Jewell’s Theme

Jewell’s Theme is a song off of my instrumental CD, TAKE IT IN, and actually has no lyrics in it (sort of circumventing the category this blog entry is in…) However, I am reminded of the song today and wanted to address it here…

Yesterday, I was asked to take part in the funeral of a person in my town. I didn’t know the person but their family has heard me sing in church and asked that I sing their mother’s favorite hymn at the service. It reminded me of my own Grandmother’s passing. Jewell Ames passed away on September 10, 2001 and due to the terrorist attacks of the next day, most of our family was unable to get to her funeral. My Mother sent me a copy of the service and included in that letter a copy of my Grandmother’s favorite hymn… I Would Be True. I will be honest, I had no idea my Grandmother had a favorite hymn nor was I familiar with the hymn itself, but in the back of my mind I knew it would find its way onto my guitar some time.

When the Take It In CD was being recorded, I found the copy of I Would Be True again and decided to use it somehow. So, I started with the chord progression for the hymn. At first I wondered about doing sort of a Pachabel’s Canon type of treatment, stating the actual melody of the hymn and then with each repetition adding and accentuating the structure until it became something altogether different by the end. That would also keep the hymn like structure of the repeating verse form minus chorus and bridge. I never got far with that idea… just not as inventive as Pachabel, I’m afraid… what I did finally do was to take the IWBT chord progression and create a new melody over it. As I did that, I also added a few other chords here and there as well as a chorus. The hymn itself comes back as the bridge before crescendoing into a final chorus.

I had one other element that I wanted to use in this piece, a banjo-ukulele that belonged to my Grandmother. I had originally thought about making it one of the rhythm instruments on her song, but keeping the thing tune proved quite an adventure and not particularly doable. However, I tracked the banjo-uke playing the chords and melody of the hymn, added a sample of an old vinyl record spinning complete with scratches and, voila, I had what sounds like an old 78 of my Grandmother’s favorite hymn as a prelude to the song written for her based on that same hymn.

The Banjo-Ukulele!!

The maple resonator door

Signatures and Doodles on the Head

The ’snake shaped’ Peghead

Vindictive Trees

I was watching the DVD of The Two Towers last night and was struck by the scene in which Treebeard the Ent is discussing the hearts of trees with Merry and Pippin. He is telling them that the hearts of many trees are filled with anger due to the mistreatment they have suffered. Angry trees… hrum…

At my house the leaves were a little late in turning and slower in falling but I think the trees in my yard are among Treebeard’s angry trees… or if not angry, at least a little vindictive. Over the last month I have raked my yard on three occasions. And after each occasion the trees look down on the job I have done, snicker, and then let loose with another load of leaves. After the third raking, the trees let go all that they were holding back. No problem, one more raking session should take care of it. But then the rain came… and it rained and rained and then this weekend the snows came…

So thanks to vindictive trees, I took part today in a Central New York tradition… the combined final raking of leaves and first snow shoveling of the year all rolled into one. Hrum…

A New Work Ethic

OK, I titled this “a NEW work ethic”… but honestly, is anything new? Solomon certainly thought not (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and I am sure this is not universally new, but it is new to me.

As a self employed musician making a go of his art in a full time capacity, I have often struggled to marry the requirements of business with the temperament of art, not always with great success. And in the current economy where something like music might seem ‘expendable’, not something to put money into at the moment, I am having to do things in new ways and more out of the box. So, as I was pondering where to go next, having a bit of a staff meeting with myself, I came upon this thought… the best way for me to be successful (from a business point of view), the best way for me to be profitable (from a ‘make-a-living’ point of view) is encapsulated in one discipline: Make One More Call.

No matter how the day is going, Make One More Call. If booking is horrible and I can’t buy a call back – Make One More Call. If I just had a great conversation and landed a gig – Make One More Call. If I am seriously wondering whether I should be doing this at all – Make One More Call. When friends and peers question my sanity – Make One More Call. No matter what the moment has brought – Make One More Call.

And this can spread through so much of life, not just business… if I am struggling in my faith – Pray One More Prayer; if I am drowning in sadness – Breathe One More Breath; if I am losing hope – Do One More Act of Kindness; if my kids are driving me to distraction – Give Them One More Hug.

It is simple, but I am loving the implications… Make One More Call!

Without The Bells And Whistles…

Last week I was doing a quick tour swing through New Jersey and played two engagements without my usual gear. Folks who have seen me in concert know that I play acoustic guitar through a few effects on the floor and a looping pedal. These bells and whistles allow me to record on the fly, mimic the sounds of other instruments and generally expand the usual palette of simple guitar and voice.

I travelled for years as a part of a four piece band and then as a solo artist with synths, drum machines, sequencers and guitars. I was reluctant to give up all those toys back in the 90’s to move to a more organic sound, but I did. Since going totally acoustic, I have relied on the effects and looping pedal to keep the concert experience interesting for me as a musician and for the audience, as well. And, I will admit, I have become quite beholden to them. My wife calls them my ’security blanket’ and this weekend put that theory to the test.

I was playing for a small intimate worship service where the sound system required to use my effects and looper would have seriously intruded on the moment, so it was just me and my Breedlove… no bells and whistles. As I realized this was how the evening was going to go, I must admit I wondered how I could pull it off without my ‘bag of tricks’. But as I started singing the songs, in essence unplugging my already unplugged sound, it was wonderful to remember that the songs are really good. To remember that it is just plain fun to play and sing. To reconnect with the moments of grace and faith and God that birthed these songs. All before the bells and whistles got added to them…

No, I am not getting rid of the looper and the other effects, they are great tools and fun to play with; but I may seek out more opportunities to play without the bells and whistles…