2/28/09
2/27/09
2/25/09
2/24/09
The Ghosts Of Brunswick 02.24.09
Written about the amazing hotel I stayed in over the past few days!! Apparently, the Brunswick Hotel is one of the more haunted places in the U.S. I had no idea...
City of Sin 02.23.09
This one is a video that was recorded in the beautiful Hotel Brunswick in Kingman, Arizona!!!
2/23/09
Arizona-- Today's Song...02.23.09
Ok... I'm in Arizona right now waiting on a delicious fruit smoothie with antioxidants and ginseng. I'm not going to be able to post my new song for today(Monday) until I get back tomorrow(Tuesday). I am going to write and record one though. I refuse to let a little traveling get in my way!! I have my camcorder with me and a piano at the hotel. I'm about to go down and write today's song right now...
Tonight, I'll actually be playing a show in the bar of the Brunswick Hotel in beautiful Kingman, Arizona. My father is learning to be a pilot out here and has made some friends who have shown some interest in this project(probably because he takes his computer everywhere and forces everyone he meets to listen to this stuff.... Ha!-- Love you Dad). He flew me out here to play some music from the Write Before Right catalogue. I'll also be videotaping that... So tuesday night I'll have a few things for everyone in the form of video that will go on the blog.
Tonight, I'll actually be playing a show in the bar of the Brunswick Hotel in beautiful Kingman, Arizona. My father is learning to be a pilot out here and has made some friends who have shown some interest in this project(probably because he takes his computer everywhere and forces everyone he meets to listen to this stuff.... Ha!-- Love you Dad). He flew me out here to play some music from the Write Before Right catalogue. I'll also be videotaping that... So tuesday night I'll have a few things for everyone in the form of video that will go on the blog.
2/22/09
Sweet Morning 02.22.09
I fly out to Arizona today to do my first out of state show. I'll have some more video's for you all when I get back...
2/21/09
2/20/09
2/19/09
2/18/09
Desolation (Full Length)
Here's the link to the free download and full-preview to Desolation. The link takes you to my last.fm site which, by the way, is the worst site ever designed for artists. The scripts on the Music Manager pages suck and you have to upload your music 2 or 3 times before it shows up. Anyway, check out the full length of this song....
2/17/09
Desolation
Desolation is the newest tune in the Write Before Right catalogue. "Short Version" means that I actually did an 8:30 minute song but I had to shorten it due to the flash player requirements. I'll put the full version on Last.fm within 24 hours so everyone can hear the full length version if you want. I had fun in the studio today-- no editing on the drums. First time ever!!
2/16/09
2/15/09
2/9/09
Wow
Since my last post about Amy Winehouse, I have been trying to mix it up a little bit with lots of different kinds of songs. Here are some of the ideas/styles I've put down:
AutoTuned spiritual with layered vocals(Story In The Sky Pt.2), wishing I had lots of money(Bill Gates), my recollection of living in Chicago(Chicago), a humorous song about how bad the movie 'Taken' was(Taken), 2 different songs for some very close friends who recently lost loved ones (Better Place and For Your Tears), and the first time I took a suggestion from somebody else and turned it into a song--- Toxic City-- This idea was given to me by Jonathan Greenburg... and also Little White Bird--Nelson I don't know your last name but thanks for the idea.
I have no qualms about using AutoTune. In fact, I recently heard Bon Iver's new EP and was surprised to hear that he had used an all autotuned song on his recently released 'Blood Bank'. I think it is a simple tool to sometimes use in the studio for a specific effect. I use it rarely on regular vocal takes, but like to use it in the manner in which I did on the song Story In The Sky Pt.2.
I'm stoked about the song Taken as well. This is the first real 'joke' song I've ever done. Its in the style of Andy Sandberg from SNL and my friends and I have already had a blast with this tune.
Toxic City is not about Richmond, and those events did not actually happen to me, but the idea was a great story... so I wrote the tune. Another friend of mine, Nelson(who is a killer bass player) gave me the idea for the song Little White Bird. There was a flying V of birds and all the birds were black except the one in the back. This little guy was white, and was struggling to keep up with the rest of the crew.
Keep posting ideas for new songs... I'm developing a list of all the suggestions. Thanks and keep listening...
2/3/09
Any Ideas For Songs?
If you have any ideas for songs, that would be great!! I'm getting more comfortable with finishing a song. Starting the song is the issue now. Finding things to write about is more difficult than the writing. Post a comment, tell me what you think!! Could be a story, an idea, a title... anything!!
