A Songwriter's Bible

I am in the middle of recording an album, again. I have a couple of tracks almost finished and yet the end eludes me. I am not sure how this one will turn out. I am collecting sounds and thinking big story lines but I know that only lasts so long and I eventually return back to one song, one lyric, one small piece of the big project. I’ve lost count as to how many albums I have recorded. I think that is good because it will allow me to do things I haven’t done before. I like pushing myself onto new paths. 

I laid down this evening to Nick Drake’s Pink Moon. I had just put my daughter to sleep. My son finished up playing with his Legos while my wife worked at the computer. I simply closed my eyes and let Nick Drake push me out of my thoughts. Good writers do that. They make you forget who you are.

After side one ended I lingered before moving on. I wanted to let the taste stay before I took another bite. Music allows us to dig into the marrow of life for a little bit longer.  

I’ve gotten in the habit of listening to the music I have on vinyl while in the house. I don’t listen to the same music in the car or at work that I listen to at home. The sound of music on vinyl bouncing off the white walls of our home bring back a certain nostalgia and I want to keep that nostalgia close to me. I find comfort in the tiny thumps of bass from my bookshelf speakers. The stereo separation wide as it travels across the walls of our front room. 

I’ve come to love a handful of records that touch the pages of my songwriter’s bible. There are these albums I have longed to recreate and still marvel at the mojo they conjure up. When I started writing songs I was hungry for anything that had a singer and an acoustic guitar. The home base of acoustic music made me wander down many roads. It was a journey I do not regret. With every journey each experience settles into the skin but some sink deeper into the bone and sinew and blood. These albums are my truth. It is not a list for others to judge or draw conclusions. They are albums I have used as a bible. They are stories and sounds I have listened to while on my knees asking for direction. You have your god and I have mine.

Paul Simon – Paul Simon

Joni Mitchell – Blue

Nick Drake – Pink Moon

Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever ago

Indigo Girls – Indigo Girls

The National - High Violet

Yesterday was one of those days where I found myself once again glued to the national news as another tragedy unfolded in our country. I am started to feel numb as the same video clip plays over and over again. The commentary becomes more offensive the longer I watch and listen. I hate reporters stumbling through an interview with someone who was impacted trying to find an angle to the bigger story. The media is horrible at covering these types of events. It was not that long ago I was upset with how the events at Sandy Hook Elementary were portrayed by the media. At some point I believe it is our responsibility to turn off the TV. Wait for a day or two for the facts and details to be sorted through and support the process of meaningful journalism. 

That’s not what I really wanted to write about this evening. I have a new favorite album. For the past year I have found a couple of albums that have just killed me. It started off with Grimes’ Visions. Then it went to Paul Simon’s Hearts and Bones. Now it is High Violet by the National. 

The National are one of those bands you have to go out of your way to like. When I first heard the group I had a hard time listening to the sounds they were creating. I feel I need to say that up front. The first time you listen to High Violet it is difficult to process. It is an overwhelming barrage of sound. The second time listening is not much better. I forced myself to listen to the album four to five times before it started to make sense. Maybe I am a sucker for those kind of albums. I had a hard time with Radiohead’s OK Computer on the first listen. I knew it was great but I didn’t like it at first. The National’s High Violet is similar. 

Why do I love it? The entry point for me was the song and video,  Bloodbuzz Ohio. The video comes across as sarcastic and sentimental. I know it is an odd combination but damn, watch it and see if I am not wrong. I fell in love with Bloodbuzz Ohio in a deep and spiritual way. It was one of those songs that stuck in my head, playing over and over. Late last Sunday night I asked my wife to come into the front room and listen to a song. I haven’t done that in a while. With the lights down low and the song playing she looked at me as she always does. I’m not sure she liked the song but she could see I was drunk on the sound coming out of the speakers. She tolerates me a lot and I love her for that.

I love the arrangements. It sounds like a rock band trying to disguise that it is not a rock band. The band consists of two guitars, bass, drums and some extra stuff thrown in. The voice. My God that voice. It is completely un-rock and roll and I love that. He is not screaming at me. He is having a conversation with me that at times is dark and funny. I find myself wondering if he had been drinking earlier in the evening. We all need friends like this. 

What is interesting to me is that this album truly stands out from their previous work. The album before this, The Boxer, has hints of this album but most of their other work sounds like a very different band. You hear the roots of High Violet but it does not appear as developed as High Violet.

