I haven’t arrived in Nashville yet and I’ve already broken a rule. Well, not really broken... perhaps just dented a little.
I sent a package to Keifer and Shawna Thompson. It was a little unusual and the goal was simply to catch their attention with the hope of making them curious. I realize they’re two of the busiest, most sought-after people in music right now but, y’know, there’s no harm in trying. For the sticklers out there, I should let you know that I did not send a song. I understand and respect the unsolicited material issue. I just wanted to let them know that there's a song out here that was written specifically for them about one of their interests.
Maybe the package will never find it’s way into their hands. But maybe it will. Maybe they won’t give it a glance. But maybe they will. Maybe they won’t want to hear the song. But maybe they will. You get the idea. So, if you happen to know them, please put a bug in their ear! It's a catchy, rockin' country love song.
Also, I have actually been to Nashville before.
Last September, I rode my motorcycle about 800 miles from Toronto down
through Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky to get to the end of a little
old Tennessee highway called the 129 or, more affectionately, the Tail
of The Dragon. I camped out there for a few days just riding back and
forth that road and a handful of the many other winding wonders down
there. Then I popped over to Nashville for a couple days, lucky enough
to coincide with the Americana Music Festival and heard some great
music. Then over to Memphis for visits to Sun Studio and Graceland. And
then back up the 800+ miles to Toronto. What a ride! So, I’ve been to Nashville on holiday. Now, I’m looking forward to being there on business!
Tonight… what a lovely night, despite being stuck at work late, first with work and then trying to sort out some tech issues on my new website – which is live, by the way! www.singalakesong.com Please check it out and let me know what you think! Back to tonight... my friend Ashley in BC asked if I’d give her a little Skype concert. Luckily, she’s three hours earlier there, so me getting stuck late at work didn’t slow her down any. So it was a fun little ‘show’ and then we spent another hour or so just shootin’ the breeze. Good ol’ fashioned internet style!
And now I am very sleepy.
Please check out the website and say hi there with one of the email forms.
G’night.
Monday 28 November 2011
Friday 25 November 2011
Thursday 24 November 2011
Ten days till Nashville!
Demo disk at the plant
Well, I managed to get the demo CD artwork and audio master off to the plant on Monday morning. Expect to get the disks back today or tomorrow since it was just a short run of 50 disks. Looking forward to showing you what it looks like.
New website in the works
singalakesong.com will soon be complete. I got a bunch of photography done on the weekend and wrote the text last night. It’s a pretty simple little site so it hopefully won’t take long for my friend David to get it coded.
The site will have a minimal design with a plain white background. So I wanted some portraits that would blend in cleanly, with a seamless white background. So I asked my ol’ pal Google and he pointed me to http://vimeo.com/9926921. What a great practical explanation.
So, on Friday, I hightailed it to a photo shop downtown after work to rent lighting gear or the weekend. Then I spent all Saturday moving furniture and learning how to set up and use the lights! A lot of trial and error, let me tell ya, a LOT! But it was really interesting and fun. That’s how I learn best, when there’s a specific project with a deadline.
My friend Lauren came over on Sunday to pull the trigger which was awesome since she has a much fancier camera than mine! Space was a bit tight in my apartment, but we managed to pull off the lighting setup. I think we got something ridiculous like 700 shots, which should cover it… since I only need four for the website!
Scheduling in progress
My ultimate goal is to get two scheduled meetings a day for the five days I’m in Nashville. So far, I have three… fingers crossed to line up more next week! Most folks are off work the rest of this week and Monday for the Thanksgiving break. So I’ll have a phone flurry ahead of me next Tuesday through Friday.
I’m really excited about what I’ve got lined up so far. My first meeting is with a veteran songwriter and producer who is the SOCAN liaison in Nashville. Let me tell ya, I am so grateful for my membership in SOCAN and the opportunity it gives me to meet this man. Holy cow. I also have appointments booked with two NSAI mentors I’ve already spoke with one of them a couple times on the phone and she’s been very gracious and generous with her time to answer questions and offer advice. I must say, I’ve had nothing but great interactions with the Nashville NSAI folks so far and I’m really looking forward to finally meeting them in person. I haven’t talked to the other fellow yet, but I’m really looking forward to getting his feedback on my songs, since he’s had cuts with some pretty big names! I think I'm a mix of excited and scared half to death about that session.
