APRIL - MAY 2011 UPDATE

Some real excitement has been happening! First and foremost my daughter gave birth to a baby girl on May 21; our third grandchild!

Second, Singer-Songwriters Series project has become the SONGWRITERS SERIES at Salt Lake County Libraries.

Note: Sometimes I get the feeling that I am not moving, but after reviewing this entry I see how much I have done and what I have. I am very blessed to have so much goodness in my life. I know that, believe me I do. That really is enough in the final analysis. I have a wonderful spouse,  awesome kids, grandchildren, and great relationship with relatives, a few friends, a fairly stress free and well paying job, I work with good people, and have free time and the means to travel, pursue music. Life is pretty good!

Recommended Utah artists to check out:

Mary Tebbs www.reverbnation.com/MaryTebbs (Great song! - Infectious Guarantee)

Hour 13 www.reverbnation.com/Hour13 (Great song! - Frailty)

Ryan Innes www.reverbnation.com/RyanInnes (Great song! Long Fall From You – written  with Caleb Blood)

Caleb Blood www.reverbnation.com/CalebBlood

Jhonny K (and the Krew) www.reverbnation.com/JhonnyK

Chris Orrock www.reverbnation.com/ChrisOrrock

Tim Pearce www.reverbnation.com/TimPearce

SONGWRITER SERIES at Salt Lake County Libraries
We’ve had three concerts and have more scheduled June 13^th at Draper branch and July 11^th at Sandy branch. We had an incredible show on May 23^rd at the Herriman branch with Mary Tebbs and Bryce Wood. They both did terrific sets and Mary blew us away with her incredible songs, voice, and playing. She also showed us a couple of new tunes! Once called “Beautiful” is just amazing. I can’t wait to hear her studio version. It was a big boost for my musical self esteem to play on the same bill as Mary and have her tell us what a great project this is. And she wants to do it again. We’ll bring her back when we are really rolling.

Alan Sanders from Sons of Other Mothers has volunteered his sound system and ran sound for us on the 23^rd and plans to do at least the next one. We are very grateful for that!

This is taking off! The library is very exited! The library sent a representative to the last show and they are excited about what we are doing. I’m in the final stages this week of getting official library sponsorship that may involve some pay. They are building an events center in West Jordan that is to open in January 2012 designed for music, plays, and performance events. What we are doing is exactly what they are hoping for at the center. And they will be paying artists at the center (the series right now is a free gig but good for promotion). I’ve also been asked to get involved with the library’s purchase of local music. Each year they stock the shelves with music CDs and some of that is local artists. They’ve asked my input in helping them sift through the plethora of  local music being marketed independently.

My Songwriting
I have gotten several ideas for new songs which I have captured on my “bits and pieces” tracks on the TASCAM. I’ve also been re-working some of my older songs, particularly “We Can Fly” and “Reason To Believe”. Both of these were too long. I scraped the last verse for “We Can Fly” and rewrote the first verse. “Reason To Believe” says everything I want to but has this guitar interlude. It’s never quite fit but I’ve kept it in there just because I like it. Nancy convinced me to do what is best for the song, take it out, and write some other song to use the cool guitar stuff in. J

My Collaborating
I auditioned with a blues cover band a few weeks ago as lead vocals/rhythm guitar. It was good jamming but I didn’t feel the grove with the band, plus they had a bunch of Willie Nelson and other tunes I didn’t really care for. I called the next day and said no thanks. I never did find out if they were interested in me; maybe they didn’t want me either. Then I got an email from a dynamite original blues band who lost their vocalist. They liked my sound from tunes on the site and asked if I could jam and see how it goes. We were in New York so I gave him my number and asked him to call on Sunday. Sunday no call. Monday I sent a note and he said he’d call me on Tuesday. Tuesday no call. I haven’t pursued it again. They know how to get me. Bummer, what’s up with some musicians?

I met with Alan Sanders at his home one afternoon. We mostly discussed our recording equipment and software and how we record. We fooled around a little with one of my songs. His band is playing with me on June 21 at the Larsen’s annual summer solstice party so we are going to work up a couple of cover tunes just the two of us on guitars and harmonizing. I’m excited about that.
I’ve been throwing my lyrics to another friend, Celeste Hollenbeck, for her to play with. She’s the one that gave me the idea to throw away the last verse of “We Can Fly”. She’s fooling with a few others and has ideas for her own lyrics that maybe could become songs.