I am really excited about this group and it’s potential. High Violet will always have a special place for me but I am looking forward to what the band has to offer. From my perspective they have just begun their rise to greatness. With a new album out in May I am expecting to be amazed even further.

Take a chance on some new music. You won’t regret it.

Walking across Delmar, just pictures of you

I have been reading blogs this evening. There are some great people doing some great things with their blogs. It takes just a few minutes to find like-minded people writing for the pure pleasure of it. I have to remind myself when I am writing posts that there are a lot of people doing the same thing I am doing. Kindred souls in cyberspace. I say all that as a reminder to myself to enjoy this process. This space becomes it’s own reward. 

One of my favorite places in St. Louis is Delmar Boulevard in the Loop. Going back to my teens I have traveled to the Loop to remind myself of the great things happening in St. Louis. For the longest time I considered the Loop the only place of culture in this city. I’ve since changed my tune but the Loop still holds my respect. 

 Consisting of a couple of blocks the streets are lined with a series of small shops, a movie theater, restaurants, and a favorite record store of mine, Vintage Vinyl. Yes, they carry a good selection of vinyl and always have. 

As a writer, artist, whatever I am, I have used the Loop to fill my creative well. At least once a month I walk the side streets curious as to how long this section of the city will continue to inspire me. Just when I think I have worn out my welcome to the Loop it sparks my imagination in ways few other places do. I have seen my favorite movies at the Tivoli when I knew little more than a name of the movie and a whim. I have found the best album from a local band at Vintage Vinyl when I thought all hope was lost of finding a CD by Pale Divine. I have seen life changing shows at the Pageant and had the best food post concert in some one-room restaurant. I’ve walked with my girlfriend and then wife through the Loop on dates, escapes and rendezvous. The Loop has served me well. 

 I started recording Walking across Delmar, just pictures of you earlier in the year. As part of a writing exercise I decided to use a memory from Delmar the backdrop to an observation. I would say there is a story in this song but it is more of just an observation. The track was done in typical style and I took some time to record the vocal in a way I liked. I even turned on the blue lights in the studio to help with the vibe. I joke but I have found atmosphere in the studio really helps add vibe. It’s just awkward when your wife comes home and stumbles upon you as you’re living out the lead singer role. I don’t care how cool you are. It is still awkward striking a pose to no audience. 

I hope you enjoy Walking across Delmar, just pictures of you.

Owen and the 1904 World's Fair

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Our history museum here in St. Louis has had a long running exhibition on the 1904 World’s Fair. As a child I can remember one trip with my parents and the idea of the World’s Fair grabbed my imagination. Being from St. Louis I forget the rich history and cultural impact this city has had. Prior to the end of World War II St. Louis captured the world’s imagination on multiple occasions. From Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic on the Spirit of St. Louis, the explorations of Lewis and Clark, and the 1904 World’s Fair, St. Louis has enjoyed a place in the annuals of history.

I was about eight or nine years old when we visited the history museum to see an exhibit on fire arms that my father wanted to see. As we traveled around the museum’s other exhibits I remember seeing the floor covered in a map of Forest Park with different sections highlighting the Fair’s activities. The walls filled with pictures from the fair put history right into my hands for one of the first times. I learned the world sat and watched St. Louis for a whole year and during that time some incredible things happened in St. Louis. 

I copied this from our friends at Wikipedia –

·      Notable attendees included John Philip Sousa, whose band performed on opening day and several times during the fair.

·      Thomas Edison is claimed to have attended.

·      President Theodore Roosevelt opened the fair via telegraph, but did not attend personally until after the election in November 1904, as he claimed he did not want to use the fair for political purposes.

·      Ragtime music was popularly featured at the Fair. Scott Joplin wrote "The Cascades" specifically for the fair, inspired by the waterfalls at the Grand Basin, and presumably attended the fair.

·      Helen Keller, who was 24 and graduated from Radcliffe College, gave a lecture in the main auditorium.^[9]

·      J.T. Stinson, a well-regarded fruit specialist, introduced the phrase, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" (at a lecture during the exhibition).^[10]

·      The famous French organist Alexandre Guilmant played a series of 40 recitals, from memory, on the great organ in Festival Hall, then the largest pipe organ in the world.

