Well, here’s another talkin’ blues for this week. Was just easier to re-record this song from last year (listen to the original version here) in that style because of losing my voice earlier in the week.
I think it works, for the most part. Probably by the end of the song I finally get the repeating line the way I want it. The phrasing of the lines gets going by then too.
I had to do this in one take, though, without any practice because the more I sing this week the more likely that I won’t get my voice back.
And I gotta have it for this weekend cause I’m heading down to Louisville with the Barehand Jugband, as you know, for the National Jugband Jubilee.
Whew! I worked hard to get to this song, let me tell ya. I thought I had two all lined up and was gonna just have to record them yesterday, but when I sat down and started working on them, well, let’s just say they weren’t as good as I remembered when I wrote them.
So I had to move on.
I actually went pretty far back, 2 or 3 or 4 weeks, looking for something I could record for this week’s new song. Nothing was working, though. I tried about 4 or 5 little songs I had sketched out, and they just weren’t happening.
Then, well, I got a little inspiration, I guess, and this song popped out. It’s sort of one of those tunes about not having anything to say or write or sing about. I’ve written those before on occasion, as you may have noticed.
Anyway. That’s that for this week.
I’m guessing next week’s song is gonna be delayed again too, since I’m heading out of town tomorrow down to Louisville to play the National Jugband Jubilee, and I don’t have anything written. That and I have to rest my voice since it’s still kinda finding it’s way back. I should not have recorded three songs last night, by the way, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. And last year I wrote two new songs in one week, so I had to re-record both those last night. You’ll get one on Thursday and then the other one on Monday. Should be enough to keep ya happy, right?
Thank god for the talkin’ blues. I never woulda been able to sing this one. Couldn’t even do it how I’ve done most of the others; a mix of singin and talkin blues.
This one is straight up talked.
And, I think, somehow I like this the best of any of these Talkin’ Headline recordings I’ve done. Not only is my voice completely ridiculous and brings a certain air of laugh-ability to the song, but as I was singin’ the tune I was getting a kick out of how it sounded, how the phrasing of the words came across. How just plain crazy it sounds.
It’s not that crazy, I suppose. Just doesn’t sound much like me. (At least to me it doesn’t…maybe this is what everyone else hears when I sing….)
Anyway, I got through that with almost no voice left. Hopefully I’ll get something back tomorrow and can churn out the new song and the re-recorded version from last year.
If you’ve got any remedies for a lost voice please pass them this way. Or if you’ve got any funny stories about your own lost voice just leave a comment.
Okay okay okay…here’s the updated and re-recorded version of the song “Shapes” that I first wrote and released this week, last year. You can read the whole spiel from last year here. And then go on to compare the two versions of songs.
Let me know how you think they’re different.
I can, maybe, tell you how I think they’re different….
First, last year’s version sounds like most of my songs from last year. Including the guitar parts and the voice I was using to sing. This new version for this year sounds almost exactly like how I sing and play a lot of other songs I’ve written this year.
Second, last year’s song was obviously about one thing that I wrote about in the post from last year, but then, maybe, had a few other more complex layers going on. This new 2011 version, though, is probably pretty much only about one thing, but it’s hard to nail that down cause the music to the song makes you just start to wiggle and move before you can listen to any of the words.
And, lastly, I think that’s a pretty silly explanation of both versions. I don’t know anything about either of them.
Okay, so that’s it for today.
Tonight, though, the Barehand Jugband is rollin into the Grafton for our monthly second-Thursday show. You can come out if you want. It’s free. There’ll be limited dance space available. I think there’re some sort of drink specials to get you wobbly. And there’ll be lots of people there talking about Folk Music. It’ll be so great. Check it out on facebook if you want more info.
Man, this doesn’t even feel like a real week, huh? I’m all jumbled up. Don’t know what day it is or where I’m standing at. What shape I’m in or where I’m going.
But, the headlines do not stop! News must always be made!
So, fear not! I have written another Talkin’ Headline Blues. Or, well, I lifted all the lines for one from cnn.com. I put them in the correct order, though. Pat me on the back for that, cause sometimes it’s tough to rhyme certain headlines that just need to be next to each other.
Music Vomit 