1/26/09
Amy Winehouse
My latest song is about the tragedy that is Amy Winehouse. She happens to be one of the most vocally talented people that I've seen in a long time. I hope she gets it together... And I hope that you like the song Falling Star...
1/25/09
Who's Listening?
Hey everyone!! Hope you all are enjoying my project thus far. I'm just over a month into the writing and I'm really having a great time with this. My ReverbNation player and my Feedburner site are giving me some great stats for my sites... such as how many plays I'm getting, how many widget hits I've had, how many fans I have and so on... So...
I encourage any and everyone to post a comment, check out the tunes, download a song or two if you like em', check out the videos, join the mailing list or become a fan... I'd also like to thank everyone who's been listening!! I've had a lot of positive feedback.
Well, the last few days I've been writing about close friends, family members, relationships/dating, opinions I have on other artists, and paying homage to a very dear friend of us musicians... See if you can tell which ones are which.
I'll tell a little story about one of the tunes... I was recently reading a magazine that I frequently check out called... well, I guess I shouldn't say the name... but, its a great mag relating to all that is an indie artist. The writing is good, the articles are insightful, and I'm able to check out a lot of cool artists that I've never heard before. This particular issue however, had a few artists that said some pretty stupid and irritating things.
One of the reviews had a girl talking about how she really never listened to music that much because that detracted from her artistic direction... Wow. I can't imagine not listening to music, ever. Its never been a chore or a negative experience at all. I love checking out old stuff that I haven't listened to in a while and discovering new and intricate details that somehow got by me the first 100 times. I love coming across the next beautiful artist or songwriter like Justin Vernon of Bon Iver or this group I like called Yo La Tengo.
Another article had this guy who said he kind of played 7 instruments. You kinda play 7 instruments? What does that even mean? Is that to say that you don't really play one very well? So... you want me to check out your music knowing that you're proud of the fact that your playing or singing is average at best?
Finally, in yet another article about this really interesting little musical collaboration (sarcasm intended), I read about a girl who never really considered herself a musician until about 6 months ago. Come on, really? 6 months ago? What happened in that time frame? Oh... wait, I know... you're rock-star boyfriend convinced his record label to give you guys a deal!! Now you're a musician. Way to go. I don't know if these people were just saying this stuff because its cool and 'indie' to act nonchalant-- or because they really meant what they were saying. Either way I didn't want anything to do with they're movement.
Basically, these articles did the opposite of what they're supposed to do. After reading them, I did not want to go out and listen to their music. I didn't want to read another word. I did not want to check them out the next time they might be playing a show. I take immense pride in my strengths and weaknesses as a musician. I have a lot to learn about a lot of things but I also have conviction about what a musician is and what he/she isn't. I'll be a student of music until I the day I die. I do play one instrument well, I love listening to music all the time, and I've considered myself a musician for a long time...
And that is the story of my new song entitled "I'd Never Buy Your Record Now". Hope you like it!!
1/20/09
2 New Ones...
Here are the latest songs... Do You Cry? and Dream Of How It Ends. Hope you like the tunes. I think I might take "Do you Cry" and develop the song a little further. It has a nice overall meaning to the song.
I like "Dream of how it Ends" as well. No chorus, no bridge, just a long verse. I dig songs like that. This song was actually about a picture that I keep seeing in my head. I don't know what it means but... well... anyway...
Looking forward to the inauguration tomorrow! Also looking forward to getting my computer back. I had to rebuild it after it broke down again. New chip, new motherboard, new ram... should be killer though. We'll see...
1/18/09
1/16/09
Falling Creek 01.16.09
Today's song is a simple one. Hope you like it...
In this photo... from left to write... Rachel Holmes, Evan Setzer, Me, Abbey Phillips, and Long John "Lillehamer" Liley.
1/15/09
1/14/09
The Rain Dancing King 01.14.09
New song today called The Rain Dancing King... hope you like the picture of rain!
New Flash Player!
In uploading and installing my artist page and music to my facebook profile, I came across a new flash player that will hold all of my songs instead of just 10. I will probably keep the Last.fm flash player on the site to let people know that they can go there but the ReverbNation player is better. You can also click on my site at ReverbNation for all of my free downloads as well... Enjoy!!!
Letter to the Editor 01.13.09
My song for today is called Letter To The Editor. Oh by the way... my computer is working now so I was able to put up an MP3 of the song. There was a full page letter in this month's BRM(Beyond Race Magazine) that was from an irate guy who wanted BRM to change the name of their mag. He was a nasty ol' bigot who said some horrible things about minorities. Anyway, I really appreciated the response by the mag so I decided to write a song from both perspectives... Hope you like it... I also will have a video of the song that will be up shortly...
