didn't quite have all the correct notes down the first time I played through them, but it sparked an idea in my head that became the real exciting interesting element in the song. The song changed from a simple love song to a quirky, desperate look at love and insecurity.

The simplicity of the song gave me more freedom to be creative in arranging the rest of the elements of the song. Imagine that. SIMPLE. It's good. So I had all sorts of freedom to add extra instruments, harmony vocals, practice all my parts (I can't see how that would have had a positive impact on the song.....). Overall, I was much more confident in the song. I knew it. I understood what to say and how.

That was the real achievement for me. The song that came to be was very close to the one in my head.

Dig It!

The song is called:

Just Don't Leave Me OK?


Let me know what you think.