I’m pleased to announce that “Meet me in Montreal” was chosen as a finalist for the 2015 Calgary Folk Fest and Ship & Anchor songwriting contest. I was asked to perform the song in Calgary last weekend to a packed Ship & Anchor pub. While the song didn’t place in the top three, it was a great experience to be able to share the song with a friendly crowd and with some very special people that came to hear it.
Coming up with a name for a musical act is never an easy task. I’ve toyed with using superpapa67 for this purpose but I’m not entirely comfortable with it. It’s a pseudonym and I use it on this site partly to keep my songwriting identity separate from the rest of my life. In looking around for another name I could use, I finally settled (at least for now) on “Selkirk Range”. The name is inspired by the Selkirk locomotive that was used to pull heavy trains through the difficult Rocky Mountain passes, and in particular the Selkirk Mountain Range. I’ve seen these things and they are impressive (both the locomotive and the mountains). I like the name for that reason and also because it invokes the West and my roots in Calgary and Edmonton. It hints at Gordon Lightfoot’s “Railroad Trilogy” and other Canadian traditions. I can connect with those sentiments. (And, a Google search suggests that nobody’s taken the name yet!) The image is an adaption of a wonderful photograph on Flickr by Matt Kaiser called “The Music Within (Silhouette)”. Matt has made it available as a Creative Commons license with a restriction on commercial use. The font is Bank Gothic. It’s evocative and plays in several dimensions: it’s an acoustic guitar from the inside out, it looks a bit like a weird crescent moon or eclipse, and it has a figure/ground effect with the light and dark depending on how you look at it. 
I’m a part-time songwriting and, at this point in my life, I’m not in it to build a career or get famous. Not that either of those would or could happen but you get the point. So I have the luxury of taking my time and enjoying the creative process.
I written previously that the focus of my approach is Write to Finish. Which is a variation on speedwriting (I recommend Gary Ewer’s blog post about it) but without over-emphasis on speed. Getting the song into a full draft form, with a beginning, middle, and end helps to get me past the point of abandoning interesting ideas. I still abandon ideas but far less than I used to. The WTF approach also helps me to get over the internal critic that always wants to sabotage my creativity. I don’t worry about the small stuff–a missing rhyme, or a problematic verse–I just continue to work through to finish the framework of the song. The finer points come later … and they do. I still find myself tweaking lyrics weeks and months after finishing the draft of a song.
Anyway, with all the emphasis on writing I’ve set myself a target to write 50 songs before I turn to more serious thoughts about investing in production and recording. I figure that by the time I hit the target, I will have amassed enough material and experience to really know what I like and how I might want to approach it in the studio. Moreover, I’m finding as I continue to write, that I’m hearing patterns and stylistic elements recur in the work. That suggests to me a maturity in the writing that might be a sign that my writing is evolving into a distinctive sound. Maybe. Who knows.
Whatever the case, I hit the 30 song mark in late March with 2 new titles: “Doin’ by Me” and “The Longest Night of the Year”. “Doin’ by Me” was one of those songs that comes quickly and I’ve demoed it up already.
By contrast, “Longest Night of the Year” was prompted by my participation in the SAC Challenge when we were asked to write a holiday song. I couldn’t write it in the week allotted in the Challenge but I did finish a full draft of it last week and hope to have it demoed soon. I chose a Christmas lament 😦 in 3/4 time. We need songs for sad people during the holidays too!
20 more songs to go. Be patient but be persistent.
I’ve taken a break from SAC Challenge 2015 this week because of other commitments but today I took a shot at revising how the lyrics are set to “Good Man Down.”
Over the past few weeks I’ve also been taking Pat Pattison’s course on songwriting. Among other things, he talks about “body language” and setting lyrics front-heavy or back-heavy. Front-heavy is on the first beat of the bar, back-heavy is set back in the bar. Pattison says that front-heavy lends itself to “stability” and back-heavy to “unstable”.
Following the general principle of prosody in songwriting, his approach is to think about and apply front/back heavy to lyric setting as a way to reinforce key ideas and themes in a unified way. There’s more to it than I can describe here but it is a helpful set of guidelines.
