Fresh off a 3-night run with Greg, I wanted to jot down a few of the highlights:
-Kenton joining us on drums Thursday and Saturday
-Tristan (of Break the Blue Line) sitting in on drums for a few tunes - he swears he's never heard before! - on Friday @ Joe Squared.
-Sitting in on electric guitar with Break the Blue Line for their second set on Friday night. Boy these guys can groove. Some tunes I sat back and strummed a little funky rhythm guitar, others they gave me the nod and I tried my best to hit some jazzy lead licks - the collective energy and musicianship was amazing - I was grinning like a kid gettin' dirty in the sandbox - especially tight was our take on the Meter's "Cissy Strut"
-Ravens winning (even though it was just preseason) added some great community energy to the Shanty on Saturday night. A request for some Beatles tunes led to a 1-2 punch of "Get Back" and "Dear Prudence" - Kenton added drums for the first time to my new song "Mindy". We joked our way through a "FreeBird" request, complete with singing riffs from the guitar outro, and wrapped up the night with a fun dance-off / sing-along to Greg's tune "Wednesday's Trash (Momma)".
Check out The Foxhole Prayers @ the 8 x 10 (for the first time!) Thursday Sept. 17th - doors 7:30pm opening for Zach Deputy - tickets are $8.
peace, Gwa
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Incubus, check! To do - See Tenacious D.
A few years ago, I went through a phase where I almost only went to see my favorite jam-bands (Umphreys McGee, Raq, and moe.) in concert. I was thrilled by the musical wizardry, on-the-fly jamming, anthemic riffs, build-ups, sing-alongs, and appreciative energetic audiences. Often, I'd tag along with a buddy or two to take a quick trip to Philly or NYC (the farthest I've roadtripped for a concert, excluding Bonnaroo, was to Boston).
I eventually got the itch to diversify my concert-going experiences and check out my other favorite modern bands. So, I made a short-list of the bands I've never seen but really wanted to, and made it a mission to check them out in concert.
Bands I recently saw and can cross of the list are Phish (8/12/04 and 3/6/09), Radiohead (5/11/08), Pearl Jam (6/22/08), The Allman Brothers (9/30/08 -though I never got to see Duane), and most recently, Incubus (last night, 8/9/09).
I'm looking forward to seeing Phish (again - uh oh, am I relapsing?) at Merriweather next week and Weezer (among others) at Virginfest at the end of the month.
I've also never seen / would love to see Metallica, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, Wilco, and Barenaked Ladies (crossing my fingers for a reunion, heard they put on a really Fun show).
Having logged many hours at concerts, here are some observations:
1) Tail-gating is always a good idea - beer and food in any venue is outrageously overpriced. Pack a cooler and get there early, or go to WolfTrap where you can bring your own picnic.
2) Jam-bands have too few lady fans - Why is that - Too few love songs? Too many sweaty hippies? Jams too long? Mystery to me...
3) Boycott Nissan Pavilion unless you absolutely can't help it - Only go if you've made a short-list of "must-see" Bands and Radiohead is that band and you obey observation #1 and get there very early... or risk getting stuck in traffic and missing the show.
4) The best way to guarantee you'll go to a show is to buy tickets the moment they go on sale. Get some extras for friends if you can afford to. That way maximizes the amount of time you can get excited about the concert, and when the show actually gets there, you've already paid for it, so you won't be so uptight about paying for parking or treating yourself to a snack or drink at the show (see observation #1).
4b) Good tickets are worth it, especially at larger shows. Unless there is general admission and you don't mind fighting your way to the front, shell out the extra cash for a good seat. After-all, the show is much more intimate from the 80th row than the nose-bleeds...
4c) If you can only get the nose-bleeds, still rock out! And appreciate that Eddie Vedder wore white pants that night so it was easy to see how much ass he was kicking! But, sing softly to yourself, because by the time the music gets up there it sounds like a neighbor down the street is listening to a CD in his car...
4d) Processing fees for tickets are a rip-off, but sometimes you haveta just eat the extra cost. Buy directly from the artist or venue if you can. Hopefully this will change sometime, but as long as there is a ticket-Master, there must be Ticket-Slaves...
5) Lastly, and this is applicable to life in general - Always have a spare t-shirt and bottle of potable water. A fresh t-shirt and a swig of water goes a long way toward reclaiming comfort after even the most grueling, sweaty, drunken, sausage-fest of a concert (You saw a jam-band, didn't you!).
Hope you all enjoy the live musical adventures as much as I do.
Peace and happy concert-going,
gwa
I eventually got the itch to diversify my concert-going experiences and check out my other favorite modern bands. So, I made a short-list of the bands I've never seen but really wanted to, and made it a mission to check them out in concert.
