music journal

I’m not qute a fan (yet) of Ben Gibbard and DCFC, since I havent heard much yet. but I think I’ll like it once I get a chance to check his stuff out. he had a good quote about songwriting that brings out what I’ve felt about writing songs. it seems like there’s an unwritten rule that you shouldnt be able to understand a song for it to be good? like for some reason for something to poetic it needs to be obtuse? these days I prefer straightforward. so does Ben, it seems:

I decided a handful of years ago that I just want to write songs that you can understand as soon as you put the record on. There’s no need to veil what’s happening in the song the way I used to.

My goal as a songwriter now is to simply write some memorable turns of phrase. The reaction I’d like from every song I write is, “Wow, I listen to this song, and it’s about such-and-such, and there’s this lyric in there that’s just awesome.” At the end of the day, that’s what I want.

later in the article there’s this bit, which I’ll consider a cautionary word. I guess he’s OK with it like this, but I find it quite sad although I feel drawn to this at times. I pray I’ll never put music or anything else this high on the pedestal:

…music is the most important thing in my life. It’s more important than anyone else could ever be. I don’t want to be overly dramatic and say it’s the only thing that gets me up and keeps me going. But people in your life come and go. As you go through your life, you make friendships, you break friendships, you have relationships. Music is the one thing I’ve always been able to rely on. So why wouldn’t it be the most important thing in my life?

from this article in Paste Magazine.

I’ve had lots of musical dreams over the years. I keep most of them to myself. one that I’ve always thought was rather attainable is to play music together as a family. sometimes we do a little and it’s usually a good time.

long ago Michelle played guitar. in fact she played a whole lot. but that really was before we met, and while I’ll always be grateful that she brought a nice guitar into the mix, I’ve been a little sad that we havent played much together. there’s been a couple memorable exceptions involving church music, but nothing that ever lasted. it’s mostly been because health issues got in the way of her playing, but also I guess she lost interest. meanwhile my interest has been soaring.

so I wrote her the “Be My Nancy” song, and it seems to have struck a chord, so to speak. during our weekend getaway we worked on songs together, figuring out harmonies and a little bit of arrangements, and we were both excited about the results. so I burned her a CD of my songs (most of which can be found on this blog) and she’s been listening for harmonies and such.

then came word of our neighborhood coffee shop hosting a family music/open mic night, and that got us going a little more. so we practiced “My Aya” and “Be My Nancy” with me on lead vocals and octave mandolin, and her on harmony vocals and guitar. and if I do say so myself, I think we sound pretty good! it’s a little bit of work finding that sweet spot, since neither of us are naturally good at finding harmony (like some friends are). but once we find it, I’m really liking the results. anyway, we did our songs at the coffee shop, and they were well received by the very small audience.

so it really is a little dream come true to be able to make music together, and I’m hoping we can keep it up. I’m still amazed that I can put down songs that I enjoy singing, and it’s even cooler to do it together. so hopefully soon we’ll record some stuff for a little album to share. whatever happens with all this, we’re thankful for the gift of being able to dive into something we both enjoy together.

well, not really, but it was kinda fun. last night was a girls-night-in, so I left the house with my guitar and songbook and headed toward the walking bridge to work on my songs.  as I was playing the Tale of Ed Johnson a handful of young kids departed from their family cluster with dollars in hand. I wasnt hoping or expecting anything, so I wasnt really prepared. my guitar case doesnt even stay open. so they laid their funds on top of the case. as it was a windy night, the money started to get away, so I put my hat on the ground and put my earnings there. I was actually planning on turning anything down, but I didnt want to take away the experience from the kids, and I was in the middle of the song, so I let it go.

it was otherwise and uneventful evening on the bridge. a cluster of college-looking kids hung around for a while, and various other people came and went on their way. I enjoy playing out there and it was nice to work on my tunes a little. I think most of my songs sound too much the same, but I suppose that’s an issue for most folks.

after the bridge I went to check out open mic night at a bar across the river. it’s a relatively nice little bar, so I worked up the nerve to go see if I could do a song or 2. when I got there there was a guy singing country kinda songs, so I figured I’d fit in. I soon discovered that the line to take a turn at the mic was quite long, and each singer was doing 4 or 5 songs. I didnt feel like staying that long, so I spent my earnings on a good beer, checked out a couple more singers and headed home. maybe next time I’ll show up earlier so I can take a turn before bed time.

oh and one more thing. I was sitting there thinking about putting my name on the list and then I thought: “there’s no way anyone is going to pronounce my name right, or remember it right”. I love my name, but it’s a tricky one. so I thought of a stage name: Bob Robertson. we’ll see if I ever use it or not.

despite reports to the contrary, I’m keeping my day job, like pretty much everybody else

I will however begin working on my next home-brewed album very soon

so I’ve been cranking out a lot of songs lately, and as my usual disclaimer goes, I’m not sure if they’re much good, but I’m having a good time with it. there’s a few that I actually like a lot, but who knows if in the grand scheme they’ll hold up. I try not to worry too much about that.

anyway, all these songs have started me thinking about playing them out sometime. I think it would be fun to do a little house concert sometime soon and maybe see if that leads somewhere. I’m also wanting to take my favorite original songs and make a better album with them. it would still be home-made just like my Simple Songs was, but I’d like to get better than rough drafts. then maybe I could use that as a demo CD to see if that can get me playing somewhere.

