My brother one time said that if he had to pick his favorite artist of all time if would be Johnny Cash. I thought that was so true since Johnny really knew no boundaries and found his way into the hearts of everyone from bikers to farmers. He just had something that had universal appeal.
It got me thinking, if I had to pick one person I would have to go with Bob Marley. His universal appeal came from the fact that he spoke to the people. He sang and wrote songs with intent and purpose, to celebrate life, love and freedom. His songs marked the struggle of the oppressed and gave strength to the weak, and it sounded so so sweet that people can help but listen. Check it out for yourself!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlk9Sj4Ns2k
I was directed towards this great live clip of Delta Nove today. They were playing Alex’s Bar, which is a fantastic spot in Long Beach, if you haven’t been. Delta Nove is a local force to be reckoned with. Their style is deeply funky and full of range, all of which is super fun and uplifting. This particular clip is featuring a few horn players that I know, Nick Chaffee, who blessed me with his trumpet skills on the record and an awesome saxophone performance by Sean Chaffins of Badfish. If you want to see what is going on in the Long Beach music scene, start with this clip.
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Just wanted to let you know that I am really looking forward to the gig this Saturday night. It will be the fist time in a long time where I will just be playing by myself, like the good ol days. I have been writing some new tunes and I welcome the opportunity to let them come out and play. If you are interested in checkin it out go to my calendar page to get all the info. Alta Coffee is a great hang out that have booked me since I was a youngster. It’s nestle next to the Balboa Peninsula and is known by locals as the place to go, relax, eat and listen to some chilled out music. Hope to see you there.
It’s been a long road now folks , putting this record together and I am very happy to say we recently added an amazing musician to the project. It turned out to be a real thrill. He is a violinist named Trevor Lloyd who I met at a farmers market playing with a digiridoo player. I was drawn to the sound to the didge because the time I spent in Australia , and they were really putting down an awesome vibe. I enlisted him to play on the record and he showed up in full form. It was the first time I had the opportunity to work with a live musician in the producers chair, and it was a fun and enriching experience. I think he added a beautiful quality to songs like Constellations, Carelessness and Las Vegas Lullaby. I was looking for a rich, down to earth feeling and he really pulled through on that. Look for him on his myspace page …
www.myspace.com/treviolin
Steve and I have spent a few good hours working on tightening up all the vocals and harmonies, and I am happy to report that we are pretty darn close to wrapping things up in that department. I am looking forward to working on something else besides my parts. I have gotten to the point where I feel like I have done the best I can, so I am ready to move on. I think it’s about that time to call up the other players and start talking about what they can add to the project.
The fortunate thing is that I don’t think we need a whole heck of a lot of anything. The way I see at this point, I am looking at putting a little keyboards here and there, some pedalsteel or mandolin, and most of all- some nice dualing trumpets. Even if I don’t get anything else on these thing, I want those trumpets! So we’re getting to the fun part soon….when I figure it all out folks, you’ll be the first to know.
Well, we’ve been in recording this record now for a few months, and I have to say I feel ready to get back out there and start playing again. I guess life just has a way of flying by, and before you know it summer is winding down and leaves are falling… well they are falling somewhere, not so much in southern California. I know of a few cool places to check out and start booking again, even if the record is not completed. What have we got to loose? I’ll keep you posted…
I was so happy to return to the realms of Mambo Records this week. I had quite a bit of unsettled business to attend to. I brought good ol’ Jaggedy Kaye with me, so he could see how the whole operation went down. It was a good night . We filled in a lot of the remaining vocal parts, which was the obvious next step. I am really happy the way it is coming together, even thought it can be difficult to listen to myself over and over- especially when something isn’t working as easily as I had it in my head.
Nevertheless, I think it really great to have such a seasoned professional working on this record. Steve really has a good sense of letting me explore the vocal arrangements, but knows when we are belaboring a part, or if it is not necessary. In fact, his perspective has allowed me to think of my vocals in a new light. I tend to like lots of layering and harmonies through out the entirety of a song, but now I am starting to minimize the use of harmonies for maximum effectiveness. I think it’s worthwhile, because it allows the story to be told without the congestion of too much else. This is a new way of thinking for me, and one that I am happy to explore.
I was just listening to a little Camera Obscura and was enjoying their song French Navy. It has a good feeling about it. It sounds like a group of people who love to play music, sitting in a room and have a good jam. I can appreciate that, and it makes me kind of pine for the days when that was what a record was- not synthesized sound scapes and digital pitch correction. Back in the days when you had a be a musician to be a music star.
Check out their myspace if you please.
http://www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband
Just heard a song that keeps playing over and over in my head. It’s Beth Orton Sisters of Mercy. It just reminded me of what an amazing talent she is. I guess people get brought to your attention for a bit and sometimes they fade away. It’s always nice to have them come back into your mind- stop in and say hello.
Looks like Beth is still doing her thing and playing festivals in her homeland. Check out what she is up to and hear what she has been up to lately- I’m glad I did.
http://www.myspace.com/bethorton
To me, nothing beats a perfectly timed lyric, where the syrconicity of the artist and your personal experience collide, and you find solice, revenge, helplessness or hope in their words.
Some of the lyrics that have done that for me are..
“I don’t understand about the weather outside -0r the harmony in a tune or why somebody lies.
There’s solace a bit for submitting to the fitfully cryptically true
What’s happened has happened -What’s coming is already on its way
With a role for me to play I don’t understand -I’ll never understand
But I’ll try to understand -There’s nothing else I can do.”
Fiona Apple
Red Red Red from Extrodrdinary Machine
http://www.fiona-apple.com
” I ain’t no perfect man – I try to do the best that I can- with what it is I have. My Umi says shine your light on the world. Shine your light for the world to see.My Umi says shine your light on the world. Shine your light for the world to see”
Mos Def
Umi Says from Black on Both Sides
http://www.myspace.com/mosdef
“You wanna be the one made over – be your own before and after- and the super market beauty in the bottle queen who’ll one day grace the check out counter magazine front cover- though the fine print reads: the picture makes a promise the flesh lets it be broken.”
Tracy Chapman
Broken from Let it Rain
http://www.tracychapman.com/
Uncategorized | christa | 
September 2, 2010 6:55 am | 
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