I should also be able to line up meets with an ASCAP rep through a referral by the owner of SOCAN House, where I’m staying all week (thank you again SOCAN!). Hopefully I can set something up with a BMI rep too.
Boy, am I’m ever getting stoked now!
Well, I managed to get the demo CD artwork and audio master off to the plant on Monday morning. Expect to get the disks back today or tomorrow since it was just a short run of 50 disks. Looking forward to showing you what it looks like.
New website in the works
singalakesong.com will soon be complete. I got a bunch of photography done on the weekend and wrote the text last night. It’s a pretty simple little site so it hopefully won’t take long for my friend David to get it coded.
The site will have a minimal design with a plain white background. So I wanted some portraits that would blend in cleanly, with a seamless white background. So I asked my ol’ pal Google and he pointed me to http://vimeo.com/9926921. What a great practical explanation.
So, on Friday, I hightailed it to a photo shop downtown after work to rent lighting gear or the weekend. Then I spent all Saturday moving furniture and learning how to set up and use the lights! A lot of trial and error, let me tell ya, a LOT! But it was really interesting and fun. That’s how I learn best, when there’s a specific project with a deadline.
My friend Lauren came over on Sunday to pull the trigger which was awesome since she has a much fancier camera than mine! Space was a bit tight in my apartment, but we managed to pull off the lighting setup. I think we got something ridiculous like 700 shots, which should cover it… since I only need four for the website!
Scheduling in progress
My ultimate goal is to get two scheduled meetings a day for the five days I’m in Nashville. So far, I have three… fingers crossed to line up more next week! Most folks are off work the rest of this week and Monday for the Thanksgiving break. So I’ll have a phone flurry ahead of me next Tuesday through Friday.
I’m really excited about what I’ve got lined up so far. My first meeting is with a veteran songwriter and producer who is the SOCAN liaison in Nashville. Let me tell ya, I am so grateful for my membership in SOCAN and the opportunity it gives me to meet this man. Holy cow. I also have appointments booked with two NSAI mentors I’ve already spoke with one of them a couple times on the phone and she’s been very gracious and generous with her time to answer questions and offer advice. I must say, I’ve had nothing but great interactions with the Nashville NSAI folks so far and I’m really looking forward to finally meeting them in person. I haven’t talked to the other fellow yet, but I’m really looking forward to getting his feedback on my songs, since he’s had cuts with some pretty big names! I think I'm a mix of excited and scared half to death about that session.
I should also be able to line up meets with an ASCAP rep through a referral by the owner of SOCAN House, where I’m staying all week (thank you again SOCAN!). Hopefully I can set something up with a BMI rep too.
Boy, am I’m ever getting stoked now!
Monday 21 November 2011
A [bottle of] Port in the Storm
On Saturday night, Al and his wife and I went over to share a meal with Jo and his family. If you haven’t been following along, Al and Jo are my production partners for new batch of Nashville demos. In addition to being a great guitarist, Jo’s also a great cook. So we were all looking forward to it.
I was also looking at it as a chance to toast all the music we’ve made together these past few months, especially since it would be the first time all three of us were in the same room together for any of it!
After getting the invite a week or so in advance, I started thinking about this bottle of port I’ve been saving for over seven years. I kept it tucked away in a kitchen cupboard with a post-it note saying “DO NOT OPEN” in case any guests happened to get simultaneously curious and thirsty.
It wasn’t a particularly fancy or valuable vintage. In fact, it had quite a modest little price tag. But, over the years, its value had grown immensely in my head.
You see, the bottle had been a gift to my little sister in 2003; and she died in a car crash in 2004. So I’ve been holding onto this bottle with the idea that I would use it to toast some grand accomplishment. My greatest feat. Something that would really honor her memory and our bond as best as I could possibly imagine.
Only problem was, every time I reached a goal, I’d ponder it and think to myself, “No, this one’s not big enough, I’ll wait.”