I’m sure I’m a ways from such things, but I think it would be cool to play something like Rhythm and Noon or the Chattanooga Market (if it comes back). perhaps not, but I’d think that my little collection of Chattanooga-themed songs would be appropriate for such things. it’s fun to dream but I’m not sure I’ve got it in me to play around town a whole lot, since my time these days is pretty limited. of course all this assumes my stuff would resonate with an audience, and who knows if it will? so who knows. but I’m enjoying the process and trust that God will lead this little journey. maybe it’ll just look like me playing on the bridge and such now and then, and I’m pretty sure that would be cool with me.

as I’ve been thinking about some of this stuff, I realize there’s a lot to be desired in my guitar skills especially. and my vocals too for that matter. I guess that leaves the biggest strength as the songs themselves, which may or may not be received well. I think things have come together quickly recently with my guitar playing, but there’s a lot more there obviously.

so I’m getting a Norman Blake instructional DVD, and I’m rather excited about it. I love his songwriting and playing style these days. always interesting, comfortable, staying with the melody and just plain solid. so hopefully I can glean some stuff from that and make some strides to become more than a mandolin player who also plays guitar. as for vocals, I would like to get a little voice training some day but that’s probably not happening particularly soon. oh and not to mention learning how to read music with the mandolin, but that’s probably for next year.

anyway, I’m still cranking out songs. I’m assuming this will slow down eventually, but I’m still enjoying it.

next week I’ll be in training for work, far from home. I’m honestly not looking forward to it, but I figure that the evenings will be a good time to work on music stuff. so I’m bringing my octave and I’m hoping to record my next “Simple Song” (I’ve got it mostly figured out, just need to get it down) and work on and record the next one too. actually it’d be great to crank out a whole bunch of them, but you never know how things go. I’m also bringing my mandolin method books to learn to read music, and I want to work on some new songs-with-words too.

I’ll probably work on some lyrics during the day as I’m anticipating that the training wont be too rigorous, but we’ll see. I really like the vibe of the songs from the movie Once, so I’ve been wanting to take a shot at something like that. watching U2 3D last night made me realize there’s a lot of power in a song. that and the Edge has a ton of guitars, but that’s another matter.

so we’ll see how it goes. hopefully I’ll make good progress and post stuff here to share.

I’ve been thinking more about my long-term goals as a musician, especially as it relates to playing church music. since I play by ear and chords, it’s hard to accompany some things in church. and things are changing with our music at church (which isnt unusual), since Jim is heading to the mission field, so we’ll be down a mandolin player (among many other things) who can read music and play anything. plus it’d be really cool to pick up a fiddle tune (or whatever) and just play it (I’ve got a book with a ton of them).

so I’ve decided to finally do what I’ve wanted to do for a long time: learn how to read music for the mandolin. I know all the basics of reading music, having played trumpet long ago in school. but seeing a note and playing it without hesitation is of course another matter. so I’ve started with an old mandolin method book (from Jim).

I’ve got a lot of irons in the musical fire (my instrumental songs, writing various other songs that seem to always be coming up, church music, etc) but I’m sure this one will be as valuable as any other. I know it’ll be hard work to get proficient, but I’m hoping it doesnt take so long as to be frustrating. we’ll see how it goes.

I still have a goal of making a little instrumental CD of my octave mandolin songs. I did the first track early last month, and I’ve got the 2nd arranged but not yet recorded. I should have some time tomorrow night to do that. I would love to have 10 tracks by summer time, but now I’m wondering if I’ll have time to do that. I’ll be going away for a business trip next month, so maybe I’ll have time in the evenings to work on stuff. I hope so. I’ve been thinking about staying up late to work on stuff, but that would hinder getting up early for other important things. if only I had Ed’s capacity to forsake sleep…

also, Michelle and I have been working on writing a song together, which should be ready soon. it’s a special little project that we’re excited about. hopefully it turns out good.

finally, I had some thoughts on the movie Once that I posted on the family blog here.

I’m never sure what the heck this song is saying, but I like the tune, so here’s a little rendition of “that new year’s song”. muscially speaking, I’m thinking 2008 has a lot of great things ahead, and I’m looking forward to it.

I like Sufjan’s music, especially his Christmas music. this year he’s doing a funny little thing called the xmas xchange, whereby he’s exchanging one of his original unreleased songs with the lucky winner of his Christmas song contest. I’m aspiring song writer at best, but I think it would be fun to give it a try.

more details: http://asthmatickitty.com/news.php?newsID=225