I would imagine that many towns with enough musicians has open mic events.  Our does.  Some of them are truly open... arrive, jump on a sign up list, play.  Some of them are curated... anyone can play, but you must sign up in advance of the show date. You'll see all sorts of musicians at these events. You'll see seasoned musicians working out new material.  You'll see people performing their own music in public for the first time.  You'll sometimes see a musician build an ad-hoc band right there in the venue, and perform a few songs with no rehearsal. I tend to enjoy these events, as seeing live music always tends to give me the good endorphins.

I am sure there are more open mic events in the Greater Dayton area than I know of.  I am very familiar with the one at Peach's Grill in Yellow Springs.  It is hosted by the effervescent Kyleen Downes, who you might recognize from a previous blog post here.  (Sign up for that one is right here.) In addition to delicious pizza, South Park Tavern has an open mic even on Wednesdays. (Sign up for that one is right here.)  My favorite of these events in the area is Showcase Thursday over at Yellow Cab Tavern. I can't share a sign up for that one, you need to do it in person.

Although I always enjoy these sorts of events, I prefer the ones where everyone is playing original music. Foremost among these types of events are Songwriter-in-the-Round type occasions.  For these, each songwriter plays one original song in turn, and round and round we go.  I've attended countless of these events, but had never had the opportunity to play in one until last week, Sunday March 27th.  Rich Reuter hosted the Songwriter-in-the-Round at Devil Wind Brewing in my hometown of Xenia, Ohio, and invited me to be part of the lineup.

This is going to become a photo blog now.

That right up there is my hometown.  Specifically, it is the view toward the courthouse from Detroit Street, just south of Main Street.

This next picture right here is Khrys Blank arriving.  She played during the same Round as me, and she is exactly as cool as she looks in this photograph.  Dennis Geehan also played in that Round, but since I was next to him during the time we played, I didn't get any pictures of him.

The second Round of the evening consisted of Nicolas Johnson, Jenna Gomes, and the host, Rich Reuter.

The last Round was Kevin Milner, Rachel Litteral, and Anna Marie.

It's always somewhat emotional playing songs in front of people, but that was cranked up for me, as this was my first time playing in my hometown.  Also, it was a bit nerve-wracking to be surrounded by so much talent. We all survived it though, and then I got the post-show endorphins.  

I'll keep on trying to play as many events like this as I can.  I'll also keep trying to attend even when I'm NOT playing, as a way to show support for people who are brave enough to share a piece of their art with the public when they don't know how it will be received. These open mic events are customarily free to attend.  I encourage you, no matter where you are, to try to find similar events in your area and try one of them out.  You never know, you might discover some music that you love.

You might remember that I have a song about a particularly unpleasant experience with the police, and that TINO had the kindness to feature on it. The story behind writing "Anecdote" is right over here, on a previous blog entry.

This is one of my five singles that have been removed from the world's most popular streaming services. It makes its triumphant return tomorrow, February 22nd.  Would you be so kind as to give it a listen tomorrow wherever you stream music?

I think today is a good day to tell you about my in-progress EP.  Let's pretend I'm a journalist and use the 5 W questions, shall we?

Photo by Joshua Chan

WHY?

I wrote a great deal of songs during the pandemic.  Most of these, you'll never hear.  They're not all winners, you know.  As I kept writing, several of the songs ended up being about Black experiences. As they say, write what you know.  Now, I've written about this sort of thing before. After all, writing songs is how I process emotions and try to deal with my anxiety and depression and life in general. Eventually, I had written enough songs that I thought were good enough to not discard. I'd like to share them.  That's what songwriters do, you know, we generally prefer to share what we write. Instead of staggering these songs across multiple releases, I decided to collect them all into one project.

WHO?

The songs on this project are all very much about Black experiences. That being the case, I thought that the best way to approach recording them would be to enlist the assistance of people who would most be able to personally relate to the subject matter.  The artistic aesthetic for this project is that all personnel are Black. This includes musicians, engineer, mixer, mastering engineer, photographer, videographer, and graphic design. If you've read my blog or heard me talk about music, you know that I consider collaboration to be a highly valuable and important part of making art. This is an opportunity for me to work with some very talented people who I've never worked with before. I feel like the enthusiasm they are bringing to this project can only enhance the final product.

WHERE?

I am recoding at The Dreamcatchers Recording Studio in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Rizo is the gentleman at the controls.

WHAT?

This is going to be an EP.  In addition to the detail about the personnel above, it will be different from my past work in two major ways.

First, every single song on this project is told from my point of view. By saying that, I don't mean that I've never written a song from my own point of view before.  "North of Sixteen", from Echo in the Crevices, is very much a first person story, and it's a very clear narrative. "Goodbye", from Anxious Inventions & Fictions, is another example of me being the voice speaking in the song. This certainly isn't the case all of the time. Songs like "I Am a Number" and "Your Anthem" are observational.  Songs like "Little Light" , "Le Soldat", and "She Speaks in Metaphor" are purely fiction, but plausible. My most recent single, "Wapakoneta", consists of a kernel of true memories buried in a fabricated story. This new project however... this is extremely personal. I am the voice on all of the songs. I am open, I am vulnerable, and I am speaking the truth. Note that you won't find any instances of me pushing for social or political causes or changes on this EP. (If you're looking for my thoughts in those areas, feel free to reach out to me in person.) I am saying things that are true, and then saying how I feel about them. The listener is free to draw their own conclusion. Being this open is scary.

Second, every song on this EP is in a different genre. Usually, piano is my tool of choice for writing songs. Piano provides a blank slate. There are a nearly unlimited amount of choices one can make as far as arrangement and instrumentation when starting with piano. As I arranged the songs, I tried to put together arrangements that would best serve each song. After I got three songs into the project, I noticed that they were all different genres. At that point, I decided to lean into it. Yes, each song is a different genre, but they all sound like me.

