presentsense

Songs and Scars

Songs and Scars

The most personal of all the songs in the "Our Share of Rain" bunch. A "meta-song" or song about songs, if you will. Entirely recorded in my kitchen in Indiana. (Me - acoustic and electric guitars, bass, vocal. Mark mixed this at his home studio)

I Press In

I Press In

Beth Fox and I wrote this a few years ago, and she recorded it on her album A Little Help Along the Road. I reworked it into a slow swing jazz duet with Mark and Lonnie's help. Oh yeah, and that's my lovely new wife's voice singing with me for the first time. (Mark - guitar, bass, drum programming. Lonnie - piano. Me - vocal. Stephanie Renner - vocal.)

To Don't List

To Don't List

This one didn't really have anything to do with the divorce, but it was written and recorded during the same time period. Listen for my buddy Lonnie Fowler on keys and B3. (Me - bass, vocals. Mark - guitar, sax solo. Lonnie Fowler - piano, B3.)

Time To Go

Time To Go

This is my favorite song from the "Our Share of Rain" bunch. It just sounds like what I spend most of my time listening to. The whole track is meant to evoke shades of a Jeff Lynne production, and the BGVs travel from Beatles to Beach Boys to ELO in flavor. Mark came pretty darn close to nailing the George Harrison slide guitar solos too. (Me - all vocals, bass, elec guitar, keys. Mark - slide solos, acoustic guitar. Drums = Fake.)

Movin'

Movin'

Most people that hear this think it would be great if a woman sang it, since it's seemingly about the travails of a harried housewife. Except it was me raising those kids, so bite it. I did that stuff, and I sang about it. And if any country female vocalists want to make it into an international megahit, drop me a line. (Fake drums. Mark - guitars. Lonnie Fowler - piano and B3. Me - vocals and bass.)

The Garden

The Garden

This is a song about my kids. They are my garden. Listen for the Donald Fagen influences in the BGVs. (Fake drums again. Mark - guitar, mandolin, vocals. Me - guitar, keys, bass, vocals. Kristen Vo and Lauren Renner added vocals). Oh, and that's Hayden talking at the beginning and Jack at the end.

You Could Be Here

You Could Be Here

At first, I affectionately called this one my get-the-hell-out song. Later, I wrote a better song for that purpose, and this one became the screw-you song. I hear the Eagles in the BGVs here. (Mark - guitars. Me - bass, all vocals, B3. Drums are fake)

Patch Me Up

Hey y'all! Today, I will begin a series of posts to introduce you to some of my songs. I am putting these songs out in mp3 format for your enjoyment. The full quality album form of these is not yet available, but I am tired of sitting on this stuff. Please leave comments on each and every one. And now, without further ado,

Patch Me Up

The first song of the "Our Share of Rain" project. These songs were written and recorded during the course of my divorce in 2006. Each one has a real story or emotion behind it. I am very proud of this group of songs, as they have a lot of my guts in them. Writing these songs was a very cathartic process for me, and I truly believe, as the lyrics in "Songs and Scars" say, "With each song I've written, I'm better than before." That song came to me when I noticed that, as I was playing the demos from these sessions for people, I found myself nowhere near as emotional as the people hearing them for the first time. I realized that as I was writing and recording these songs, the wounds that caused them were healing.

Patch Me Up specifically is based on Luke 4 and Isaiah 61, and I am basically calling Jesus out and saying, "Those things you said you were here to do? Do those things for me. I need them." The string section is fake, but Mark Aspinall and I spent a lot of time making it sound real. (Mark Aspinall - guitar, fretless bass, fake strings. Me - vocal, fake strings)

Road trip complete

Well...Steph and I just got back from our first (annual??) Child Shuffling World Tour.

We left Thursday morning to take Wes, Lauren, Hayden, and Jack to Indiana to spend the summer with their mom. From there, we drove (through Detroit) to Toronto, CA, where Steph's mom and dad live. We left Sam there on Tuesday morning, and drove 15 hours home to SC. We got in last night 'round midnight (many of you now have a new ear worm - you're welcome).

We have about a week alone until Steph's mom Mary and Sam fly here. Major cities along the way: Charlotte, Charleston WV, Dayton, Indianapolis, Detroit, Toronto, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and back to Charlotte.

1,865 Miles.
21 Hours, 26 minutes driving time.
Around 5 tanks of gas.

Time for a nap.

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Now playing: Wes Montgomery - 'Round Midnight
via FoxyTunes