Winter Annex

 Well the studios have moved into the winter annex.  The shop was getting a bit to cold to be inviting.  For the winter season the warm wood of the ceilings and floors of the cozy attic space will replace the dusty old boat shop studios.  Maybe this will be a good time to do the work of organizing and getting out the albums that are waiting to be released.

Today I put out an album/playlist of 12 songs, 10 previously released, for Fall listening.  It's a way to say Hi to the world and to send out an offering of some simple, gentle, unpretentious, music that goes along with days spent inside avoiding the cold, wet, weather, and the viral load in socializing.  Strange days.

"Autumn Easy, 2020" is out on Bandcamp as of today.

Leaves and rain

 

Autumn has arrived and with it comes the urge to create again.  This year has been weird, very different with yet to be understood changes at all scales of being.

Used to be that with the fall I'd come into the "Boat shop" and start work on a boat build.  Since the transition to "Boat Shop Music Studio", the urge has been to come in and write new songs or do some recording.

This year words have come few and far between, or maybe, at such a great volume as to be unmanageable.  Maybe all the ideas and thoughts were just too many and overwhelming.  Music has continued to flow, but mostly in the form of improvise instrumentals.  Therapeutic and dependable, though it was, it was also like smoke, very real and affecting but the moment I tried to grab it, via the record button, it slipped away and vanished.

A few Pro's and Con's of recording in the Boat shop music studio.

Pro    Great, familiar space, surrounded by wood and boat stuff, with views of the trees and sky

Con    A bit dusty from the woodworking

Pro    When it rains the sound of rain on the roof can add a nice sound texture to recording

Con    When it rains the sound of rain on the roof can add an annoying sound to recording.

Pro    Close proximity to nature

Con    When reading for a sound cable one has to be sure that the cable is not a black rat snake!

I once noticed a mic cable caught up in the snare drum stand, only to discover it was actually a young two foot long black rat snake.  On the good side they are calm snakes and keep the mouse population in check.

Two days ago, for the first time in a few months words to a song came to me.  So maybe the season trend will continue.  Even if it doesn't come right back, I am still having a good time improving on the guitar, for myself and for the chipmunks and birds, and I am listening to a lot of music, both old and new to me.

Peace

Festival Season!!! NOT!

So, ya, back when I played with "Santana", at "Woodstock",.....NOT!!!

Lately I've been recording instrumentals because the noise in the world, all the things people say just seem to be a bit to much and I don't feel like adding to it.  It's been fun and kind of revelatory.  

The first project was an EP, sort of, I called "Projections and Reflections".  On hindsight I think I would have rather called it "The Riverglide Project", an eponymous title for the "band" identity for these instrumental projects.

I also put out a single "July Experience" and have a few more tracks ready to release.  May get them up today.

For a couple of weeks I've been listening to Pat Methany's new album "From this Place" while cooking dinner.  Really great work. The drumming (Antonio Sanchez) just kills me.

https://www.patmetheny.com/news/full_display.cfm?id=134

With the world the way it is right now, Festivals are not happening.  One of my new pieces "Ballers Last March", is something I imagine being played at a festival.  If you are into bands like Massive Attack, and have seen some of the footage from the MELT festival in Germany, you'd get what I am thinking about.  

I'd need a band that might consist of 1-lead guitar, 2-rhythm guitar, 3-bass, 4-synth, 5-drums, and maybe another percussionist.  It's a long way from playing and singing folk like songs with an acoustic guitar.  Gotta dream big, right?  It was fun to create anyway.

Were gonna zoom, zoom,,zooma, zoom!

Well that was new and different, and actually a lot of fun.

I was asked to take part in a video conference thru ZOOM the online meeting app.  Bill Batson was up to his usual antics and hosting a Sketch Flash Mob.  30 plus participants signed in to the session and after getting their prompt for what to draw, set to sketching for about an hour.  During that time Ian Moore and I each played a short set to give em something to listen to while they draw.

I was really worried about the sound quality, but it turned out pretty good I think.  It was a lot of fun, very comfortable and laid back, even though that is probably the largest single audience I've played for.  I could actually see most of their faces, though most were head down in their drawings.
In truth it was a step out to something I never had imagined I do or even like to do.

It has been a while, months, about half a year, since I last performed.  I felt the time away from it, the being out of practice.  It is like anything physical that one has to stay in practice for.  All things considered, it went well enough.  Before I had stopped playing out, about half a year ago, I was just getting to the place where I could over come the nerves that clench up my muscles and elevate my heart beat.  Today I had to just play thru it because my heart wanted me to play everything double time, and it was as if I had no power of breath.

I was very glad to play my songs for some new people.  I guess this is as social as we can get right now, and it will have to do.  It didn't feel like settling really, it was good.  Thanks to Bill, and to ROCA.

Nyack Flash Sketch Mob

Studio, cold, but open

It is the age of isolation, kind of.  With the virus, and the fear of spreading it keeping us all away from each other this seems a great time for artists to focus.  Be inspired and create.  I think that in actuality many people are suffering from the stress and confusion of the situation.  This is were the therapy of creative effort can really help.
I have opened the studio back up for the season.  It's still chilly in the morning, so not much in the way of recording.  I'd rather just sit out on the deck, in the warm sun and sing and play for the birds and chipmunks in the morning, and come into the studio after it has warmed up.  I can't seemed to be bothered to light the wood stove and heat the place up that way.
Letting go of the weekly performing that I did for over 2 years has been an adjustment, but not such a bad thing.  In this sense, the virus and isolation has actually removed a bit of stress for me.  I was always concerned about trying to be in my best form for the people who would hear me play.  Now, I don't worry what the birds think, they are pretty kind and forgiving.
So, it's just me and the music.  I have not got any closer to recording the new albums. Maybe this summer.
In the mean time crude videos of me doing some of the songs are going up on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp3ikM13RTRJs0-KJRINriw?view_as=subscriber
and I am putting the Summer Sessions 2018 album up on Soundcloud.com , one track at a time.
https://soundcloud.com/ramaldonadobsms-4986569/tracks

Let go and just enjoy the dream

It's funny how things work out, or don't, in life.  I believe it is a good idea that one's reach should exceed ones grasp with regards to dreams and goals.  I also think it is good to recognize that getting something other than exactly what you wished for means that life is going to be more interesting and mysterious.

When I was young I would often spend my recess in the music room experimenting on the piano.  How my music teacher endured it I don't know, selective deafness maybe, but not only would I fantasize about the music I was playing but about one day being a composer and scoring a film.  I never showed the focus to achieve any thing like that, but now, in a round about, thru the side door, kind of way, my music is being used in a film piece.

So, I take away the same thing that I have been led to believe many times before, dream, dream big, and enjoy the dream, then let go and just live.

I was very happy to be able to contribute on this project, and feel very honored to have been asked to be a part of it.

Bill Batson's short film project, "One Good Story"

Just listen

Just listen to what Drew Holcomb says about this music making thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pocyxlNOxdw