So, we are trying something new here...
I have been posting a new song for every week of 2008 on the myspace. So, now you can go back and download these EP collections of the songs.
I am making these EP collections available for free, but I have also included a "DONATE" link at the bottom of this entry if you are feeling generous. You can give $zero or $five (that would be a buck a song) or $whatever-you-see-fit. You can even download the EP now and return later to donate, if you should so desire. That's right...you can test drive these EPs before buying. Please know that the donations you make will go directly to funding the next record and all touring pursuits along the way!
Many thanks. And enjoy!
lael
so, in an attempt to empty the contents of my notebooks and various recording devices, I will be working on POSTING A NEW SONG EVERY WEEK on the myspace page through the year of 2008 and then posting them to this blog as we build enough to make 5 song EPs.
now, I must qualify 'new' songs right off the bat...some of them will be brand new full productions, others will be me simply pressing record on the tape machine, some will be live performances from my new record (if you don't own it yet, you should check it out!). when I am burnt out or out of time I will post a song from my past. sound fair, then?each song will have a bit of story behind it, letting you know what is going on.
so, thanks for the interest and I do hope you check in on the myspace page and this blog for the new songs!
the first song I have posted is called, for lack of a better title at this point, 'the open road.' it is a song I have had kicking around for a couple years now that I finally got around to recording this fall. the life you lead has many choices to be made. as we roll on, some of those choices must be let go in the name of, what we hope to be, a greater good. more or less, that is what this song means to capture.
i hope you enjoy.
so, my old band (the bella fayes), we used to do this song. there was an attempt to record it that was abandoned, pretty much at the end of our run. i have always really liked this song, though, and have played it live when going solo for the last couple of years.
my real close friend was going through some troubles with his heart back when i was writing this tune (hence, the line "you have a heart that beats inside your chest"). we were all really concerned for him, and it was odd to have somebody so close in such a state. in my mind, while walking my dog one day, i started listing all the things about him that made him the man he was...the new watch he had to wear to keep track of his daily routines, his family and friends, his house, the dogs in his back yard. at the end of it all, though, you really don't need much to get by. that thought turned into this song.
don't think i have ever really told him about this one...
i will have to make a point to do so.
I had been learning parts for guitars and keyboards for a new project I will be playing with on the side (China Forbes of Pink Martini), and this tune just kind of popped out at the end of a rather long evening. Back in the day, I used to write a shorter song from time to time, and I have been missing those little snippets of songs...instead of working out full-blown productions or bridges or filler bullshit. Anyway, this song is quite simple. Recorded the vocals and guitar on my iPod with a little microphone set-up I bought at the Apple store recently. Added the piano and glockenspiel through the magic of the studio.
I have a sister that is about my age, we are real close friends. She recently moved to town, and we have begun to hang out again like when we were kids...all the time. I feel spoiled, really. I have wanted to write something for her for a long time, and this one just happened to come around.
I had this tune that I had wrote while driving to work that I could not shake. So, I tried my luck on it and things seemed to keeping rolling. Took the whole song from idea to this recording in about five hours. Now, I think that is a personal record for me.
The song is simply a look at how things can slip out of your grasp if you just let the days roll by. One day you feel like you are cool...that is, things are rolling, you are feeling on top of your game, you're hip. The next day (or, in my case, the next hour) you can feel listless and a bit lost. It ain't easy to keep your cool.
This tune is from my old band, the Bella Fayes. We were a fine rock outfit from Portland that did some touring through the western states, wrote and recorded 3 albums, stuck together for about 5 years.
My wife and I were listening through A to Z selections on the iPod last weekend while sitting around our fire and drinking some fine wine...nice scene. We came upon the Bella Fayes and the song 'Poolside.' It had always been one of my favorites.'Poolside' is the name, as we were sitting around the pool (see?), strumming guitars, and our man Jason Henry came up with this great song. I put the words to it, the other fellows chimed in, and the rest is put on tape.Hope you enjoy.