This morning I re-recorded Good Man Down with a vocal performance that sets the lyrics quite a bit different from the original recording. The verses are now more front-heavy, with selective back-heavy lines in various spots to give emphasis where it is needed. It’s subtle but it makes a difference (at least I think so).
Here’s GMD, take 2:
The original recording of the song is available here.
The challenge this week came from Ron Irving who asked us to write an “edgy” country pop tune with some added criteria:
Male artist, early 20s, no mention of marriage or kids, no references to partying at the lake, and no “bro country” vibe (I’m not sure what that means).
I don’t listen to much country per se, so I spent a few days getting exposed. Wow, the genre is really wide and there is plenty of room for crossover with pop/rock. What makes it country? The accent. The content. And, interestingly, almost every song I heard was written in first person POV.
So here it is. It does include mention of (a) beer ; (b) a woman; (c) a truck; And the guy loses his woman and his job. But if you stay with it, there’s a moment redemption at the bridge and third verse of the song.
Enjoy!
Good Man Down
Friday night he gets home late
grabs a beer and sits and waits-
for that woman he loves so much
what would he do without her touch
He finds a note by the kitchen sink-
she wrote it fast, in lipstick pink
she’s going south to West Palm Beach-
for sun and sand, and another man
God, he’ll never understand
Why an honest guy can’t get a break
he keeps on losing ground
when a lover leaves him in misery
we got another good man down
Monday morning he shows up at work
grabs his tools from out of his truck
he does this job to pay the rent
but by the end of the week the money’s spent
The boss is shoutin’, callin’ his name
tells him business just ain’t the same
they’re closing down the shop today
the payout’s just a couple of grand
we hope that you’ll understand
That an honest Joe can’t get a break
he’ll keep on losing ground
and when the economy leaves him in misery-
we got another good man down
Oh, he could crawl into a hole and hide
or he could curl up and die
but something stirs in him deep down inside
and he gets back up on his feet again
This stretch of highway is all his own
he puts the pedal down and leaves his home
it’s time to make a change for good
he’s gonna get what he needs
to hell with what they might believe
An honest soul can get a break
he might even gain some ground
he’s had enough of dealing in misery
you can’t keep a good man down
We got a good man down
we got a good man down
we got a good man down
we got a good man down
This week’s challenge was tough but I came up with a song early in the week. I spent a day touching up the lyrics and recording a simple, quick demo of “Wear Anything”.
Kids love hats (so do grown ups) and idea is fairly obvious. You can grow up to be who you want to be. I will love you for who you are.
I’ve included two links to the demo. The first is my original recording, the second features another SAC Challenge participant Mikalyn Hay. I think the song is suited to a female vocal and she kindly agreed to sing a version of it for me. Thanks Mikalyn and Michael!
Wear Anything
Who you gonna be-
Where you gonna go-
What kind of hat are you gonna wear?
A baseball cap-
A cowboy hat-
A pink beret or a derby
A panama-
A yamaka-
A black pork pie or a beanie
You can wear anything-
with that smile on your face
A tam o’shanter-
Just might be you-
Maybe a turban or a fez
A fruity hat-
Or a propeller cap-
Something crazy to make the news
You can wear anything-
with that smile on your face
You can wear what you want-
for me
Here’s the original demo.
Here’s the version in a different key featuring Mikalyn Hay.
This week’s challenge comes from Heather Gardner, Music Supervisor for Vapour Music. She wants us to write a 60 second spot that “captures the spirit of a child.” She cautions us that it shouldn’t be emotional or “heart-stringy” but instead fun and quirky. “Purely fun” is the exact phrase. The lyrics need to speak to childhood (in a fun way).
A number of reference tracks are provided, including The White Stripes “We Are Gonna Be Friends“, “Mushaboom” by Feist, and Karen O’s “Where the Wild Things Are.”
We’ll also need to be able to slice the song into 15/30/60 second cutdowns.
This is a good challenge and I think I get the gist of it, having listened to the reference tracks. My first impulse is to go minimalist, with a Jack Johnson vibe. I have a riff and a few lyrics for a song about “hats”. Yep, headgear. Let’s see what happens.
