I have finished up two songs and this is the 3rd one of the batch, in a rough presentation I did to a songwriters group I’m in. The verses have been a bit refined since I performed this last Wednesday, but the overall structure of the song is there.

Baby, Hey - take 1 - recorded Wednesday January 13th, 2010

Let me know what you think… I hope to get the trio of songs together in one acoustic set that I’ll release by the end of the month Keep me honest and bug me if I’m doing it…

It was a bit cold and luckily I made it to the tunnel before it started raining pretty hard. We improvised and made-up up a few songs… this one was the best one out of the bunch. You can also hear my son Galen playing a bit of the djembe, too!

improv #5 by tracyshaun & carolyn keyes

The only problem is that it’s not a bona fide studio and there are heaters and dogs and kids and spouse’s electric toothbrushes. They say that only the perfect takes get interrupted. I must be doing really because I’ve yet to be uninterrupted

Having said that, I’m still going to put this one recording out there to get some feedback on the song and on the quality of the sound/recording. There are flaws and the this won’t be the final release, but it’s “good enough” for now.

What do you think?

i didn’t want to drive / through the night for you
with everyone sleeping while I dream

but it had to come to this / speaking to you now
on the road to see you where you lie

oh you know that i don’t cry for you, no
i just want to know why
I was silent the day you fell

you never told me what to wear / what kind of shoes how to part my hair
with my reflection foreign in your eyes

’cause I just wear your life / like a broken melody
with all the changes you have made for me

oh you know that i don’t cry for you, no
i just want to know why
i was silent the day you fell

sleep on the fallen dreams of mine
rest in our undiscovered time

i never saw the sea / so hungry for your breath
the ocean only whispers in the night

and if I give myself to the tide / will you be there in the deep
or will I swim with nothing but the wind

oh you know that i don’t cry for you, no
i just want to know why
i was silent on that day when you fell

sleep on the fallen dreams of mine
rest in our undiscovered time

worlds upon worlds in the cold and comforting earth
warm the light that leads you living large

songs of melodies made sweet and silent
to be the tickle in the steps of giants

I simplified my approach by limiting myself to creating a sparse instrumentation for each of the songs.  I captured the basic guitar I play when I perform the song solo as well as a quick 2nd guitar part.  Then layering in the main vocal part with a single harmony part.  I also put down a sampled bass to give it some depth and a very simple drum part on one of them.

These are by no means “releasable” songs, but I’m building up a decent set of demo songs to start seriously shopping my music around places for gigs and at some point some wonderful benefactor who will help me fund better recordings for a serious first album.  I’m already at the point where I will have to cut out songs for the album, or maybe I’ll just go straight to a double album to begin with

The Songs

You Will Know It\’s True (demo) — written last summer during a rush of first songs.  It came out nearly complete both melodically and lyrically.  Just a few tweaks here and there and it was good to go. (download)

Julie Lynn (demo) — a sweet little song for my wife, Julie.  In my attempt of the 50/90 project earlier this summer, I did write about 7 songs (all within the first 2 weeks)… this was one of them.  It also was nearly complete on its first appearance. (download)

The Whole World Through (demo) — I went nearly a month and a half without completing a song and I was getting pretty cranky.  I wrote a poem in an odd notebook a few weeks ago that I rediscovered when organizing my music and writing.  I sat down and improvised some music that I tried the lyrics on top of.  It worked great!  I reworked the lyrics a bit and came up with this brand new one! (download)

I began the 5090 project in early July with 2 quick songs that came out pretty well.  I’m not expecting too much from the project but hope that the prospect of writing 50 songs in 90 days will help me break out of my “traditional” songwriting techniques and to try something new.  Maybe I’ll get 2 or 3 gems out of the bunch that I can work into something bigger.  Anyway, I hit those two songs well and then got stuck on a few other unfinished ones.  Not really because of the songs, but because of self-doubt and not getting the support I want from my family.

I rehearsed and practice some of my “older” songs (in truth, I’ve only been doing this for about a year now) and was feeling a little better on Tuesday when I headed out to the No Name bar on Tuesday night.  Damir hosts a great open mic in a great little bar in Sausalito.  The quality of folks coming through there is usually pretty great.

