Skip to main content

Day One Hundred Forty Six

More Matthew Sweet today. This time, "Divine Intervention." He played it acoustically on that interview I watched yesterday, and while that didn't give me all of the gloriously intertwining electric parts that made the record, it DID give me a basic blueprint off of which I can try and decipher the electric parts should I wish to. There's so much to learn about constructing songs and layering parts from that album. In fact, between that and the Beatles complete scores, you could probably teach a master class. I'm exaggerating slightly, but the point is there just the same.

I ran a few more scales before work too. I'm trying to get my hand to loosen up, and trying to concentrate on breaking bad habits I've built up over 15 years. It's working. "Girlfriend" is helping break down some of those walls as well, helping stretch out my fingers when it comes to chording and reaches and the like. I need to stop my hand from tensing up when it comes to scales/lead playing. Lots of practice and familiarity will help that, I think.

Also, one of the cool things about working where I do is the ability to preview music before you purchase it. That being said, I checked out "Farmer's Daughter" by Crystal Bowersox tonight. It came out Tuesday. While the American Idol crowd isn't usually my scene, I've gotta say that the clips we have at work sounded pretty solid. A little "same" sounding in places, but not too bad. If I could find it cheap, I'd consider picking it up, I think. I'll say this for Crystal, she's got a hell of a voice, and I think that, if she stays true to herself and doesn't let the music business machinery get in the way, she could be around for some time.

I go in to work an hour earlier than originally planned tomorrow, which means I'm done sooner. Maybe that'll mean I can get to those backing tracks. We'll see what else comes up as well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dat Two Hundred Thirty One (Year Three)

So, apparently the new Airborne EP that came out yesterday is MP3 only!  Downloaded that as soon as I figured it out this morning, but didn't have time to sync the ipod after doing so.  Therefore, I naturally had a ton of time to listen tonight that was away from my computer. On the plus side, though, I was able to spend some of that extra time with a guitar in my hands, working on the chord progression for this month's song.  I've got an opening chord change that I really like, and the flicker of a two guitar approach, with one of the two parts capoed up the neck dancing somewhere in the back of my brain.  If all goes according to plan, it could work out really well. Also, finally over halfway in the Grohl bio.  Considering I was hardly home at all today, I feel like I got a decent chunk of that read. Tomorrow should (hopefully) be another decent day for music, with a chance to play in the evening, and enough time for a few runs through the Airborne EP....
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Two Hundred Twenty Seven (Year Two)

So, the new Springsteen disc is amazing.  There's enough of a mixture of his upbeat rockers, his ballads, and his message songs to make this his best record since The Rising .  And speaking of that record... Buying The Boss the day it comes out always takes me back to a specific moment in life.  It was July 30th, 2002, the year after 9/11, the year after someone on the streets of New York told Springsteen "we need you now."  I had driven to Oshkosh, WI to visit some friends, when I remembered that Springsteen's disc was scheduled to come out that day.  I drove downtown to The Exclusive Company, but had to park a few blocks back.  At the time, there wasn't much going on downtown, but when I got out of the car, I could hear this music coming from up the block somewhere.  The closer I got to Exclusive, the more it began to dawn on me, they had set up a giant set of speakers in their upstairs windows, and were blasting the new album out into the streets....
Post a Comment
Read more

Day One Hundred Forty Two

So, I haven't been sleeping much lately, and I've been staying up late. listening to music, doing a bit of playing, and watching old episodes of Behind The Music on the internet. It's funny, you know, because I never met the rest of my "band," I've become the critic. It's all right, don't get me wrong, but for a decade now I've always hoped that I'd find a way to release something. It'll happen, I know it will, but it's continually happened slower than I expected it to. I've gotten close to getting something released, as I've documented before here before, but with the winter coming and the cold closing in, I'm facing another chance to make something musical of the winter. I'm going to start by finishing up the old things that have gotten pushed to the sides in the last few months. With the buildup of everything since the summer, it should be easier. Even if all I do is spend the winter writing lyrics, trying to g...
Post a Comment
Read more