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Bought a ukulele. Wrote a song. Recorded it. Pitched it. :)
The pitch called for:
FUN, HAPPY and POSITIVE, SINGER SONGWRITER SONGS that could be heard on the same radio station as A Fine Frenzy, Jason Mraz, Sara Bariliees, Ingrid Michaelson, Matt Nathanson, etc. are needed by the Owner of a busy Music Library. He specifically asked up for songs with a positive message. Songs with a sincere and honest approach in the vocals will help grab this guys attention. Lyrics themes can focus on love, life, relationships, etc. This is a film and TV pitch, so please be sure your lyrics are universal.
Purposely crafted this instrumental track to sound like classic rock in the vein of AC/DC for a pitch. It also has seemed to acquire a Free/Bad Company vibe. I had fun getting the guitar tones and drums to "sound like". I heard in a panel once about putting a little bit of distortion on the drums so that's what I done did!
Bonus: There is cowbell in this!
All instruments performed by me. Recorded and mixed with Logic Pro on a MacBookPro.
One summer day at a New Jersey park for load-in and soundcheck, I spied, across a wide open green expanse of park, a....girl and her....dog...interacting under a tree. Purely on thinking it was a good title, I went from there with any kind of story line this song might take.
All vocals and instruments performed by me. Recorded and mixed with Logic Pro on a MacBookPro.
***** LYRICS *****
A GIRL AND HER DOG
Looking out across the green
Not a soul to be seen
Just a girl and her dog
Just like any other day
Till my thoughts began to stray
Toward the girl and her dog
We spend our lives tugging on the leash
Whatever's out of reach looks so inviting
We wag our tails until the bitter end
Every now and then we think get our way
I turned away to watch the clouds
Dancing shadows all around
The girl and her dog
CHORUS
Like a bulldog with a bone
I can't leave well enough alone
And so this song
About a girl and her dog
A friend mentioned something to me his mom used to say, "Mama gonna whoop you" So, used the title and went from there. I knew this Blues/Rock song had to be fun with a title like that.
All vocals and instruments performed by me. Recorded and mixed with Logic Pro on a MacBookPro. (That's a "laptop", for the non-techies) ;)
***** LYRICS *****
MAMA GONNA WHOOP YOU
Sneakin' out back
Kickin' at the cat
Boy you better watch she don't run off
Jumpin' that fence
Ain't makin' no sense
You know what gonna happen when you get caught?
Mama gonna whoop you
You better watch out
For cryin' out loud
Mama gonna whoop you
Mama gonna whoop you
Better you quit
Here's a little tip, now
Fear the boom boom
Mama gonna whoop you
Comin' in late
Makin' that face
Hoping those puppy eyes save your neck
She ain't no fool
It's the dog house for you
You're gonna get a lickin' that you won't forget
BRIDGE
You act so tough
But it's scary stuff
When she's winding up
Okay, I'm officially done watching Season 3. Oh, look! Another starts at the end of March!
After sitting through all the drama and melt-your-heart, cheesy "TV", I do enjoy and I think learn from the constructive comments from the judges and guests to the performers. (And I do get a kick out of seeing what the stylists-or-whoever do with the judges' and performers' "look" any given week. It's quite interesting wouldn't you say?
If you're on Facebook, you may have seen this impromptu video from the bus. I'm posting this here as well. Another flawless performance with tons of rehearsal! (yah, right)
This may be slightly boring to everyone but me and my immediate family. ;)
Collected all the photos of my 2006 working (www.HotelCal.com) vacation at Disney World and put them in a (15 minute!) musical slide show. There are some blurry photos, but I don't care, I used every one - my kids took'em okay! Great memories. Less hair (Less gray!). I get a little teary-eyed every time I watch this.
Well, it's official! I've signed a contract with a publishing library on four of my instrumental tracks. If (When!?) placed these will most likely show up on some sort of Reality TV show or "Access Holywood".
This my first deal specifically dealing with television music as oppposed to prior placements in YouTube commercials, web site music, non-profit video brochures, etc such as I've listed on the "News" page.
This is not really my forte, by I was willing to give writing this stuff a try. You can hear three of the short tunes below (dancing shoes optional):
...Take deadlines, for instance. Nothing like a time limit to get something finished and move on to the next project! Took a detour from the tunes I had planned to work on yesterday and spent the day working up a short cover of this song for an ad agency pitch. Started by 10am out by 4pm! Another excuse to use my ukulele. It's a little strange not letting a mix sit overnight for a final next-day listen, but so be it!
Harking back to a previous postabout some song titles being working on, well - we're making progress! Here's an example of one of them that I'm laying the tracks down to now; like right now - over to my left!