My Recording
I’ve got mic placements and track effect settings where I am getting a consistent acoustic guitar with vocal sound that I am happy with. I’ve recorded several covers in my effort to archive versions of songs that I have played live at gigs in the past 30 years. There’s over 300 so I will focus on the top 100 I like. There are some obscure ones I learned and played only once or twice. I made a covers medley that is about 5 minutes and it has a string of snippets from 22 cover songs. I plan on making the same sort of sampler for my original songs. I recorded everything on the TASCAM and transferred the tracks to Sony ACID to cut and arrange the snippets and engineer the fade in-out between snippets.

My Live Performance
My focus has been on the songwriters series and I haven’t performed much else. I really want to perform more and that’s one reason I put together the covers sampler is so I can promote to venues catering to live music for entertainment, not necessarily original music showcases. I haven’t pursued it too hard yet but plan to get going. I did make submission to the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association’s Local Concert Series where they showcase two local artists each month. I didn’t make the cut. I also submitted for a slot on the Acoustic All-Stars festival but did not make that cut either. It may be because I am not rigorously playing gigs all the time. I am also submitting to play the Utah State Fair.

So I have a dilemma with playing local venues. I want to play more but I hate playing bars. I classify a bar as a place that is a liquor hang-out, might have pool tables and what-not, and has music sometimes. Any place where alcohol the number one thing and the main reason to go to the place. Other places that have music all the time, but also serve alcohol I don't classify as a bar, but a music venue. They're OK. Of course restaurants, coffee houses, etc. are OK. I don’t have anything against alcohol, but my experience playing those joints is that people usually don't appreciate what is going on musically and a some just get drunk which isn't fun.

Open Mics and play-for-tip gigs are fun (any gig is usually fun!) but I want to start getting paid for playing again, but it generally means bars (alcohol first, music second). Most coffee houses and restaurants don't pay so you just go for tips or to hang with other musicians in the mutual admiration society. There are also several pay-to-play venues that are mostly theater setups. Some are converted old movie theaters. They have nice stage and great sound systems. But you basically rent the hall and sell tickets. I'm nowhere near known enough to do that. I can't even get friends to come out when I play except once in a while. Catch 22 is you need to play the bars and get known a bit and have a track record of performing to start getting the paid jobs at non-bar places. It takes a lot to be able to sell 300-500 tickets for a rented venue.

Just a little frustrated. Of course, it should just be about the music, creating and recording, sharing with family and friends, and enjoying the open-mics and my new library project. That really should honestly be satisfying enough. Well, it is very satisfying but I still want more. It's not about fame or adulation. I think I want validation that my stuff is real, that people like it. Ah but again, that shouldn't matter as long as I like it. It shouldn't matter if anyone likes it as long as I do. But there is a definite “high” or kind of “buzz” and good feeling (seriously like drugs) that comes from playing to a crowd where you feel like you're making a connection. I want to do more of that and I want to make cash to help me get more instruments, amplifiers, and other gear.

Life is pretty good!

“go forward
move ahead
try to detect it
it's not too late
to whip it
whip it good”

MARCH 2011 UPDATE

I’ve been busy this past month.  We started the South Jordan Singer-Songwriter Series and I did some recording. I recorded a Tim Pearce tune, writing some new songs, reworking some older songs, continuing lessons with Chuck Gilmore and Sony Acid Studio classes. And we saw a good show up in Logan. And there is always the choir.

Recommended Utah artists to check out:
Tim Pearce http://www.reverbnation.com/timpearce
Ryan Innes http://www.reverbnation.com/RyanInnes

Caleb Blood http://www.reverbnation.com/calebblood

Molly K Nye http://www.reverbnation.com/mollyk

Red Pete (Keith Callister)  http://www.reverbnation.com/redpete

Steven Halliday http://www.reverbnation.com/stevenhalliday

Gregory Scott http://www.reverbnation.com/GregoryScottSLC

Accidentally Involved http://www.reverbnation.com/accidentallyInvolved

New Ryan Innes tune – Long Fall From You!

