Spare Parts

I spent a good portion of the day taking inventory of some of the various song parts that I've come up with but haven't yet done anything with. Basically, I wanted to see if I've got another album worth of songs in me at the moment, or if I should just be patient.

I'm still figuring out the answer, but I like the stuff that I've been working on lately, so we'll see where it takes me.  

Today's tracks that I would like to share are both unavailable anywhere else. Talk about exclusive. You probably didn't even know you were that cool. 

The first one is the song that I wrote a couple of days ago and then recorded yesterday -- which means that it went from my head to your ears in less than twenty-four hours. That's something you don't usually get with mainstream artists. Just saying. 

The song is called Haunted. You can read more about it in yesterday's post. I worked out a guitar arrangement of it today while I was taking inventory of some of the other riffs and chord progressions in my rehearsal repertoire. 

The other track that I would like to share is the bar song that I wrote a few weeks ago. It's called The Regular. It's about That Guy. You know the one. If you don't, then it might be you. That's ok, too. 

Thanks for listening, with a very special super-mega thank you extreme to all of you who have been sharing my songs and adding them to your playlists. Original Miles has really taken off on Spotify in recent weeks, and it's all thanks to listeners like you. So I guess that makes me like NPR, but without the tote bags. I'm fine with that. 

Enjoy. Share. Please support public radio, independent art and the common good. 

Ghost Song

Here is the song that I wrote yesterday. I recorded a preliminary version of it today, which I posted to my ReverbNation page. Click on the embedded link below to play it:

This song is basically about the memories left behind when a person is gone. I hope you like it, and that it might help to heal you if you happen to need it. Two thousand twenty was a shitty year for a lot of us. 

Here are the lyrics:

Light a candle in your name

Things will never be the same

Without you here, you know I fear

That we'll never meet again

I hope you're well, still yourself

I hope you found another life

Your energy is still with me

But it might never burn so bright

Is it everything you wanted?

Is it everything you hoped it would be?

Because this old house is feeling haunted

By the ghosts of memory

The picture frames on the wall

Tell the story of it all

Another time, I don't know why

But we never said goodbye

Where did you go? Are you all alone?

You know I think of you sometimes

On my mind, I don't know why

But I can't call you on the phone

Is it everything you wanted?

Is it everything you hoped it would be?

Because this old house is feeling haunted

By the ghosts of memory

I see your face in the stars

In the passengers of passing cars

Another lane, some other day

When you might not seem so far

Away from me for eternity

You know, it's just so hard to take

I hope you're well, still yourself

Wearing somebody else's face

I hope it's everything you wanted

I hope it's everything you hoped it would be

I'm still haunted by your memory

I think maybe I always will be

............................................

It looks like I might be working on another album after all. 

Thanks for listening. 

Mused

I wrote a new song today. More to come...

Fun Songs to Play

Happy Friday. Today's songs that I would like to share with you are among my favorite to perform live. Even though all three of these tracks are taken from my previous albums, they almost always find their way into my setlists, even if I'm just performing in an empty room of my house (as you can see in the videos embedded below).

The first song that I would like to share with you today is called Particle. It is the opening track on my 2017 album, Weather Patterns, and it is essentially about contextualizing our place in a very big universe. The chorus goes like this:

    When I look up at the stars

    So far away

    God, I feel so small

    Who am I, anyway?

    Just a particle of light

    In the sky tonight

    Is that a shooting star

    Or a satellite?

The second song that I would like to share happens to also be the second song on that same album. Gravel Roads is also quite fun to play. I hope you enjoy listening to it as well. I wrote it on my front porch, and I think that vibe comes through a little bit. Personally, I like the way that the rhythm section in particular turned out on this one, especially since it was one of the first songs that I recorded as a solo artist (as was Particle, for that matter). This song is about the unexpected places that life takes us. It's also about going for a road trip if only to get the fuck out of wherever. 

If you want to sing along, here is the chorus:

    Where do we go from here?

    It could be anywhere

    We don't know where we're going

    Until we get there

Continuing with this theme of songs that are fun to play, this next one is called Panic Attack. This is track two on Mechanical Bull, which I also released in 2017. It was a particularly busy year for me. This is another song that finds its way into most of my sets, whether I am practicing or performing. I wrote this song in November of 2016. I'll let you do the math in terms of figuring out what it's about. If you want a hint, though, I will say that it involves a certain orange shit stain on our body politic. 

    No one knows what's supposed to happen next

    So we just keep our fingers crossed

    And keep hoping for the best

    But I know if we unite

    Then together we can fight

    Everything we know is wrong

    We don't have to play along anymore 

(I recorded these videos not long after the songs were written. As you can see, four years of Drumpf put a lot a grey in my hair. No joke.) 

...........................................

As a bonus track, here's one that I tend to think of as my Friday song. This song does not yet have an album, nor is it available anywhere else to stream or purchase, but in recent weeks, it has become a regular part of my setlists as well. It is called The Regular, after all.

At some point in the relatively near future, I will post an embedded video of a more up-to-date and extended performance that includes this song, as well as some tracks from my newest album, Embers (2021). I encourage you to check back often, as I update this site almost daily. Even though I tend to think of myself as more of a songwriter, I do miss performing, mostly because it's a fun way to share my work. 

Enjoy the music. Spread the word. Thanks for listening and for supporting independent art.

Paint By Numbers

On my Spotify artist's page, I recently discovered that I can see how many people are actively listening to my songs at any one given time. Upon learning this, I admit that it has been kind of hard to look away. 

It amazes me to know that, at least in recent weeks, there is almost always somebody somewhere in the world who is listening to my music. Right now, that person might be you. As far as I'm concerned, that makes you the reigning title-holder of "Coolest Person on the Planet," so congratulations. You probably didn't even know you were nominated.

So far, the most listeners I've ever seen at any one time has been sixteen, which might not seem like much, but to me, it's kind of a big deal. If you want to make my day, please share my music and we'll see if we can get that number up even higher. If it ever hits a hundred or more, I might just crap myself. I'll keep an extra pair of shorts on hand, just in case. 

Perhaps even more amazingly, my song Original Miles has been streamed almost eight thousand times over the past two weeks! I'm not the type of person to just throw around exclamation points, either, so I hope you know how completely blown away I am by this. I am honored and humbled by your support.

Thank you to all of my listeners and fans around the world, with a very special thanks to those of you who continue to share my music and add it to your playlists. As a one-man-band/DIY recording artist, I am also my own publicist. It probably doesn't help that I rather loathe social media. To get around this, I communicate with all of you by way of this blog. 

Thanks for listening and thanks for reading. You rock.