In 2006, I ended a lifetime of procrastinated travel dreams and told my boss I was going to Thailand for a while. I also 'popped next door' to Australia, dove the Great Barrier Reef and made a great friend in Melbourne with whom I still keep in touch today. Upon return, I sat down with my buddy Dave to mix my first solo record, which I’d self-produced over the previous two years with two microphones and an old PC in my apartment, and help from some amazing friends and musicians. I launched that in April 2007 and was incredibly happy with it, yet it didn’t seem like enough reason to crack open that bottle of port. Later that year, I also fulfilled a boyhood dream and bought my first motorcycle. No toast. Last October, I concluded over a year of working with amazing indie producer Don Kerr on my second record, and I launched it at a big party for my 40th birthday! A friend flew in from LA to sit in on drums for a couple of songs. Some of my dearest friends joined me on stage. My mother even came to town for the show. I thought for sure I’d break the seal on the bottle that night. But yet again, it just didn’t seem big enough.
So, I'm sure you can imagine, as I was getting ready to leave for dinner at Jo’s on Saturday, it was pretty hard reaching for that bottle. I was thinking “Well, we’ve only finished the demos. It’s not like anything’s come of it yet… can hardly justify toasting that.”
It’s strange, the things we hold onto. Or, more so, the ways we hold onto them.
Finally, it occurred to me that, instead of waiting to toast the perfect ending, maybe Maureen’s memory would be better served by toasting a beginning.
So I brought the bottle along, and that’s what we did. “To Nashville and many more great things ahead.”
I was also looking at it as a chance to toast all the music we’ve made together these past few months, especially since it would be the first time all three of us were in the same room together for any of it!
After getting the invite a week or so in advance, I started thinking about this bottle of port I’ve been saving for over seven years. I kept it tucked away in a kitchen cupboard with a post-it note saying “DO NOT OPEN” in case any guests happened to get simultaneously curious and thirsty.
It wasn’t a particularly fancy or valuable vintage. In fact, it had quite a modest little price tag. But, over the years, its value had grown immensely in my head.
You see, the bottle had been a gift to my little sister in 2003; and she died in a car crash in 2004. So I’ve been holding onto this bottle with the idea that I would use it to toast some grand accomplishment. My greatest feat. Something that would really honor her memory and our bond as best as I could possibly imagine.
Only problem was, every time I reached a goal, I’d ponder it and think to myself, “No, this one’s not big enough, I’ll wait.”
In 2006, I ended a lifetime of procrastinated travel dreams and told my boss I was going to Thailand for a while. I also 'popped next door' to Australia, dove the Great Barrier Reef and made a great friend in Melbourne with whom I still keep in touch today. Upon return, I sat down with my buddy Dave to mix my first solo record, which I’d self-produced over the previous two years with two microphones and an old PC in my apartment, and help from some amazing friends and musicians. I launched that in April 2007 and was incredibly happy with it, yet it didn’t seem like enough reason to crack open that bottle of port. Later that year, I also fulfilled a boyhood dream and bought my first motorcycle. No toast. Last October, I concluded over a year of working with amazing indie producer Don Kerr on my second record, and I launched it at a big party for my 40th birthday! A friend flew in from LA to sit in on drums for a couple of songs. Some of my dearest friends joined me on stage. My mother even came to town for the show. I thought for sure I’d break the seal on the bottle that night. But yet again, it just didn’t seem big enough.
So, I'm sure you can imagine, as I was getting ready to leave for dinner at Jo’s on Saturday, it was pretty hard reaching for that bottle. I was thinking “Well, we’ve only finished the demos. It’s not like anything’s come of it yet… can hardly justify toasting that.”
It’s strange, the things we hold onto. Or, more so, the ways we hold onto them.
Finally, it occurred to me that, instead of waiting to toast the perfect ending, maybe Maureen’s memory would be better served by toasting a beginning.
So I brought the bottle along, and that’s what we did. “To Nashville and many more great things ahead.”
Sunday 20 November 2011
Evolution of a Demo Part 2
As promised back in October, here's the updated demo:
... scroll to bottom of page for 3rd mp3.
... scroll to bottom of page for 3rd mp3.
Thursday 17 November 2011
Dear Benjamin Hayslip et al
This was supposed to be just an update, but...
