Snow, Cold, and, Gray, S.C.a.G.

IT seems almost too cold for it to be snowing here, but, it is snowing.  As the wood stove struggles to keep the house warm, the Boat Shop Music Studio is more just a cold boat shop than music studio.  No work going on out there, though I'd love to be able to be working there now.
I have been thinking about doing a real conversion of the space into to a dedicated studio, and quit with this hedging.  I'd insulate the walls then finish them inside and loose one of the big garage doors, changing into a solid wall, and making the other into glass opening doors, both for light and for getting larger things in and out.
The winter is such a good time for daydreaming and planning such things.

I am still listening to Joe Pugs podcast, The Working Songwriter
 https://soundcloud.com/twspodcast
and still get very moved with each podcast I listen to as I hear the ideas and experiences of these songwriter/performers that have "made it" and understand completely what they are talking about, and have even had similar experiences myself, of course, on my small scale.
I highly recommend this podcast to any writers or artist especially those who are younger or new to there chosen form of expression.

Available at Soundcloud.com

I've been listening to the demo tracks I have of "Garden of Love", the album.  I've been trying to determine the song order for the album.  I have even been trying to confirm that these songs should all be on this album.  I haven't felt up to sitting down to do more recording and trying to get tracks that seem good enough for release.  The recording process can seem a bit daunting, and a bit lacking in fun.  It seems that every time that red, record button gets pushed, the take I do has some kind of problem.  All the really good ones come when I'm not recording.  Some people thrive under pressure, and I have been one of those kinds of people but in other areas of my life.

As I listen to the demo tracks I have for the album, I sometimes feel like a few of the tracks are good enough.  I try not to be precious about the recordings.  Technically, I'd like them to sound good enough so that nobody questions the recording method.  But as far as the songs go, and my performing of them, I kind of feel like "this is it, this is what you get, no frills, just a song".  I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.  This is probably why a producer is such a valuable entity in the process as an outside, or objective manager of the project.  Oh well.

Played my first Winter Farmer's Market this past week.  It was nice to get the first out of the way.  I still get nervous about the new setting, silly really.  I am glad to be back and playing out.

Music in the clouds

Deer in the front yard as the snow falls.  The site keeps me from
wanting to spoil the scene by making any sound.

Winter has set it's muffling blanket upon my world here.  It is ooooh soooo easy to give into the comfort of a comforter and sit with a chai tea that I custom blend with each cup, stare out the window of the house, or into the window of the wood stove and let the sound of the clock on the wall tick by between sessions of playing.
Playing, that is all it seems to be these days.  Not much impetus to write, or produce the new album. Fortunately for me, and that is how I see it, there is no pressure to do so, other than what I put upon myself.
In a funny coincidence I had though to make a post about song lyrics, posing the question "what lyrics have impressed you most, a line or two, or an entire song that just "resonated" with you?"  The coincidence part of this is that right now a lyric that I think resonates most for me comes from a singer songwriter that I also just heard in a podcast I just subscribed to.  The artist is Gregory Alan Isakov, the song is "The Stable Song" and the pod cast is "The Working Songwriter" hosted by Joe Pug, available on SoundCloud.
I've also just uploaded my first track on SoundCloud today!
So, the lyric.  Maybe it's Gregory's voice, which can be haunting and soothing, but is always inviting.  Maybe it is the self deprecating nature of the song.  The lyric is,

"I've been crazy, couldn't you tell,
I threw stones at the stars,
but the whole sky fell"

I just can't think of a more beautiful, sad, simple, and human sentiment expressed any better in any other song.  I am sure that there have been others that hit me this way, but I haven't been able to remember any.

I'm loving the hibernation of the winter, and feel inclined not to show my self til springtime, but life is not always so obliging to my hermit like ways.

Seasons change

THE warm season has gone away and the Boat Shop Music Studio has moved out of it's larger, colder studio, and up into the more intimate Attic space.  The uninsulated "shop" has a wood stove, but it just keeps it from being bitter in there, and it is not a tight stove, so it's a bit smokey, which isn't so good for the voice and singing.

The Attic, is really cozy.  The wood floors and ceilings, and eastern exposure for early morning light make it a great place for recording with just me and a guitar.  It wouldn't really be appropriate for much more than that unless everybody was very laid back, literally because of the low ceiling, but that isn't really a concern.

Just yesterday morning I made my first recording of a new song, "Trespass", up in the Attic.  This song will probably be song number 11 for the new album "Garden of Love".

THE other seasonal change is that the 2019 Farmer's Market performing season is over for me now.  It was a long and very rewarding run, playing every week from the spring of 2018 thru the winter and all summer into the first week of November of this year.

The market manager, Pam, gave me a gift I can never thank her enough for, by giving me a regular spot to play my music, and develop my ability to perform these songs.  She has been a true patron, angel, and friend.

It will be a bit different, not having a weekly "gig" now, but in truth, it is welcomed.  Now I can focus on the writing and recording in a way that I couldn't manage to when I knew I had to be in form for public performing.  Even after the year and a half of steady gigs, I still got keyed up as the market days approached.  That kept me from really focusing in on the writing and recording.

