Darkside Of The Room

Being honest. Jay is carrying me to the end of this project. I love the Calendar Project but at the end of five years I'm getting by with a little help from my friends. Jay very early in the month had this song written and demoed instrumentally. It was my task to write words and deliver vocals. I found it hard to motivate myself. Many other slices of life's pie have been taking my attention. That is despite the fact that I really want to end the Calendar Project strong. Thankfully what Jay had for me was good.
When I did finally get to work on the song the melody leaped out at me. I didn't want to make it a cliche' love song (even though the riff was begging for it.) I spent some time conceptualizing the themes. As certain lines revealed themselves to me the story just unfolded. It ended up being about a husband waiting by the bedside of his wife who is in a coma. I wanted the story to stay positive so I let her wake up at the end of the song. When that happened I needed my wife Kate to sing the wife in our story's narrative. She of course did a fantastic job. Then I laid down the solo and other little bits of lead guitar.I think what we ended up with is real strong folk song. Finger picking and a story with characters included.
I really do want the Calendar Project to end strong. Jay has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting lately. Kate really helped me clinch this month by staying up late with me and singing. It's been a great five years but I definitely couldn't have done it with out all the help of gotten along the way. I owe it to everyone who has contributed to this audio-blog to give it a proper send off. I'm gonna try with little help from my friends, to wrap this year up right.

Darkside Of The Room

It's All The Same To Me

Here for your listening pleasure is another Jay classic. This song is his philosophy on life. Complete and utter disinterest. I (half)kid. It's a cool tune that when I first heard it, didn't have the many layers the end result has. We got together and laid down his guitar, worked out the vocal arrangement and overall familiarized ourselves with the song.
My family and I took vacation. Jay was left with no Craig to talk to. No Craig to share with. No Craig to enjoy. This drove him to madness so he began incessantly laying down overdubs. This gave the song a little bit of a zydeco vibe. Coming back from a great vacation where the kids and I made our blues festival debut Jay was eager to get me on the track. With the deadline upon us I recorded my bass and vocals. I sent it back to Jay, he did his vocals and a hit was born.
Jay said he already started a song for next month. That's how it goes with writing. Once the door is open they just keep coming. That was the original hope for the Calendar Project. That I would be able to kick that door open. It's cool seeing it work for Jay now. He's got an album of originals in the works so I'm glad we got him while he's hot. I better start writing something if I want to get another song in before the project comes to end...

It's All The Same To Me

Turning 30

I had a birthday this month. I turned the big Three O. Everybody has one age that really bothered them. For me this was the one. I can't explain it. It's not that I'm old it's just...30. I got pretty depressed. It was a combination of many things. The Spoonful of Blues gig didn't go exactly the way I hoped. I have been having some health issues. I played with a friends band and I realized I'm not where I want to be as a musician. I had heat stoke. Car problems. Work has been crazy. Fighting with the wife, fighting with the kids, fighting with the folks, fighting with my sister, ect...
Overall I'd been feeling run down and then...30.
I asked for my birthday to be low key. I didn't want to face the world. Then my birthday was low key and that bothered me too. I had a big fight with my best friend (who named this tune) for over looking my birthday. I was nothing short of a miserable bastard. Bless my wife who putting up with me. My birthday was in the middle of the month. I quit drinking beer, coffee, whiskey, cigars, sugar, red meat and most of all music.
When we got to the end of the month I had no song and the stink of turning 30 was still all over me. I wrote this drab tune about birthday cake and death (even though I quit music.) I wrote and recorded it on the last Tuesday of July. I sent it over to Jay and wasn't very receptive. I couldn't understand why. I thought it was the most truthful song ever...Everything does die.
When I went to work on the last Saturday of the month (two weeks after my birthday) I was at an all time low. Jack and Ronnie where both leaving early for different reasons. I was pissed. perfect end to a perfect month. Working late waiting for Sam to get a haircut. The only joy I could find was knowing Sam will be 30 in three weeks. Misery loves company. I was going to go grab a taco on the way home but my wife said she made Sam and lunch and we should come home. I'm now livid. Long terrible month and I can't even have a taco. I was mean to her on the phone, hung up on her and headed home.
When I pulled up to the house there was cars everywhere. I thought the neighbors where having a party. As I pulled in I saw EVERYBODY in the drive way. Everyone I'd been an A-hole to all month. The feeling was overwhelming. A surprise party for Sam and I. There was forty people in my drive way whipping water balloons at us. An incredible weight was lifted. I must be the most loved son of a bitch on the planet. It takes thirty years to build relationships so strong they can put up with you turning 30. I can't thank everybody enough. I had some beer, I had some whiskey and some coffee. I smoked a cigar. I ate some cake, had a burger and finally played guitar. Imagine my wife's grace as I was unbearable as she planned this surprise. Imagine Jay playing harmonica on this song while ordering food and decorations for my party. I love the song now because I never want to forget what I was like before I pulled in that driveway. I can honestly say one of the best things that ever happened to me was turning 30.