There is another detail about this project that I'll keep secret, but it is a secret that I have shared with the lovely people who subscribe to my mailing list. They are the first to know what I am up to, and I share inside information with them that I won't share elsewhere. If you'd like to join them and step into my world, please sign up here.

In a nod to Jimi Hendrix, the name of the EP will be I Am Experienced.

WHEN?

This blog post is going up on Monday January 17th, 2022.  In the United States, that is a federal holiday called Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Some people in the United States might spend a few minutes on this day thinking about topics such as racism, prejudice, and equality. Some people might spend a few minutes thinking about how to not be partial in one's individual interactions with other humans, or what the world might be like if everyone had an altruistic love for their fellow person. Many people ask themselves when, if ever, anything will improve. Those are all valid thoughts, and I'm not going to address them here. I will say that I have made some art in which I talk about my feelings, I am working hard to get it professionally recorded, and I will share it with you as soon as I possibly can.

We have a neighborhood event in Dayton called Porchfest. This event has a simple premise. Many homeowners in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood offer their front porch (or their back yard) as a venue where an artist can perform. The performances are staggered by location and scheduled in order to avoid too much sound overlapping. This event is free to attend, and it's something I look forward to... walking around listening to live music for a few hours is exactly my idea of a good time.

This summer, I was invited to play Porchfest for the first time.  I was very much looking forward to participating in an event that I enjoy attending as well, and I convinced Ray Owens, Brandon Berry, and Jeremy Raucci to spend time learning my songs so that I could give a full band performance.  (Thanks, gentlemen!)  I was scheduled to play at 5:00 PM.  Porchfest started with a drum corps in the 1 o'clock hour, then the first slot for the artists throughout the neighborhood was to be at 2:00 PM.

One of the bands I enjoy ran into a problem.  They are called Sadbox.  Wait, the name of the band isn't the problem, stay with me here. Their bass player had been possibly exposed to COVID-19, and as a responsible citizen and fine upstanding member of society, was self-quarantining.  This meant he was not able to play Porchfest, and the folks in Sadbox found this out the night before the show.  I found this out the morning of the show, shortly before noon, as I was borrowing their drummer, Ray, for my set as well. Guess what instrument I play?  Yep, bass.  I immediately offered my services.  Sadbox accepted. Great!  But there's a challenge here...

You see, dear reader, I enjoy listening to Sadbox songs, and know many of them fairly well, but there is a difference between knowing a song from listening to it and knowing it well enough to actually play it in front of people.  I had less than two hours to mentally prepare for the show... oh, and I also had to deal with preparations for my own set later in the day.  Once my offer to fill in on bass was accepted, I immediately started listening to both Sadbox albums again, working my way through the songs, specifically listening for the bass parts, and trying to internalize the music.

I went to the designated porch, and participated in the age-old ritual of setting up gear prior to a show.  Then, the ebullient and gregarious lead singer and songwriter of Sadbox, Paul, gave me a 20 minute crash course on how to play the songs on the setlist.  This is what my notes look like:

I didn't draw that cool thing at the bottom of the setlist, Paul did.  My handwriting is the stuff in black.  I took a selfie as we were setting up in order to memorialize this occasion.

Time sure flies when you're getting ready to jump in and play rock & roll songs that you've never played before live and in public.  Before we knew it, Porchfest was under way.  You know what?  It was great.  I made my share of mistakes to be sure, but I didn't feel much pressure because, well, I think Sadbox were kind enough to keep their expectations low. I was able to relax and enjoy making music with friendly people in front of a good-sized crowd of other friendly people.  I repeat, it was great!  Making music feels good.  Doing a favor for someone feels good.  I had the privilege to combine the two on this hot Saturday afternoon. In fact, I enjoyed playing with Sadbox more than playing my own songs during my own scheduled set. 

Photo by Art Jipson

Photo by Tom Gilliam

Behold! Three-fourths of the mighty Sadbox, with yours truly on the porch tagging along!  This is a moment that I'll remember for a long, long time.

Kyleen Downes is a true professional. She plays, she writes, she sings, she teaches... and radiates joy when making music.  Every time I go see Kyleen play a show, I end up less grumpy when the show is over than I was before it started.  The community of musicians in the greater Dayton area is better for having her be a part it. 

This is her official music page. I have everything here on compact disc, and I assure you, it's all good.  Why not get yourself a copy of her latest album, Come On Sit Down, on vinyl or CD?

How about we get to know Kyleen a little better?  After the photo, I amplify her voice.

Photo by Jennifer Taylor

1.  Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre. 

The best one I’ve come up with is my music sounds like if Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow were raised on TRL. 

2.  You have a Bachelor's degree in Music.  For musicians who are not formally educated in music, but wish to improve, what's a simple piece of advice you could give? 

While I was getting my degree I was inundated with so much information, I was discouraged that I wasn’t retaining what I was learning. But as the years have gone by, many concepts have clicked. So my advice would be, don’t feel like you need to know it all, incorporate what you do know (value it!) and more will come as you go. 

3.  What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

I made two album purchases that day with my own money: The Men In Black soundtrack and Weird Al Yankovic Bad Hair Day.

4.  Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

I saw Cat Power, Garbage and Alanis Morissette at Riverbend in September. A friend invited me and had 3rd row seats, I’ve never been that close before! Cat Power’s performance was gorgeous and humble. Then Garbage performed and they damn near killed me with the bass, but it was awesome. Shirley Manson now has a place on my badass women list. Halfway through one of her songs she called someone out in the audience and said “Hey Kelly” then proceeded to finish the song. Afterwards, she proclaimed how amazing the universe is that in a sea of people she saw their server from the night before, Kelly. She then told the audience that Kelly was in a band called Flying Underground and that she checked them out on the Instagram and said their stuff was great! SO fun! Finally Alanis Morissette came out with her stellar band and washed us all in her unbelievable voice and energy. The concert was incredibly uplifting and an experience that I got to have with two of my closest friends. 