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/song_8128587?eid=A473519_8226061_28953392

You have to check this song out. This is by far the best tune I have heard to come out of the valley yet! Yes, I said the best ever. Not everyone out there is going it alone. Though it is not as common as one might hope, I have seen some good collaboration in the valley. Ryan teamed up with Caleb Blood to write “Long Fall From You” and then Ben Sorenson, and others to record this outstanding song. Everything is done just right, and it doesn’t hurt that Ryan has one of the smoothest, sexiest voices out there right now.

Collaboration

I haven’t done any real collaboration so far. I’ve had some good contact with a few over the Internet, but we haven’t gotten down to brass tacks and done any real work.  I’m grateful to John Revitte (www.reverbnation.com/johnrevitte) for his critique and suggestions for my lyrics to “That’s The Way It’s Supposed To Be.” I also ran it by Nancy and between both of their suggestions I have headed in a slightly different direction. It may end up being titled something else altogether!  When I have to explain what I am trying to say then I obviously have not expressed the lyrics correctly.

Some whining – I’ve been discussing with a few people my disappointment  with trying to get artists together and trying to build synergy and be involved with the music community. The problem may be that I am not promoting my music; in fact I am down playing it to the point where I did not put myself on bill for the Songwriter Series. I am not pursuing a full time career with music. I write songs, but not with the idea of recording a CD and touring; not with the thought of writing a #1 hit or studying what the industry is looking for now. I just write what comes to mind for me. Perhaps because I consider this a hobby for me and not my whole life I am perceived as “not real.” So I will focus on the Songwriter Series and see where that goes. I do love to perform and hoped to be supportive of younger and hungrier performers and to get some reciprocation for artists that I have set up for shows and hosted. I will set up the outdoor house shows so that I am more of the focus as a performer and make them more about “me” than others. Maybe I’ve been too “humble” and too successful at getting my ego out of the way.

South Jordan Singer-Songwriters Series

We have the first show set up for April 14 at the South Jordan Library. We put the word out, posted on some music sites and Face Book, and got some good response.  We invited three of the better ones to participate. When I started gathering bios and pictures to do promotion I got NO response from one of them. I was surprised an worried that something may have happened to her, but since then I have seen her on the bill at various places around town and she is posting on Face Book. So, sadly I realize that I’ve been blown off! That’s the strange kind of behavior I’ve been seeing. Part of it of course is the musician ego, and part of it is there are several cliques without much cross breeding and perhaps a little bit of competition. Some performers I find to be very courteous and friendly no matter if they are interested in what I am talking about. Others just ignore communications. The ones that baffle me are those that communicate sometimes and ignore others and generally don’t hand out “thank you”; it might tarnish their attitude. -OK, enough whining J

So we have three terrific artists lined up: Molly K Nye, Above Snakes, and Gregory Scott. There are many sitting in the wings for next shows. Molly is a young girl with a wonderful voice and a gift for writing songs. Above Snakes is Keith Callister and some buddies from Red Pete, Linus, and Starmy.

Tim Pearce Song!

It’s pretty obvious that I have been impressed with Tim and like his music a lot. One song in particular really strikes a chord and has some awesome riffing going on called “A Weary Soul to Get Me through the Day.” It is very cool and done in open D tuning. He basically wrote four lines which he repeats after an instrumental bridge. I wrote four lines and recorded my version so it uses his four lines, then the bridge, then my four lines. Time does the title line just once at the end of the song in a distorted, almost spoken and growling voice. I think that is an important line that adds real meaning and dimension to the thoughts expressed in the single lines. So I worked up a melody for it and repeat it twice over the bridge section. My bridge section riffing is also a little different than Tim’s; partly because I was having difficulty figuring out what Tim was playing and partly because I started to hear something a little different when I was working on it.

It’s always a little scary to cover someone’s song, let alone rework it and mess with it; especially when the writer does not know you are doing it. I was a little apprehensive when I showed it to Tim but he was pleased and said he liked the changes and my performance. You can check out his version on his site www.reverbnation.com/timpearce but I have to warn you that he does use the F-bomb.