I rented a car tonight to drive to Ajax and sit with Alex to finalize the master for the demo disk. We did exactly the same routine two nights ago. But after taking 'one last listen' it dawned on me that the vocals in one of the songs were too low. It shames me to say that it came down to the wire to realize it. T'was a stressful discovery, since I was scheduled to send the disk off for copies yesterday morning. But Jo and Al came through and got the mix revised in a jiffy. It's been hard doing anything in a jiffy thus far, trading files back and forth online and working around three different schedules. But when the chips were down, the gents stepped up and got 'er done. Thanks guys.
So... I was taking the on-ramp to the 401 when Martina McBride's "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" came on the radio. By the end of the first chorus, I was choked up. By the end of the second verse, there were rivers down my cheeks.
She said, "I don't think I can do this anymore"
He took her in his arms and said "That's what my love is for"
I was reminded of something I'd read early today from an interview with producer Anthony Smith:
"A great song goes right past the brain straight to the heart." Indeed. Well done, writers Benjamin Hayslip, Sonya Isaacs and James Yeary.
The lines may not have the same impact written on a page as they do in the context of the story and the performance. So go have a listen. Good stuff.
I rented a car tonight to drive to Ajax and sit with Alex to finalize the master for the demo disk. We did exactly the same routine two nights ago. But after taking 'one last listen' it dawned on me that the vocals in one of the songs were too low. It shames me to say that it came down to the wire to realize it. T'was a stressful discovery, since I was scheduled to send the disk off for copies yesterday morning. But Jo and Al came through and got the mix revised in a jiffy. It's been hard doing anything in a jiffy thus far, trading files back and forth online and working around three different schedules. But when the chips were down, the gents stepped up and got 'er done. Thanks guys.
So... I was taking the on-ramp to the 401 when Martina McBride's "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" came on the radio. By the end of the first chorus, I was choked up. By the end of the second verse, there were rivers down my cheeks.
She said, "I don't think I can do this anymore"
He took her in his arms and said "That's what my love is for"
I was reminded of something I'd read early today from an interview with producer Anthony Smith:
"A great song goes right past the brain straight to the heart." Indeed. Well done, writers Benjamin Hayslip, Sonya Isaacs and James Yeary.
The lines may not have the same impact written on a page as they do in the context of the story and the performance. So go have a listen. Good stuff.
Sunday 6 November 2011
Time Flies
I’m nursing a rye and ginger or, rather, a rye and ginger is nursing me. Listening to the five final mixes I’m uploading to Alex’s FTP for him to master this week.
I’ve barely seen the light of day all weekend. Recorded a lot of guitar, lead and harmony vocals, bass for one, and keyboards for a couple – accordion, piano and wurli (one of my favorite instruments) thanks to good ol’ MIDI samples!
Alex gave me a drum track for one of them -- a shuffle on snare with brushes. I absolutely loved most of it, but the bridge rhythm didn’t sit right. So, rather than go back to him for a re-do, I edited 20 bars in the middle! Kind of tricky, but kind of fun too! If you knew how straight 4:4 my brain is, you’d be impressed!
It’s 12:09 AM Monday morning. Just got an email from Jo saying he did a lot of work on one of our band mixes today, some of which were the same ideas that I sent him in an email this eve. Nice to know we’re headed in the same direction!
One bummer though: I had second thoughts re the lyrics for another one we’re working on. Similar to the early version of A Great Little Town, this other one doesn’t resolve and needs more work. Realistically, I don’t know if that’s possible in time for this trip. But fingers crossed… you never know.
Work in the morning… time for bed.
I’ve barely seen the light of day all weekend. Recorded a lot of guitar, lead and harmony vocals, bass for one, and keyboards for a couple – accordion, piano and wurli (one of my favorite instruments) thanks to good ol’ MIDI samples!
Alex gave me a drum track for one of them -- a shuffle on snare with brushes. I absolutely loved most of it, but the bridge rhythm didn’t sit right. So, rather than go back to him for a re-do, I edited 20 bars in the middle! Kind of tricky, but kind of fun too! If you knew how straight 4:4 my brain is, you’d be impressed!