5.  When did you start playing guitar?  Why did you choose guitar as your instrument? 

I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old after my parents gave me one for Christmas. I wish I knew why I chose guitar because it has become such a huge part of my life. As a kid I did love singing musical and Disney songs, and I also played clarinet, but I really don’t know why I chose guitar. I asked my mom once why they got me a guitar for Christmas and she said, “I guess you must have asked for it.” Makes sense Mom, haha! 

6.  You're a solo artist, even though you write full band compositions.  I can relate.  When you finish a song and are thinking about heading to the studio with it, how do you approach making choices for arrangement and instrumentation? 

The songs I take to the band, I work out structure and instruments parts with them. The songs I’ve worked out on my own will often take shape in the studio. I may have an idea of trying something on a particular instrument but won’t know until I try it. I now have an interface and some GarageBand skills to try out more arranging beforehand, I’m excited to see how it works out! 

7. Can you name three influences on your songwriting and sound, along with some details on how you incorporate those influences? 

I’m influenced by whoever I am listening to or perhaps learning to play on guitar. I developed one song on guitar when I was pretending to be Jimi Hendrix in my basement. It sounds nothing like Jimi Hendrix but who does!? It was more how he moves his fingers on the neck that I was trying to imitate. That song I co-wrote with Emma Woodruff for her album Longing for Something I Ain’t Got and it’s called "Yellow Springs Thing". 

A song of mine, not yet released, called "Tell Me What I Want to Hear" was influenced by Prince. I was hearing something in my head that sounded sexy and staccato, so I developed the song with his aesthetic in mind. 

A local influence came out when I was writing my song "Big Top" and that’s the duo Biscuits and Gravy. The acoustic punch of Harold Hensley and the sassiness of Cassandra Barker really drove the tone of that song. 

8.  So... when do we get more new music from Kyleen Downes? 

2022! No specific details but I’ve got new songs written and will be recording soon. They each have very distinct voices so I plan to release them as singles throughout the year.

***

The video for "Give Up the Ghost" is great, and you should watch it.  I've already linked to the official home of Kyleen Downes on the Internet, but here's her website again.  You can find her music there, as well as on all of your normal streaming services.  You can also find Kyleen on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I am absolutely thrilled that Kyleen is willing to play with me THIS WEEK, when I play live on WYSO.  Again, she is a true professional.  Rehearsals have been solid, and I warmly invite you all to tune in on WYSO dot org Wednesday 13th October at 8 PM Eastern, and you'll hear Kyleen's fine guitar work and harmony vocals.

Here are the lyrics:

Baby can you find my earplugs
They keep the city sounds away
I need to take a syrup shot, it's all I've got
To finally find a quiet place

Go to sleep

Baby can you see the monsters
Their chatter keeps me up all night
This one lost a job and that one had a kid
At least we're getting on all right

Go to sleep

Why can't I ever feel this good?
What's it like to be understood?
Who are we and where is peace?
And how mortality?
When do I go to sleep?

I don't know where I am
Halfway between cold and home
I need to take a syrup shot, it's all I've got
To finally find a quiet place

Go to sleep

***

It was my honor to be the first guest on the brand new songwriting podcast, DUET OR DON'T.  Tune in, and listen to Baby Molly and me write our way through this song.

If you don't feel like reading the story, but are curious to hear the song, please scroll WAY down to the end of this entry, and there will be a link for you.

The Who & Why & What

Some very dear friends were going to move away.  This wasn't the kind of move where the prospect of never seeing them for the rest of my life was a possibility (although in the midst of a pandemic now, who knows), but this move was far enough away that visits would be few and far between.  So, as one does, I was considering a gift.  Here's the problem... gift giving is hard for me, more so in a situation where distance is involved.  Food/drink gifts, while delicious, don't last very long.  I don't have the wherewithal to come up with practical household gifts, and besides, they were already settled in a home, they were just going to a different home and ostensibly bringing their stuff with them.  Not being able to turn my brain off at night is a nearly quotidian issue for me, and many nights the question of what kind of gift to give was the source of my insomnia.  What could I - a generally useless and insignificant being - possibly give someone without it being hackneyed or trite?  Hey, I write songs.  How about a bespoke song?  That's unique and that's sincere, which means the proper sentiment gets across no matter how awful it ends up being.  Ok, problem solved, now to work...

The Where

I knew the destination of the move.  That being the case, I did more reading about the location than I'd like to admit, looking for extra details that I might be able to shoehorn into a song.  Relevant lyrics from the song:

Say hello to the Badlands
Prairie dogs and Minuteman
Needles in the Black Hills
Porcupines with their quills

Say hello to the Big Bird

I'm not going to spell the place out to you, I'm going to depend on your profound knowledge of geography and history - or conversely, your Google skills - to tell you The Where.

The How

Brainstorming sessions. Writing text.  Editing text into lyrics.  

Deciding on a mood.  Well, it's somewhat melancholy, but hey, they're not dying - at least not any faster than the rest of us are - and we very well might cross paths again.  Ok then, minor key for the verse, then have a pre-chorus that modulates from minor to major, then major key in the chorus in order to give that optimistic and hopeful feeling.  Settled.  Pick the chords.  No, not that one.  Yes, that one.  Ok.  Chords.... find a melody.  Agonize over the piano at finding a melody.  Have a look at those lyrics.  Oh, that's not good enough, and that won't work with the melody.  Edit the lyrics again.  Gently massage the lyrics and the melody until they are able to combine.

Back to the lyrics.  How do I say "I love you and I will miss you" without explicitly saying those words?  We're writing songs here, need to be artistic and just a tiny bit oblique.  Ok, well, the general purpose of the song is as a goodbye present, how about making that the theme?  Enter my interest in etymology.  (If you think that word should contain an "n", well, that really bugs me.)  The word "Goodbye" literally means "God be with you"... over the centuries English has shortened that four word farewell into one seven letter word.  Ok now I have my chorus hook.