Bands I recently saw and can cross of the list are Phish (8/12/04 and 3/6/09), Radiohead (5/11/08), Pearl Jam (6/22/08), The Allman Brothers (9/30/08 -though I never got to see Duane), and most recently, Incubus (last night, 8/9/09).
I'm looking forward to seeing Phish (again - uh oh, am I relapsing?) at Merriweather next week and Weezer (among others) at Virginfest at the end of the month.
I've also never seen / would love to see Metallica, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, Wilco, and Barenaked Ladies (crossing my fingers for a reunion, heard they put on a really Fun show).
Having logged many hours at concerts, here are some observations:
1) Tail-gating is always a good idea - beer and food in any venue is outrageously overpriced. Pack a cooler and get there early, or go to WolfTrap where you can bring your own picnic.
2) Jam-bands have too few lady fans - Why is that - Too few love songs? Too many sweaty hippies? Jams too long? Mystery to me...
3) Boycott Nissan Pavilion unless you absolutely can't help it - Only go if you've made a short-list of "must-see" Bands and Radiohead is that band and you obey observation #1 and get there very early... or risk getting stuck in traffic and missing the show.
4) The best way to guarantee you'll go to a show is to buy tickets the moment they go on sale. Get some extras for friends if you can afford to. That way maximizes the amount of time you can get excited about the concert, and when the show actually gets there, you've already paid for it, so you won't be so uptight about paying for parking or treating yourself to a snack or drink at the show (see observation #1).
4b) Good tickets are worth it, especially at larger shows. Unless there is general admission and you don't mind fighting your way to the front, shell out the extra cash for a good seat. After-all, the show is much more intimate from the 80th row than the nose-bleeds...
4c) If you can only get the nose-bleeds, still rock out! And appreciate that Eddie Vedder wore white pants that night so it was easy to see how much ass he was kicking! But, sing softly to yourself, because by the time the music gets up there it sounds like a neighbor down the street is listening to a CD in his car...
4d) Processing fees for tickets are a rip-off, but sometimes you haveta just eat the extra cost. Buy directly from the artist or venue if you can. Hopefully this will change sometime, but as long as there is a ticket-Master, there must be Ticket-Slaves...
5) Lastly, and this is applicable to life in general - Always have a spare t-shirt and bottle of potable water. A fresh t-shirt and a swig of water goes a long way toward reclaiming comfort after even the most grueling, sweaty, drunken, sausage-fest of a concert (You saw a jam-band, didn't you!).
Hope you all enjoy the live musical adventures as much as I do.
Peace and happy concert-going,
gwa
Monday, July 13, 2009
My song-writing approach
It's always fascinated me to hear how other writers go about their work. So much of it is intuitive and trial-and-error, but over time, certain tendencies and approaches emerge. Here are some reflections on how I write lyrics.
I have songs that tell stories and songs that don't. There's not much I can say about the songs that don't tell stories. They can be songs about feelings or just loosely related thoughts and word-play. Generally I'm less excited and sure of these kinds of songs...
...Because it's tough to get very far without a mechanism to latch on to - be it a character, a plot, a joke, or a vibe. I ask myself "Do the words add up to something and contribute to an overall picture?". Sometimes cutting words out is the best way to make the ones that are left better. When all the lyrics add up, it gives a song strength to stand on its own and be more interesting than me singing about how I feel or think or what I did on Tuesday night.
When the words and music interplay to enhance one-another, well, that's usually just dumb-luck.
For songs that tell stories, I often think in terms of 1) Telling an ordinary tale in an extraordinary way, or 2) Telling an extraordinary tale in an ordinary way.
On one hand, I might use lots of words in a song where nothing really happens. My song "New Umbrella" (*lyrics below), for instance, is an internal thought-monologue of a man while he realizes that an ex-fling is at the same social function. There are really only two pieces of plot-action: Man recognizes woman's laugh, and Man sneaks a peak to confirm it is her. The rest of the lyrics are all about how he interprets his predicament - specifically the temptation to pursue romance with this woman even though he knows it means trouble - and concludes with him wishing there was an easy way out of it.
On the other hand, sometimes I'll try to communicate a complex idea or story by telling it as simply as possible. The lyrics I wrote for LUCA's song "Lifted Away" (*lyrics below) tell a morbid narrative about a girl who escapes an abusive relationship. She writes (like in a diary) about her abuse to disassociate herself from it in a kind of psychological defense. The twisted abuser old man finds the writings and relishes in her re-telling of his offenses. She finally plans and executes her escape - The man reads about how she poisoned him, and comes to grips with his fate. What could (and maybe should) be told in a 2 hour Hitchcock movie is sung in just a few stanzas (over some spunky riff-rock, if I do say so myself).