RECORDING

I’ve been experimenting for quite some time with microphones and placement for recording the acoustic guitar and vocals. For the guitar I have settled in on an arrangement that gives me an acoustic guitar sound I like. I place the SM57 near the 12^th fret about 4” away. The AKG is set up in front to my right pointing directly at the front of the guitar about 6” away. I set the AT Vocal condenser microphone about head height center and about 18” away. This gives a really good guitar sound and I usually do vocals separate with AT about 18” from my mouth. But if I can play the song live without mistakes I get a much better sound because the vocal track leaks into the guitar microphones giving a fuller sound. But I can’t go back and correct the vocal when I do that because the original vocal will still be heard in the background on the guitar tracks. I have also settled into the reverb and room space settings I like and just a little compression. I wrote earlier about my woes trying to figure out compression. I’ve played enough that I have settings that fatten the vocals just a hair. This configuration of microphones and effects can be heard on all my records un the past couple of months and what I will be using to finish out recording acoustic/vocal demos of songs that I haven’t recorded yet. I’d also like to go back and remix some of the stuff I recorded two years ago. Some of those I would just like to record from scratch really.

Voice Lessons

I am really enjoying my lessons with Chuck Gilmore. I can already feel a difference and my range has increased a little already. He records our sessions and puts it on CD so I do the exercises from the lessons just about any time I am in the car. I used to have great range into the notes above the C above middle C, but I rarely performed up in that range. But what it did do was let me be very comfortable at A above middle C which is a good crescendo area for my voice. Until now it has been a strain to get up there. With Chuck’s help I am getting up there, not real strong yet, but I am getting back into that territory. We’ve been working on my song “Note Enough Love” so that it is comfortable and consistent. Because it has parts in my baritone range and also parts in my upper tenor it kind of sounds like two different people. Chuck is helping me to a consistent tone throughout all of my range.  I’d like to record “Over and Done” but it is definitely too high at the moment. But I am starting to get the notes and that’s exciting!

Sony Acid Studio

I finished the first eight week introduction to Acid Studio taught at Highland High by Steve Auerbach and signed up for another eight weeks. He will be teaching how to use some of the tools for part of each session and then giving one-on-one time to help us with our individual projects. I showed him that I had imported all the tracks for “Must Be Love” and want to remix it using some of the effects plug-ins available for ACID. I also want to start using MIDI to program drum and percussion tracks using the extensive voicing libraries available. I have downloaded over 3000 free drum and percussion sounds along with about 2000 actual recording clips of drum fills and percussion elements. All kinds of other instruments are also available. I can use my Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer as a MIDI controller to interface with Acid Studio to create any number of backing tracks for song ideas I have. But I need to learn more about the tools and interfaces before I can really get going creating my stuff.

Great Show in Logan with a bonus!

We went to Logan and saw Accidentally Involved. Tim Pearce was the interim act. There was a young girl that opened and did some nice things but was not comfortable with performing yet. I’m embarrassed that I can’t remember her name. Tim was disappointed with his performance claiming he had an off night. Maybe so, but I enjoyed it immensely. He didn’t hit every note right; he cut a couple of songs short; and he generally let each song sort of just drift away without any clear ending. Despite that, he had intensity when he sang and I came away a bit rejuvenated, which is what a live performance is all about. He connected with me. His music can be dark and themes depressing, but I went away feeling positive. Funny how that works.

I enjoyed Accidentally Involved demo tracks on their site. Two things stand out: 1) the vocals and harmonies, and 2) the drumming.

Vocals: Cindy has a great voice, nice songs, and a lot of energy on stage and fun to watch. What's missing is all the harmony. I didn't realize that Emeline (bass player) doesn't sing. I just assumed she was doing the harmony, but I guess Cindy does her own harmony on the recordings. Some of the tunes have three- part on the records with a nice bubbly sound similar to the Go-Go’s. Unfortunately I was a bit let down that the live performance did not stand up to the studio work. Getting a bass player that sings or adding another vocalist or two would make a world of difference.

Drumming: Ricky Lyons is a fantastic drummer and percussionist! What he does, that a lot of drummers don't do, is play to the song. He put touches and nuance that fit just right and elevated each song well above its acoustic/vocal arrangement. I especially appreciated his use of side snare hits and the variations he got from using different sections of cymbals. A lot of drummers play basic beats or try to show the audience how good they are. Ricky is all about the songs, he’s just great! If I had a band I’d be doing whatever I could to get him to play with me.

