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G-no / Blog

On the Way Here

Sometimes when you still your mind and empty it of any confusing conflicting thoughts, you can hear the silence between the sounds and move between the emptiness of matter where a new world opens up. It is in this silent empty space you become aware how everything is threaded together with hope and futility, with love and hate, the darkness surrounds the light as the light surround the dark spinning across the universe constantly as it passes thru the center dark becomes light becomes dark and neither is ever alone in perfect symmetry & harmony dancing together as stars twinkle in delight

Red Iron Ore

This is another public domain song that I got out of a American Folk Song book my son gave to me. I've never heard it played and just went for it. It came out of a conversation I had with a friend who talked about the iron ore boats that sailed on the great lakes. The iron ore belt in Minnesota was the basis of a early Dylan song who addressed the issue of outsourcing and the effects it had in a iron ore town. I did it has a challenge and tried to capture the essence of the song. Probably mispronounced some of the names that were part of the song. I liked the way it came out again I must add, not as an excuse but just a fact this is a first time rendition never sung it before and recorded on the Boss600 in a garage that is not a studio, just a garage with a cement floor and the sound engineer (me) who is not qualified .

Woody Guthrie and me

I first met Woody when I was 15 in the book he wrote " Bound for Glory"It was one of them books that you get to reading and can't put down. He told of his life and his travels .He told of the hard times, the good times, the mean times and the lean times.He had an easy going folksy way about him in the way he wrote.I felt like I was right there sitting on the front porch listening to him ,waiting for him to pick up his guitar and sing a song. He wrote lots of songs about the things he saw and how he saw things.He was for the little guy and though he wasn't say a commercial success like say Hank Williams was during the same period of time,, more then a few of his songs will be around just as long as Hank's.will be. One song that caught my interest was his song Jesus Christ. This is a tune set to the same music as the song Jesse James. It gives you a pretty good idea of where Woody was coming from.What was going on then s still going on today. I had to get a license to stream this song because it comes under the copyright laws. I wouldn't have thought that Woody would have cared. Woody said once anyone who sings one of my songs is a friend of mine. But I figured to keep things square I'll get the license so there won't be any issues about it. Again just having some fun mixing up my 12 & 6 stringers with a lite persuasion.

Decisions,Renditions, Convictions,

Sometimes I think what the "F"am I doing? What could I possibly be trying to achieve? Nothing and Everything !!! Do I think nothing could be an accomplishment? YES!! To accomplish nothing is an achievement of great difficulty, in fact it would be impossible ,so it would be an achievement of the highest order. It would also mean I did nothing wrong, and that's a good thing. And by everything I mean I never gave up trying, trying to find a touch point, a offering of converging realities that are humble, spontaneous, honest,, and for better or worst my take on a song captured in a moment that flash by me. In word thru interpretation. I like ithese songs I have stashed in my song bag, Recorded in a garage, a motor home, in a bedroom ,late at night, early in the morning ,or the afternoon., Whenever and whereever I grabbed and held on to that moment, now frozen in time stashed it in my bag. I'm just one of many in this web site ,Reverbnation. Some top prime time stuff out there. Serious, heart felt, creative, musicianship, singing, and song writing. I know my songs are rough and uneven but I upload them because I recorded them and whats the point if not to share it. But I listen to what I've done and wonder what the "F" am I doing. I've already done this!!!

Public Domain

Ah, the Public Domain, the songs you can share for free. There's a bunch of them and they're pretty old. If they're still popular then they held up well. It seems like some of them are old standard fare for someone learning guitar. House of the Rising Sun is one of them songs every beginning guitarist learned. Made popular by the Animals in the 60's. Their version has like 5 chords changes. That's a lot for a folk song. It made it real impressive when playing it.And songs played in the minor key gave it that sad vibe that was real effective. You could play a lot of songs with just three chords, anything extra made it seem like you were an advance guitar player. What I thought made a guitar player a great player if they could do a song with just one chord. I thought that amazing. I basically play the same chord progression like the Animals played who apparently ripped it from Dylan's version who in turn stole it from Dave Von Ronk, a estsblished folkie in Greenwich Village when Dylan first arrived.In my Time of Dying is a Blind Lemon Jefferson song that Dylan also played on his first album which included Rising Son. I learned both those songs off that album. It's basically a one chord song . St James Infirmary I got the chords and lyrics out of a song book . The first time I heard it was when this Australian fisherman I knew turned me on to it out of his old collection of jazz records. I believe it was played by Louie Armstrong. I'm starting to experiment with St. James beyond just the guitar and harmonica adding a penny whistle and some electric guitar. I'm not shooting for perfection, just trying to capture the essence and develop my own style. I was having fun with these early experiments doing songs I was familiar with and liked playing which brings me to the next song I'm going to upload. Nine Pound Hammer is another one out of the Public Domain bag and I added the fiddle which I was just learning to play for the first time. I always thought the fiddle would be real difficult to play but with just a little practice I managed to fake it pretty good on this one. I know these recordings are rough but I feel they're good enough to share. I'm just having fun doing what I've always liked doing.

The Art of Mixing

Mixing things up is about getting the best of what you've got. These songs are my first attempt at multi track recording. I used a Boss BR600 digital recorder and really am impressed how well it reproduces sounds. I have however made many gaffs that bug me on some of these recordings but I like the way most of it turned out. If I could erase some or toned down some of the separate tracks I would but I can't. But if you try and block out some of the sounds that should be a quieter in the background I really like the way it came together. I try t o be real critcal because I want it to sound good enough that people would want to hear it again. That's the problem though, every time you listen to iit the mistakes, and I know there's aplenty, start standing out. But if you focus on the good parts I think it sounds real good, of course I'm bias.And I say this modestly, I didn't think I was ever going to find my voice, but that's another story. I really am just fumbling my way through the whole process. But I have come to appreciate the complexity of recording even with my basic recorder..I don't want to re-do it on this Boss. So for no other reason then I can, the next couple of songs despite the percussion being a bit intrusive, or should I say obnoxious, the essence I caught and it would be to much of a hassle to re-do them for now so I hope you find something that brings them in for you.. I really need to get me a shaker whoI ha know how to shake things up.

Expectations

I am not a self promoter. I find it difficult and I am uncomfortable pushing my music on people. The way I look at it people will find you through others who pass the word on. i'm not looking for fame nor money. I sing about what I know or feel and if just one song reaches one person and gets them thinking then I could ask for nothing more. if one song touches the heart of another and gives them comfort in the words then I am pleased. If another artist acknowledges one of my songs by adding it to their repertoire I feel blessed. I enjoy playing but the songs are what matter to me. My only real expectation is that I am satisfied with what I created. If others validate it with nods of approval then I fill part of something that is where I belong.

What am I ?

I came to the conclusion that singer/songwrter covers almost all genres of music if he sings the songs he writes.But it leaves out the instrument side, I mean it doesn't say singer/songwriter/guitar player strummer picker/penny whistle blower//shaker shaker and so on. So I'm changing it to what I think I am, a folker. I mean my songs sound folk so that's what I am, a folker

Back to the Basics

I try to keep it simple, honest, and never the same.