Insecurities Laid Bare By Email

cc by Lisa B.



If Joe Henry and Roseanne Cash can feel insecure and doubt themselves, I think we all need to cut ourselves some slack and keep pushing through with our song ideas.

This post at Measure by Measure is by far the most illuminating and interesting. You get to read the email correspondence between these two great musicians AND hear the demo that came out of it. Great, great reading and listening.

Do it now. Here it is.

This Website GETS Your Music

Really. It understands your music. It analyzes it. If finds patterns.
I discovered this via Music Thing.

You'll have to try it and let me know how it works out.
The Echo Nest.

Jamie Lidell: Cheap Knock Off, Or Happy Return?

You be the judge.

Watch the unicorn video. If you have an aversion to serial killers DATING unicorns and then murdering them, you shouldn't watch the video. Just listen to the music.

The Rawest of the Raw

photo by psd


There’s a debate among songwriters and others in the publishing world that’s been raging for decades. It’s considered settled by many, but I diverge from common currents of thinking.

The debate is about whether music people can really “hear” songs when they have so many song demos to listen to. Are they overwhelmed and unable to distinguish? Have you been in their offices and seen the stacks? They have been accused of judging by “production quality”, which, for many of us is frustrating, because, tell me true baby blue, does the snare sound really trump the lyric and the melody?

Some “pure” or naïve songwriters have hoped in vain that “Label Heads” would be able to actually hear and recognize a song’s inherent quality. But what about an unadorned little clip of a pure melody played off key. Is it possible that someone could simply hear it? What it really is? Or, if the “production quality” is not up to snatch, should the music suit be forgiven for turning off and failing to recognize the quality of the piece?

It is a failure isn’t it?

I remember when my friend Bob Wiseman produced Ron Sexmith’s first recording. It was a little bit outside, as it would be if produced by Bob. I took it to some music business people I knew, and they said, “The guy can’t sing, and it sounds like it was recorded in a garage”.

Somehow, Ron got through. Enough people, or the right person, heard Ron and recognized the quality of his songs and of Ron the performer.

Demo Quality is the key to EVERYTHING we’ve been told over and over. Have you ever stopped to think how retarded that is? In other words, they can’t tell the difference between Jameson Irish Whisky and Aqua Velva but they want us to surrender to their expertise in music?

I have to fess up that in my own “career-let”, the one and only time I was signed to a publishing deal, it was a quality demo that got me there.

So why would I insist on working with rough demos? Well, for two reasons. One comes from marketing and the other comes from the realm of pure spirit. The marketing justification can be summed up as follows: when everyone else is zigging, it’s time to zag.

Waldo Emerson said something like… “Who you are is talking so loud I can’t hear a single word you’re saying”. Well that’s me. I’ve decided to let my essence shine for whoever gets it. I’ll let people hear the roughest demos…even with words incomplete and off key singing. Then I’ll know that whoever gets it really gets it.

All this is to say that I like the rawest of the raw demos. And the clip you are about to hear, of ‘A Prayer to Ireland’ being conceived could not be rawer. It was recorded walking in ‘The Burren’, in County Clare, Ireland.

As I climbed a craggy hill I said to Ireland from within myself, “Let me know you!” I was afraid that, after years of yearning to meet Ireland up close and personal, my visit would go by in a blink and I’d miss her completely.

After my little prayer, I turned on my tape recorder and started to whistle a tune that was coming in right at that moment, in real time.

I challenge you, gentle reader. Can you recognize what a good tune is? Can you hear a tune in the roughest form? Or have you become addicted to all the little burnishings the studio provides to trick the ear? Do you think this tune would be more than itself if played into a great microphone? Or is it already its essential self?

Next on the recording we’re in a pub after an afternoon of weeping on top of a misty mountain. Well, I did most of the weeping.

Okay all right, I did all the weeping.

So, anyway, the point is I think an audience can be trusted to hear the really rough early versions, or, in this case, they can actually hear the tune being born.

Am I wrong to share such rough, unpolished gems with whoever wants to hear them anywhere anytime?

I’d like to hear your opinion on this.

And please let me know how you like the tune.
http://zerald.com/prayertoireland.mp3

Checking In...

You just never know what's around the next corner.

Truer words were never spoken. Though I won't bore you with the details, these past few months have been hectic. Fortunately, there's been JUST enough time left each day/week to get out and play some music. Unfortunately, my involvement with this site has been sacrificed a bit, BUT... I'm loving what I'm seeing/reading/hearing. And I'm really looking forward to catching up on all the posts and concentrating on the writing process when the time is right. In the meantime, everyone in the band is on the same page and that page says "GO PLAY YOUR MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE!" And so, the people keep showing up... and we go. And what a ride it is turning out to be. But, I digress...

First, WELCOME to our new contributors. I'm still trying to figure out who is who, but keep posting and we'll become great friends, I'm sure.

Second, I have to give some love to my "brother in musical madness", Steve (the man who wrote about a hundred songs in a week or some crazy thing). Thanks for carrying the ball for a bit. I should probably call you and catch up soon. Look for it. Somehow, my friend, we've managed to keep this site running into our second year in the midst of real, everyday life. Family, jobs, kids, our other creative desires and other endless repsonsibilities keep pulling us in every direction.

But we're still here. And this place is growing.

So come on in, write a bit, sit back and listen... whatever feels right.

Peace,
John

Measure For Measure: An Outstanding Songwriting Blog

Photo by jef safi

Creativity breeds creativity, yes?

Here are several highly creative people (Andrew Bird and Roseanne Cash among them) that have a songwriting/creativity blog in the New York Times.

Measure for Measure

Thanks to Tom St. Louis for his post that lead me down the rabbit hole.

