Hello Record Executives!

I’m back in New York City this week.

Yesterday’s recording session got canceled because a manhole blew up on the street, and the power in the whole building went out.  Apparently there was much fire somewhere.  A little disappointing for us at the studio. (Probably not nearly as disappointing as it was for the man IN the hole.)

Ben and I were back in the studio today.

How to Be Real (in bullet points)

• We worked on the final song on the CD, “How to Be Real.”  I’ve posted the first rough of the song below. All that’s missing is bass and very light ticky-tocky drums.

•  Yes, I’m aware that there’s also a song on the CD called “How Not to Behave.” We songwriters OBSESS when stuff like this happens!

• This is the song that I wrote for Barbara Verba, who was the Be My Record Label contest winner.  There were 29 people entered in the contest to have the final song of the CD written for them.

• Barbara and I spoke on the phone in September. (Or was it August?)  We talked for about an hour, as I recall.

• The details of this song aren’t exactly Barbara’s story.  She has indeed made a big change in her life. She moved from Florida to Asheville. But she didn’t leave her job.  She just relocated. And she told me she loves living in Asheville - especially because it’s all about authenticity.

• (Either way, I had fun rhyming “cubicle” and “beautiful.”  It made me think of Pam Slim.)

• The most revealing thing about the conversation was what happened AFTER we hung up.  Barbara wrote to me and wanted sort of a “do over.”  She seemed to think she didn’t come across very well, and that I’d learn more about her if I could see her with her friends and in a more relaxed setting. (Barbara, I’m not sure exactly what you said. But it was something like that!)

• Anyway, I found this to be SO totally precious – especially since we had spent so much of the conversation talking about being real. I wrote her back and said that I had exactly what I needed to write a song for her.  I didn’t need anyone to help me see her more clearly!

• So the song became all about fully embracing the experience of learning to love every part of yourself and becoming real, like the Velveteen Rabbit.

Anyway, Barbara, here’s your song.

I hope it holds some piece of truth that is you. I’m so glad that you blog AND that you have a dog. That rhyme was just SCREAMING to happen one of these days!

As is always the case with creativity, I bumped into details that aren’t even yours.  One of the women at the November retreat was doing her vision board and she sighed and said, “Oh I just wish my life looked more like a Thomas Kinkade painting.”   Her thought became a part of your story too.

Enjoy!  I’m in the studio all week.

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Here’s the latest mix of “I am the Moon.”

Does everyone understand what I mean by “mix?”

As any project is being made, the “mixes” - which is the mix of the instruments with the vocals and background vocals, and the EQ and the volume of EACH THING - are called “rough mixes.”

The mixes you’re listening to here aren’t AS rough as some mid-project mixes because Ben likes to mix as he goes.  Then he tweaks everything constantly.

(For instance - we’ll probably change the volume of things over and over again.  It can be pretty amazing how you’ll obsess with ONE little volume change for one guitar solo.)  Anyway, the FINAL mixes don’t happen until the whole CD has been recorded, and you’ve had time to listen. And you and the producer of your CD will listen in various locations - car, home, on bad speakers — so that you can make note of things that sound bad or good, etc.

Make sense?  I might write more about mixing cuz it’s a fascinating topic. Mixing is everything. Pulling stuff OUT is everything too!

So - this is Rough Mix #4 or 5. I can’t remember where we’re at with this!

Here’s what’s new:  Electric guitar and real drums.  There’s no bass yet. That bothers Ben a lot - because it makes it harder for him to add much real drum. (Since bass and drums kinda go together.)

Have at it!

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I’m posting “Virginia” today because it’s a happy song.

And also because it’s one of the states that showed us last night that there’s no such thing as a red state or a blue state. That there’s just United States.

We’ve got real drums, real claps, electric guitar, mandolin - and a bass track played by the baritone guitar.

And we’ve got a new president!

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Here’s another song for you to hear in process. The kitchen table version is similar to this one - without the drum and background vocals. This is very early in the process on this one.

As for the writing of this song and what it’s about:

It’s the first song I wrote for this CD. I hadn’t sat down to write in a while. And I felt - like I always do - like such a beginner. I’ve performed this song live throughout the last year - so it has changed here and there as the audience became a part of the experience. I’ve attempted several re-writes of this song as we worked on it in the studio (as it has a few flaws in my mind) - but nothing has worked. So I’m leaving it alone!

The big question is this:

Should the title be “How Not to Behave” ??

Or the more Prince-like:

“How Not 2 Behave” ??

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Hello Record Producer Types!

