well, i had hoped to do some recording today, but there's still some time so it might just happen.
i started a new file on my computer called "the docket" to help me keep track of the songs i'd like to record or re-record. scrolling through the file of all my lyrics is not enough anymore, especially since the file is getting very big! i thought it was a lot of lyrics before, and then i wrote all those new songs like 'on an -ism' and 'this is it' and it's become somewhat cumbersome. but still very well organized. big bold letters across the top "IN ALPHABETICAL FUCKING ORDER" so there's no mistaking how it's supposed to be.
it's a very weird list, "the docket" is. one of the songs, this one called 'kicked' was originally done on a demo i recorded in summer of 1999 on a four track recorder. it had acoustic and electric guitar, vocals, and all the percussion on that demo was done with a black trunk, a single drumstick, and a crash ride cymbal. fuckin crazy stuff. i don't feel like it's a redo, even, because it was so long ago.
two of the songs are basically folk songs, but i may turn one into a punk song, or just turn the end of it into punk rock. "folk? that's crazy!" i know. but that's what they are. one is of course, in the great folk tradition, a political song, with lyrics that are as cryptic as they are plentiful. six verses? something like that. the other folk song has some of the darkest lyrics i've ever written, set to (of course!) a beautiful, upbeat melody. it's like, the brighter the melody is, the darker the lyrics have to be for me to be able to sing them seriously. that's how i roll. that song was written in autumn of 99, and if it had been a few months earlier it would have gone on that same demo that featured 'kicked' because that whole demo had this great folk sound. [it was called "the lion's den" if you care to know, for Ross trivia purposes. ;)]
that's about all i can say for sure, for now. everything else is kinda up for grabs, except the new stuff you're hearing now.
[+R]
RiotFlash
I'd love to see the docket...yknow...i dunno...like maybe u can accidently put it in a rar and accidently host it online for a week..yknow
my saturday was pretty awesome. i had the garage band over...it was alright...we did some recordings of covers. Livin Lovin Maid (sounded terrible), Fortunate Son (sounded pretty good), and Bron-y-aur Stomp (sounded good). I hooked Josh to my USB recording interface and he did his part, but we never recorded anyone else. I recorded myself and everyone elses part (aside from singing) after they had left. I saw Saw6 with Kody after that and came home and realized that when u played our recordings backward...freakin scary. Not so much the songs but the intermissions in between...one example on my page...shameless plug
oh right this is YOUR blog.
also, if you had saved any other versions of Hotel NJ i want some...im bein naggy but also bein a Ross follower i gotta have every mix of every song.
if that doesnt happen its all good
but yeah good to hear ur good. after hearing some of this maybe the idea of a Gunshy retrospective isn't all such a horrible idea.
Gunshy
PM me with email and i can send you versions 2 & 3 of Hotel NJ if you'd like
"the docket" is actually a pretty short list, maybe only seven or eight songs in the foreseeable future, basically the rest of the songs that will/would be on the next album, the new material album. the folk songs and 'kicked' and i think i mentioned 'chickenshit' at some point in a past post.
'-ism' and the new 'HNJ' were on there until they were recorded and posted, and the new '4 chords' is of course there, somewhere near the bottom :P
sounds like cool stuff with your garage band. "fortunate son" is always a good standard jam song. fun, too!
i almost hesitate to say that a band i was in in high school would jam out to "sweet home alabama" for ten minute stretches, making up our own lyrics along the way, since we didn't know the real ones. i was always a big fan of ccr (i know, 'alabama' is skynyrd, i'm just sayin'), and 'grapevine' is never too far from my heart.
the gunshy retrospective album is actually ready to go, so i'll see how my mood's going in a week or so, how well these new recordings work out, etc., and maybe that'll come out before the new year. i don't expect the brand new album to be done until february or march.