Listen, New Song

New Song: Someday

Audio 2 Comments

This song I wrote last night and it was kind of a struggle. Or, really, I mean that I just had to work on it for a while. Take a few breaks in-between each verse. Get up. Walk around. Wash the dishes. But once I started it I knew I had to finish it.

Some songs aren’t like that. You start em and know they’re not going anywhere and they never get finished.

Others you pound out in 5 minutes, let sit for a few days, and going back to them you can’t remember what you thought was interesting at all.

This one still strikes me as something. It’s similar, in that way, to the song from two weeks ago, “All the Answers of Old.” Plus, like that one, it’s a pretty straight-forward, old-fashioned folk tune, so-to-speak.

What do you think?

Listen, Rewritten Song

Rewritten Song: Lawd Almighty (version 2)

Audio 1 Comment

It’s Replay Thursday again, folks. This week last year I wrote this song, “Lawd Almighty.” I was deep into some serious James Baldwin novels at the time. Specifically, “Go Tell It on a Mountain.”

Anyway, that’s where this song came from. It also made it onto my full-length album that came out in August. You can hear the original version from 2010 right here. If you’ve heard me play out live over the past 6 months you’ve probably heard this one. It’s definitely one of my favorites to perform. And one of my favorites to play around the house for kicks.

The new version, for today, is a bit different. I rearranged the word order and the musical accompaniment a tad. So it’s got an altered feel. I’d say it’s more traditional Gospel tune and the original is more like a field howl. Both get a similar idea across, though.

In other news. Did you know the Barehand Jugband is playing tonight at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn? No? Well, you better get over there at 8pm. It’s only 5 dollars and there’s no better place in Chicagoland to see country music. Jon Williams Swing Group plays first, so we’ll go on about 9pm, probably. See ya there.

Listen, Talkin' Headline Blues

The Talkin’ Headline Blues #10

Audio

Here’s the next installment of Talkin’ Headline Tuesday.

Don’t have anything to say about it other than the media finally got something (since I started this song) to go overboard on. Every single angle will be talked and written about until there’s so much to understand that nothing can be understood at all.

Listen, New Song

New Song: I’ve seen the sun

Audio 3 Comments

This one was written last night. I wrote about 9 or 10 songs last week, but none of them were really working out the way I was hoping. So I sat down and hammered this one out.

Kind of a more laid back number.

And not much to say about it. Hope ya enjoy.

In other news…the Barehand Jugband is playing at Fitzgerald’s this Thursday (1/13). You should come check it, especially if you live close and definitely if you’ve never been there before. Plus it’s only 5 dollars. Show starts at 8pm.

Listen, Rewritten Song

Rewritten Song: Not For Me or You (version 2)

Audio 1 Comment

Last year this week I wrote, recorded, and released this song, “Not For Me or You,” which eventually made it onto my full-length album that I put out in August. Listen to the original recording, which is basically the same as the album version, right here.

This recording is only different in that I sped up the tempo, took the song outta 3/4 time, made it a blues number (surprise, surprise), and maybe added or subtracted a couple words (a baby here, a man there). Otherwise it’s the same song.

I never played this one out at a performance after I wrote it. Never did even after I put it on my album. It was always kinda a hard one for me to remember. Maybe because it was so long in 3/4 time. Maybe because it felt like a drag to sing. Maybe because I never tried to really learn it. I always liked it for some reason, though.

Anyway. There’s the new version for ya. Come back tomorrow for the old one.

Songwriting, home recording and vinyl records from Chicago folk singer and songwriter Andrew Francis.