hi bud_wiser,

when i write, i wont force a song just cos i haven't done one in a while...let it come naturally.

they say that minor chords make a song bluesy or ballardy, not necessarily...

so, a good story teller can look around him and make a story from what he sees, eg: my son has been having a lot of problems with his girlfriend, which he wont dump! but i've got 4 or 5 songs from it!

a friend had problems with a woman he had strong feelings for, she was unhappily married, another song.

i once saw graffiti on a wall saying "tracy loves paul" yep you guessed it, but i binned the song it was rubbish! so dont expect everything you write to be the new "bohemian rhapsody" you've got to write crap to know when you've got a good one.

as for performing, if your going to do your own songs, which are [in your words] "gloomy" do a couple of up-tempo/up-beat covers. break the night up.

hope i've helped

phill

echo's of lady in red?

what were you thinking 1st or 2nd world war? weve all been a little pre-occupied with the big ones lately, but i like your images here and i could visualise the lipstick and the dress and shoes, i can remember my mother back in the early 50's wearing a crushed velvet gown she borrowed for a special night out with my dad.

one thing though...just a thought, at the end of the second verse, if you change "deserve" to "desire" it rhymes better and doesn't detract from the story!

phill

I've been gigging for nigh on 30 years, and I still perform some of the songs I did then. But I find you can be singing a song all your life then it suddenly hits you what the meaning of the song is, or what it means to you.

I was learning Elton John's "Your Song" when my father died, it took me a while to sing it live, and then I always felt weepy when I sang it. So it's not the actual content of a song, but more like what it means to you.

I've also felt emotional when I've had a big cheer for something I wasn't expecting.  Well, there you go.

All I can say is; don't turn on the waterworks just for the sake of it, as the audience isn't stupid.

Phill

ark,

after your heads up [as the yanks say] i went down to smiths and bought a copy of azincourt. but i'm not going to start reading it till i go away on holiday [again] next month. have you heard of a writer called simon scarrow? he's been doing a very similar thing to cornwell, with the roman invasion and that. now he's written a book on the Napoleonic wars!!!  bad form or what? any way he's pretty good, give him a try if you've got time.

phill

thanks guys,

i was feeling a little taciturn when i penned this. it's a bit of sarcasm as everything from the summer to the recession has been one big washout here in the uk at least! we still have terrorists, global warming, paedophiles etc...the world is sick and the human race is the virus.

talking of which, i've just heard that in my home town [llanelli] there are over 1000 cases of swine flu, [it's a small town] i haven't heard of any deaths yet...so lets pray there wont be any more world wide

phill

hi ark,

this piece is almost classical sounding! love it when the bass and drums come in, but i'm still waiting for the vocal...i would be very interested to hear you sing this, as i dont think it would be a simple task to put a melody line to match what you've already achieved on the recording.

i personally think the words [which are very beautiful in their own right] should be spoken and not sung...but that's my opinion.

you are a true artist my friend

phill

ps, what did you think of azincourt?

hi russ,

great tracks my maan! hear the harmonizer too, the dobro is excellent, and the vocals, the rhythm was smoking! loved the arrangement, so i guess you can say...i liked it, seriously though, very good, into a bit of a blues groove at the moment i think?

while i was on your web, i had a listen to the other tracks too, i still like "dark star" as it has a kind of innocence? is that the word, any way you keep going from strength to strength.. live long and prosper my colonial friend.

phill

You might like to try  Gear-4-Music, I found them very reasonable and they delivered in a matter of days.

Phill

i find that there is good music from every decade. the hard part is trawling through the dross to get to the nectar.

i play mainly 60's music in my live gigs, which i find well received in most venues.

i found the 70's heavy rock and progressive rock genre's most interesting. the 80's i found were a little short on imagination as was punk.
the 90's and 00's is so filled with rap that it's easier to turn the radio off. but there is still some good sounds out there, as long as they dont run out of ideas and start rapping!

i love that sound they got in the 50's recording studios, but as PA's were less powerful in those days than your  MP3 player the live sound must have been awful.

imagine the conversation;
" who did he say was playing?"
"i dunno, elvers priestly or something"

phill

hi stransongs,

a CD? i wish...

if i can suss out soundclick i'll put pale rider back on for you.

hello mr ark, nice to hear from you again, if you recall i had a problem getting my soundclick address, that hasn't changed, any help would gratefully received, by the way, i've now completed 16 tracks, so i'm getting desperate.

phill