All posts by Andrew

Father. Partner. Folk singer. Guitar picker. Vinyl record collector. Comic book reader.
Listen, New Song

New Song: Too loud to hear, too bright to see

Audio

Too loud to hear, too bright to see

Well, here we go. I haven’t posted a song since…this one back at the beginning of May. I haven’t even really touched my guitar or sung many tunes since then. Except lullabies.

Anyway…so, I’m posting this. It’s similar to that last song I posted. It’s the start of a new idea, I think. I mean…it’s the start of me posting a new song each and every day, Monday through Friday, every single week.

You say: “No! Can’t be done! Don’t even try!”

I say: “Hold on, honcho.”

Each song is going to be only one line. Or, one verse/chorus/phrase. Just one. I’ll use parts to add on, as I did in this song, but I can only use the words from the one line that I write on whatever day I write it.

I wrote this one yesterday…on Sunday. I saw it on a book cover sitting on the counter. It’s this book. And, yeah…okay…I totally did not write down the words the same as the book title (which is Too Loud to See, Too Bright to Hear). And the actual book title is way more interesting than what I mistakenly wrote down. (UPDATE: By the way, I have NOT read this book, but just saw what it’s about and that’s kinda funny that it weaves different stories together since that’s what I’m attempting to do with these songs.)

But it’s the first thing I’ve done in two and a half months, so I’m not gonna be too critical.

Now, at the end of a month of doing this, I figure I maybe will have a song that I can piece together. You know…all the one-liners will just fit snugly together in one song and I’ll dust my hands and call it a day.

Or I won’t do that because I’ve never been able to piece together a song. I like to really practice at writing. Like, 5 to 6 thousand words a day. Just anything but also entire songs. Something whole and beautiful and terrible eventually pops out. Then something else. And then a bunch. And then it gets really easy. A lot of the writing is bad. A lot of the songs are horendous. But some are okay. A few work. One or two are successful.

And now I’ve shared too much about my secret process that every other writer knows about and uses.

But, anyway…I’ll try to piece together a big collage song. At least one time. And then I’ll move on to something else, maybe.

This is only a start at becoming.

Random Record Recap

Random Record Night: July 14 Recap

Again…another quick look back at the vinyl I randomly pulled from my crates and listened to:

“Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn”"Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn"

Well, here’s a record that’s right up my alley. Old, ancient blues and gospel as sung by blind blues and gospel singers. Several of my deep and dearest favorite tunes on here like “Woke Up This Morning” by Blind Roosevelt Graves (and his Brother), “Wouldn’t Mind Dying, If Dying Was All,” and “Lay Some Flowers on My Grave.” All songs I’ve sung and performed live at some point. Be warned, though, that this is no Christmas album, but to listening to it on Christmas would surely make Santa glad. Arizona Dranes…I wish she was my secret. You know about her, right? Anyway, this record is in the top five in my collection.

Charlie ChristianCharlie Christian

And then some jazz guitar. Charlie Christian could be your god if you were a guitarist. Or should be. I don’t understand much of it, mainly because my guitar playing is like an axe looking for a place to chop a log, but I get the feeling of it. This album settled me down. It was Sunday night. I had to be up early the next day. It was still hot outside. The sky was clear. I heard the train line honking. The cover of this album is red. And there’s no title to it, his name is all you need to know. (Ps. I also thought it weird that after pulling out a gospel and blues record that references Christianity in the title, I pulled out a Charlie Christian record. Is someone telling me to get back?)

Frank Sinatra, September of my yearsFrank Sinatra, September of my years

I almost didn’t make it through both sides of this, but only because I was tired and it was getting close to midnight. There’re some killer songs on this, though. They’ll go straight for the big vein in your neck. That’s all I have to say about it. Other than, I think it was one of my dad’s old records that I packed up and never said thank you for. So, if it was, thanks Dad. If it wasn’t, well, thanks for all those other ones that I took.

Vinyl Records

Random Record Pick: “Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn”

Vinyl record of "Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn".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.