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Music

King of the World

I am still in the process of updating and organizing all the music stuff, so consider this a sneak peek of our newest tune: “King of the World.” This song has a funny genesis in that the hook of it and part of the verse are things that have been stuck in my head for decades that I’d never done anything with. Recently the self-generated ear worm got worse and worse (have I ever discussed my ear worm issues? Remind me to share the time that Christy Gerhart and I recorded the backing “karaoke” track for the film Undercover Brother. The song was “Ebony and Ivory.” Trust me when I tell you that you do NOT want to have “Ebony and Ivory” playing in your head incessantly for nearly a month). ANYway, I decided I’d better just turn it into a song if it was going to be in such constant rotation in my personal Brain Radio. Thankfully Tony Mandracchia and Todd Tatum were available!

I am still not good at all at the whole home recording thing and have realized that the less I do to the tracks, the better. For my own vocals, that means no presets, no EQ, just some appropriate reverb. For Tony and Todd’s wonderful tracks, leave ’em alone! (if you’re in LA and need some drums recorded, may I recommend David Hunt? I think they sound fantastic!)

I’m so pleased with the way it came out! I think of it as sorta psychedelic Steely Dan (who once did a very different song called “King of the World” — it’s on one of the first albums I ever bought, COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY).

Hope you enjoy!

Silver Dollar

 

UPDATE: I had to re-share this because it has THE most awesome drum track by Todd Tatum now. I know there are mixing tweaks yet to come, but I am so happy with how it’s coming along. Thanks to Tony, Todd and Tom for making this happen!

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This is the first song I wrote after my long hiatus from music. Plunderbund played it and I really like the arrangement we had — I wish we were out playing it now. But there’s no point spending too much time mourning what can’t be done. Instead I’m celebrating what I can. I am so grateful to have Tony Mandracchia as a collaborator on this track, bringing the song to life. I still have some work to do on the mix (dobros are complicated, and my skill set is minimal), there are vocal oopses here and there, and I really would love to have real drums instead of robots — but I think this gets the feel of the song across.

SILVER DOLLAR is about a lot of things. Mostly it’s about getting older, trying to put one’s life experiences in context, mourning some things, celebrating others.

Take advantage of the time you’ve got. You never know how long that will be…

EDIT: Here’s the new mix! Now with DRUMS! By Todd Tatum! Recorded by Tom Lee! I love what Todd did on this so much!!!

“The Mask Goes Over Your Nose (a**hole)”

 

Okay, this isn’t done. But I feel the need to share. In part, in celebration of Gavin Newsom’s landslide victory in this stupid California recall. It was a landslide in part because the majority of Californians support his sensible mask mandates. As do I. And I am so very tired of people who refuse to follow simple health guidelines because it’s become some kind of bizarre badge of cultural identity.

Therefore…thanks once again to Tony Mandracchia for his awesome guitar work on this. EDIT: Now with drums by Todd Tatum, recorded by Tom Lee! (still needs mixing prolly)

 

 

Presenting “Elephant”…by THE PICKUPS!


Remember when I said that I’d have some news on drums soon? Okay, you may not, it was a while ago. But in fact I now DO have some news on drums! And I couldn’t be happier. The amazing Todd Tatum, who was the drummer for the Pickups back in the day, has recorded drum tracks for the tunes that Tony and I have been working on–huge thanks to his friend Tommy Lee (no, not that one!) for the recording engineering on these! Now if I can just get Dana on castanets for at least one tune, we will truly be complete.

I now have three, almost four of the seven songs more or less finished. I realize that “finished” is a relative state here—I mean, mixing is a huge black hole where you could completely spend a thousand years and not realize it, and I am still very much a novice. But I think the results thus far are good representations of the songs, and I am (relatively) content.

So! Presented for your enjoyment, here is “Elephant,” the first song on what will at some point be…an album? I guess? Which I’m calling PLAGUE SONGS, because hey! Why not?

(UPDATED TO LATEST MIX)

 

Target B-Side!

Hey, it’s a new song! Featuring Tony Mandracchia on the bouzouki!! (and all kinds of other stringed things) It’s possible I am expressing some pandemic feels here. 😆

Next step…real drums…stay tuned! 📺

EDIT! Here are some real drums, thanks to Todd Tatum and recording Meister Tom Lee! I’m updating this a little stealthily because I want the current versions on the site but am not quite done with it all yet!

UPDATED!

 

TARGET: New Old Tune!

Or is it…old new tune?

“Target” is one of the earlier songs I wrote. I have a recording of it somewhere—everything is somewhere, but in this case I don’t know where, exactly—done by what I’d call the Proto-Pickups (pre-Tony Mandracchia, with the late Dana Ferris on guitar). We never played it as the Pickups. I don’t know why. It’s been stuck in my head lately and I thought it would be fun to record. It was, once I got my voice in good enough shape to actually sing it! I wasn’t sure I’d be able to when I started. I had a bit more range on the upper end of my chest voice *cough cough* omg how many years ago?!

ANYway I absolutely love what Tony did on this tune. Check out the faux pedal steel part!

I’m still tweaking the vocal parts a bit but I think this is close enough to give you an idea.

EDIT: Shhhhh! Here’s the nearly finished version with real drums by Todd Tatum!

Plunderbund HOME video!

Dan Westrick is one talented guy. Presented for your approval: Plunderbund’s second video, “Home,” featuring yours truly and Monstro the Jazz bass in a starring role, at a variety of scenic spots around East Jesus, Niland, Salvation Mountain and Bombay Beach at the Salton Sea. We filmed all this last year (except for the bits at Fiesta Island) and really had a blast! We were supposed to play out at the Range in East Jesus in April. Sadly, 2020 had other plans…

Honey

Local honey from Mikolich Honey.

I just want to say that this song really was inspired by local honey…not heavy drugs! And my usual preoccupations as of late…I think you’ll pick those out.

I had a lot of fun with this one. It has not one, not two, but THREE bass parts! And Tony Mandracchia supplied so much gorgeous guitarwork that it was hard to choose what to use. I hope I did it justice. I recommend headphones/earbuds. Maybe a little local honey.

EDIT! Because I can’t resist–here’s the (nearly) completed version with drums by Todd Tatum! Thanks again to Tom Lee for the drum recording, too!

“Bad Thing” (too)

So the first song I tried to record was a version of this one, much truncated — I hadn’t really intended to do anything with it; the attempt was just a way for me to learn how to do very basic recording. Here’s a more finished version, with, you know, an intro, a solo, another verse…

Like a lot of my songs lately, this is another one about mortality and regret, with maybe a little acceptance mixed in.

As I was working on it, I got some sad news about a good friend. Not like we need more reminders during this insane time, but treasure your friends and your loved ones. Treasure your days and your nights.

Thanks as always to Tony Mandracchia for the beautiful guitar parts, and even more so for the friendship.

EDIT: And here it is with drums, thanks to the amazing Todd Tatum and with a recording assist by the awesome Tom Lee!

New Song! “Any Wonder”!

Okay, well, this is a weird one, so enjoy this photo of a weird tree while you listen. Thanks as always to the awesome Tony Mandracchia, who provided the stellar guitars including that crazy carousel scale at the end…you’ll get what I mean when you hear it!

(EDIT: Here’s the almost completed version with some cooooool drums by Todd Tatum!)