Here’s another song in progress on the CD. It’s called “I’ll be Your Angel.”

Background:

1 - This song might not be on the CD.

Ben wanted to nix this song from the CD, stating that it’s not as strong as the others. A few conversations about it ensued. And we decided to work on it in the studio anyway. I think he likes it a little better now. Maybe a lot better. I’m not sure. Place your vote in the comments!

2 - “Last song” songs.

This is one of those “last song on the CD” songs. At least that’s what it sounds like to me. (I tend to write a few too many “last song” songs!) Of course, not many people listen to CD’s all the way through anymore - so it doesn’t really matter!

3 - It’s kind of old. But I’ve never played it live.

I wrote most of this five years ago while sitting on the floor of my friend Suzi’s house. She used to let me come over and write at her house. This helped give me a change of perspective. She really liked it while I was writing it. (She designs websites, and she’d shout out from her computer room…”Hey! I like that!” here and there.) However, it has changed dramatically since then.

4 - Open tuning shifted to standard tuning.

When I was first writing this, it was in an open tuning (DGDGAD) - and it kinda moved into a “march-y” beat in the chorus. But it never really did much for me.

5 - I don’t remember who I wrote it for.

But I do remember that at the time, I had gone through a painful personal situation. Some people I had thought were my friends had apparently said some horrible things about me to other people. There was betrayal and meanness involved, and I was crushed at the time. The whole second verse was about that incident. I was at a turning point in my life where gossip and cruelty were just plain old tiring to me, and such a waste of time. So, I think I was, in essence, writing the second verse to myself. (I have since set these friendships free - and I can honestly say that this kind of behavior is simply non-existent in my life now.)

6 - Steve Seskin to the rescue.

I played this song for Steve Seskin. He took it home with him, and tweaked the music a bit. And he played it in standard tuning and slowed it way down. Then he started playing it on the piano as he worked on the melody of the chorus. I liked how it sounded on the piano. He left my lyrics alone.

7 - There’s no bridge.

Steve and I tried to come up with a bridge - but it felt so forced. I think it says all I wanted to say. It’s simple, and it feels done to me. Every now and then Steve or I will say, “Do you think it needs a bridge?” And we’ll have the discussion all over again.

8 - There are no drum loops.

9 - I’ve never recorded a song with me and piano.

This is very different. Maybe not.

Your thoughts please….

Here’s the song.

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Okay people, the song is below! Have at it!

But, first a few notes. And one warning.

1 - This is actually version #5 of “I am the Moon.”

As you remember there were two choruses at the end of the last version you heard.

I didn’t post the version before this current version because we cut the double chorus - and it just didn’t work. (We did that on the very first day back in the studio and we each listened to it on our own throughout the week. We did this version on the last day in the studio because we both realized that the song ended too abruptly with just one chorus at the end.)

2 - Double chorus compromise

This version is the compromise we reached. Ben wanted to cut the whole thing out and leave space for an instrumental part. I told him to try it with the end of the 1st chorus coming back in and leading straight into the second chorus.

The space after “…maybe I will find my way…” sounds a bit anti-climactic at this point - and will definitely have a bit more “build” to it as we work with other musicians.

3 - Change to the intro

The acoustic guitar comes in a little later. It isn’t the introductory instrument. I kinda like this.

4 - We added a synth pad just to see how it “felt.”

5 - There is a drum loop.

I’m responsible for the weird sound of it. I asked Ben to play with it a bit. My husband hates it. After he listened to it, (I email him mp3’s from the studio) he called me to tell me that the drum loop is too “masculine” and “automated” for a song all about nature and femininity.

After we hung up, he apparently threw up the rest of the evening.

Some might say that this was because of the Brown Recluse bite that he got a few days earlier.

But he thinks it was the drum loops. (He’s fully recovered now!)

As I said, we’re working with a fabulous drummer in our next session - so if it makes you puke, then there’s real drums around the bend. (And check your clothing for Brown Recluse spiders.)

6 - I ALMOST didn’t post this version.

But I figure we’re creating as we go. And the whole point is for you to follow along as a song takes shape.

More songs to come soon.

(This audio takes about 10 seconds before the song starts.)

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What’s different about this version?

- The opening is edited.

- There’s a back beat in the chorus.

- We tweaked harmonies and vocal doubles. Added another octave vocal on the very last line.

- Some guitar tweaks.

- The ending is different. (A very cool idea from Ben.)

- And ohmigod, it actually has WORDS in the bridge! (Apologies to everyone who got used to “da da da da live out loud.”)