The BONUS is that my son Andrew and his wife Margie came down from Ashton, ID and met us for the show. Then we retreated to Wolf Creek for the rest of the weekend and had a relaxing fun time. We ate some of the best pizza ever in Logan at Fredrico's Pizza - 1349 E. 700 N. I will definitely go back there again!

FEBRUARY 2011 UPDATE

This month's post is a little late, but here it is.

Recommended Utah artists to check out:
Tim Pearce http://www.reverbnation.com/timpearce
Sons of Other Mothers http://www.reverbnation.com/alansanders
Karlie McKinnon http://www.reverbnation.com/karliemckinnon
Whitney Blayne http://www.reverbnation.com/whitneyblayne
Accidentally Involved http://www.reverbnation.com/accidentallyinvolved
Rock Frampton http://www.reverbnation.com/rockframpton
Mary Tebbs http://www.reverbnation.com/marytebbs

The highlight show for us this month was Sons of Other Mothers and Honey (Mary Tebbs and Leraine Horstmanshoff) at IAMA this month. Fantastic show! Mary and Leraine are amazing musicians and performers.This was the best Sons of Other Mothers set I've seen yet. Great entertainment.

Sony ACID Music Studio
I'm taking classes over at Highland High School taught by Steve Auerbach and just learning so much. ACID is Sony's offering against Pro Tools, Cubase, Garage Band, Adobe Audition, etc. They all are built on the same concepts and have interchangeable industry standard add-ons and sound libraries. The most popular professional versions can be very expensive. Sony offers an entry level module and I can expand as my knowledge and desire grows. It's more complicated than I anticipated, but I am beginning to get around quite well. This will not replace my TASCAM recording unit, but be an additional resource. I can transfer recorded tracks from TASCAM to ACID and vice-versa. ACID offers a lot more capabilities with effects processing and fine tuning a mix. It will replace the Voyetra sequencer software I was using which is no longer compatible with Windows 7. So I can trigger my drum machines, etc. from ACID. But I may not need the machines anymore with all of the fantastic drum and other instrument libraries available for the computer based programs.

South Jordan Singer-Songwriters Series
Nancy and I are organizing a concert series to be held at the South Jordan library. They have a great facility room that can hold up to 70. I plan to host rather than perform. We have reserved a date in April and are lining up a couple of performers. I've received a lot of response to play so we are hopeful it can take off. We aren't real sure of what we are doing lol! We hope to 1) provide some less experienced performers a place to get comfortable performing, 2) a place to share music with a "concert" audience rather than people that are having dinner or meeting friends, 3) create a regularly scheduled all-ages venue, 3) attract audiences that won't go to a "bar" or "club" but love live music. Let's see how it goes.

Recording
I recorded acoustic/vocal versions of several of my songs this month: 'Already There', 'Heaven Is You', and 'Where You Are'. I've been jamming along with 'Where You Are' experimenting and creating other guitar parts. I recorded cover acoustic demos of 'Born to Run', 'Take It Easy', and 'In Your Eyes'. I've put together a demo CD for potential shows with a mix of my songs and covers.

Collaboration
I'm still sharing ideas with a few friends on the internet. I shared some lyrics I was stuck on with John Revitte who gave me some excellent ideas (check John out at www.reverbnation.com/johnrevitte). The song is 'That's the Way it's Supposed to Be' and I will be recording it soon. Most of us are super busy and haven't had time to do much with collaboration. I jumped into the Sony ACID thing just as I was starting to meet others to work with.

Chuck Gilmore - Sing Voice Studio
I've started working with vocal coach Chuck Gilmore (www.SingUtah.com). I hope to regain some of the range I have lost over the years. I've whined about it before. I've had to rearrange the keys of some of my songs so I can still sing them. There are some I can't sing because the guitar parts cannot be rearranged. For instance, 'Not Enough Love' is built on a neat guitar lick based around the open E chord. It does not sound right if I drop tune to D and can't be rearranged to a different key because it needs the specific ringing of open strings in standard tuning. Anyway, it is frustrating and Chuck is going to help me get some of that back and maybe some better control.

