We’ll Get There When We Get There

Part 2 of….who the hell knows how many. If you need to, read part 1 first

While chatting to the ever-wondeful Al on the god-awful set of circumstances that meant I couldn’t do anything with the songs I had written some six months earlier he very kindly offered to lend me a mixer that was lying idle in a cupboard. So, other than constraints of time I had no excuses for not getting at least something recorded: GULP!

And then what? In the cold light of viability my convictions on careers online seemed to resting on less than stable ground – tectonic plates of doubt shifted beneath me, leaving me in the vast crevasse of inertia and threw up mountains of fear above me (yes I do have a penchant for the dramatic!)

In the weeks that I’ve had Al’s mixer I have managed to get a fair bit done – not as much as I would like, mind, but some. I’ve also managed to let John and Al hear the songs that are more “complete” than others and to favourable reactions. That being said, they’re my friends and they would say that, wouldn’t they.

So where are we at? What can I say to sum up what I’m thinking about these songs? Well, here’s some bullet points for your consideration and mine:

• I can’t commit to the JoCo song a week – or any other chronological milestone for that matter. My life just isn’t structured in a way that would allow that.
• I’m still in love with the concept of the album (not concept albums, though- that’s something completely different). I love the idea that a collection of songs sums up what a songwriter or a band were feeling across a period of time. I also really like how songs placed together in a certain way work together. If I hear “Imagine” by John Lennon on the radio or on my iPod, as soon as ends I expect “Crippled Inside” to start. “Heart Of Gold” follows “A Man Needs A Maid”, “The Rain Song” comes after “The Song Remains The Same” and so on and so forth.
• In the post-iPod age, albums have lost a great deal of their significance
• Songs on albums are seldom recorded in the final track-listing order.

Mmmmmmmm, what to do.

So here’s what I propose to anyone foolhardy enough to come along for the ride:

• We Get There When We Get There: I hear-by promise to record and publish when I can. No grand plans for a song-a-week or anything like that but as and when it’s feasible.
• Do What You Like (you will anyway). I’ll continue recording and publishing as I go and once I’ve finished what I think represents a complete album, I’ll post what the running order should be. That way, if you are so inclined, you can arrange the album and listen to it in the way that it should be heard. You, of course are free to completely ignore this and play the songs in order you choose – or not play them at all, natch!
• Your End: My good friend JG says (rightly) that that we should all be more ready to accept that the skills we have are worthy and marketable. So with that in mind, if you unexpectedly find that you like what you hear feel free to stick something in the virtual tip jar – you should see it on the sidebar to your right. With that there’s the possibility that I get to spend more time writing, recording and publishing and you get to download it and hopefully enjoy that too – so we all win. If you can’t donate anything other than some time to spread the word to other people who might also like it, then that’s also cool.

Ok, hang on to your hat, skip; we’re going in. Next Post: Song 1….

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