Goodbye means God be with you
God be with you as you go
Goodbye is temporary
Just until the next hello

The When

There is more than one When.

The first... well, there was a moving day.  I wanted to have the song finished, recorded, and gifted by moving day.  I finished the song probably a week before the departure, as far as the final first draft.... then spent time messing around with the arrangement or the lyrics, not liking the edits, revising back to the original idea, pruning here and there again... yeah, it's a process.  By no means am I an engineer, but I recorded the song at home the way I do all of my demos... I even threw on some vocal harmonies.  I bounced it to mp3, and emailed it to my friends on the day they left.  Mission accomplished.

The other When.

I was putting songs together to take to Patrick Himes at Reel Love Recording Company in February 2019, in preparation for tracking on my second solo album.  "Goodbye", well, I didn't hate it.  It kept growing on me.  I thought it had potential given the right instrumentation and production.  I brought it with me, along with a bunch of other songs on pre-production day.  It survived the initial cut down... and as tracking started on a few songs and an album began to take shape, I ended up thinking that this one absolutely HAD to be on it.

There were obstacles.  I wrote this song on piano, but I do not have the piano chops to do it justice.  Patrick plays piano - because Patrick plays everything - but he had done that previously on "Convalesce" (from Defacing the Moon), was already playing acoustic guitar and pump organ on this one, and I wanted the chance to work with another talented musician who I admire.  I decided to ask Nathan Peters.  You might know him from such bands as Vinyl Dies,  Lioness, TV Queens, and the legendary Captain Of Industry. Nathan so kindly said yes, and between the chord chart and my very very low quality home recording, was able to figure out what the song needed from the piano part.

Ah, the bass part.  Well, I wrote the song on piano, and was unable to come up with an accompanying bass part that I thought was good enough.  I reached out to Eric Cassidy for ideas.  He had a great idea, and was kind enough to record a video of himself playing the idea slowly enough that I could learn it.  One problem, it involved a quick note change that required holding a chord shape for the change... this type of thing is baby easy for guitarists - and for bass players that are much more talented than me - but I don't often play chords, and when I do, I certainly don't slide around from chord to chord.  Great idea, how to execute cleanly?  It turns out that I couldn't execute it cleanly.  Every time I would play it, I'd either mess up the chord shape on the slide, or make too much fret noise, or not have all of the notes held well enough so that one of them wouldn't sound muddy.  Here's where the studio magic comes in... I played the root note of the chords, then we used overdubs for the harmony notes.  I'm not ashamed to admit it, I'm just not good enough to do it another way, it is what it is.  We got the sound we needed to get.

The vocals.  Take after take after take.  When flat, try again.  When sharp, try again.  My verse harmonies worked out ok.  Patrick had a fantastic idea for an additional harmony in the verse that I hadn't considered... after he sang it for me a few times so I could get it, I went and recorded that as well.  What we have now are really nice harmonies in the verse with three parts, and all of the parts are me.

(I feel I should mention and thank community drummer Brian Hoeflich here, but make clear that there was no obstacle whatsoever as far as his part is concerned.  He did - as per usual - excellent work.)

The Summary

"Goodbye" is track 3 on Anxious Inventions & Fictions.  (If you have the Deluxe Version on CD, it is track 11.)  I am proud of it.  I said what I needed to say, which is the main point of writing songs.  The recording sounds clean, and makes me seem like a much more talented musician than I actually am.  Sure, I didn't actually HAVE to professionally record this song... but I thought the song was good enough to deserve it, and the folks I gifted it to deserve to hear it at its full potential instead of only the horrible version I did at home.

Click here to listen to "Goodbye" on the platform of your choice.

You might remember that last week's blog was about co-writing "Won't Love You Anymore" with the gentleman pictured below.  I figure that this would be a good time for us to all get to know him a bit better.  Interview after the picture:

photo by Jon Estes

1. Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre.   

I’m a singer/songwriter that writes and performs songs about, and for people who feel like they’ve been left behind by the world or someone they loved.  

2.  It seems like "Five Years From 21" was written when you were 26 years old.  You're older than that now.  How do you feel your life has changed since then? 

Quite drastically really. When I wrote that song, I was feeling really depressed and defeated. I was 26, working a retail job that I hated with coworkers that were mostly teenagers. I wasn’t playing a ton of music. I just wasn’t pursuing it at the time. I was lost.   

Fast forward to now: I’ve got a great “day job” that is flexible enough for me to still focus on music but also affords me an income to live comfortably. I’m married and couldn’t be happier! I’ve never been more confident in my music and my ability to connect with fans than I am right now. I’m feelin’ pretty damn good! ha  

3.  What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

It probably would’ve been either Gish or Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins. I got the “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” single for Christmas when I was nine and fell in love with the band. One of my siblings already had Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness so I set out to buy the rest of their discography.  

4.  Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

The last concert I saw was in October of last year. Just typing that is really depressing! It was Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at the Ryman here in Nashville. I’ve seen Isbell a handful of times but this may have been my favorite show of his. Our seats were great! We were pretty close (although there’s really not a bad seat at the Ryman). I drank significantly less than I have at past shows which led to less having to get up and get a drink or go to the restroom. Haha That was kinda a revelation! Maybe I don’t need to down 10 beers at a show! The band was fantastic as always. It was just a really great experience.  

5.  I happen to know you love The Smashing Pumpkins, like I do.  Let's get granular here... give me three of your favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs, and tell me specifically why you love them. 

"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" – It’s not a song I listen to regularly now but it had a profound effect on me as a child. I remember getting the single for Christmas as well as a boom box. I sat in my room and played that song over and over. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but something about that music just really spoke to me. I immediately vowed to be a rock star and got my first guitar on my tenth birthday six months later.  

"Geek U.S.A." – Between that crazy guitar solo and Chamberlain’s incredible drumming this is just a straight up bad ass rock song! There’s tons of energy complete with a super quiet down part that then gets loud which is so wonderfully typical of the Pumpkins. It’s perfect.  