It’s 12:09 AM Monday morning. Just got an email from Jo saying he did a lot of work on one of our band mixes today, some of which were the same ideas that I sent him in an email this eve. Nice to know we’re headed in the same direction!
One bummer though: I had second thoughts re the lyrics for another one we’re working on. Similar to the early version of A Great Little Town, this other one doesn’t resolve and needs more work. Realistically, I don’t know if that’s possible in time for this trip. But fingers crossed… you never know.
Work in the morning… time for bed.
Friday 4 November 2011
Crunch Time
Well, we’re down to crunch time with the demos.
Crunch time? You’re thinking, “You’re not leaving
until mid December. ¿cuál es el problema, hombre?”
Well, no problema exactly, but definitely a bunch of stuff
that needs to get done now in order for a bunch of other stuff to get done next week, so all the stuff gets done in time for the trip!
I need 1-2 weeks turnaround time for CD duplication and
printing. The work will only take a few days, but it’s not like my project is
the only one on the shop floor! Then add on a few days or more to send the
disks down ahead of me so I don’t have to worry about getting them through
customs. They’re demos, so not for sale, but that kind of thing won’t
necessarily be understood by officials. And I don’t want to ruin the new art
work by stamping ‘promo’ or ‘sample’ on everything. Before the CDs can be copied, Alex needs all the final mixes
to do a nice master EQ of all songs, putting them all at similar volumes etc,
so the disk is easy to listen to on any stereo or headphones.
Like most things in life and especially creative endeavors,
other things have gotten in the way and delayed bits and pieces. The big one
lately was that Jo got called out of town for a week on business which
slowed down his final mix work on two of the three full-band demos.
But he whipped one of them into shape since getting home
this week; so we’re in good shape there. I did a few takes of vocals last night
on that and will edit a final track this weekend. The big stress with this song
was that it’s a male-female duet, so I had to line up another singer. But I
couldn’t schedule a session until I knew when the final music would be ready.
When I got the music this week, wouldn’t you know if, but I couldn’t track down
the singer I’d lined up! So today was a bit of a scramble to find someone else.
Luckily a songwriter friend put me in touch with a great local singer who’s
coming over tonight to record!
After that, I have to do my final vocals and harmonies for the
other full-band mix that Jo has (and hopefully will send me over the next 24
hours). There’s also a song of his that I wrote new lyrics for and we’re trying
to get that whipped into shape too. It’s a bit out of my range, so we’ll see
what comes of it. When I’ve got the final vocals, I FTP those tracks back to Jo
and he’ll drop them into his mixes, tweak levels, EQ settings, etc., and then
he’ll send those to Alex for the CD mastering!
I must say, internet file sharing has been the key to moving
things along. Alex set up an FTP site where we up/download tracks at various
stages. It’s pretty cool. With the three of us having entirely different
schedules and life demands, it would have been impossible to collaborate in
person. There were certainly times when I really just wanted to sit down in a
room with a guitar and work on a song with them, but things have worked out
pretty well in the end.
The rest of this weekend, I’ll be steaming away on the six
acoustic demos. I think two are pretty much done. The others just need some
tweaking. One could really use a good piano or lead guitar in addition to my
rhythm but I couldn’t line anybody up yet for that since I really just finished
the song yesterday!
That song is called The Ballad of Jack Flynn. I’ve had it
for a few years, but the chorus melody never really sat quite right with me.
This week I tried changing the start from the 5 to the 2 chord, which then lead
to a slightly different riff between lines, and that seems to have done the
trick. So it’s a last-minute addition to the package.
So, on Monday morning, the plan is to FTP all the final
mixes to Alex for a hopefully quick and painless mastering session.
Alex is already finished the full-band mix for the song he was
producing. It sounds great – sort of a Tim McGraw kind of feel.
I should be
able to send a CD off for dupes before the end of the week. Fingers crossed.
Once the demos are out of the way, I have to figure out what
the heck to do with the new singalakesong website. Writing, design, photos,
oodles of html tech stuff that I don’t even remotely understand! And or course there's always more reading to be done about the Nashville scene.
Okay… onward. I’ve got some chores to do before the music mayhem
begins tonight.
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