Songwriting 202

Despite all the external things and the unpredictable circumstances taking place around me, one thing is always constant...I love to write songs and to figure out how to keep writing better ones. It's a mysterious process, and I never know when the urge or impulse to write a song will strike. It's easier on me when it happens at home, because then I can grab a notepad and start scribbling things down. I have alot of half-written songs right now; I need to spend time finishing them. And I can't always tell the potential of a new song idea; it can seem like a wonderful, inspired idea at first, then it begins to lose steam later. But I can feel when something is really at a higher level. I am working on a new song now which really moves me and seems to have a unique emotional power to it. It's the kind of song I can hardly wait to do live, and I'll want to record it on my second CD, the one tentatively called "Our Mother's Place." What is it, the chord progression? The way the melody grabs me in these early stages of composing? The way I hope people will respond to it if I do my job? What is it that makes a song like this more potentially memorable and artistically potent than others? I don't know, but it's the mystery of this that keeps me hooked, and keeps me doing it...

When good things happen to brooding people...

So much has happened so quickly, that I barely have time to blog about it. Friday the 13th was a lucky day for me...the Joe Williams feature story was printed in the Post-Dispatch about my saga, and I finally received my check from Paramount. I can start to dig myself out of debt and become the musician/songwriter I always wanted to be. An era has come to an end, with a better one starting. November 14 marked the exact one-year anniversary of my final day at Momentum North America, and it was coincidentally the day of the UP IN THE AIR premiere at the St. Louis International Film Festival. What a night! I was interviewed on the "red carpet" by several reporters about my story, and I was acknowledged by Jason Reitman when I thanked him from the stage about what he's done for my life. Despite a few sound problems, my trio did a short set of original songs, and I unexpectedly had to do "Close to Something Beautiful" when the proceedings were delayed. Reporters filmed some of this. And I sang "Up in the Air" and received warm and enthusiastic applause. Though short, this was the biggest gig of my life, and I was told I did well. I enjoyed it and the vocal sound was good. Attended two fantastic parties, at which numerous people told me they liked my song. So this is what celebrity feels like? I could almost get used to it, after the hellish year I've been through. The movie is so great...I really love it, after seeing it twice. Karen, Melinda and Sue were in attendance to cheer me on...God bless my friends! There was no time for excessive reflection the next day...I had booked some crucial studio time with Mike Martin to take advantage of Ted being here. The session went really well...we got good takes of four full-band songs. I was so happy to get a decent take of "Call It, Friend-o," one of my newer songs which is a frenetic, blistering rocker. And we nailed "Don't Go," for which we did about as fine an imitation of Neil Young and Crazy Horse as I'm likely to do for awhile. This session was critical for making me feel the goal of having a full CD release was attainable, and all of us were pleased with the results. I'm liking this new phase of my life, and I am not slowing down, creatively. Full speed ahead!

Total Immersion

When my friends Ted Moniak and John Sobocan arrived in town, it was the beginning of a period of almost total immersion in music-related stuff. We recorded a bunch of demos, including a nice one for my song "Janey," which might be good enough to make the CD I'm working on. And we had an amazing jam session today with Ned Watson and Larry Perlmutter that peaked with a fantastic first run-through of my brand new song "Call It, Friend-o," which I am more than a little fond of. I'm having some fun now! I'm still broke, but things are going in the right direction. We paid a visit to the home of Gretchen Hewitt, one of my most talented musician friends...John taped her singing tones at her piano to make the strings echo, and it was just gorgeous. We were all totally silent as this was going on. I sense another ambient album in the near future. I'm going to do a short set for my dad at the nursing home Tuesday nite, and then gear up for the big premiere of UP IN THE AIR at the Tivoli on Nov. 14. I'm a bit nervous, but looking forward to thanking Jason Reitman personally for picking my song. Tomorrow nite is my interview on Channel 5; that should be interesting. The gig at Fred's Sat. nite went decently, but I bloodied my thumb strumming so hard; it made the second set a bit more muted for me. But people said nice things, which is always appreciated because I tend to notice the mistakes more than anything else. All part of the deal for an evolving musician, which I certainly am...

It's getting interesting

So much is happening, and so rapidly, that I am not able to keep up with blogging and sharing all the interesting tidbits the way I should. But the imminent release of the UP IN THE AIR soundtrack is definitely news, and I am so honored to be a part of it. Brad Smith was recently declared ineligible for an Oscar nomination for his song "Help Yourself," as I am, and the incontention.com website had another story discussing the whole thing. Meanwhile, reviews of Up in the Air at the London Film Festival have been almost unanimous raves, and several have mentioned the music. I am waiting to find out if the version of "Taken At All" by Crosby, Stills and Nash that appears on the soundtrack is their trio version, or the one that also features Neil Young which appeared on the CSN box set. I'd be tickled if the latter, just so I could say my first recorded song came out on an album that I shared in some manner with my musical idol! I am hoping to record a few more songs in the next two weeks, and I wrote a brand new one over the weekend that I really like. The title is "Call It, Friend-o." It's really fun to play, and it has a nicely quirky arrangement. All in all, these are very interesting times for me!