"Blissed and Gone"  – This an outtake from Adore. There’s several different versions, but I couldn’t find the original one that I heard anywhere. I think I probably illegally downloaded it on Napster or Kazaa (sorry ☹). It’s one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard and that’s probably why I like it. It’s just super sad. Ha  

6.  You are the first person I have co-written with, and the experience was so positive for me that now I have a music project built around co-writing with a friend.  How has our collaboration influenced you? 

Our collaboration wasn’t the first time I’d co-written with somebody, but it was the first time I was actually happy with the final product! Ha The experience has encouraged me to want to co-write more. It was also cool that we were able to do it remotely. I was kinda surprised we were able to make that work, but we did! 

7.  If you had the power, what would you change about the music industry? 

It’d be easy to say, “I wish it was like the good ole days when people actually paid for music.” However, the major labels were in power back then, and folks like me and you wouldn’t stand a chance. In the digital age, we have more power. As an artist, I guess I’m kinda okay with how it is. As a consumer, I really hate paying extra for TicketMaster fees! Is TicketMaster really necessary?!? 

8.  How do you intend to keep growing as a songwriter and artist? 

When I was younger, I often wrote about my own life. It was very self-absorbed. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started putting myself in other people’s shoes and writing from their point of view. I want to keep on doing that. Getting better at it. Meeting new people with different struggles and shining a light on that with my music. I also started learning how to play harmonica and I really want to step up my guitar game next. Basically, I just want to keep getting better at every aspect of my music. 

***

Why not go visit Greg's website?  You can also find him on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.  I'm not going to ask you to send Greg messages and emails to bug him about when he's going to get around to recording "Won't Love You Anymore" himself, but I'm not going to NOT ask you to do that, either.  Or something.

You can listen to my recording of "Won't Love You Anymore" on all digital streaming services tomorrow, 11th August.  Would you do me the kindness of clicking here to pre-save on Spotify, or here on Apple Music?

when the stars fall out of the sky
and the moon breaks up with the tide
when the sun goes nova with a deafening roar
that's when I won't love you anymore

Those lyrics were around for awhile.  I managed to put a catchy melody and a simple chord progression with them.  That combination made a chorus. This is how a song starts....

And sometimes the song starts and then stops.  I wrote a verse, didn't like it, and discarded it.  I wrote another verse that wasn't any better and discarded it.  I would put the song down for weeks at a time, work on other things musically, and come back to it.  At no point was I able to write a verse that I thought was good enough to go with a decent chorus.  If you are wondering whether that was frustrating, I assure you that it was.  On the good days, the songs kind of write themselves, they just kind of fall out of you and things make sense... at least, that's what many songwriters will tell you.  It rarely happens for me that way, I usually have to put plenty of work in to write a song, but if I keep working at it, eventually I am able to finish.  This one wasn't like that.  It wasn't happening.  Sure I could have picked any of the many pieces I discarded just to call the thing "finished", but I have some perfectionist tendencies, and I didn't wan to settle for mediocre when the potential was there for something better.  

See that paragraph above?  Way too much "I".  There was a point when that had to become "we".  Enter Greg Owens.  

I met the handsome, bearded Mister Owens at a music conference in Nashville. He agreed to have a listen to those lyrics I posted above, as well as the music I had, and try to come up with a verse for it.  Now, if you clicked on the link to his website that I added above and listened to any of his songs, you will notice that we do not write in the same genre .  That said, we both very much love Smashing Pumpkins, so we have some similar influences.  When Greg got back to me with a verse, it was... well, perfect.  

Mostly perfect.  Musically, it was exactly what the song needed.  It complemented the chorus I had written very well, and the chord progression made perfect sense.  Lyrically, it was ok, but I thought we needed to do better.  WE.  Between a couple of Skype conversations and lots of back-and-forth emails, ideas came up, were debated, were traded, were refined.  Greg asked whether we needed a bridge.  I thought we did.  Greg wrote a bridge.  Eventually, we had a finished product.

The finished product is called "Won't Love You Anymore".  It is so much better for having been a collaboration.  This experience taught me that letting go of your pride and asking for help can be a good thing.  Songs are usually so personal to songwriters, but sometimes the best thing to do is open yourself up to another person's creativity and talent.  I am proud of the song that we wrote together.  You'll be able to hear it soon.

An interview with a musician in back-to-back weeks!  What's with this craziness?  Glad you asked.  The song that TINO and I collaborated on is available tomorrow, Tuesday 14th July, on all streaming services. I figured this would be a good time for all of us to get to know him better.  First, and you might have already guessed this, but "TINO" is a nickname and stage name.  His "government name" is Valentino Halton.  (I need to remind myself of this, as I misprinted his last name as "Hamilton" in the liner notes for the compact disc version of Anxious Inventions & Fictions.  He's chill though, so he has forgiven me.)

TINO recently released an EP called Past Due.  It's solid, you should definitely check it out.  You'll probably enjoy the groove on the track "95 Tribe", which is about the baseball club in TINO's hometown of Cleveland.  (He's a Dayton fella now, but is originally from Cleveland.)  I happen to personally enjoy this track very much, partially because of the excellent groove and lyrics, but also because I remember the World Series that year quite fondly, it being my senior year in high school, and my favorite team being involved.  My favorite team is the National League club, by the way.  Just to remind everyone, the World Series lasted six games that year.  In Game Six, there was only one run scored.  This was it.   Do you remember how that game ended?  I do, but let's refresh everyone's memory.  This is the last out.  TINO managed not to mention Carlos Baerga in "95 Tribe", but it's ok.  My personal favorite from the EP is "Gov't", which also has a fantastic groove.  

Strangely enough, all of the previous interview subjects in this series are women, so I'm breaking new ground with this one.  Interview with this gifted gentleman after the photo.

1.  Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre.