This song is for Sam... Happy Birthday Brother.

Turning 30

Right Or Wrong

At long last. Here it is. It took him six months but Bluesman Jay finally wrote a song for the Calendar Project. Jay and I have both been submerged in our band "Spoonful of Blues." We have a big Fourth of July party we are playing so our attention has been divided. Lucky for both of us Jay was sitting on a gem.
He sent me a demo early in the month. I loved the demo but Jay wanted to re-record it. I disagreed. I thought it sounded very much like a Calendar song. Our weekends have been band rehearsals so re-recording it got pushed to the end of the month. With only days before the big gig and countless guitars to restring we were tasked with getting the song done as well. We had a great practice at the lake where the party is and decided to leave our stuff there. Jay went home with the best of intentions of doing the tune.
The next morning he woke up and went into his home studio, coffee in hand, when he realized he didn't have a single microphone in the house. That is when Jay made the executive decision to use the demo. All of a sudden in his eyes it was good enough. It always was.
He added the guitar solo and sent it over to me. I added the bass and backing vocals. I think it's a great little song and I love the way he sings it. It has been a treat doing the band with Jay. Maybe I can get him to play this song at the party.
Only six more months until I put the Calendar Project away for a while. I want to empty out my tanks. I have a couple of songs that I've been sitting on. I want to go out strong. After the Fourth all of our attention goes to sending the Calendar Project off right. I'm just grateful Jay had a genuinely great song that was tailor made for this. Well worth the wait.

Right Or Wrong

Gotcha!

I woke up on the couch at 5 o'clock in the morning. The television was still on and the news was reporting that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I went back to sleep.
I woke up on the couch again at 6 o'clock in the morning. Osama Bin Laden was still dead. I hadn't dreamed it. Not that it is something I would dream about. Frankly, I never thought about it. I didn't have this desire for him to die. I did however take it as good news.
I took a shower, ate some breakfast, brushed my teeth and headed out. I went to an elderly man's house and cut his hair. I went to the barbershop, checked in with Joe, and headed home. Through out my morning, in every conversation someone would say, "We got 'em."
Yes we did.
I didn't realize my brain was processing this information but when I got home I felt compelled to post something fast. I wanted it up before the swelling went down and the song became irrelevant. I was surprised at having an emotional response at all. Again, I never thought about it. However, I am proud to say that I wrote the song and recorded a video of me playing it (with Kate's mad camera skills) and had it posted on facebook and youtube by noon.
It got a little traffic. I figured I should go out with it before Arnold sleeps with his maid and blows this off the news. I played an open mic with intention of riding this current event into their hearts and minds forever. It was a three song set. I decided to pair it up with "Contact" (Jan '10) and "Tomorrow Is Another Day" (Apr '11). I lead with "Contact." Well I flubbed up a little and sang a hybrid of the first and second versus as a first verse. Then I sang the second verse when it came up.
This means I sang about the Trade Towers twice, out of context with a chorus of "What goes around comes around. Our karma is going to get us." Not the meaning of the song. Not the current I intended to ride. I followed that with a "hooray we got 'em" song and they just didn't buy it. It was all over their faces. "Who's side are you on?" I played a quick version of "Rolling Rock" (Dec '09) and high tailed out of there. Jay begged for more time with his song so I said we could use this. I spent 3 hours recording a big version of it that I scrapped because I liked my live take better. Bluesman Jay hit all the "Got You's" and it was ready to ship.
I named it after the 1987 NES classic "Gotcha! The Sport!"
It's funny to be posting this now because I feel like this already happened. It was a snapshot of my reaction. A moment in time. Looking back on it it's not a strong composition. It's clever but a little harsh. It does express some very genuine sentiments though. Thank God for our troops and keep who we have lost in our prayers. We got 'em

