Friday, April 9, 2021

Fun Songs to Play

Happy Friday. Today's songs that I would like to share with you are among my favorite to perform live. Even though all three of these tracks are taken from my previous albums, they almost always find their way into my setlists, even if I'm just performing in an empty room of my house (as you can see in the videos embedded below).

The first song that I would like to share with you today is called Particle. It is the opening track on my 2017 album, Weather Patterns, and it is essentially about contextualizing our place in a very big universe. The chorus goes like this:

    When I look up at the stars
    So far away
    God, I feel so small
    Who am I, anyway?
    Just a particle of light
    In the sky tonight
    Is that a shooting star
    Or a satellite?


The second song that I would like to share happens to also be the second song on that same album. Gravel Roads is also quite fun to play. I hope you enjoy listening to it as well. I wrote it on my front porch, and I think that vibe comes through a little bit. Personally, I like the way that the rhythm section in particular turned out on this one, especially since it was one of the first songs that I recorded as a solo artist (as was Particle, for that matter). This song is about the unexpected places that life takes us. It's also about going for a road trip if only to get the fuck out of wherever. 

If you want to sing along, here is the chorus:

    Where do we go from here?
    It could be anywhere
    We don't know where we're going
    Until we get there



Continuing with this theme of songs that are fun to play, this next one is called Panic Attack. This is track two on Mechanical Bull, which I also released in 2017. It was a particularly busy year for me. This is another song that finds its way into most of my sets, whether I am practicing or performing. I wrote this song in November of 2016. I'll let you do the math in terms of figuring out what it's about. If you want a hint, though, I will say that it involves a certain orange shit stain on our body politic. 

    No one knows what's supposed to happen next
    So we just keep our fingers crossed
    And keep hoping for the best
    But I know if we unite
    Then together we can fight
    Everything we know is wrong
    We don't have to play along anymore 


(I recorded these videos not long after the songs were written. As you can see, four years of Drumpf put a lot a grey in my hair. No joke.) 

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As a bonus track, here's one that I tend to think of as my Friday song. This song does not yet have an album, nor is it available anywhere else to stream or purchase, but in recent weeks, it has become a regular part of my setlists as well. It is called The Regular, after all.

At some point in the relatively near future, I will post an embedded video of a more up-to-date and extended performance that includes this song, as well as some tracks from my newest album, Embers (2021). I encourage you to check back often, as I update this site almost daily. Even though I tend to think of myself as more of a songwriter, I do miss performing, mostly because it's a fun way to share my work. 

Enjoy the music. Spread the word. Thanks for listening and for supporting independent art.

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