I’m a high energy performer who is at home over uptempo production. My music ranges from deeply personal to ubiquitous in theme. There’s something for everyone, but not in a generic and vague way. 

2.  I remember meeting you because first, I saw you perform with Sidekick Complex, and second, I would see you at the indie rock shows, and that's my genre.  Then I checked out a couple of your solo sets.  At some point if/when we can all go to shows again, I imagine there are folks who go to the rock shows who also enjoy hip hop, but don't know much about that music community in our town.  Maybe it works the other way as well.  How do you think we can cross-promote so the music community has fewer silos?

I think it’s as easy as “Hey, I like your music. Want to play this show with me?” That’s how I got my first shows and I construct a lot of bills I put together in a similar fashion. I try to attract fans that enjoy a wide spectrum of music and not just one genre so variety is welcome. 

3.  What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money?

Mobb Deep, Infamy. I bought it to score a movie I made in high school 

4.  What is your creative process like?

For me it always starts with a beat. I hear something, fall in love, and I start writing. It could be production someone sends me, a song I heard on the radio, or even a moment during another artists live performance. I don’t use everything I write. 50% of what I do will never see the light of day or I’m not good enough yet to flush the idea out. 

5.  What artists do you consider to be your biggest influences?

Michael Jackson for his showmanship, Prince for his musicianship, Lauryn Hill for her spirit, Amy Winehouse for her ability to channel her pain, Kanye/OutKast for re-popularizing music that wasn’t gangster rap, and Drake for his ability to sum up a lot of these qualities in one hip hop artist. 

6.  If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?

I would hope a focus would be placed back on full bodies of work instead of collections of singles. I miss the cohesive journey music used to be about. 

7,  How do you intend to keep growing as an artist?

As long as I’m willing to admit there is still room for improvement in my art and I don’t get content with where I’m at I don’t believe I can stop growing as an artist. 

8,  I know you've done a ton of studio work over the last couple of years.  If you don't want to give too much away here, that's fine, but what can we expect from TINO in the near future?

The pandemic has afforded me the opportunity to tweak and refine my next work as well as slate some releases before it. I will say my next full length will be the best version of my work to date.

***

Personally, I strongly believe in the album as an art form, and am disappointed at the general listening habits of folks today.  I agree with TINO on this 100%.  Having TINO in the studio for "Anecdote" was a very educational experience for me, as he has a skill set that I do not have, and I was able to learn from his preparation and his approach.  The man is serious about his craft, and it shows in his results.  I linked to his website above, but you can also find TINO on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Please check out "Anecdote" tomorrow on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes, Deezer, or wherever you stream music, and also please check out TINO's work on these platforms.

This is what Merriam-Webster says about the word  anecdote:  "a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident"

Let me tell you a short narrative of a biographical incident that is not amusing in any way.

A few years ago my wife and I were coming home from a brief trip to New York.  We ended up flying into Detroit, then renting a car to drive home.  As we were headed South on I-75, we were stopped by the Michigan State Police.  I was not in violation of any traffic laws.  You should know where this is going.  This armed person yelled and screamed at us, succeeded in intimidating my wife by saying we would be charged with "a felony" (which was complete nonsense), and was generally abusive.  I ended up handcuffed, illegally searched, and screamed at even when I complied with instructions.  After sitting for awhile in his vehicle, and upon him discovering that I am not, in fact, a criminal, he tried to get me to say that I understood why he had to stop me and cuff me and search me.  I didn't want any such discussion on his recording, so I remained silent.  Once he ran out of reasons to detain us any longer, he let us go.  No apology.  I asked Misty to get the entire interaction on video from the moment the lights and sirens went on, but she didn't do so.  I thought that armed person was going to shoot me and then excuse it with lies... I was armed, I was on drugs, I tried to take his taser, he feared for his life, I threatened him... as they do, they kill and lie about why they kill.  I tried to explain to Misty afterward that if he shoots me, it's her word against his, and nobody will believe her, so she needs to have these interactions on video to have a basis for a lawsuit.  At any rate, I am convinced that if she wasn't also in the car, I wouldn't be here today.

The above interaction completely ruined my day.  It made me angry, but of course, when you're dealing with an armed racist, you can't afford to be angry.  All of the adrenaline pours into your blood because you are in a true "fight or flight" situation, but either one of those options results in your execution.  Later, you get the shakes. I'm a songwriter, and that's how I process emotions and such, so the skeleton of what would eventually become "Anecdote" started that very day, still on I-75, still driving toward home.  It took awhile for me to edit and distill all of the above paragraph into a package that would fit neatly into a song, but it didn't feel complete.

Then I heard an interview that TINO did with Gem City Podcast.  I think it was this episode. He told one of his personal experiences with "driving while black", and I thought to myself that his story and his skill set would be the perfect addition to this song.  I reached out.  He agreed to come rap on my song.  

What we have now is a cross-genre collaboration called "Anecdote".  We both tell short narratives of a specific biographical incident.

You'll be able to hear this song soon.

Making an album is a long journey.  The time spent writing and re-writing, then re-writing again at home.  The arranging, which often requires another re-write.  The demos.  The gathering in the studio to discuss and plan.  Session after session after session with a whole bunch of really talented people.  Take after take after take of singing, repeating the process if you're a little sharp or a little flat.  The listening to studio bounces over and over and over and over.  The mixing.  That's my process and my journey at least.  Many musicians probably have it easier.  For me, it's a long journey, and it's hard work, and I wouldn't be able to do it without the help of a great many people.

I'd like to celebrate a little more than a year spent working on Anxious Inventions & Fictions by means of a photo blog entry.   

Let's begin:

This is engineer extraordinaire Patrick Himes adjusting the boom for Eric Cassidy on June 2, 2019.  Eric sang harmonies on "Bright Ideas".  Ultimately, that song didn't make it to Anxious Inventions & Fictions, but it is out right now as a stand-alone single.  Please click here to listen to it.

