I'm sitting here thinking about the many chapters of my life. I've launched the ReverbNation Detachable player and I'm listening to my songs. Those songs have been through so many people and places in my life.
If I Were a Bird was inspired by a breakup eons ago. I still remember that old girlfriend, but when I hear that song now, I think more about and endless string of people who have yelled "Play the birdie song" at my gigs (or for that matter, every time a pick up a guitar).
The song appears on the Between the Lines CD, What the Funk??? Strangely enough, most of the band didn't play on this recording, even though this is the version from the CD. I'm playing all the guitar parts. I wrote the bass line, but I couldn't play it, so Mike Walter added it in the next day. That's a drum machine. Tony said it sounded like a real drummer and he'd be proud if people thought that was him playing. They did, and eventually, he learned to play the drum parts for BTL's live shows.
When I See You... God, I hated that song for a long time! I read somewhere that Paul McCartney wrote a song called "Scrambled Eggs" that later became the song "Yesterday." Scrambled Eggs was just something lame he threw together in a hurry so he would remember the chords and melody until he thought of the lyrics the song deserved. That's what When I See You is for me. I just meant it to be temporary until I could make something better out of it.
I made the mistake of playing it for BTL and it ended up on their CD Ghost Out of the Past. Oh, well. I miss those guys. That was a fun chapter of my life.
Young Redhead is about the best sex I never had. "Some things just aren't meant to be." This version was recorded by the band Seven when I played with them. That was another great chapter in my life. It was truly an honor and a privilege to play and sing with them.
Writing Wait and See was a process started by Dan Larochelle. He brought three guitar parts to Lu Giordano and I and asked if we could help turn it into a song. We sort of did. It took Mike Walter's input to finish writing the song, and we added Claude Tardy on drums to record it. Another version of Seven...
The only bit of the song I can take full credit for are the lyrics. When I started out, I intended to poke fun of something Dan had said about shyness. In the end, it turns out to be a tone poem about building relationships based on a whole lot of different chapters of my life.
This is Where We Belong is from a more recent chapter of my life. I wrote and recorded it to be played on CD at my wedding. Cool song, but it deserves better. I've got to record a fuller version when I get around to it.
A Red Crystal and a White Candle is a little experiment that's been floating around in my head for a long time. This version is a trio written for electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and piano. I think I did a good job with all the counter melodies. There are parts of the song that seem kind of empty to me. Maybe I'll get around to doing it with more instrumentation. I do kinda like it the way it is, so maybe not. It was fun doing this version. It represents another neat chapter of my life.
I've started another cool chapter of my life now. I'm working with an old friend selling life and health insurance, as well as financial and estate planning services. What kind of job is that for a musician? I'm not sure, but I'm having a great time and learning a lot of skills I need to move on with more plans, some of them musical. The guy who owns the company is a musician, so that's an advantage as well.
I recently posted a jazz ballad with a four piece horn section called "No Invitation for Sunday." It was a weird kind of experiment to see how much I remembered about jazz arranging from my days at UMA.
Then what? I don't know. I'm still a rocker at heart and you can't really stop being a musician if that's what you are. Stick around and watch me. We'll see how the next chapter unfolds together.
Reply
Jon Paradis / Blog
New Chapters
I'm sitting here thinking about the many chapters of my life. I've launched the ReverbNation Detachable player and I'm listening to my songs. Those songs have been through so many people and places in my life.
If I Were a Bird was inspired by a breakup eons ago. I still remember that old girlfriend, but when I hear that song now, I think more about and endless string of people who have yelled "Play the birdie song" at my gigs (or for that matter, every time a pick up a guitar).
The song appears on the Between the Lines CD, What the Funk??? Strangely enough, most of the band didn't play on this recording, even though this is the version from the CD. I'm playing all the guitar parts. I wrote the bass line, but I couldn't play it, so Mike Walter added it in the next day. That's a drum machine. Tony said it sounded like a real drummer and he'd be proud if people thought that was him playing. They did, and eventually, he learned to play the drum parts for BTL's live shows.
When I See You... God, I hated that song for a long time! I read somewhere that Paul McCartney wrote a song called "Scrambled Eggs" that later became the song "Yesterday." Scrambled Eggs was just something lame he threw together in a hurry so he would remember the chords and melody until he thought of the lyrics the song deserved. That's what When I See You is for me. I just meant it to be temporary until I could make something better out of it.
I made the mistake of playing it for BTL and it ended up on their CD Ghost Out of the Past. Oh, well. I miss those guys. That was a fun chapter of my life.
Young Redhead is about the best sex I never had. "Some things just aren't meant to be." This version was recorded by the band Seven when I played with them. That was another great chapter in my life. It was truly an honor and a privilege to play and sing with them.
Writing Wait and See was a process started by Dan Larochelle. He brought three guitar parts to Lu Giordano and I and asked if we could help turn it into a song. We sort of did. It took Mike Walter's input to finish writing the song, and we added Claude Tardy on drums to record it. Another version of Seven...
The only bit of the song I can take full credit for are the lyrics. When I started out, I intended to poke fun of something Dan had said about shyness. In the end, it turns out to be a tone poem about building relationships based on a whole lot of different chapters of my life.
This is Where We Belong is from a more recent chapter of my life. I wrote and recorded it to be played on CD at my wedding. Cool song, but it deserves better. I've got to record a fuller version when I get around to it.
A Red Crystal and a White Candle is a little experiment that's been floating around in my head for a long time. This version is a trio written for electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and piano. I think I did a good job with all the counter melodies. There are parts of the song that seem kind of empty to me. Maybe I'll get around to doing it with more instrumentation. I do kinda like it the way it is, so maybe not. It was fun doing this version. It represents another neat chapter of my life.
I've started another cool chapter of my life now. I'm working with an old friend selling life and health insurance, as well as financial and estate planning services. What kind of job is that for a musician? I'm not sure, but I'm having a great time and learning a lot of skills I need to move on with more plans, some of them musical. The guy who owns the company is a musician, so that's an advantage as well.
I recently posted a jazz ballad with a four piece horn section called "No Invitation for Sunday." It was a weird kind of experiment to see how much I remembered about jazz arranging from my days at UMA.
Then what? I don't know. I'm still a rocker at heart and you can't really stop being a musician if that's what you are. Stick around and watch me. We'll see how the next chapter unfolds together.
Reply