Church Choir
The choir performed 'Lord, I Will Follow Thee' and did a wonderful job! It had good feeling and emotion. I have trouble keeping a consistent group together as various people rotate in and out depending on their schedules and other demands on their time. So I have opened it up to anyone who wants to perform whether they have practiced or not. We do have some excellent singers that can't practice and feel guilty to perform if they have not. I've been that person and felt it wasn't fair to those who have practice. Well, it’s really not fair to the congregation or anybody, because the performance deserves the best effort and voices we can bring together. We had a few people take me up on the offer and join us for performance. I took a few moments to point out areas in the music where I would do things different and stressed the importance of watching me for direction. It worked great! We are preparing 'Jesus, the very Thought of Thee' for March and 'God so Loved the World' for Easter. Our new pianist Jessica Hernandez is excellent and her husband Ruyman adds a beautiful tenor voice. There are about 10 regulars I can depend on. I'm very grateful for their time and work on the material and how they help cue those who perform but are not able to practice often

JANUARY 2011 UPDATE

Recommended Utah artists to check out: 
Mary Tebbs www.reverbnation.com/marytebbs
Steven Halliday www.reverbnation.com/stevenhalliday
Parchman Farm Freedom Riders www.reverbnation.com/parchmanfarmfreedomriders
Dusk One www.reverbnation.com/duskraps
Cache Valley Cartel (CVC) www.reverbnation.com/cvctheband
Stankbot Tryanny www.reverbnation.com/stankbottyranny

Status
My wife and I have been trying to do some matchmaking, but without much success. As much as artists can benefit from collaboration, most in the valley are either intimidated by it, or their ego is too big. Some keep their art very close to their sleeve. I guess you can’t force things. We need to step back and find a natural flow we fit in.

Meanwhile, I am focusing more on my goals:
1) To just have a record of my work for my family, grand kids, posterity. I don't want to die and nobody ever heard them. I have a bunch my family may have heard just once or twice, some I've never shared.
2) I want to see just what my songs can become. I've listened to acoustic demos of famous pieces, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, etc. and it is amazing the direction the fully arranged band productions went from the guitar demos.

I’ve met a couple of others on the internet and we are working on some of each other’s songs in the virtual world. It’s an experiment and a lot easier than trying to work out rehearsal schedules and dragging equipment around. I’m collaborating with a fellow in Tennessee with “Hidden Meadow Song” and a Native American percussionist on my tune “Austin (Life is Good)”. I’ve also been sharing ideas with a guy in Toole. I don’t want to say too much until I see where it goes. At the very minimum I’ve made some new friends.

I’ve been recording some of my backlog as acoustic demos and posting on the ReverbNation site. I recorded “Fine! Fine! Fine!” and “Rosemary Days”

I performed at Pat’s once this month and played “Where You Are”, “Rosemary Days”, and “State of Confusion”. It was a good time. Kole Hansen was there with her new partner, Abel, from Austin, TX and they are fantastic! Their voices blend beautifully. Check them out:  http://www.reverbnation.com/koleandabel

I’m taking a class at Highland High for Sony’s ACID Music Studio taught by Steve Auerbach. He’s become a great resource with a background in performance, mixing, producing. He brought School of Rock to the West years ago. He also runs music garage at www.musicgarage.org and he has some great resources.

DECEMBER 2010 UPDATE

We had a great Christmas with the family and there was some fun jamming with my sons and my son-in-law.
 
Meanwhile I keep listening to local artists. I'm excited to see some artists are becoming more active and gaining exposure in the last year. Shaun Barrowes' has totally broken out of the gate! Live for Music tour has been a great success and he is continuing to gain momentum. I see other local artists that are doing more and more each month. Some are recording, releasing new material, playing more gigs, and even widening their performing areas. Artists I see that continually gaining exposure through dedication and hard work include Stankbot Tyranny, Steven Halliday, Melody and Tyler, Ryan Innes, Brett Turner, Whitney Blaine Whittaker, Crystal Poloa, Danielle Hyde Vaughn, Opal Hill Drive, Parchman Freedom Riders, and Dusk One


I performed two acoustic covers at a Christmas show in Draper - "Run Run Rudolph" and "Merry Christmas Baby". I did the Chuck Berry and B.B. King versions respectively. I was very satisfied with them and my performance. I've decided to start recording some of the cover songs I perform, especially when I put in rehearsal effort. So, I recorded both of them in my studio.