Here's Eric Cassidy again, this time holding an accordion.  He played this on June 30, 2019, during the outro on "Pauline".  You can hear this song on Defacing the Moon, as the songs from that album were chosen from these sessions.

This is Dustin Booher, with me on June 29,2019.  He is a fellow Xenian, and we have known each other since we were five years old.  He sang on "Sunday (That Pill)", which is on Defacing the Moon.  He also lent outstanding vocals to "Never Let Go", which is the 4th song on Anxious Inventions & Fictions.

There is Dustin in the background... and here is Tim Pritchard on July 27, 2019, playing guitar.  You can hear his fine work on "I Am a Number" and "Promise".

This is Jackie and Brandon, who are half of Westerly Station. I met them in Austin at the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference.  (I wrote about that before.)  Brandon is a fellow Ohioan, and we even grew up in the same county.  It was quite convenient that they came from their Texas home to Ohio when I was in the studio, and they had the time to stop by.  Brandon played mandolin on "Sunday (That Pill)", and it sounds great.  

Hello there, Ken Hall.  Normally, you can find him seated behind a piano, a task he performs in Shrug and Human Cannonball.  I invited him to play a little trombone.  You can hear Ken play for about a second and a half on "Your Anthem", which is the first track on Anxious Inventions & Fictions.

This handsome fella is Kent Montgomery.  He is the lead guitarist from The New Old Fashioned.   He was kind enough to play guitar on "Never Let Go", "Won't Love You Anymore", "Run To You", and "Wapakoneta".  That last song didn't make the album, but I will release it at some point.  

Here I am with Nathan Peters, who I've known over 20 years.  You might recognize him as the lead singer and keyboardist from legendary Dayton band Captain of Industry.  These days, he fronts Lioness.  He was kind enough to come to the studio and play piano on "Goodbye".  I wrote the song on piano, but I don't have the chops to give it the recorded performance that it deserves.  Thanks to Nathan's work, it sounds so very good.

The most recent photo.  January 23, 2020.  As you can see from the wood floors and the walls, this photo was taken after the great Reel Love flood and subsequent remodel.  (Scroll up to the first picture for the old school look of the main room in the studio.)  This was my last day in the studio for work on the album.  There was a mixing session after this, so the official end date was in February, but I didn't need to head down for that.  Patrick's steady hand guided me through this process, as he has done so many times for so many other musicians.  He has a fantastic ability to hear the song behind my low-quality home demos.  I can tell him what I am trying to accomplish as far as the sound I hear in my head is concerned, and he can figure out how to get me there.  This gentleman is a multi-instrumentalist, great singer, and true professional.  

I hope you have enjoyed this brief photo journey through a year's worth of work.  There are plenty of behind-the-scenes photos that I haven't even seen.  I have 5 disposable cameras that came to the studio with me, and they are filled with photos.  If you are curious as to what might be on them, they are available as one of the rewards on my Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund pressing Anxious Inventions & Fictions to vinyl.  Why not head over to the campaign and help me press some vinyl?

In order to give you a peek behind the curtain at my songwriting process, I'd like to tell you about my second attempt at the 5 in 5 Song Challenge.  I have written about this challenge in a previous blog entry, so this time, I'll skip explaining the big idea and get straight to the songs.

Day 1, 14th October 2019.  Prompt was to use at least five of these ten words: creek, orange, cider, make, gather, cotton, oak, spinning, poured, without.  Amplifier bonus (which I don't recall being part of the challenge the last time I participated) was to use the chord progression Dbm, Fm, Eb7.

I'm proud of what I managed to write for this one.  I started with the chord progression, as I figured that would be the hardest part.  It was.  If you're not a musician, let me tell you that those three chords are kind of creepy and ominous sounding when used in sequence.  I structured my verses for the song around them, and managed to use all ten (!) of the words, which I believe is a first for me.  Here's the thing... using those specific words, but making it seem natural and not forced... that was tough.  All told, there is one part here that I will re-write.  I didn't like the melody I used in the bridge, so will go back to work on that.  Other than that, I think the rest of the song will stay as-is, and I'll be adding it to my live repertoire next month.  

Day 2, 15th October 2019.  Prompt was to use the following idea as a starting point:  It has to come to an end, before it can begin.  What is it?  (If that sounds to you like something Seneca might have said, well, you're not the only person who thought so.)  Amplifier bonus was to use a minor 4 chord.

For this one, I did not write fresh lyrics.  Rather, I used lyrics from my collaborator, Ruth.  She had lyrics that needed music, and when I saw the prompt, I remembered these specific ones, as I thought they fit.  Lyrics in hand, I wrote the music, which I found to be rather easy this time.  I mostly write in minor keys, and if you write in a minor key, your 4 chord is automatically minor.  Easy as pie.  From reading some of the comments in the group, I might be the only person who understood the amplifier this way, as a few folks asked for clarification, and the clarification was to take a major 4 chord and change it to minor... but that's not what the prompt said.  Maybe the default assumption is that people only write in major keys?  

Day 3, 16th October 2019.  Prompt was to use "Harvest Moon" as a song title.  Ick.  Amplifier bonus is to write in a key you're not comfortable in.  

Well, I'm not really comfortable in any key that requires me to use more than just the white keys on a piano.  I'm not a competent pianist by any means, so I feel all warm and fuzzy writing in A minor.  For this one, I wrote the song on bass instead of piano... and I wrote the verses in G minor, but the chorus in B flat major.  I leaned toward snarky and humorous for the lyrical content.  I think this song is the best one I wrote all week, and I plan to record it next year and get it ready to release in time for fall.  I'll be playing it in public starting next month.

Day 4, 17th October 2019.  Prompt was to use at least five of ten given words.  Now, I don't have the complete word list (oops), but here are the ones that I used: older, settle, calling, pocket, strong, resist.   That's six.   Amplifier bonus was to use this chord progression: F, G, Cmaj7, Am.

