Jody Whitesides

Month: January 2014

  • Highwire By Badlands

    Highwire By Badlands

    badlandsAs a guitar player, one that is into bands and players of yore that were considered guitar gods, I delved into all kinds of bands and players. One such player that I loved while learning to play guitar was Jake E. Lee. Jake came into guitar god fame by getting that coveted guitar slinger spot for Ozzy Ozbourne. He recorded two albums with the Oz master then went on to start a band called Badlands. Still rockin, but in a very bluesy sense compared to the metal stylings he had with Ozzy. All this leads me into the opening cut of the debut release of Badlands self titled disc, Highwire. Super energetic and bluesy in the vein of Led Zeppelin with a flair of metal = something that still rocks years later after it came out.

    Why am I even thinking about this tune? Well last weekend was NAMM and a bunch of my friends happened to catch Jake E. Lee’s new band performing at a NAMM event. I was at a separate event so I missed the performance but I heard about it and that Jake was still rockin’ hard.

    Highwire

    YouTube player

    Standin’ here, I got my eye on you
    Your story bleeds, but there’s no review
    Honey drip and set my soul on fire
    Stealin’ hearts got me walkin’ the wire
    You’re gonna lose control
    All night long
    When I find my love, love, love
    High wire

    Flash a smile, like a shiny blade
    Everyone there thinks ya got it made
    Sorry, child, can you take me higher
    But you keep me hangin’ on your lonely wire
    You’re gonna lose control
    All night long
    When I find my love, love, love
    High wire

    (Solo)

    Oh, feels so good
    You give me lovin’ like no one could
    You turn me child, inside out
    Still you leave me drownin’ in a sea of doubt

    You’re gonna lose control
    All night long
    You’re gonna steal my soul, mama
    You can’t go wrong
    When I find my love, love, love
    High wire

    Love, love, love
    Oh, sweet child, I know where you come from now
    High wire, baby
    Oh, oh, oh

    Enjoy and rock on!

  • Touch In The Studio

    Touch In The Studio

    Come in the studio with me as I work with George Leger III at his Utopia Parkway studio to record the final vocals on my upcoming new single “Touch”. Get a sneak peek of what it’s like in the studio and working with a good friend from Canada who helps create some awesome magic.

    Find out who I got one of the guitars used on the song from. Figure out a particular guitar riff I play while waiting for George. Hint, it’s from an amazing guitarist out of Texas.

    Enjoy the video:

    YouTube player
    Transcript:
    We’re in Los Angeles. Taking off in a moment in the car. To get over to the studio. Time to start recording some vocals.
    Ok, here’s the humor. I’ve just rolled up to the parking lot of the studio where I’m recording with George Leger, over here, the third. He’s got sore feet. So, we’re walking in. About to get started with doing some recording and having some fun. Of course I’ve got to have some tea before I start yodeling out of my mouth. [yodel yodel] But it will be an awesome day of having fun in the studio. Enjoy. See you soon.
    Currently we’re working through some issues that George has with playing the mix back, before we get into the concept of me actually opening my mouth and making some more vocals. That are not just demo vocals.
    Bonus points to YouTubers who can figure out where that riff comes from.
    We got the mics all set up and what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna test out this particular setup to make sure it sounds, fucking brilliant. [fucking brilliant].
    Turn back the click on?
    Don’t you love that? That’s George’s dyslexia in action, right there.
    That’s Canadian speak isn’t it?
    Canadian speak, ha ha ha.
    Eh?
    Just for those out in YouTube land. This is a Parker Fly guitar.
    Yes, very nice guitar. Wish I had one actually.
    It was given to me by somebody that is very big in the independent music world. Or at least was at one point in time. He’s now kind of retired. His name is Mr. Derek Sivers.
    Derek Sivers, thank you very much for your contribution to this song. That we’re using with your Parker Fly, that is, well apparently it’s now my Parker Fly.
    We’re doing a little production work at this point. We’ve decided to nix the pre chorus, which you’ve already found out. And we’ve decided to nix some vocals in the chorus there were, uh, filling too many holes. After we do a bit more production work, we’re going to ad some ad libbers. Ad libbies. No? We’re not, we’re not doing any? Oh, cause there’s not enough holes. Not enough room. So much for ad libs.
    You know what they say about ad libs? Fuck ad libs.
    You say you want to try another octave higher. I’m not sure that’ll be overkill, but I’m certainly willing to try.
    Well then, shall I double the other choruses first?
    Ah, no. I’m just going to use this part for all of them.
    No, no, no.
    Yes, yes, yes.
    No, no, no.
    Yes, yes, yes.
    I don’t like cut and paste.
    Dude. I don’t care. This is not really that important.
    It is.
    fuckin prima donnas.
    I don’t feel like a prima donna, but thank you.
    You’re a fucking leo, what are you talking about.
    That doesn’t make me a prima donna.
    Yes it does.
    No, it just makes me king of the jungle. Or my jungle anyway.
    It has been an awesome trip. The vocals are done. It’s time to do the mix. Back to the studio. So long LA, it’s been fun being back. It feels like a slice of home. See ya on the flip side.
  • Rise Today By Alter Bridge

    Rise Today By Alter Bridge

    rise-today-alter-bridgeHot damn it’s that awesome time of the year. Today is the opening day of NAMM. Wanna find me right now – I’m somewhere in the annals of the Anaheim Convention Center mingling with my endorsers (hint, they’re listed at the bottom my website here), and meeting fellow musicians that I don’t get to see all that often. One such musician that I’ve only met in passing is Myles Kennedy. He is hands down one of my favorite rock singers of all time. The dude has awesome clean tones, amazing grit, and serious emotion as he sings. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a great charisma as well. I’m a fan. It would be a dream come true to craft a song with Myles, however, I don’t know him well enough to get him on the phone to make it happen. Not yet anyway.

    Here’s one of their songs where you get the roller coaster of clean to grit and high rises on the melody along with cool and smashing guitar tones. Enjoy Rise Today by Alter Bridge as vocalized by Myles Kennedy. If you want to get some instant visual updates of my adventures at NAMM then follow me on Instagram.

    Rise Today

    YouTube player

    The wind is blowing cold
    Have we lost our way tonight?
    Have we lost our hope to sorrow?

    Feels like we’re all alone
    Running further from what’s right
    And there are no more heroes to follow

    So what are we becoming?
    Where did we go wrong?

    [Chorus:]
    Yeah, oh yeah
    I want to rise today
    And change this world

    Yeah, oh yeah
    Oh, won’t you rise today
    And change this world?

    The sun is beating down
    Are we ever gonna change
    Can we stop the blood from running?

    Our time is running out
    Hope we find a better way
    Before we find we’re left with nothing

    For every life that’s taken
    So much love is wasted

    [Chorus:]
    Yeah, oh yeah
    I want to rise today
    And change this world

    Yeah, oh yeah
    So won’t you rise today
    And change

    This world
    Only love can set it right
    This world
    If only peace would never die

    Seems to me that we’ve got each other wrong
    Was the enemy just your brother all along?

    [Chorus:]
    Yeah, oh yeah
    I want to rise today
    And change this world

    Yeah, oh yeah
    Oh won’t you rise today
    And change this world?

    Yeah, oh yeah
    I want to rise today
    And change this world

    Yeah, oh yeah
    I want to rise today
    And change this world

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