Many of you know that while I was in Bloomington, I tried to write music as often as possible. The basic idea is that the more you do it, the better you get at it, at least in theory. And it really helped to have other musicians close at hand. But that phase of life is over, so now that I've left town I'm relying on the Internet to generate the creative inspiration and musical interaction that I believe is necessary for the health of my psyche. That's where you come in.
And chance plays a role, which is sort of where Jake and Meredith come into the story. I've jammed with Jake for a long time, but we've never really written anything together, and I met Meredith (a vet student like Jake) here through him. The two of them have proved very inspiring.
When I wrote a new song a couple weeks ago, I didn't exactly write it for them (in the sense that it wasn't arranged for three people), but they certainly got to hear it first. And as it turns out, they each had something invaluable to add. I really love Jake's harmonica introduction to this song, and his bass playing adds a whole new layer to the original version. Meredith has an angelic voice, and her harmonies are so natural and interesting that they almost constitute a separate song that I like better than my own.
Once we had all written some parts I decided (maybe 5 minutes later) to record them for posterity. And for kicks I sent the new track off to Jason to see what he thought. To my surprise, he threw the track right back not 15 minutes later with an awesome hook that completes the tune. That's exactly how I hope my life continues to work in the future.
This song is probably the one that I'm most proud of to date in that it represents a concerted effort at succinct confessional songwriting. Don't let the lyrics get you down, but let them affect you if you like. And don't worry, I'm not breaking up with anybody. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU.
Seamonsters - Front Porch by seamonsters
Seamonsters is what I've chosen to call this little arrangement. Enjoy.
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Ben,
ReplyDeleteReal interesting texture. Maybe it's hearing a male and female both singing about breaking up. Offhand can't think of any boy-girl duets doing this. "Leaving on a Jet Plane"?
You keep me wanting to hear more.
Peter
Enjoy yourself...Take only what you need! I love this, this is good Ben!
ReplyDelete:)just kidding - i know, wrong post. if my internet connection wasn't so slow i'd actually be able to listen to the songs right now. but i do like the lil waynian philosophy you describe: more music = eventually, plenty of really good music. well, maybe lil wayne isn't so much a philosopher as your average southern gentleman who really enjoys his prescription strength cough syrup, but he's got a good point. anyway so far, so good!