That chord progression basically told me to write the song in A minor, which as I mentioned above, is my warm & fuzzy key.  Ok.  I wasn't too thrilled with the list of words, but no matter, I got to work.  I used the fantastic closer from the album The Blinding White Of Nothing At All, "All You Really Want Is Love", as inspiration.  The main songwriter, John Davis, is a strong influence on my songwriting.  Now, the song in question (please listen to it) sounds like it was written in a major key, and I wasn't about to do that, but I did write the B part of the song to have a slight major key feel.  I wrote it in second person.  I also followed a similar structure. A B A B outro.  

I wanted to write a song that I love as much as I love most everything on that record, and I fell short of that goal.  However, I like what I came up with enough to add it to my live setlist starting next month.  It needs some light editing, but there is potential here.  I also feel that this is a good song for We Met In Paris, so I sent it over to Ruth.

Day 5, 18th October 2019.  Prompt was to use the following idea as a starting point:  she is strong as an old fallen tree, but hollow inside.  Amplifier bonus was to change key during the song.

This time, let's start with my overall goal.  I wanted to write a Guided By Voices style song.  I did that just a little bit on one of the songs from the last time I did this challenge, and after editing, it ended up being called "Huns of Doubt", and you will be able to get your hands on it soon.  This time though, I didn't want to use any non-sequitur chords or a crazy time signature.

Beyond GBV, I think of the Wright Brothers and aviation when I think of Dayton.  Transportation terms popped into my head.  I thought about calling it "Propeller", but that's the name of an early GBV album, so no, can't do that.  I thought about the airplane imagery in some of their songs and album artwork... then I decided to call the song "Submarine".  Boats are called "she" by sailors, right?  Submarines are strong, and hollow inside.  Ok, title achieved.  For the lyrics, I used terminology related to submarines as a metaphor for a break up.

Musically, well, doing a key change is not new to me.  For Prompt 2 during this challenge, I wrote the verses in minor and the chorus in major.  If you remember "Harvest Moon", I used relative minor/major keys.  For this one though, I did something I've never done before... I just moved the entire thing a whole step up.  I tried to be clever doing this... I have some harmony vocals in it, and one of the harmony vocal lines, I keep it droning on the same note, before AND after the key change.  I think there is some potential here, and I might go to the studio with it next year sometime.

***

Summary.  Five days, five songs.  Three songs added to my live rotation, just as soon as I learn them well enough to play them from memory.  All of the songs will need to undergo a little bit of editing, but I don't foresee a major re-write on any of them.  I felt more comfortable doing this challenge than the previous one.  It would seem that all of the songwriting work I have been doing is paying off... I'm getting better at my craft.  That said, there is always always always room for improvement, and I'll probably jump on future challenges like this in an effort to do just that.

If you would like to hear these songs, I encourage you to sign up for my mailing list on the homepage of this website.  At some point, I'll be sending them as gifts to the folks who are subscribed.

How many of you remember the year 2000?  It was a simpler time. (Looking at you, Kent Montgomery.)  You didn’t have to take your shoes off to get past airport security.  As I recall, you didn’t have to pack your liquids in a clear plastic bag either.  Twitter wasn’t a thing. Facebook wasn’t a thing. Fountains Of Wayne were still a thing… they had been a band for five years and had already put out two albums, but were somehow still three years away from getting nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy. (?) 

I went to Paris in December 2000.  I had been before, and wanted to go back to spend time with the friends I had made on my initial trip… and also to do touristy things and drink wine and eat baguettes… as one does.  Paris in December is rainy and chilly (for them) and perhaps a bit dreary at times, but it’s still, you know, PARIS. 

One evening, my friends invited me along to drink at TGI Fridays.  That’s not what I understood at first… upon receiving the invitation, I was perplexed as to why any French person would set foot in an American fast casual joint, let alone wish to eat food that was frozen and shipped and microwaved.  “On ne mange pas là-bas”, I was told - “we don’t eat there”. No, apparently, this place had a happy hour with cheap drinks, and since it’s quite expensive to drink in Paris, some of the young locals liked to stop by for what we might call “pre-gaming” these days.  With that explanation in hand, I was more than willing to go along. 

We get to TGI Fridays.  We head to the bar. At the bar, there is a friend of my friends.  We greet each other, cheeks are kissed. This particular friend (who is still a friend and whose name is still Greg) has two English speakers with him… an Aussie and a Brit.  Their names are Cerys and Ruth, and they are cousins. Ruth has red hair. Now, I hadn’t spoken English in a few days, and while I could manage just fine in French, it was nice to get a little mental break and spend some time with fellow anglophones.  By the time I left the bar, I had new friends. 

I just looked at the neighborhood where this took place thanks to the bird’s eye view of Google Maps.  That TGI Fridays isn’t there anymore… it would appear that good happy hour prices do not make up for American fast casual cuisine… or, I’m probably wrong, because in the same location there appears to now be a Chipotle and a Starbucks.  Grumble. Things change. What has not changed is that Ruth and I are still friends and she still has red hair. What is more, it turns out that she is an extremely talented musician. 

I was thinking that it would be nice to have Ruth sing on my upcoming solo record, so I started sending her my home demos.  Eventually, I sent her a home demo that I had completed without lyrics or melody… couldn’t manage to put anything I liked to it… imagine… a completed song structure-wise… chord progression, bass line, verse, chorus, bridge, all of the parts… but no lyrics and no melody.  Shortly, she sends the demo back with great lyrics and a great melody and all right - now we HAVE to write together. So now we write together, despite living on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. As of now we have 14 songs in varying stages of life from “demo complete and ready to track” to “idea so nascent that it can’t even be considered half-baked”.  What matters here is that it feels good. It’s nice to write with another person, as that can take a song to a place that otherwise it would not have been. It’s even nicer to write with someone who has been your friend for nearly 20 years. We are making art that I believe in. I can’t wait for you to hear it. 

Our band is called We Met In Paris.  It works because it’s true.