Imagine, if you will...a warm Summer scene in a breezy New Jersey park. An idea for a song. A lone songwriter's need for expression. The outcome is hopefully listenable. See you in the studio! By all means leave a comment!! Let your voice be heard.
Got a last-minute chance recently to see Peter Frampton on his "Frampton Comes Alive 35th Anniversary Tour". How could I resist? It took place a mere 5 miles from my house!
In case you haven't heard, Peter has been touring and revisiting/playing his entire blockbuster 70's album for the first half of the evening's performance. Why do I feel compelled write? Well, "Frampton Comes Alive" was a HUGE guitar influence for me. I remember going over some of his songs as a youngster with my guitar teacher back home in Downey and talking about the scales PF was using. And I sang all the ballads, too. I wore my record (vinyl!) out!!
And how could I not buy the CD recording of the very show that I attended?! Especially when he makes sure to reference "Riverside" in his songs...
By the way...
Did you see the photo I took with Peter at the NAMM Show in 2010?
Bad phone-camera shot, but there I am with one of my guitar heroes!
And further, a video from that very show...
Unfortunately I did NOT sit this close. Not having ever seen him live, I was real glad I got the chance. And I had no idea how cool the material from his latest instrumental CD was!
"Exciting" short video in which Hotel California A Salute To The Eagles (myself included) wait out a storm, sequestered on the bus in the middle of downtown Kingsport, TN on June 9, 2011
Today is the day after Osama bin Laden's death. I suppose I don't need to go into detail for you who he is, and actually, he's not the subject of this post. Let's change our focus, shall we?
This morning as I had iTunes DJ playing while preparing for a hotel departure, the Carpenters came on. The song (not one of their well-known hits) was called "Now".
You know, it's guaranteed that every time I hear Karen Carpenter's voice, I will melt...chills! What a voice! Simple and pure.
Here's something you may not know about me:
It's always been a secret dream of mine ever since I can remember since Karen, Richard, and their parents, were fellow Downey, California residents like I was, to sing with Karen someday. Of course that will never happen because she sadly died in 1983 of anorexia complications. So while I was living my childhood life and spending hours on end hunkered down playing my guitar in my bedroom on the west side of town, Karen and Richard Carpenter lived and we're rising to the heights of worldwide musical fame on the northeast side of town!
Kind of cool to think about!
But now Karen's no longer with us. There a plenty of singers who I greatly admire, but she remains to this day my all-time favorite female singer. I enjoy her not only for simply the heart-warming entertainment she brings but also as a fellow performer. Of course, you'll probably read this a lot in my posts, but I'm so blessed and grateful to be singing for a living and always learning something from admiring the talents of the best!
I can't but help but think there's a little "bit of Karen" I've absorbed into whatever performance skills I may have acquired along the way from watching and listening to her.
A quote that went along with this posted video from NedNickerson2010 for the song "Now": "Following Karen's death, Richard returned to the studio and worked on his and Karen's last recordings, including two of the songs she recorded in 1982 as well as other songs from previous recording sessions over the years before. "Now" was a work lead, recorded in one take, and was intended to familiarize the musicians with the song as well as Richard's arrangement. After a complete music track had been recorded, Karen would have returned to the studio and recorded new vocals for the song. But as it was, the work lead turned out to be the last song Karen ever recorded."
Here's a rough version of a tune I've been working on.
Where did you ever get this song title, Steve?
Well,....traveling down the road on the bus this past year, our FOH (that's Front of House) sound engineer, Kevin, mentioned a line that became the title of this song. I believe he said his Mom used to say this, "Mama Gonna Whoop You". So I took up my personal challenge to come up with something using said childhood warning as a title or "hook" as it's called in the songwriting world. Lyrics came first, then I added the melody later "whilst" tweaking the lyric as I went.
What's your excuse for such silliness?
If anything, it's a songwriting exercise. I have no idea who would sing this besides me. The idea is to just keep writing!. Hope you enjoy watching my singing head since when I film this I failed to have my guitar in the shot as well. But there you have it. I'm not going to record this againnnn!
Okay, here it is! In continuance of my previous photo post, see me in moving picture-like form sit in the very chair that Johnny Depp sat in when he starred as John Dillinger in the movie, "Public Enemies"!
I tag along as Kevin narrates our adventure. While rolling on the bus I took his video and slapped it all together.
Got home just in time earlier this week to see Jonathan's running soldier/rifle tossing solo in the Patriot High Band and Colorguard Parent Preview! You'll him run across your screen at about 4:30
, starring Johnny Depp.