I hope ya'll enjoy the tales as much as I enjoy tellin' em.
Peace,
gwa
"New Umbrella"
So it comes to this and that and everything in between that I’m thinking
That I’m stronger to resist the temptress but I’d just as soon avoid the tempting
As it happens here’s your turf so I’ve no right to try to talk you into leaving
But you’ve got me in a bind and my will’s running outa time the clock is ticking
Through the chatter of the room somehow one voice seems to rise above the clamor
I know I’ve heard that laugh before but in a way this time sounds strange I think she’s faking
And though I try to keep my eyes fixed on the politicking gentlemen I falter
And sure enough she’s there and I do my damnedest not to stare but I can’t help it
What's a Mississippi man do with a missy with a plan to clip his wings
She’ll Let him go and he’ll come on back cuz he’s attached and she’s pulling all them strings
She kept in touch without a word by being nothing but herself for no one else
Hence her being so polite for all the folks who see the world in black and white
Well she’s not the only one but she’s one of a kind and they’re few and far between
See I haven’t settled down cuz the one in my arms is the woman of my dreams
So please don’t donate too much charity to the happy hobo living wild and free
Cuz then he’ll haveta do your thing and find some rain to try his shiny new umbrella
Oh but when the storms come all I’ll need is a fire to dry my tired feet
So I won’t follow salt thrown over shoulders into memories
See I Don’t believe in luck but I’d be happy to take some if its just laying around
For a minor commotion or a sly diversion so I could bid adieu without ever having to talk to you
"Lifted Away"
Birds in flight Sucked into the engines of airplanes
Feathers falling
Dipped in Ink Having been found by the girl
Who writes it
She’s A writer
But more so of her history than a fairy tale
She’s A dreamer
Thinking that the girl and she are something other than the same
And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
And every line that she puts behind her is a little bit of pain Lifted away
She’s Revealing
How the old man puts the nightmare in her dreams
He’s Been reading
And getting off another time to her hurried hand
And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
And every line that she puts behind her is a little bit of pain Lifted away
She’s had enough And taking it upon herself
Puts her payback in his cup
He’s Unbelieving
And reading what she did he knew she got the best of him
And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
The bastard's gone so it won't be long until she's moving along and Lifted away
Support Local Live Music
I have songs that tell stories and songs that don't. There's not much I can say about the songs that don't tell stories. They can be songs about feelings or just loosely related thoughts and word-play. Generally I'm less excited and sure of these kinds of songs...
...Because it's tough to get very far without a mechanism to latch on to - be it a character, a plot, a joke, or a vibe. I ask myself "Do the words add up to something and contribute to an overall picture?". Sometimes cutting words out is the best way to make the ones that are left better. When all the lyrics add up, it gives a song strength to stand on its own and be more interesting than me singing about how I feel or think or what I did on Tuesday night.
When the words and music interplay to enhance one-another, well, that's usually just dumb-luck.
For songs that tell stories, I often think in terms of 1) Telling an ordinary tale in an extraordinary way, or 2) Telling an extraordinary tale in an ordinary way.
On one hand, I might use lots of words in a song where nothing really happens. My song "New Umbrella" (*lyrics below), for instance, is an internal thought-monologue of a man while he realizes that an ex-fling is at the same social function. There are really only two pieces of plot-action: Man recognizes woman's laugh, and Man sneaks a peak to confirm it is her. The rest of the lyrics are all about how he interprets his predicament - specifically the temptation to pursue romance with this woman even though he knows it means trouble - and concludes with him wishing there was an easy way out of it.
On the other hand, sometimes I'll try to communicate a complex idea or story by telling it as simply as possible. The lyrics I wrote for LUCA's song "Lifted Away" (*lyrics below) tell a morbid narrative about a girl who escapes an abusive relationship. She writes (like in a diary) about her abuse to disassociate herself from it in a kind of psychological defense. The twisted abuser old man finds the writings and relishes in her re-telling of his offenses. She finally plans and executes her escape - The man reads about how she poisoned him, and comes to grips with his fate. What could (and maybe should) be told in a 2 hour Hitchcock movie is sung in just a few stanzas (over some spunky riff-rock, if I do say so myself).
I hope ya'll enjoy the tales as much as I enjoy tellin' em.
