[az]B000XU8VY4[/az]When I was growing up I don’t remember my dad ever listening to music for pleasure – not on the radio or records. My mom occasionally put on a vinyl record. We did have a record player and a small collection of vinyl records. A very small collection – less than two dozen I’m sure.
Just a Couple of Kids
The youngest smallest smartest kid in my High School classes was tough. In the middle of 1st grade, they moved me to 2nd grade in the little 2-room country school I attended.
Volga and Range both had 2-room school houses, with 1st through 3rd in one room, 4th through 6th in the other. About 10 kids in each grade; 60 total in the school. We moved in after the school year started so I had the last seat in the 1st graders. When I was promoted, I didn’t even have to move my desk, I was just the first seat in the 2nd graders.
Bullying was a big part of my life when I was younger. Continue reading “Just a Couple of Kids”
Ropin’ the Wind with Garth Brooks
[az]B000EN0TIG[/az]Back in 1992 I was introduced to Garth Brooks by a friend from Texas. I hadn’t really been a huge country fan before then. My friend was staying with me at the time and wanted to watch the Country Music Awards. I was hooked after hearing Garth Brooks perform. Today, though I don’t listen to even new country much, I still love to listen to Garth Brooks.
In the summer of 1992 Garth came to San Diego, California, where I was then living. Continue reading “Ropin’ the Wind with Garth Brooks”
Shaking the Tree
[az]B00008977N[/az][az]B000000OTY[/az]Primarily a lyricist, it’s usually the words that draw me to a song. (My primary beef with country music is that the lyrics tend to be trite or on a subject I find uninteresting or just poorly written. This does not apply to Brad Paisley, in case you were wondering.)
It’s always fun, then, to love a song for the music, then discover its message.
beautiful carelessly sultry
Songwriter friend Charlie Cheney keeps telling me that song lyrics should lean heavily on nouns. Show, don’t tell. Pack the song with people doing things in places with stuff, instead of talking about feelings and interior monologues and all those abstracts.
A handful of years ago, Charlie and a group of friends wrote a song which was nothing but nouns. It didn’t make much sense, but it sure had nouns.
Acoustic Lovely Sarah Through the Wall
My Michael Hedges Pandora station has been playing a lovely little harp-like guitar piece for a while. I listen all night so I don’t always check to see who’s doing what. (Okay, sometimes I do. It’s music.)
I Wish I Had a Ukulele
During February Album Writing Month, you’ll hear lots of ukulele songs. A couple years ago, it seemed everyone had one.
Everyone but me.
Continue reading “I Wish I Had a Ukulele”
You Can Not Like Steely Dan
Recently a friend reluctantly admitted (his words) that he doesn’t like Steely Dan.
Though I understand, I don’t get it.
Continue reading “You Can Not Like Steely Dan”
What if the Light at the End of the Tunnel is Just the Headlamp of an Oncoming Train?
After repeated listenings to Cream’s Born Under a Bad Sign a few years ago I went to my music room to play around on my bass. Rather than trying to copy Jack Bruce’s bass line, I played what it made me feel like.
Speeding it up a little and moving down and back up a few times, all I needed was a brief refrain at the end, a turnaround between verses, and it felt complete.
What if the Light at the End of the Tunnel is Just the Headlamp of an Oncoming Train?
A rockabilly shuffle on the drums is loads of fun, but it’s hard to keep up if you’re not practicing regularly. The drums seem to have survived most of this trip.
When you commit to writing 14 songs in 28 days there’s a bit of a time constraint. When I started recording the springy lead guitar I realised that, though it was recording, it wasn’t coming out of the amp, and it wasn’t coming through the computer to my headphones. I could hear a tinny little noise straight off the strings on my Stratocaster, but even that was muffled by the headphones.
Knowing I could do it over, I soldiered on.
I didn’t do it over. This is what I sound like playing lead guitar when I can’t hear myself. Maybe I should try it more often.
Blues without harmonica seemed wrong. Then the piano started complaining about being left out.
I’ve written a handful of short verses which I might record some day, but if Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust can survive as an instrumental for more than a decade, this one will be okay.
A Flute for All Seasons
Classical music has a long history of instrument-swapping. Lute tunes transcribed for guitar. Harpsichord pieces performed on piano. Since guitars and pianos are easier to come by these days than lutes or harpsichords, this is a good thing for modern performers.
[az]B00000E67M[/az][az]B000E79A0K[/az]Sometimes it’s clear the transcription is simply to allow a performer to indulge in a work written for an instrument other than the one the play. Wynton Marsalis playing “Flight of the Bumblebee” on trumpet comes to mind.
One of the first compact discs I bought when they became commonly available was Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” which had long been a favorite of mine. Rather than the traditional violin, this was arranged for flute and performed by James Galway.
It’s a very different sound, of course, and Galway makes it work. The flute isn’t quite as delicate as a violin can be, but a skilled flutist can make us forget that during the peaceful movements. When winter arrives, though, it seems to have been written for the instrument. The biting winds of winter are colder in a flute than a violin.
I no longer own that copy. These days, my favorite recording of the Seasons is Lorin Maazel’s arrangement and performance on the traditional instrument.
But when winter comes, I always miss the flute.