Tonight

Hello friends. Not sure what the showtimes are going to be, although the Titans are going to be playing last, probably around midnight. Our lineup tonight will be me playing guitar, Ian playing bass, and Spencer playing drums. I would like to add at least one person to this for future shows, so please get in touch if you're interested. Particularly: Piano skills, female vocals. If one person can do both of these things, so much the better!

So, hey. Sorry I've fallen off productivity-wise. But would you accept perhaps this jaw-dropping piece of rock'n'roll trivia?

Apparently Jonathan Richman and Gram Parsons were buddies??

"The band were also affected by the death during the sessions of their friend Gram Parsons; on the day before Parsons' death, he and Richman played miniature golf and discussed recording together"

-- from Wikipedia entry for the Modern Lovers debut LP.

Music Theory

I work at the Cinema/Bar in downtown Athens. Today behind the bar we got to talking about some very basic music theory issues, and with access to Wikipedia I thought we surely could quickly resolve some basics. All we were talking about was this: As the comedian/TV actor Jerry Seinfeld might put it, What is the deal with having sharps AND flats? Why not just have one or the other? Or why not embrace a system of music notation that does away with them entirely?

But looking around on Wikipedia for answers, I only found more and more questions. Music theory seems so intimidatingly large, strange, and arbitrarily-defined. Also: In being this way, music theory seems very similar to political theory or pretty much any other body of knowledge you might care to name. I want things to keep the simple and graspable look they have from far away, but as I come closer I see it's not the case.

Drifters Dancing Under Streetlights

A lot of times I don't really finish and I never know if I should set these aside for another day or just post what I have and forget. I think I'll post whatever progress I have now and then leave open the possibility of returning later to tinker.

I had a pretty vocal melody in mind when I got out of bed this afternoon (very high pitched for me) but I did not commit to any recording medium. Let this be a lesson!

Free "Website Songs" Track #14, right click to download

Another Cool Century Of Fakers

Hello friends. Sorry for the songwriting delay, I've been in the process of moving and settling into a new place. Still in Athens, although a bit further from downtown. I'm living with Spencer (who is playing drums with Titans now) and Trey (Flowers of Evil). I'm excited to live with musicians: We have a music room, come visit if you like.

Let's Hear It For Another Decade Of All-Time Smash Hits

Brief Introduction + Back Issues

Hi there. I'm trying to post songs very regularly, ideally one for each day that I have off of work, although sometimes I don't finish in time. Here are the songs I posted since the start of this project, before realizing this would all make more sense in blog format.

I Hardly Said A Word, March 31 2008

Rooftops, written with Emily Armond April 1 2008

There Is No One Better Than You, April 3 2008

Friends Helping Friends, April 5 2008

Lover, Lover, with Nate Mitchell, Ian Mittler, Spencer Rich April 6 2008

82 Degrees Fahrenheit, Partly Cloudy, lyrics written with Grant Stewart April 9 2008

Bongos On The Beach lead guitar/high pitched keyboard by Ian Mittler April 10 2008

Vicksburg, written by John Demartino, bass guitar & part of piano part by Ian Mittler April 15-16 2008

Shopping In Another City, April 21 2008

Rainy Days & Indoor Games, with Ian playing bass and Spencer playing drums April 22 2008

177 BPM, April 27 2008

Rooftops (2nd Version), May 6 2008