Anyway, I get up there and part of it was just bad timing.  Everyone had payed attention to a younger, more attractive woman songwriter just before me.  And it felt like the audience there needed a break.  They all went back to their drinks and conversations while I stood up there trying to engage them with a bit of story and making eye contact.  I played my 3 songs amid lots of talking.  I stayed through all the performers but went home feeling pretty down about what I was doing.

I sent out a tweet that night complaining about how I can’t figure out this stage presence thing and got a couple of tweets back from @oursausalito and @kveals2531 - great advice: play a role on stage and loosen up beforehand.  This got my performance brain turning a bit and Wednesday night came and it was time to do my 1/2 hour show on ustream, I stripped down the prep and went straight for the songs.  I let go and was much more comfortable playing and felt a bit more in touch with my voice.  I had been feeling pretty down about those shows, too, with only 2 or 3 folks (if that) showing up each time for the live show.  I know there are some friends that can’t listen at that time and go back to hear the recordings, but I was (and am) hoping for a little more than that seeing the great success Allison Weiss and Matthew Ebel is having doing the same thing.

The John Corbett Band hittin' the rockabilly hard!

Ah, but what I forgot to mention here is that I got a hold of a couple of free tickets (thanks to @MarinLocalMusic !) to go see The John Corbett Band (video!) at the The Red Devil Lounge.  If you don’t know, John Corbett played Chris on Northern Exposure, Aidan on Sex & The City and had a big part in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  Chris in the Morning was a bit of a hero to me when I was younger… well, in my 20’s.  I really responded to the character’s philosophical meanderings and his be here/now DJ persona.  It was at a great small club in the Nob Hill area and we were able to get up close to the stage.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it might be a little too country for me.

Though, when he hit the stage, they rocked the place.  Partly because the band he had was amazingly tight and knew how to crank out some good old-fashioned rockabilly & country rock, but more because John was so loose on stage and most of all: he was HAVING FUN!  Whoa!  What a concept.  It wasn’t about emoting.  It wasn’t about conveying the meaning of the songs.  It wasn’t even about inhabiting some persona to live the song on stage.  He was just plain having fun.  And that was it.  That was they key.  I left that night on a high note and feeling really good about my earlier decision that day to make a run for it as a songwriter.

My songs aren’t perfect yet, but when I put myself onto something with passion and dedication and unending delight, I know that I can “figure it out” and make something real and something amazing out of it all.

Thursday night comes and I’m already pretty wiped out from having been out past 1am the two night before, but I took a so-called power nap, ate a bit of dinner and headed out to the open mic at Gaspare’s, hosted by Michael “Fire Fingers” Olsen.  It was noisy.  Very noisy.  A lot of folks eating great italian food but they were eating and talking and pretty unaware that there was music going on.  I took the “stage” (really, just a spot in the corner by the kitchen) and just played my freakin’ heart out.  Pacifico, a regular and a fine guitarist accompanied me.  I didn’t care too much that the first couple of songs were off and people weren’t paying attention.  I was having fun, but by the third song people started turning to look and listen and actually clap after each song.  I got to play nearly an hour since we didn’t have a full line-up that night.  It was amazing!  At one point, I stopped between songs and realized that I had been sweating profusely and didn’t even know it.  I hit a groove in my music that I hadn’t hit before.

I saw that it wasn’t really my music that was getting the attention.  It was me and my fun and my passion and my just good old fashioned joy at playing my songs.  That is what it’s all about.

This emboldened me to get excited again about writing & performing.  So much so that I finished up another two songs this weekend and recorded some rough demos for them on Sunday.  I’m up to songs #3 and #4 now (I don\’t cry for you & I am speechless too).  I’ve got a handful of other unfinished songs that I’m planning on finishing out this week.  Stay tuned and please I would love some feedback on what I’ve got so far… check out my page on the 5090 site.

Last night at the #whuffaoke party/techmob/booktour the whole @whuffaoke team had a big winnebego converted into karaoke machine. Down on 2nd street into the night, we sang, we danced. Here I am singing With A Little Help From My Friends… a la Joe Cocker.

Also, come and see me play this Friday night at Sunnbolt Studios in Novato for their monthly open mic.  8pm to 2am (or later).  Not sure what slot I’ll get yet, but I’ll be letting people know via my twitter page.