Gotcha

Tomorrow Is Another Day

I wrote this song very early in the month. I lived with it all month and recorded it at the end. I recorded all of my parts in one night. My guitar and vocals where done as one take. Then I came up with the bass line. I've been playing a ton on the low end lately so I had fun with that. The bass was recorded as one take. I did the same with the percussion. By the time I went to bed that night it was 2:30 in the morning. Cutting hair was tough the next day.
I sent the song over to Jay. He came up with what he wanted to play and then laid the guitar down in one take. He did the same with the harmonica. Because everything was played in one continuous take without punching in I think a live-band vibe was created. The two of us got to be a 5 person band. This is the first song I ever wrote with a country feel so I love Jay's slide guitar.
Truth be told this song is a true story. I lost my cool after Kate spent a few bucks more than I expected. I smashed a beer bottle on the floor. I had a little break down. And she did tell me I could "crack in my forties." Because this song doesn't put me in a good light I'm ready to move on from it. I love the honesty of it. I love how conversational the lyrics are. I love the recording but I'm ready to move past it. Tomorrow is another day, and another chance to get it right.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Little Meanies

Bluesman Jay said last month he had something for this month's Calendar song. He lied. What he actually had was a two chord vamp that was really just part of another song. The shitty part was we didn't come to realize this until almost half way through March. It was then I began to pen this month's song.
When I first came up with the guitar I was instantaneously getting lyrical ideas. I was pretty jazzed about it and called Jay. I played him the early sketches of the tune over the phone. We've been playing our guitars pointed at telephones since the phones still had chords. It's just cooler now because we were both at work, so we are now technically getting paid for it.
I put demoing it off for a few nights. I finished up the writing. I was really happy with the lyrics. I had pretty well flushed out the choruses in my recording. The rest of the song was still left vastly open. I sent it over to Jay with twenty-eight hours left in the month.
What I got back was awesome. He added all that great harmonica, subtle piano, vulnerable backing vocals and that signature midi-cello. He really rounded out the song. It totally made up for the beginning of the month.
This month's song was born completely within the month. Soup to nuts. Music, arrangement, lyrics, instrumentation and themes where all decided through an artistic process. That process involved both collaboration and a deadline determined by the guidelines set by the project. The Calendar Project brings with it both curses and blessings. The joy of this blog comes when the finished product is a new song that because part of the repertoire. I get joy from the crafting of songs. The deadline keeps me working. The curse comes when the writing and recording reveal a song that if time allowed could be recorded again far more effectively with all of my "notes" executed. I equate it to Paleontology. When you write a song while recording, like we usually do with the Calendar Project, it's like uncovering a fossil. As you clear the earth away the dinosaur within the ground begins to emerge. When you have a song you have lived with and refined it's like assembling a dinosaur in a museum. All the pieces are numbered.
I liked this song. I always like them when they're new. Jay made me love it. It's nice being surprised. I know Jay so well. Nobody has ever referred to Bluesman Jay as subtle. His touch on this song is so light yet so significant. He's still surprising me! Time to getting started on next month. We're not getting caught cramming again.

Little Meanies