·      Geronimo, the famous former war chief of the Apache, was "on display" in a teepee in the Ethnology Exhibit.

·      Henri Poincaré gave a keynote address on mathematical physics, including an outline for what would eventually became known as special relativity.^[11][12]

·      Jelly Roll Morton did not visit, stating in his later Library of Congress interview and recordings that he expected jazz pianist Tony Jackson would attend and win a jazz piano competition at the Exposition. Morton said he was "quite disgusted" to later learn that Jackson hadn't gone either, and that the competition had been won instead by Alfred Wilson; Morton considered himself a better pianist than Wilson.

·      The poet T. S. Eliot born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri visited the Igorot Village held in the Philippine Exposition section of the St. Louis World's Fair. Only several months after the closing of the World's Fair, he published a short story entitled "The Man Who Was King" in the school magazine of Smith Academy, St. Louis, Mo. he was attending. Inspired by the ganza dance which the Igorot people presented regularly in the Village and their reaction to civilization, the poet explored the interaction of a white man with an island culture. Interestingly, all this antedates the poet's delving into the anthropological studies during his Harvard graduate year. 

All of this leads to a song I wrote called Owen. Owen started out in the late 1990’s as a story song. I had such high hopes for the song. I loved the story and the lyrics but each time I sat down to record the song, it fell apart. I did not have the technical skill or the no how to put the song in the proper context. For years it sat in the vaults and about once a year I would pull the session out and give it a run through only to get frustrated. I’d make some notes and then put it away for another year.

My longtime collaborator, Mark and I began bouncing songs back and forth with some success in late 2010. After a few songs I reached back into the vault and pulled out Owen once again. Much to my amazement Mark seemed up to laying drums down to the song. I had long figured this song was to be my albatross. I threw the song to Mark without much expectation or conversation. About a week later I opened our dropbox to see drums tracks labeled “Owen”.

I was hesitant to even drag the tracks into the session folder. I didn’t know what Mark thought of the song but I knew he would do it justice. After about ten minutes of listening to the track I knew Mark had nailed what the song was missing. His drums glued the sections together that were causing me to stumble through everything.

The tracks were recorded into Pro Tools. I used my Martin HD28v and recorded two different tracks of acoustics panned hard left and right. I used the G&L Bass for the bass tracks. For the piano track I used the Grand Piano plugin that comes with Pro Tools. The song has two main sections. Each section has it’s own tempo. The slide guitar parts were originally me whistling but I replaced the part with my Dobro using a metal slide. All guitars were recorded with AKG 535s and the vocals were done with an AKG 414.

I hope you enjoy Owen.

Body's got to eat

     Finally the snow is melting. I am officially ready for spring to begin. With spring comes spring-cleaning and for the last week I have been organizing and sorting through the vaults here at Center Neptune Studios. I am knee deep in a new project and the songs and the recording are going well. Each time I create new music I like to stroll back into the vaults and listen to some old tracks. This week I stumbled across “Body’s got to eat”. 

Recorded about two years ago “Body’s got to eat” is a song I had written but had not recorded. I reached out to some old friends from High School to help give the song a kick the ass. Scott (drums) and Pat (guitar) went above and beyond to make this song work. We recorded a couple of songs but I think this is my favorite. 

Scott on Drums

     
I write a lot about being from St. Louis and I think this song represents how I hear the sound of St. Louis. St. Louis loves its hard rock heritage and the song taps into that spirit. It is earthy but not dirty hippie. It is driving but not overdriven. It is what St. Louis is… a mid-western little big city. It is not a hit but it is not a miss. K-She would play it and people would like it but I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon. 

     The song itself is a simple statement. A body has got to eat. We all have our desires and the song underscores that sentiment. It is as simple as that. Enjoy. 

New Song - Oh my my

There’s snow on the ground. A last minute snowstorm came into the area during the night. It is one of those beautiful snows. I can see accumulations of four or five inches already. For the day we are camped out inside. I anticipate school being off tomorrow for the kids. I think it is a good way to end the winter. With highs in the 50s for the end of the week, I think winter held out as long as it can. Well played winter, well played.

I’ve been slowly rebuilding the studio. Taking time to make the space workable. Reviewing gear and rearranging my gadgets to increase workflow and productivity is setting the stage for some recording. I’ve been writing a lot lately but in spurts. Two or three songs will pop up in an evening but it may be days before I get a chance to write again. At this point I’ll take what I can get.

