I don't know if I've mentioned it, but my wife (Kate Kudelka) is an actor and playwright. Her company (along with partner Lise Maher) Little Black Dress, is hosting a fundraiser to help cover costs for their upcoming piece "Ladies In Waiting." It will be performed in the Toronto Fringe Festival this summer.
LBD has put together a great list of gifts for a raffle (including 5 guitar lessons from yours truly). Quilts, vocal lessons, gift certificates from local establishments, and much more are all up for grabs.
Details are here - check it out! http://www.littleblackdresstheatre.blogspot.com/. All proceeds go to a great cause - the artists, actors, and writers that give Toronto such strong live performances.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Woodshedding & Bloodshedding
Hi,
Remember me? I’m that indie songwriter that you may have heard?
Sorry I’ve been away so long, would you believe me if I said it was all to better the way I give you what I give? It’s partially true…
So what’s been happening? I’ve been quite busy over the last few months. After seeing Bryan Ferry at Casino Rama, and being overwhelmed by guitarist Chris Spedding, I decided to “woodshed” for a while. That’s where a musician isolates himself and focuses on improving his skills. I hadn’t noticed mine slipping until (watching Spedding milk the perfect sounds from his guitar) I thought “I could do that. No, wait, that’s a lie. I USED to be able to do that.” So I’ve spent a lot of my time practicing.
I’ve also started rehearsing with a band called “The Boys From County Hell.” They play Irish folk music (and Pogues-style rock). It’s interesting because I’m totally unfamiliar with these songs. I’m learning them mostly by ear, but having to remember which song is what, what key, what rhythm… and to boot, the songs are all named “the irish somethingorother” or “the whiskey something” or “rover”…
It makes for a confusing time, but I’m loving it. It’s good to be challenged like this. And I’m SHEDDING FLESH AND BLOOD for this. My fingers haven’t split (yet), but I’ve got no feeling left from all the calluses. And I’ve rubbed all the skin from my right forearm from friction against the body of my acoustic guitar! Thankfully it’s been just missing my tattoos. That might change how proud I am of this sacrifice to the music gods…
As for the Matt Swift music, I’m still tweaking the next album. I’m loving these songs so far. There’s one point in “Your Loving Song” where it’s all I can do to not jump or dance!
I’ve written a couple of more songs, and right now I’m trying to decide whether to put them in this 2012 project, or maybe hedge my bets and keep those on the backburner for 2013…
It’s an exciting time, but hard to write about the incremental progress. It looks great to me, but I wonder how much detail anyone else really wants…
Remember me? I’m that indie songwriter that you may have heard?
Sorry I’ve been away so long, would you believe me if I said it was all to better the way I give you what I give? It’s partially true…
So what’s been happening? I’ve been quite busy over the last few months. After seeing Bryan Ferry at Casino Rama, and being overwhelmed by guitarist Chris Spedding, I decided to “woodshed” for a while. That’s where a musician isolates himself and focuses on improving his skills. I hadn’t noticed mine slipping until (watching Spedding milk the perfect sounds from his guitar) I thought “I could do that. No, wait, that’s a lie. I USED to be able to do that.” So I’ve spent a lot of my time practicing.
I’ve also started rehearsing with a band called “The Boys From County Hell.” They play Irish folk music (and Pogues-style rock). It’s interesting because I’m totally unfamiliar with these songs. I’m learning them mostly by ear, but having to remember which song is what, what key, what rhythm… and to boot, the songs are all named “the irish somethingorother” or “the whiskey something” or “rover”…
It makes for a confusing time, but I’m loving it. It’s good to be challenged like this. And I’m SHEDDING FLESH AND BLOOD for this. My fingers haven’t split (yet), but I’ve got no feeling left from all the calluses. And I’ve rubbed all the skin from my right forearm from friction against the body of my acoustic guitar! Thankfully it’s been just missing my tattoos. That might change how proud I am of this sacrifice to the music gods…
As for the Matt Swift music, I’m still tweaking the next album. I’m loving these songs so far. There’s one point in “Your Loving Song” where it’s all I can do to not jump or dance!
I’ve written a couple of more songs, and right now I’m trying to decide whether to put them in this 2012 project, or maybe hedge my bets and keep those on the backburner for 2013…
It’s an exciting time, but hard to write about the incremental progress. It looks great to me, but I wonder how much detail anyone else really wants…
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