As verification of the new found psychological freedom, I just wrote that new song yesterday.  It was a "two day song", the first to have the inspiration and dig it out of my brain and shape it with the guitar and pencil, and the second day to learn it, start recording it, and then to see, and hear, the wholeness of it.  I love those ones, they are so instantly gratifying, and I have learned not to question how fast or fluidly they come to me.  During that period of writing, I don't stop thinking about the song.  I am haunted by the musical idea, super ear worm.  I can't seem to get out of the mind of the character of the song.  This is a very focused time and it is hard to stay in it with other things to think about.  I really happy I have arranged my life in a way that allows me times like this.

The end of the market season didn't mean the end of the performing season for me.  Yesterday I was invited to play for a "Arts and Cafe" event at the Central Presbyterian Church in Haverstraw.  Nancy, a jewelry artist, who I know from the markets, asked me to come and play as the evenings entertainment.  A chance to hang out with "Pastor Katie", who is always a good time, and play for such a friendly and appreciative crowd, I could not pass up.

Thanks to "Pastor Katie" of the Haverstraw Central Presbyterian church,
 for having mein her place.
 Thanks to Nancy Jagelka, jeweler extraordinaire,
 for introducing me to these good people.

THEY had a cozy stage set up, tables for people to sit and eat and drink and listen or chat, and lots of art to shop.  It ended up being a paying gig though I had didn't expect it.  Food and drink as well.  The really great thing was that it wasn't outdoors in the cold, like the markets all have been lately.  Lovely.

In truth, that was probably the best gig I've done from a certain perspective.  Though the markets are very safe, friendly, and appreciative, the musicians playing there are certainly just decoration, and it is rare that people stay to enjoy the music.  It happens, certainly, I've had people hang out and listen to multiple songs, and then go shopping, and then return to listen some more, but the overriding feeling is that the people are there to shop and then get on with their day.  We music performers are a bonus.

At the "Art Cafe" last night there was a bit more of a feeling that people came for community and were more interested in being in the space.  Some people were actually making crafts/art, and some were enjoying the drinks and snacks and most seemed to be listening and enjoying the music.  I got to do a bit more interacting with people thru the music.  Being up on the stage, which was minimally but thoughtfully decorated, gave me a real sense of purpose and place that felt good, felt right.

It was a step maybe, toward the kind of performance I'd like to do with this music.  This music is storytelling, and poem and the words have weight that wants a listener, not just somebody to tap their feet to the rhythm, though there was that last night, and even some dancing.  So from that perspective, it might have been the closest I've gotten to being able to present my music the way I'd like to, outside of recordings.  But recordings are the self indulgent part of this music thing for me.

I have ideas of an "Acoustic Cafe" type of show, showcase, that I'd like to see happen at some of the local establishments.  There are some great venues around, but the singer-songwriter, folk, and acoustic genre aren't the focus, as far as I can tell.  Maybe it will happen someday.

For now, it's the colder season and the time is "write" to record, and get these albums done.  I hope to play out again someday, but for now I'm good with hibernating for a while.
Peace.

Totally spaced out the fact that last week I got to be a stagehand/sound tech again.  It was an great time for a big birthday celebration at a local place in Nyack, "Prohibition River."  Their upstairs space is quite lovely.  Would be a great place for the "Acoustic Cafe".  I was just helping out the talented artist Bill Batson, with his lovely woman Marisol's, 50th celebration.  Great party and such a treat for me to do my thing again.  I almost miss the biz.

Still writing here beside the River.

The muse is still hovering
I finished another song last week and gotten to perform it twice so far.  Even had Ian Moore play along on his fiddle.  That was awesome, as it always is when Ian joins in.

I also have begun a new song, or song project.  It is very different to be in a project that I don't really feel has an end in sight.  This project feels like an unending song that will have verses, multiple chorus, maybe chapters.  Maybe I was very influenced by the large album pieces of the 1960's and 70's, "Quadrophenia", "Sgt. Peppers", "Tommy", "The Wall".  They each got completed of course but They were epic works.  Maybe they had some two minute fifty hits in them but I think that the composers may have gone at them as larger works.

I find it comforting to have an ongoing story/song to be able to come back to anytime.  This particular work seems outside of what the "muse" is particularly interested in throw at me these days, but that in itself is also a bit comforting too.  Sometimes it is good to have something to work on if I am not feeling particularly inspired, but that is also an available canvas should something drop down from the clouds into my brain.

So, the songwriter, me, got interviewed on a literary podcast and the session was just released today for Patreon subscribers.  River River Writers Circle has a pod cast called "Littoral".  I had a lovely time during the interview and am very grateful for their interest and the sensitive manner of the people who hosted me.  Check, check, check it out, and become a subscriber/supporter of the arts and artists.