1/13/09
You Tube Player
So I think I'll just go with the one blue YouTube Player at the top of my blog. If you click on the icon just to the right of the play button, you will be able to choose any of the video's I've uploaded. Let me know if you have questions.
1/12/09
Hey, here's the deal!
So I'm learning how to run and operate a blog. You all have many options with this blog. You can play many of my songs with the pink last.fm flash player at the top of the site. Clicking on the actual song will direct you to my last.fm page where you can download any of the tracks for free. Clicking on the little triangle to the right of the title will play the song from the pink flash player--keeping you in the blog.
You can also watch videos from my blog that I've embedded on the blog. I'm thinking of taking off the YouTube videos but keeping the blue YouTube Player that I have at the bottom. The blue YouTube player will play all of the videos I've uploaded into my YouTube account. This will keep me from having to embed a new video on the blog all the time.... I don't really know which direction I should go with that... What do you think? I could also upload a video directly into the blog... but that just seems like an extra step.
1/10/09
My Computer Sucks
Ok, so I just got my PC--that I built--serviced about a month ago. Well, as luck would have it, the darn thing won't turn on. So I had to record my song for yesterday on my camcorder... But because I don't know how to compress the video to under 200mb, I had to load it into You Tube. But for some reason, the video wouldn't load. Anyway, I'm putting up that video today if it kills me.... and another one that I have yet to write....
1/1/09
Full Production
Ok, for the first time I was actually able to write, record and produce a song in one day. Its called "Can't Put Up The Fight". Hope you like it!!
12/29/08
Missed a day!!
Sorry everyone... I missed a day yesterday. My family is in from out of town and we celebrated our holiday season with lots of food and gifts. I'm hoping to get one done today... Don't worry, I'll get 365 straight days if it kills me!
12/26/08
New pics of my studio
The other picture is where my studio used to be... I've moved it since then to the other side of my house.... Here are some updated photos...
My Gear
Some of you might be wondering about the gear I'm using in my studio so here it is.
On the piano... which is an acrosonic spinet by Baldwin... I have a combination of a few different mics-- a matched pair of Peluso small condensers, an SE Electronics R1 ribbon, or an SM57. I have a Rode K2 Tube Condenser that I use for most of my vocals, but for this project I'll be using an SM58. That mic is easier to set up at the piano.
I'm using a combination of different Preamps-- Presonus Eureka channel strip, D.A.V. Electronics Broadhurst GDNS No.1u stereo preamp, and an AEA stereo ribbon pre.
I have a Digi 002 running into a home built PC that's running Pro Tools and Sonar. I switch back and forth between the two... don't ask me why... I like both programs!! I have way too many plug-ins to type so there's that too.
Other gear I use...Korg Triton, Korg Ms2000, Nord Electro 2, Warp Factory Electrix Vocoder, Stanton Belt Drive Turntable, Yamaha Oak Custom Drum Kit, and a beautiful mint condition 1977 Yamaha Electone Organ with the original bench--I got that for $150... lucky.
12/23/08
First Few Songs
Ok... I'm really beginning this blog with 4 songs. I'm going to try and upload a new song every day. We'll see how that goes... You all can check out the new songs from my Last.Fm flash player.It will either be at the bottom or the top of my blog. If you click on the link to Last.Fm, you can download all of my tracks for free-- http://www.last.fm/music/Write+Before+Right/Write+Before+Right--- You can also listen to the tracks in their entirety from Last.Fm Here's what we have so far...
Shoot Me In the Head-- 12.19.08
Jefferson Sings-- 12.20.08
Ghost-- 12.21.08
The Sad Story of Elmer Jacobsen 12.22.08
... Here's a great story I came across in a Magazine called 'Found Magazine'--- Someone found Elmer's entire life story in a Dumpster and published it in this magazine. I thought it was pretty fascinating.
12/22/08
Hello To Everyone!!
This blog is about my process of writing and recording a song every day for the next year. I have 3 rules: The song has to be at least 2 minutes long, it cannot be an instrumental song--it has to be lyrically driven, and the song cannot be about the process of writing a song.
This blog is not intended to show off my abilities as a songwriter. In fact, I'm committing to this project to allow myself to write bad songs. Experimentation is key. My sole intention is to document the process of becoming a better songwriter.
I will post ideas, links, audio, and video about my process. Comments are welcome... I hope to create a community of interest within my project. Enjoy!!!
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