One of the recent recordings to hit the finished pile is a song called “Oh my my”. It was written about a year ago for an album called Forged in Water. Forged in Water was my recording project for 2012. For the last few years I have been working to complete at least one legit “album” a year. This process keeps me focused on writing and recording when life tries to distract.

I love “Oh my my”. The song was inspired by the documentary film Dogtown and the Z boys. The film is about a group of skaters in the 1970s. Listening to the song does not evoke obvious overtones to the movie. It is an association put together in my mind and I realize it does not translate as skateboarding music. I think the song shows more of the influence on me by the Indigo Girls and the Violent Femmes. Acoustic guitars and drums are the focal point of the recording. My long time collaborator Mark is playing drums on this track. His style is always welcomed to the recordings I produce. I think the lack of electric guitars is rather punk in my mind. I could have easily made this an electronic wasp’s nest.

I recorded the acoustic guitar parts with my 2005 Martin HD-28v through 535 AKG condenser mics into an Apogee Duet using Logic Pro. Being a long time Pro Tools user the switch to Logic has been smooth but I am by no means as proficient using Logic Pro. The bass parts were recorded using Logic’s internal pedalboard with a bass amp setting. My faithful G&L bass that I have had forever was used to play the parts. Vocals were recorded using the same recording path as the other instruments utilizing a Shure SM7B. Having been a longtime AKG 414 user, I like the switch I have made to the Shure SM7B. I have no good reason as to why I like it other than Jeff Tweedy and Michael Jackson used them. I like the mental mojo it brings. The drums were recorded at Mark’s studio. His Ludwig kit with a combination of drum triggers and other mysterious gear created the wav files that were loaded into our drop box and downloaded into Logic Pro. We’ve used this method multiple times and it works for us quite well.

The recording took place over two to three months. I’d record a guitar part one night and add other tracks at different times. Working late at night and on multiple songs the process of recording sometimes takes longer than it should. I don’t mind because it allows the song to age a bit in the process. My favorite method for aging a song is to play it out live a couple of times. I think this is why open mics are so important to songwriters. It gives the song a chance to develop in a manner that is natural.

The finished recording was given the mixing test and I liked the results enough to leave it alone. I have found Logic Pro to be cleaner with the audio sound as opposed to Pro Tools. The difference is more profound with acoustic instruments. I can’t tell if the Apogee interface has anything to do with it. From what I have read on the internet the Apogee interface has fantastic preamps. With what I am recording I can tell something is making a difference. These sounds are far better than recordings from two years ago.

Here is Oh my my. 

Grimes

     Despite what most of my KSHE friends think, there is a lot of great new music out there. The KSHE tribe sticks to their Stones, Zeppelin, and Sammy Hagar viciously. They are my people but they are hesitant to embrace new music. I don’t even think hesitant is the right word. I think that is me being nice about what they think.

     I love St. Louis. I’ve spent my entire life here and each year I find more treasures tucked in different corners of the city. I think it is an artist’s city. It is affordable, there are pockets of great talent, and the city has a history like no other place in the United States. It is the gateway to a great many things.

     I’m straying from my topic. The point is I wish my KSHE friends would be more open to the vast catalog of great new music that is out there. Our old city would do well to embrace some new music.

Grimes

I recently stumbled across Grimes. I don’t know why I like Grimes but I think there is something unique and interesting about her and the music she creates. For those that don’t know Grimes, she is a one person band that creates music that is a blur between dance, pop, and ethereal weirdness. You can call it whatever you want. I think it is brilliant. She is young and the creative energy she brings to the table is inspiring. When I listen to her album Visions, I feel like I am taking a step into a playground of music with new rules. It is not familiar territory for me at all and I think that is the main attraction.

Times are changing quicker than we realize and it is artists like Grimes that remind me of the leaps we have made in songwriting and production. The young have grown up with technology we did not and as a result the expectations are different. The old ways of cutting your teeth on Ozzy and Zeppelin are over. I am not sad about that. I love my Zeppelin but age has made me appreciate them more. I think when great music is not challenged we forget how to appreciate the differences in art. Each musician is a collection of the music and art an individual digests. I would love to see us stretch our ears out to something different. I promise it will make you appreciate the old masters efforts.