Romeo & Juliet

I put my own music on hold for a few days to get ready for a performance last Saturday night.
My wife's choir, Exultate Chamber Singers, had their annual fundraiser.  The theme was right up my alley:  London Calling, celebrating English music.
Most of our favourite music is British, so we spent a lot of time choosing which song we would play.  Both being huge David Bowie fans, we ran through a huge chunk of his catalogue.  Nothing felt right.  What about Pulp?  We tried Common People (my preference) and Disco 2000 (Kate's preference), before deciding on Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits.  The song had a more varied dynamic, and seemed more suitable for the intended audience.  My skills are pretty far behind Mark Knopfler's, so it took some work to get it just right.  But I think we did.
I really enjoyed Andre Heywood's version of Your Song by Elton John.  I wish I could have given it more attention, but I was busy tuning my guitar in the back room as we were following him.

Kate did a fantastic job singing such a beautiful song.  And I had an added bonus:  This was the first time that my classic 1974 Fender Telecaster Custom got stage time.  I don't know why it has always taken second place to my other instruments - it's my favourite, with lots of personality and shaping from it's previous owner touring it for over 30 years.  But it was perfect for Romeo & Juliet, nothing else would give me that pretty, twangy, airy tone...

A few audience members told me afterwards that we should start performing more as a duo.  So that might be a future project...

Here's a photo from the performance:

And just to push it, here's a YouTube link to my favourite version of the song:

Reworking

On Saturday night I was walking to see a friend play in a bar across town.
On my way, James' album LAID came on my headphones.  DAMN, I forgot how much I love this record!
As I listened, it gave me some ideas on how some of my music should be arranged.  Some of the new album is completely written and arranged, but there are a few things that don't feel complete yet.

So, today I"m down in my studio trying various things.  It's sounding more "right," and getting better by the minute!

Very happy today, the muse is visiting.

Revitalization

I just got back from New Orleans.
It was my first visit to the city, but won't be my last.  I LOVE it there!  The art, the friendliness, and the music EVERYWHERE.
I spent most of my days sitting on the Royal St sidewalk listening to incredible musicians busking.  It was incredibly inspiring.

One morning, out for a wander, I stopped to listen to a couple of street kids that were jamming on acoustic guitars.  We got talking about our tattoos, and they noticed the Bowie, Ferry, and Richards portraits inked on my forearm.  Then they offered me a guitar to bash away on.

My set included:
Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits
Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones
Unchained Melody by The Ritcheous Brothers
Burn, by me
This Dream, by me
I'm Alright by The Stereophonics
Heroes by David Bowie
Love Is The Drug by Roxy Music

I earned a fair bit of cash, but left it for them.  I was in town for fun, not work.  It really made me feel at home there, and I frequently saw those guys later in my visit.  I don't think they ever knew my name, and I didn't ask theirs.  They would just shout "Hey Moustache!" and wave whenever we crossed paths.


Coming back to Toronto, I was inspired to work on my own albums.  I have so many in the works...
Gravedigging For Two is written and demos recorded.
I also have another half-record written.
But I'm feeling the need to remix 2011's Love Isn't Enough collection.  I really like this batch of songs, but my home-mix isn't quite up to snuff.  And while John Jamieson and I mixed Your Heart And Mine, we noticed some consistent issues with my drum programming.  So I'll reprogram LIE's drumming before heading back to the studio.  That has also lead to redoing some overdubs...

Here's a clip from yesterday morning, where I am recording the lead guitar line from This Dream:





And for context, here's the original version: