Another year over…
I just wanted to take a minute and wish anyone reading this a Happy Holiday Season, no matter what Holiday you celebrate, if any. How’s that for PC? 
It’s been a mixed up, crazy year for my family and I with lots of ups and downs. Plus I turned the big 4-0 this year which is both exciting and depressing at the same time.
There are many ways to write a song. Writing a song is not all that difficult, actually. Writing a good song is a little more challenging, but just writing a plan old song is a very simple thing. Small children do it all the time without even thinking about it. Some people have to be inspired to write a song, others can just craft something on a whim. While I’m not completely unable to perform the latter (and have at times), I’m definitely a creature of inspiration when it comes to songwriting.
The director of one of my favorite films, The Empire Strikes Back, has passed away at 87.
My love affair with films and filmmaking began with a little film called Star Wars that debuted in May of 1977. I was seven and nothing could touch Star Wars. It was like nothing I had ever seen, although I’m sure many adults saw the various sources of inspiration. Being seven and inexperienced at this thing we call life, it was all new to me and it was spectacular.
The Story
Long story short: this song is about reconnecting with an old friend.
It was specifically written for a friend of mine named Joyce. We met when we were in our late teens, both of us working for the same company but in different locations. It was a retail chain so there was always a lot of interaction between stores. Sometimes people from one store would go work in another for the day to cover for someone who was out, and so on.
A friend shared this funny list with me and I thought I’d pass it on to all of my (three or four) readers. I did not write it but I sure agree with just about all of it! Enjoy!
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The Ten Commandments of Rock
1. Thou Shalt Not Preach
Yes, just like you, we’re concerned with Global Warming, Free Speech and the Third World . But we paid to hear you sing and play!
2. Thou Shalt Play The Hits
The Story
I’m a big fan of the blues. It doesn’t matter to me what kind of blues it is. I just love the raw emotion and honesty mixed with mostly simple progressions. Most rock is derived somehow from the blues, when you look back and analyze things. It’s also as American as apple pie and all that jazz.
Odd as it sounds, this straight-up blues song is a story about a story. Well, it isn’t its own story with its own narrative, but I think you get the idea. If you read the lyrics, you’ll find it’s plain to see that this song is based on Stephen King’s opus, The Stand.
I bought myself a nifty new phone this year. It’s an HTC EVO4G and runs the popular Android (or Droid, if you prefer) operating system. I’m really enjoying it so far and it has some nice features for things like video uploading and what not.
Yesterday, while I was miking up my drums and getting ready to record some drum tracks for the next batch of new songs, I grabbed the phone and thought I’d try my hand at some video blogging. Why not?
I have a wacky little treat for you today – an instrumental! It’s a bit far out and loaded with crazy synthesizer mayhem but I think it’s pretty fun! I hope you enjoy it.
This will be part of the Workin’ Progress record which is starting to really shape up. Check it out in the music player and let me know what you think.
Look for more news, songs and hopefully some gigs in the near future.
Workin’ Progress titles, so far:
Today I’m proud to release a new song from the Workin’ Progress project called “Welcome to the Party”. This one was a bit different for me and a bit challenging but a lot of fun. It’s basically a funky party jam.
The amazing sax you’ll hear on the track is by Gary Breitling, a local NJ player. The organ parts were played by Chris Preston who will be joining me for the live shows. I played everything else.
The Story
This song is, basically, a protest song. Protest songs and rock and roll seem to go hand in hand. I’m not one of those activist-types who go to rallies with signs and stuff but I’m certainly not opposed to writing a protest song when the feeling hits me and the inspiration is there.
This song is the end result of the combining of two song ideas, plus a little Utopia. I had a batch of lyrics with a loose melody called “The World’s Gone Crazy” lying around, waiting to be worked out. That song was more of a misanthropic ode than a protest song and it still has a few good bits in it that I’m going to eventually re-work and transform into another song when I have time.
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