“Catching” Versus “Writing” Songs And The Eternal Question—Is Chiggy Chaggy Really That Good For You?

/editors note/ Please welcome Tom St. Louis, a fellow traveler in the mission to write songs, and a new contributor to our wonderful little slice of the songwriting world/end editorializing/

One day I called myself to leave a message on my “answering machine”.
I was out somewhere, having played a gig. Feeling high…

After listening to my message — this was in the days of answering MACHINES and there were no buttons you could push to get right to the squeal – I spontaneously broke into song, extemporizing an unheard of Mills Brothers-ish tune.

Felt good.

I love it when songs come like that…they just arrive from nowhere and bite you on the left buttcheek and say, “Yoohoo!” And you say, “Where the heck did you come from…gosh you’re lovely!”

And sometimes you can feel it just before it happens…
…like a little wind stirring up at the edge of a plain…the creative spirit is THERE and available…and for the next magic moment or two you can pivot in any direction and the magic is all yours. It will do your bidding. You could sing or dance or draw or extempore in words or tunes…whatever you want, darlin’, it’s all there for you.
In truth this state is probably available all the time. I think we only recognize it some of the time.

Certain fishers of song, like Hoagy Carmichael and Irving Berlin were quite deliberate in the way they stalked* inspiration. It really WAS inspiration they found again and again, but dang did those dudes know how to prime the pump.

* Stalked as used by don Juan in the Castaneda books

When I contrast that kind of songwriting with what I call “chiggy chaggy” songwriting, I think catching songs is far better. Think of ‘Yesterday’, by Paul McCartney, one of the most covered tunes ever. He whistled it for a while before he even knew it was anything. Could chiggy chaggy EVER bring you a tune like that?

Could 6 dozen monkeys typing away like mad write the lyric for ‘Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts’ in seven centuries?

Okay, so I’m a snob. I admit it.
I know that many great great songs came from some dude scratching out various combinations of chords on his acoustic guitar or plonking out patterns on a piano. (And okay, mea culpa, I have done it a few times myself.)

That’s fine. If it works, God bless you.

My objection is that for many that’s all songwriting is and could ever be, and they are missing the best part, poor sods.

Can I be honest about my motives?

I’m an inspiration piggie — so much so that I don’t want to “do” anything as much as simply let it roll in…and then get inspired and keep rolling. When it rolls in, I’m thankful for the gifts I’ve been given. What you can make up can never rise to the level of what you can receive.

Another example: George Harrison’s solo on ‘Something’. Did he “write” that? Or did he receive it? Let’s not kid ourselves. There’s no way to write something sublime. You must receive it. Its complexity and beauty are so far beyond our conscious minds.
More on chiggy chaggy.

It seems to be an entirely reasonable proposition. You play around with a chord pattern to see what will happen. Then you try it to see how well it works. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

I just don’t work that way. My greatest joy is in “catching” songs. Sometimes completely. In other words the whole song is complete before I pick up a guitar or piano… (insert joke
about relative weights of uprights vs. grands).

I know a couple of songwriters who have gotten Pretty Defensive about this. I told them that I wrote every note of a song internally before I ever played it. They don’t like hearing this. Tough. I say mix it up. Do your chiggy chaggy if you must, but open yourself up to inspiration and learn how to really listen when it comes.
The song featured below is called ‘Tell Me How To Do It”.

It took as long to “write” as it takes to sing. The “Inkspots” of Canada are planning to record it. It’s a bit twee, but it is what it is. I wouldn’t change it for nuthin’. Otherwise the Inspiration Gods might just pass me by and throw a lightning bolt at one of the chiggy chaggers.

Listen here:
http://www.zerald.com/tellmehow.mp3

More examples of songs that fell from the sky and discussions of songwriting craft and philosophy:
http://gmsiamovie.wordpress.com

Guns and Roses Drinking Dr. Pepper?! Colplay Releases All Spanish Sleep Inducing Record About Frida?!

Well, one of the statements above is mostly not true.
You decide and then read the articles and see how you do.
For the record, I love G&R's Sweet Child o' Mine and Welcome to the Jungle.
I also really like Coldplay. I have all of their albums.

Guns and Roses Chinese Democracy

Coldplay's Viva la Vida. They also won the dubious award of band most people fall asleep too.


Both bands have more than one hit song that we could probably tear apart and learn a thing or two from. Have a favorite GnR or Coldplay song? Tell us why. When did you hear it?

I remember first learning the riff for Sweet Child o' Mine when it first came out. What a sweet riff. It's slowly becoming the new Stairway to Heaven.

The Man Who Wrote 69 Love Songs Writes A Song In Two Days

If you're familiar with Stephin Merritt, then you know he's a master songwriter, capable of almost anything. His band The Magnetic Fields is one of many of his creative outputs.


Here's the video of Stephin writing a song in two days in front of the cameras. He wrote it based on a challenge given involving his choosing from six pictures and six words. You have to see the video to see the process. I thought it was interesting, because as I understand it, Stephin is generally a much more planned out songwriter, so this faster style of writing is quite a departure for him, but not a bad one.

David Byrne and Thom Yorke Discuss The Value Of Music

Thom Yorke, frontman for Radiohead, and iconic pop genius David Byrne, discuss the value of music. And what an interesting and enlightening conversation it is.

The Wired Article

YOU Can Remix Radiohead!?!

I could have gone with a more provocative title, but I decided to take the high ground on this one. You can remix their song "Nude" by purchasing the individual tracks and then adding them into your favorite audio remixing software.

The question is this: is this an April Fool's joke, or the real thing? With Radiohead, I could see this being for real. We'll see.