All posts by Andrew

Father. Partner. Folk singer. Guitar picker. Vinyl record collector. Comic book reader.

The Talkin’ Headline Blues #87

The Talkin' Headline Blues #87

Well, I tried a new melody for this version. It’s different. It’s borderline talkin’ blues, I’d say. Not sure on which side. But I think it adds to the hilarious headlines that people working for CNN.com actually wrote.

Or maybe robots write those?

But then who tells the robots what to write? And if no one tells them, how do they know what our events are? How is it that they’re so aware of our needs and desires that they know exactly what will evoke an emotion in us? Hmm….

I, for one, am getting on the side of these robots.

New Song: Hey hey! Hey ho!

Hey hey! Hey ho!

I wrote this one-liner on Saturday. Or Sunday. Whichever day I thought was the 20th on that day since I thought today was the 21st.

So I wrote it, then I added the “Hey hey!” and “Hey ho!” parts tonight. Feel free to join in on those sections. It’s fun! Shout it! Strain your throat. I did.

By the way: It surely is a hard thing to try and write and record one song every day, even if that song is only one line with a few words. It’s doubly hard when your throat seizes up due to allergies. Apologies to everyone this had any effect on.

Now, I tried and tried and tried to add several different harmony parts. But I have so little clue on how to add harmony parts.

Then I attempted some drums and a tambourine and even a small children’s xylophone. I thought that was a little much, though. It didn’t work anyhow.

So, I just duplicated the main guitar and vocal track a bunch of times, applied several canned effects, adjusted the volume settings, and wham-oh!

I realize it’s a little bit behind-the-times. A little bit, say, somewhere around 2007 or 1998 or 1987 or 1971 or 1952 or 1536. But, this is folk music that I’m doing. This is a folk song that I’m building one line at a time.

If you call what you do a folk song then you can do whatever you want. I’ve learned that over the years. It’s in the folk music manual.

Look it up.

When it comes right down to it, though, I just really like this line or this verse or how these words go together. The music is way less important.

It is in three-quarter time, though. And everything is better at that speed. Try it. Then you’ll understand.

Note: If you have more than the 2 minutes it takes to listen through the whole song once, I suggest listening at least twice. Once through speakers (computer, or otherwise) and then a second time through headphones. It’s different.

Random Record Pick: Wanda Jackson, Cream of the Crop

Vinyl record of Wanda Jackson, Cream of the Crop.For more photos, connect to @afrancisb on Instagram.

Random Record Pick is a way to organize and archive an always-growing collection of vinyl records. Each record is randomly picked from a shelf or crate or dusty corner of my house, a photo is taken of the cover, and then the entire record is played all the way through, even if it’s terrible. 

Random Record Pick: Little Richard, His Greatest Hits

Vinyl record of Little Richard, His Greatest Hits.For more photos, connect to @afrancisb on Instagram.

Random Record Pick is a way to organize and archive an always-growing collection of vinyl records. Each record is randomly picked from a shelf or crate or dusty corner of my house, a photo is taken of the cover, and then the entire record is played all the way through, even if it’s terrible.