What to remember:

- The drums/drum loop stuff is only a test run. Whether we choose to go with this more contemporary idea (drum loops add that feel), or a real drum kit, we’ll be working with an actual drummer who does this stuff better than we can.

- Most likely the only other instruments we’ll be adding is another acoustic guitar and a bass. And they’ll be pretty sparse.

- There will be a “kitchen table” version of this CD for those of you who want the pared down acoustic rendition of the song and feel that we’ve ruined the whole thing.

- Ben saw all of your comments after the last postings of these songs. So every time we played around with drum loops or added new textures, Ben would say, “I’m telling you. They’re gonna be out in the street holding up signs with red lines painted through your face!”

I told him you’d never do that.

So, enjoy the listen…

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Here’s the second song in our song-by-song sharing of the production process. I’m not going to post the “kitchen-table” version of this song, as it is pretty similar to this version.

(Note: Based on the comments and emails I’ve gotten, I have a feeling that the acoustic unplugged bare bones bonus release of this CD is going to be called “The Kitchen Table.”)

About “I Am the Moon”

The riff of this song (riff = the intro part that repeats throughout the song) was given to me by Steve Seskin when we were both teaching at Swannanoa Gathering. He had also written the melody to go with it. I loved it. It’s in Open D tuning. And Steve told me that he came up with it when he was traveling once - and would never use it again. (He doesn’t do open tunings.) I told him I wanted to write a song to it.

For years, I kept revisiting this riff, this song, the melody, etc. Nothing worked.

One day I was writing at home. I played the riff - and some lines came to me. Most of them were nonsense. But I had this image of Orion wearing a charm of the moon. (I even called my husband at work and asked, “Could the sky ever be configured where Orion would be wearing the moon as a charm?”)

The words that came to me after this struck something deep inside, and I knew that this song was going to be an answer to some old fears that had been coming up throughout the year. And I knew it was time to write it.

How did I know this? It’s not an intellectual knowing. It’s that mysterious thing that I can’t teach - but I know it when it happens. When it does, it’s like I have this choice to walk deeper into the water or turn around and not deal with it. Going deeper always means that the yammering critic has to wait on the shore and watch me go.

This song is for everyone who moves slowly in the creative process. It’s for those who work more intuitively. It’s a celebration of the deep, the quiet, and the creative. It was an answer to the voices that seem to prevail in our culture. The ones that shout, “Hurry! Go faster! Succeed more! Make it happen! Figure it all out! Now! Go!”

There’s a reference to witches because I’ve often joked with friends that if there’s such thing as past lives - then I’m fairly certain I was burned at the stake many times over. (And lest you think that I only see myself as a heroine or victim - I’m quite sure that I’ve been a complete bastard in past lives, too.)

There’s a lot more to say about the writing of this song, but as it more personal, I’ll leave it at that. (This is called “Be My Record Label.” Not “Be My Analyst.”)

First Round in the Studio

Arranging this song took quite a bit of the day. My guitar is “thunky” in spots because this song has lots of bar chords, and my guitar had just had a fret job and the action had changed - and my wrists got tired because we kept making changes to the instrumental section. I’ll have to re-record sections.

Right now the instrumental section has quite the “vibe.” (This is the biggest difference between this version and the kitchen-table version.)

We added background voices and keyboard too. (Like I said in an earlier post, our method was to get the main vocal and guitar done. And then at night we’d play around with vocal tracks and see what happened.)

The Question Now…

The chorus happens twice at the end. (It already happens twice in the song.) Ben thinks that four choruses is too much. We are considering re-doing the end of the song so that it’s only ONE chorus. Any thoughts?

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Thanks for all of the encouraging comments after the last post with my kitchen-table version of “Virginia” on it.

I’m going to say very little about this first round of production of “Virginia.” That way you can feel free to say whatever you want, or ask whatever you want. If you haven’t read the initial post about how Ben and I are working on these songs, then you might want to read what the process is like. Otherwise you might have a big “WTF?” bubble forming above your head. Click here to read that post.

Three things to know before you listen:

1 – The bridge is still not complete in this version. (You’ll hear it after next week’s recording sessions.) I’ll post lyrics then.

2 – The drum loop is long at the beginning to count for 8 bars of intro and editing out my guitar intro too. The idea was to see what the song would be like if it just started in at the verse with no guitar intro.

3 – Versions like this are just to kick in creativity and new ideas – so remain open. But feel free to jump in with your comments. I’ll use the comments area to write more about these production ideas as people write in.

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