I also recorded "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Tees and "Drive" by Incubus. I've got a few others I do very well I'll record in January. I'll do a few each month and then have these captured for posterity. "Delilah" was a very good exercise. Although I play it well it is a driving very steady rhythm picking between a bass line and a back swipe of the first three strings in the chords. I realized I wasn't getting through it without a few fluffs here and there and I couldn't punch it in very easily without it being obvious. I did the vocals with three punch ins. Eventually I got through it with one punch in on the last chorus. Maybe others can't hear it, but I know where it is. I cut "Drive" perfect in one take. I did the vocals three times and took the last take.

The covers have been a great exercise in the recording process and I am getting a better sound from mixing playing with effect ratios and EQ settings. I went back a remixed two covers I recorded last year, ELP's "Still You Turn Me On" and Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy". In the fall I also recorded a cover of John Denver's "Grandma's Feather Bed for my good friend Tom McKinney.

I recorded guitar and vocal for "Hidden Meadow Song (A Boy and a Girl). I put down two acoustic guitar tracks and  a vocal. The song has a jazzy finger-picked intro that is repeated somewhat at the end. I double-tracked this part which was a very good exercise. It took a couple of hours to play it exactly the same each time so I could double track it. Now I play it better. It needs some help with harmonies and what I hear is out of my range. Tom Callister is playing with some arrangement ideas for it.


So my new approach is to put down acoustic only versions for a while.

NOVEMBER 2010 UPDATE

Nancy and I are still on hiatus from arranging more shows. We've continued to attract more artists to the database, including hip-hop, electronica, and dance folks. A few of those are interested in helping with sound effects or adding atmosphere and texture to the background of a song. This will be particularly helpful for those looking to get a pop sound.

Old MacDonald
The highlight of the last month was the completion and posting of Old MacDonald. There is a lot of effort in this song and it shows. First I searched the web for free animal sound bites. It was actually more difficult than you might think. Many of the good recordings are copywrite and for pay. One group offers a CD with unlimited use for $499!! I should have recorded all my animals when I had the farm in upstate NY. I could have made more from that than my songs!

Anyway, I programmed drums which I spent about 5-6 hours. They are buried deep in the mix but I think the work really paid off, even though you can't really hear all the work I put in. You can feel it the way the song bounces along. I laid down guitar very quickly, but had to practice the mandolin an hour a day for about a week before I could play that so it felt good and natural. I used my synthesizer to put the bass and the banjo in and played both of those live. I decided which animals to do and spent hours cutting sound bites that I liked, cataloging and saving them. I cut the vocals including harmony in about an hour.

The majority of my effort went into getting my grandson's voice clips and mixing. We had a bucket of animals and I coaxed him into saying things. I have about 15 minutes taken over three sessions with him. It was really difficult to balance his bites because he did not stay still in front of the mic. Sometimes he was on top of it and even bumping it, while other times he was a foot or more away. I had to pull in the far stuff and back off the close stuff. I then cut out about 20 clips totaling about 1 minute. After choosing the clips I wanted, I decided where to place them in the song. I also had to add some speaking parts for me that went along with the clips. I did a lot of tedious cutting and pasting to get the clips to sound conversational. All in all I probably have 35-40 hours in this song spread over two months. I'm very happy with the result.

I've listened to literally hundreds of Utah artists posted on Reverb Nation, some on My Space, and some on Face Book. Not counting established acts, many are hobbyists like me, some are earnestly trying to raise their craft to a level to make a career. There are some very good voices, instrumentation, home production, etc. going on, but a lot of us are still trying to pull all of these together. That's one of our goals - to help people find others to compliment their strengths.

Here are a few real stand outs in my opinion:

Tim Pearce - www.reverbnation.com/timpearce Tim's music is very genuine, very refreshing and from the heart. He possesses true soul and it comes through in his writing, guitar playing, singing and overall performance. For home recordings, his production is very high quality as well. I can't put a genre label on his music other than acoustic. It's not folk, it's not rock, but it is personal and demands to be listened to on a personal level; a true natural talent. Someone I would consider an "artist' that has forged his on path in the tradition of Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and others that defy categorization.

Dusk One - www.reverbnation.com/duskraps this rapper is intelligent and his lyrics show that. He has something to say and is inventive with his beats and background tracks. I particularly like his haunting slide guitar in “Black Lungs”. Unfortunately about half the songs on the site are collaborations with others. Skip those and go to his solo stuff. He is relatively clean as far as this genre goes, but as a warning there are a few explicatives. Also, his recordings are professional studio quality; ready for airplay. My endorsement is all the more meaningful as I am generally not a fan of this genre.

