Not Even Close To "Done With This"

I'm continually writing new material and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. Sometimes I feel like I've only just begun. But occasionally I can't help but look back at old material and bask in my few but very pride filled musical moments of my past.

I will always remember the story behind the creation of my song "Done With This" very well. It was my senior year at the University of Maine, the last week of finals before the end of the fall semester. It was getting down to the nitty gritty of my core business classes, final projects, long papers and extremely boring group presentation sessions that everyone was required to attend. In the last presentation of the session in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus I could barely stay concious. The only thing keeping my nodding head from drifting off to dream land was my pen as I wrote down every angsty feeling that flowed through me at that moment. The more I wrote, the more I woke and the more I woke, the more I just couldn't stop.

The rest of the session flew by in a sea of words and a rush of inspiration that almost carried me all the way to the neighboring town of Old Town where my guitar waited in the small upstairs bedroom of the house I was renting with some friends. Quickly a guitar a riff floated into the air and the lyrical melody soon after. It couldn't have been more than hour after I got home when I had a rough version of "Done With This" recorded on my computer.

 I don't know how many times I've told this story but no matter how dull it may seem to anyone else, it never gets old to me. Recalling this moment in my songwriting history makes me think of why I love writing music in the first place and why I don't think I can ever stop for as long as I live.

Rock on.

College, Solos, Blisters and New Songs

I have another "new" tune for you. I thought I'd keep the ball rolling. Heck, why not? That was my goal, to work on more songs.

After wrapping up "Only Apart" I went perusing through some old songs that never got the justice they deserved. I stumbled upon a straight forward rock tune called "Done With This". Some people on my inner circle may remember this one. I made a semi-decent recording of it what seems like ages ago. (Listen to the new recording in the player on the top right of the screen. And yes, you'll hear me cuss. I just couldn't find a way to take the s-bomb out, it just worked too well.)

This song came into existence before the black, hard cover Moleskine days, back when I used these simple 80 sheet, Ampad, 1 subject notebooks with the 12x6 pages, wired binding and flimsy cardboard covers that don't do much covering now-a-days. (Made in the good 'ol USA unlike it's Italian, Moleskine counterpart.) I'd pick them up cheap at the campus bookstore and they did the job.

I had a bad habit of forgetting to jot down a date back then but this one happened to be dated 12/16/04, the last day of the fall semester. It was common in those days to bust out a song or at least a simple idea while sitting in my achingly boring classes, most usually the very large ones so I could fly under the radar. But even in the small ones, the lyric jotting was most likely seen as note taking and I liked it that way; killing two birds with one stone, writing lyrics and getting on the professors good side. The only major issue was if I was in a good zone and a question came flying at me from the front of the room. Luckily that wasn't a common occurance.

This tune came about on a particularly exruciating night. It was finals and we were forced to sit through every groups presentation regarding a specific market research study that took most of the semester to complete. With my groups presentation out of the way, it was made especially frustrating as it was past 8:00pm and this was the only thing in my way between this class, winter break and my final semester of college. With my emotions boiling, the song came out like a hurricane. I rushed home after the presentation and recorded it down, guitar and all, start to finish. It was probably the quickest song I ever wrote.

The recording that I finished up today is more or less the same basic form as it was when it flew out of my head that day. Of course, I updated it a bit with some extra guitar pieces and back up vocals. Even the blistering solo is basically the same. And when I say blistering, I mean it.

To round out this already too long story, you must know that I'm terrible with guitar solos. I've never been the lead guitarist type and solos are definitely not my forte. But I can stay in key and bust out a simple one like any other guy. You can witness my work in Now Transmission's song, "Drained Down". Ray rock-tweaked it a bit but my original idea is still there.

The solo in "Done With This" took quite a few takes. I lost count so we won't go there. My fingers are proof enough. I know it's not a good picture to the left but the blisters are there and annoying, believe me. I can feel the tiny bastards as I type this. Surprisingly, these are my first guitar blisters in the 8 years I've been playing, that I can remember anyway. By busting out this solo, I broke my golden rule: if the fingers are hurting, give 'em a break. But the rock couldn't wait.

I hope you enjoy the tune, killer solo, college angst and all. Sans drums as usual. Your feedback is definitely appreciated. Rock on....next.