The Poet and the Songwriter,
A. Anupama of River River and host of the Littoral Podcast
 with me at the Nyack Farmers Market
(Photo A. Anupama/Ian Moore)

WTF, Taylor Swift? Really?

Before today, I had never listened to a Taylor Swift song.  Well that's not exactly true because I have listened to Ryan Adams covering "Bad Blood", and I loved it, learned it and played it.  But, I had never heard Taylor's version, at least not all the way thru.  I started to listen to it, to learn where what Ryan had done had come from, but didn't bother to listen the her version of it all the way thru.  The style just didn't work for me, and the bad part of that is that it kept me from being able to hear that Taylor can write a song.
Today I listened to an NPR Tiny Desk concert that featured Taylor Swift.  It was good, she was good. In 25 minutes I came to know quite a bit more about her, and to gain some real respect for her.
https://www.npr.org

NPR Tiny Desk concerts, produced by Bob Bollen

I am not going to become a fan of the music she puts out, it's just not to my tastes.  But that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate her songwriting, her craftsmanship, her tenacity and commitment.  Her songs could be presented in different formats, or genre, the first that comes to mind is country music, but that may be because country and pop have been coming closer together for a while now and in some instances are hardly different at all.  She seems as though she is really a singer-songwriter slathered with lights, dancers, and over production.
During her set she mentioned a TED talk given by author Elizabeth Gilbert, that inspired her.  So, I listened to it.  Also really great.
https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_success_failure_and_the_drive_to_keep_creating#t-1784

TED talks, author Elizabeth Gilbert

I post all this because it is all about songwriting, being an artist, creativity, where it comes from and where it goes, what it does for us as creators.

CHEERS!

Muse

muse¹

/myo͞oz/

Learn to pronounce

noun

1. 1. 

   (in Greek and Roman mythology) each of nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences.

   
   

   2. 

   a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

   
   

   Is it a real thing?  I suppose that if you think it is, then it is.  Many artists truly believe in the idea.  Some believe that the art they make doesn't come from them as much as it comes thru them.  If you've ever had a creative moment when things "flow", you might recognize this idea.  

   
   

   It happens in other endeavors as well, I've known "flow" in many aspects of my life.  But a muse is a bit different.

   
   

   When one thing, or person, or setting, drives creativity, brings inspiration like a current, or undertow, a sensed, purposeful motivation drives creativity, this could be called, a muse.

   
   

   Some times the muse is a very temporary inspiration.  Like a surfer on a wave, it can be ridden and enjoyed while it lasts, and then the work of paddling back to wait, ready for the next set.  Some times the water is flat calm.

   
   

   This is what song writing has been like for me so far.  Sometimes the inspiration is self generated, but it is more often from outside myself.

   
   

   Like the surfer, I just enjoy the ride. Creativity becomes a way of living, a philosophy, a path.🏄🎶

Morning Session #2, "Wild Berry Farm"

I've written a few songs that were inspired by people I know from their books.  This is one of those songs.

Wendell Berry is an admirable man.  He is an artist, a farmer, an active citizen of the place he lives.  One might say that the place he lives is Kentucky, and he seems very focused on Kentucky in his writing but he really lives, like all of us, on Earth.  I highly recommend any of his writing, though I really do appreciate his non fiction.  My favorite book is, "The Art of the Common Place"

I like this song for playing at the Farmer's Markets and wrote it with that intent.  I've had the great opportunity to play along with a fiddle player, and think a mandolin, upright bass, and a harmonica could all be great fun.

Like some of the songs I've written with playing them at markets in mind, I think it sounds like a song that's been around a while.  It's got a simple, common sounding structure.  Hey if it works!

 Wild Berry Farm (a song for Wendall Berry)

(R. A. Maldonado)

I know a farm, way down in Kentucky,

The farm where the wild Berry grows,

If you know it too you can count yourself lucky

The farm where the wild Berry grows,

Down on the farm, they will do no harm

the farm where the wild Berry grows

The fields are full of beauty and the house is full of charm

The people are happy and it shows

I know a farm where a man does his work

the farm where the wild Berry grows

it's a thing you gotta love, not something that you shirk

The farmer reaps what he sows

I know a farm where horses pull the plow

the farm where the wild Berry grows

You can hear a hawks cry, you can hear a cow sigh

You can hear the jays chasing crows

I know a farm, it's the fine place to live

the farm where the wild Berry grows

If you give more than take, you'll love the life you make

on the farm's where living well shows

work all day, you can rest all night

the farm where the wild Berry grows

you can read a book or think of one to write

at night by the lanterns glow

I know a farm way down in Kentucky

the farm where the wild Berry grows

That farmer wrote some books, so we're all lucky

We can read what that farmer knows

Life on the farm, you could call it common

the farm where the wild Berry grows

But the human race, needs the art of common place

That's what the farmer knows 

Now, You know a farm way down in kentucky

the farm where the wild Berry grows

get your own place, live your life with grace

Like the farm where the wild Berry grows

I know a farm way down in Kentucky

The farm where the wild Berry grows……