lyrics...shmyrics.....

Sympathy for the Devil is one of those songs that I sometimes get into and it and listen to the whole darn thing but then at other times as soon as I hear the opening drums - I'm hitting the skip button on my iPod.   Definitely a primo example of a mood song for me.  As songwriters - I think we have a hard time separating ourselves from our creations.  I never think of songs that I have written and question: "I wonder if people with consider this a mood song".  Creating music is a very personal thing for me and I think you take criticism as personally as if someone was criticizing your own child.  Yes - it can be that close to your heart.  Lately - I have been more of 'The Lone Songwriter'.  I haven't co-written a tune since my days in my previous band.  In that band - it wasn't like we sat down together and hammered out a tune.  Sometimes my co-writer would present me with a song and sometimes I was the one presenting the song.  We then did "our thing" to each others' composition.  It worked well for us and we didn't have very many throw-away tracks.  I think we both felt personally connected to each tune whether the contribution was something minimal or something that changed the scope of the song on a grand level.  In that band I was not the singer.  I always felt that the singer should be singing something that they "felt" so I stayed away from lyrics but now that I am doing my own thing - I am really enjoying the whole art form once again.  The lyrics are still second on my list though.  Although I don't think that it means that they suffer because of that.  What I mean is that since I am a guitar boy - I tend to start with the music.  I compose usually out of a jam session.  I will just be playing, not really practicing, just jamming.  It might be simple strumming on an acoustic or it might be giving the fingers a workout on the electric but either way it stems from that process.  If I play something that stands out to me then that is when the song starts for me.  Something sets the mood.  It might be the key of the jam or maybe it is something that puts me into a mood due to how the chords make me feel.  Sound strange?  I don't know how to explain it any better than that. Lyrics for me come from listening to the completed instrumental afterward.  Sometimes they flow quickly and sometimes it might take days, weeks, months or even in one case - years.   I had a song that was originally composed instrumentally 10 years ago and I never felt the right lyrics till one day the inspiration hit and the song was finished in a matter of minutes.  It's a strange process at times but it is what works for me.   Whenever I meet songwriters - I want to know what their processes include.  I am curious about their creative process especially when they have that different sound.  I am fortunate to host a Singer/Songwriter night here in Nashville and this has been giving me the opportunity to experience that craft from so many different artists, genres, styles and methods.  It's been a great inspirational tool for me to reconsider how I approach the craft of songwriting.


and on that note.....

I'm outta here!

My latest blog is about...Oh look! a quarter!

I hafta admit that I am a skeptic when it comes to the notion of ADD.  Well maybe not entirely- but I think the actual cases of such are far more rare than the amount of prescriptions that are handed out to "reel in" these poor "distracted minds". 

I have a focus problem at times and it's not because of ADD - it's because I have a big plate and I have put so many items on my plate that I tend to wander mentally from morsel to morsel.  See?  now I am thinking about food.  Maybe you are now, too?   Ok - Maybe it would be better if I was on some kind of medication from time to time that would cause me to "focus" on one thing at a time - but that is just not the way my mind likes to work.   I can be working on one project - let's say for example that I am editing a new video - then all of a sudden my mind hears lyrics for a song that I have been writing.  Well, I'd rather have that creative distraction than to not have the creative moment at all. 

The point I was trying to make is that I need to go ride my bike right now.


and on that note......I'm outta here......

25 Hour Days

Was back in the studio most of this past weekend working as Producer/Engineer on a couple of projects.  Got  some quality work done, too.  It's always a good thing when you make that connection when trying to find a common ground between artist and producer.  It's kind of like a color chart most of the time.  Just because you both see red doesn't mean that you are both seeing the exact same shade of red.  Same with music.  When someone tells you they want something to sound a certain way - it can sometimes be a slow process to get things to sound the way that they are hearing it in their heads.  Frames of reference do help.  When someone says "I want the drums to sound like Eric Carr's kit on the Creatures of the Night CD - that makes it a lot easier to find that common ground.  The trick is to avoid the inclination to copy it exactly.  Obviously - influences are great.  I know that I wear my influences on my sleeve - people usually can tell who my favorite musicians are by the way that I play and I have no problem with that.  On a CD production though - it's not my goal to make somebody sound exactly like somebody else.  Unless you are doing a tribute CD - what's the point?  Even in that case - I think I would still try to put my own stamp on it.  Had some good musical connections this weekend and another project is in the works.   Now - if I could only find some time to work on the Jason Mapes CD......  25 hours in the day please?   

on that note...  I'm outtie!

Winterized for Wanderlust

Rocking in Buffalo, NY

Had a great weekend on the road.  My wanderlust is secure.  Left Nashville just as some tornado weather was arriving however it seemed to follow me up into Ohio and I finally left most of it behind in Pennsylvania.  However, New York seemed to have almost what could be described as a winterized hurricane going on but it finally passed over just in time for my Sunday departure back to Nashville.


Met some new peeps, got to see a dear friend at a birthday party and played some rock and roll in the great city of Buffalo.   I wanted to stop and see Niagara Falls before I departed but the weather wasn't really that agreeable and when it comes to Winter weather....I am a Winter Wussy.

  Made it back home safe and sound and even managed a stop in Akron to visit world famous Ripper Owens' Taphouse for dinner.  Ripper himself was not in the house but the place rocks....one of my fave road stops!  Busy week ahead and rock & roll ain't dead! .......and on that note - I'm outta here!