Peace,
gwa
"New Umbrella"
So it comes to this and that and everything in between that I’m thinking
That I’m stronger to resist the temptress but I’d just as soon avoid the tempting
As it happens here’s your turf so I’ve no right to try to talk you into leaving
But you’ve got me in a bind and my will’s running outa time the clock is ticking
Through the chatter of the room somehow one voice seems to rise above the clamor
I know I’ve heard that laugh before but in a way this time sounds strange I think she’s faking
And though I try to keep my eyes fixed on the politicking gentlemen I falter
And sure enough she’s there and I do my damnedest not to stare but I can’t help it
What's a Mississippi man do with a missy with a plan to clip his wings
She’ll Let him go and he’ll come on back cuz he’s attached and she’s pulling all them strings
She kept in touch without a word by being nothing but herself for no one else
Hence her being so polite for all the folks who see the world in black and white
Well she’s not the only one but she’s one of a kind and they’re few and far between
See I haven’t settled down cuz the one in my arms is the woman of my dreams
So please don’t donate too much charity to the happy hobo living wild and free
Cuz then he’ll haveta do your thing and find some rain to try his shiny new umbrella
Oh but when the storms come all I’ll need is a fire to dry my tired feet
So I won’t follow salt thrown over shoulders into memories
See I Don’t believe in luck but I’d be happy to take some if its just laying around
For a minor commotion or a sly diversion so I could bid adieu without ever having to talk to you
"Lifted Away"
Birds in flight Sucked into the engines of airplanes
Feathers falling
Dipped in Ink Having been found by the girl
Who writes it
She’s A writer
But more so of her history than a fairy tale
She’s A dreamer
Thinking that the girl and she are something other than the same
And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
And every line that she puts behind her is a little bit of pain Lifted away
She’s Revealing
How the old man puts the nightmare in her dreams
He’s Been reading
And getting off another time to her hurried hand
And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
And every line that she puts behind her is a little bit of pain Lifted away
She’s had enough And taking it upon herself
Puts her payback in his cup
He’s Unbelieving
And reading what she did he knew she got the best of him
And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
The bastard's gone so it won't be long until she's moving along and Lifted away
Support Local Live Music
Friday, June 5, 2009
"Reminder to Self (Don't Can't)"
(A brand new word piece, written in a 5 minute flurry of inspiration after lunch today)
Beneath the gripe
Just out of sight
Lies naught but a thought
A neural beast
Admits defeat
Never having fought
From vast expanse
Of un-thunk thoughts
To center stage this notion
Will slip through time
And be forgot
Like sand grains under oceans
But in this now
The power wielded
Dictates the realm of chance
So be aware
Mind - be shielded
Succumb not to the can’ts
Beneath the gripe
Just out of sight
Lies naught but a thought
A neural beast
Admits defeat
Never having fought
From vast expanse
Of un-thunk thoughts
To center stage this notion
Will slip through time
And be forgot
Like sand grains under oceans
But in this now
The power wielded
Dictates the realm of chance
So be aware
Mind - be shielded
Succumb not to the can’ts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Summer '09 Update
It's been a whirlwind 2009 so far. As I've thought at so many great concerts - "that was just the first set! There's still a 2nd set coming!"... Who knows what will be in store for the rest of the year... Below is a quick recap of the highlights from the first half!
Keep in touch on-line at:
GarrettAndersonMusic.com
Myspace
Preview and purchase my solo CD "Portraits of the Young Man as an Artist" on itunes
peace, gwa
New Years '08-'09- Foxhole Prayers gigs (backing up Greg Riordan and Mark Dinaldo) in Thomas, WV @ the Purple Fiddle- opened for and guest jammed with Brooklyn Gypsy rockers Kagero.
Jan 24- Released my indie solo debut "Portraits of the Young Man as an Artist" with a full band performance of the album at the 8x10 club in Baltimore. I was joined by Kenton Dunson, Ryan Baldwin, Todd McCagg, Cassandra Anderson, and Lauren Hawthorne.
March 12 - Co-organized and performed "Sounding Support for the System that works", an awareness show for the MD Medical Evacuation Helicopter Fleet at the Sly Fox Pub in Annapolis. Attended by politicians, medical professionals, trauma survivors and supporters, it was emotionally touching as well as politically significant - Our efforts helped defeat bills aimed at dismantling and privatizing MD's role-model system. Thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible!
April 12 - Played a UMD Music Business Society gig at Santa Fe Cafe in College Park - with an all-star cast of Greg Riordan, Kenton Dunson, Brandon Boring, and Tristan Gilbert.
May 12 - Promotional Radio Play! LUCA's "Feed the Meter" played on 89.7 WTMD's Baltimore Unsigned
May 16 - One-Night-Only LUCA reunion show at the 8x10 Club. Great energy and support for the LUCA rock and groove. Awesome to share the stage with these guys again.
~ Thanks for supporting Local Live Music ~
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