May 2013
10 posts
6 tags
Sky Blue Sky
My favorite band right now is Wilco. I love pretty much everything they touch. I love how their songs are beautiful but not perfect. Last night I decided to take a whack at covering one of my favorite songs “Sky Blue Sky,” including singing. As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m not a good singer. I’m taking lessons, though. I’m coming to understand my voice the...
5 tags
Sunday in the Country
I bought a new microphone for recording on my computer yesterday. It’s nothing fancy but it’s a big step up from what I was using to record song sketches before (my iPhone, which is actually better than you think).
Today I pulled out my harmonica for this tune I made up as an experiment. It’s a basic chord progression in G, based off “Blue Ridge Cabin Home,” a...
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The most soulful pickin' and singin' you'll ever...
6 tags
Learning to Sing
I went to my first singing lesson on Monday, and, strangely, my voice does not yet sound angelic. I’ll need to ask my teacher about it next week.
Monday was my first experience learning how to sing. The last time I had to sing in public was middle school, when we were forced into choir. In high school, when singers my age joined the school show choir, I made noise on my guitar and tried to...
April 2013
16 posts
3 tags
Wishing I was Jimi
When I was a teenager, I always viewed Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” as the ultimate rock song. It was simple and beautiful but deceptively tricky to play. I could never figure it out. Over the weekend, I decided to chip away at it (with help from some YouTube videos and listening to the song 100 times). Tonight I was finally able to pull it all together, roughly. For context,...
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The Pale Blue Dot
Knowing how small we are reinforces how important our little place is to preserve.
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Going Crazy
Yesterday at the park, I cracked open my country song book and was happy to see it had “Crazy” by Patsy Cline, which was written by Willie Nelson. I’ve only been playing with it at this point, so this is a really basic chord progression. You may here me faintly singing because I actually can’t get the rhythm right unless I hear the words of the song. For being such a...
March 2013
15 posts
1 tag
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I think if I could sing
This could be the foundation of a pretty good song. Something I’m going to keep working on in my freetime.
1 tag
Great Song
3 tags
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February 2013
7 posts
5 tags
1 tag
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Back in the Saddle Again
I recently took the stage with my guitar for the first time in 10 years, playing in front of a crowd during a blues jam at a little dive bar near my apartment.
I had gone the past several weeks just to listen and observe. I saw great musicians roll through — harmonica players, guitarists, bassists, drummers, even a saxaphone player. Most of the guys were older — well into their...
January 2013
15 posts
3 tags
