Sing Song Sing
08/10/20 10:47
The Urban Angels - aka John Scudder on double bass and me doing guitar and vocals will be playing a short run of shows featuring my songs later this month. It has been great working with venues that support original writing. There are still the places that want to know what you will play things they and their punters will recognise rather than self- penned material.
In some venues I have mixed it up, with versions of favourite songwriters alongside my own songs and it has been interesting to see the reaction from audiences. They will often make specific comment and more enthusiastic applause for my stuff even though they may not even realise it is an original composition. This is gratifying from two perspectives – it means that then songs must be strong enough to stand on their own and that they resonate with the audience.
I am working on writing new material with the aim of adding at least 4 new songs to the set list and debut them in the session room at the Palmerston North Library Oct 25th than at Space Studio and Gallery Whanganui Oct 31st with a further date pending in December at the Sarjeant on the Quay Whanganui.
I have plenty of melodic ideas but writing the lyrics is proving the hard part. So often the ideas start well with some strong direction but then sink beneath the weight of their own promise as it becomes clear that they will not stand any close scrutiny or have stumbled away into cliché.
As readers and those who have heard me play will know, I have at least 5 songs that feature angels in some guise or other – hence the band name – but I am currently pulling together a lyric that references the fact that not everyone likes angels. This came from a conversation with someone about my website content and the way it features angel wings. There were reasons for their aversion that have led to a new understanding on my part and so am grateful for the learning.
I often capture song ideas on my phone. I checked back on past recordings today and found various snippets of tunes worth further development. One was particularly lovely. I don’t recall when I recorded it. I had forgotten about this particular musical idea captured over a year ago. Now I cannot remember how I played it so will need to go back and see if can work out what my hands were playing at. It did sound really good and my first thought was “is that me playing – how did I do that”.
We are fortunate here in NZ that musicians can now play to live audiences when in so many countries Covid has made this impossible. In the past I have always done a two-week set of dates in Germany but that is not likely to be happening again any time soon. I miss seeing my friends in Europe and the enthusiasm of audiences there.
Please keep an eye on my website for the new songs as they progress from fledgling sing-lets to fully developed music and lyrics.
I am working on writing new material with the aim of adding at least 4 new songs to the set list and debut them in the session room at the Palmerston North Library Oct 25th than at Space Studio and Gallery Whanganui Oct 31st with a further date pending in December at the Sarjeant on the Quay Whanganui.
I have plenty of melodic ideas but writing the lyrics is proving the hard part. So often the ideas start well with some strong direction but then sink beneath the weight of their own promise as it becomes clear that they will not stand any close scrutiny or have stumbled away into cliché.
As readers and those who have heard me play will know, I have at least 5 songs that feature angels in some guise or other – hence the band name – but I am currently pulling together a lyric that references the fact that not everyone likes angels. This came from a conversation with someone about my website content and the way it features angel wings. There were reasons for their aversion that have led to a new understanding on my part and so am grateful for the learning.
I often capture song ideas on my phone. I checked back on past recordings today and found various snippets of tunes worth further development. One was particularly lovely. I don’t recall when I recorded it. I had forgotten about this particular musical idea captured over a year ago. Now I cannot remember how I played it so will need to go back and see if can work out what my hands were playing at. It did sound really good and my first thought was “is that me playing – how did I do that”.
We are fortunate here in NZ that musicians can now play to live audiences when in so many countries Covid has made this impossible. In the past I have always done a two-week set of dates in Germany but that is not likely to be happening again any time soon. I miss seeing my friends in Europe and the enthusiasm of audiences there.
Please keep an eye on my website for the new songs as they progress from fledgling sing-lets to fully developed music and lyrics.