I’ve been writing about the progress of my song “Choose” for the 2015 SAC Challenge. Rob Wells has challenged us to write a pop song for a female vocalist and aimed at the teen market. Oh, and keep it under 3:30.
This is outside my comfort zone but I’ve managed to cobble something together. Thematically the lyrics centre on the idea of having “choices” and the girl wanting the boy to commit to choosing her.
I’m singing on the demo but clearly it would be better to have a female vocalist doing it (if anyone is interested I can provide the music bed).
The melody could be a bit stronger in my opinion but I’m happy with the overall results, especially given that at the beginning of the week I wasn’t sure if I was going to have anything at all to share.
It’s a simple chord progression all the way through (D/G/B/A) and relies on changes in the lyric phrasing to give it a sense of movement. The song doesn’t have a bridge per se, although I stuck in a short break before returning to the chorus.
Apple loops are used for the rhythm tracks but I played the other synth parts that embellish it. I also snuck a little bit of distorted guitar in the final section to give it some grit.
Here are the revised lyrics as sung on the demo. A link to the song is below the lyrics.
Choose
When it comes to music-
you have to make a choice
do you like it straight or swing-
do you want to dance or sing
When it comes to movies-
you’ve got to make a choice
do you want to laugh or cry-
or do you like a thrill ride
When it comes to a lover’s test-
it’s multiple choice
it’s your voice
so what’s it gonna be boy-
A, B, C, or D
I know love is strong-
but if you wait too long
I’ll be gone before you know it
So you can make your move-
you know I will approve
and I’ll love you over and over again
Let’s not wait forever-
to be together
you don’t want to lose me-
it’s time to choose
When it comes to candy-
you have to make a choice
do you like it sticky sweet-
do you like to trick or treat
When it comes to fashion-
you’ve got to make a choice
do you go for Calvin Klein-
or any old design
When it comes to a lover’s test ….
[repeat chorus]
Okay, so “choice” is the unifying theme that I’ve decided to use for the song “Choose”. The chorus lyrics were shared in a previous post and in my last post I wrote about unifying themes for songs that use simple titles.
Here’s what I’ve come up with so far with the verses and a pre-chorus included. I chopped it into short phrases because I can hear the lines being sung quickly with a 1/16 note pickup on the opening lines followed by 1/8 note rhythm. I’m a bit uncertain with the pre-chorus, even though I like the reference to a multiple choice test. Here we go…
“Choose”
Verse
When it comes to music-
you have to
make a choice
do you want it
straight or swing
do you want to
dance or sing
When it comes to movies-
you have to
make a choice
do you want to
laugh or cry-
or do you wanna
real thrill ride
Prechorus
When it comes to a lover’s test-
it’s multiple choice
it’s your voice
so what’s it gonna be boy?
A, B, C, or D
Chorus
It’s time to choose me-
you don’t want to lose me
not this time around
Our love is strong-
but if you wait too long-
I’ll be gone before you know it
You can make your move-
you know I’ll approve
I’ll love you over and over again
I can’t wait forever-
to be together
you don’t want to lose me-
it’s time to choose.
Verse
When it comes to candy-
you have to
make a choice
do you like it
sour or sweet-
do you like to
trick or treat
When it comes to fashion-
you gotta
make a choice
do you go for
Calvin Klein
or any old design
Prechorus
When it comes to a lover’s test-
it’s multiple choice
it’s your voice
so what’s it gonna be boy?
A, B, C, or D
Chorus
In my last post I shared the chorus for a song called “Choose.” One thing I admire about the pop formula is how songwriters will establish a unified theme around a simple concept and play with it in the verse development.
Echosmith’s “Bright” is a love song that uses astronomical imagery as a unifying theme:
Did you see that shooting star tonight?
Were you dazzled by the same constellation?
Did you and Jupiter conspire to get me?
I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right
I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right
I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right
‘Cause now I’m shining bright, so bright
Bright, so bright
Bright, so bright
And I get lost in your eyes tonight
This kind of writing takes a simple, everyday word or cliche and puts a new spin on it. I love the ingenuity in it.
So, for “Choose” I’m working on the idea of choice as a thematic motif. I’ve started to develop some verse ideas. I’ll share them in my next post.
SELKIRK RANGE 