Steven Halliday - www.reverbnation.com/stevenhalliday marry Jack Johnson with Jason Mraz and you get Steven Halliday’s pop sound. He’s not really an amateur as he is on the verge of breaking out. He has an album recorded with full band arrangements in a professional studio and he has started playing frequently in Utah and Idaho. His weakness may be his songwriting, although its good can be trite at times. I’m confident he will mature as a writer. His vocal performances more than compensate for any weakness in lyrics. He has a very radio friendly sound.

Honorable mentions:

Cache Valley Cartel (CVC) - www.reverbnation.com/cvctheband these guys have a unique blend of pop/rock/hip hop/dance/funk. Songs are a bit catchy as well.

Audible Static aka Russell Elliot - “Hot Girls Aren’t Worth It” www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfBS-k3s2Lg and www.reverbnation.com/audiblestatic This song and video is a lot of fun! He is techno, his recordings are professional, but so far a one-hit-wonder on my charts.

Stankbot Tryanny - www.reverbnation.com/stankbottyranny OK, these guys aren’t that great (sorry fellas). Their songs are a bit immature and they have a real garage rock sound. But hey, they are pre-teens; the drummer is just 10 years old and wails away like John Bonham! (Salt Lake Tribune) They are also masters at self promotion, quickly rising to #1 on Reverb Nation and staying there; and featured on Reverb Nation's home page (quite a feat). In just a few months they have garnered some 15,000 registered fans, radio airplay, and courtship with record labels.

As for me –
I am recording “State of Confusion” and will be adding Blake Smith’s harmonica to my backing tracks. I will also be posting a couple of songs from the tapes I recovered. I recently posted “Carry On” and will shortly post “Get While the Getting’s Good” and “Gone, Gone, Gone.”

OCTOBER 2010 UPDATE

My database of area musicians continues to grow and I have identified quite a few that are willing to work with other musicians. Also a lot that will do house concerts. 

The last show was a lot of fun. Not attended as well as we hoped with only about 50 people, but fun. We had Randy Moser, Austin Jones, Half Cowboy, Sons of Other Mothers, and me. Everyone had some great tunes.

Randy's got such a cool feel and does not do predictable stuff with the guitar. He played exceptional clean.

Austin was solid! He has a great country voice and presence. I did not detect any mistakes. He played one cover but his originals blew that away, especially a tune titled "Six String and a Strap".

Half Cowboy really tightened up their act and harmonies were nice and tight. Really love "Saturated" and they did an awesome job.

Sons of Other Mothers were missing one son, but Alan Sanders carried the load very well. Their playing is always tight and Alan does such sweet things with the acoustic guitar.

I played fairly well but did flub a few obvious places. I played "Army Man" and "Blame it on the Woman", two songs I have not played for a while. I played a new one "State of Confusion" and Blake from the Sons joined me with his harmonica. That song was a blast.

We may not do anything until after Christmas. Meanwhile I will be focusing on the choir for Christmas and  I am recording a bunch of my tunes as simple acoustics exactly the way I perform them by myself. I've laid down "Blame it on the Woman" and "Army Man". I posted Army Man. I'm redoing "Blame it" in another key to see if it sounds better. I'm also working on "Old MacDonald" for a collection of songs from my grandsons. It will be called "Pop Pop Sings!"

Excitement!! There's gold in that there box!!! I found a box in storage full of old tape cassette recordings! I thought it had been lost forever. It is tapes of my original songs over the years, covers, practice sessions and work from my bands Millenium, Blackstone, and Man Overboard. Also some choirs I sang with, some collaboration with Dan Pellitier and Doug Parrish. And professional recordings of my dad's fiddle tunes and his bluegrass band Kinfolk!

Tapes piled all around the mixer! I'm transferring some of these to digital.

Most importantly I found 10 tapes of my "bits and pieces"!!! These are ideas and thoughts I put down over the years. There is over twelve hours of ideas! I'm sure this will get my juices flowing so expect a lot of new stuff to start coming out.

The stack on the right is my original songs, back left is covers, and the front stack is "Bits and Pieces"!

IDEAS!!!