New Lyric Video
There’s a new lyric video in town. It’s for my single A Perfect Man. There’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that I got way behind on doing things for songs I’ve released. Scratch that, that’s a lie. I kinda went into recording mode only – where I dealt only with the studio recorded version of the song, released it and then did nothing further **.
Without further ado, here’s the lyric video for A Perfect Man:
Enjoy it. Share it. Love it. List it.
I’m grateful you’ve stopped by to see and hear it.
** There’s a bit more of sordid story as to what caused this, you can read about it here.
The official lyric video for Touch (feat. Jacarri) is now available. You can see it hear now!
Touch (feat. Jacarri) Lyric Video [Explicit]
Lyrics for the song are here!
This was quite a process to arrange. Very weird feeling to have someone writing all over your body. Praise the higher powers that a sharpie wasn’t accidentally switched out for the special skin ink style pen that was used. This took about 4 hours or more to complete the filming of. Having to pick out body parts to write on and then making sure the naked bits that seem to offend so many Americans weren’t in the frame during shooting. Whew. What a process.
Enjoy this unique way of getting the lyrics from Touch (feat. Jacarri)!
Watch directly on YouTube.
The official lyric video for Touch (feat. Jacarri) is now available. You can see it hear now!
Touch (feat. Jacarri) Lyric Video
Lyrics for the song are here!
This was quite a process to arrange. Very weird feeling to have someone writing all over your body. Praise the higher powers that a sharpie wasn’t accidentally switched out for the special skin ink style pen that was used. This took about 4 hours or more to complete the filming of. Having to pick out body parts to write on and then making sure the naked bits that seem to offend so many Americans weren’t in the frame during shooting. Whew. What a process.
Enjoy this unique way of getting the lyrics from Touch (feat. Jacarri)!
Watch directly on YouTube.
If you’re like me, you caught FourFiveSeconds as a live performance on the GRAMMYS a few days ago. Its the new single by Rihanna that’s co-written by Sir Paul McCartney and Kanye West.
I really enjoyed the live performance by Rihanna and Paul along with Nuno Bettancourt (Rihanna’s Guitarist). So much so that I decided to learn the song. Took about all of 15 minutes to commit it to memory. I posed the question on Twitter if tweeps wanted to see me playing the song and Bob’s your uncle. Here ya go.
FourFiveSeconds
I think I’ve had enough, I might get a little drunk
I say what’s on my mind, I might do a little time
Cause all of my kindness, is taken for weakness
Now I’m Four Five Seconds from wildin’
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m just tryna make it back home by Monday, mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh thats all I want
Woke up an optimist, sun was shining I’m positive
Then I heard you was talkin’ trash
Hold me back I’m bout’ to spaz
Now I’m Four Five Seconds from wildin’
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m just tryna make it back home by Monday, mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh thats all I want
And I know that you’re up tonight
Thinkin’ how could I be so selfish
But you called bout a thousand times wondering where I been
Now I know that your up tonight
Thinkin’ how could I be so reckless
But I just can’t apologize, I hope you can understand
If I go to jail tonight, promise you’ll pay my bail
See they want to buy my pride, but that just ain’t up for sale
See all of my kindness, is taken for weakness
Now I’m Four Five Seconds from wildin’
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m just tryna make it back home by Monday, mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh thats all I want
Now I’m Four Five Seconds from wildin’
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m just tryna make it back home by Monday, mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh thats all I want
Enjoy!
I learned “It Was Always You” last night after hearing it pop up once or twice on iTunes Radio & also on Beats Music. I’m a fan of Maroon 5. Have been. Decided it was time I threw down a little cover version of one of their tunes. This song rocks in it’s original format and surprisingly it holds up well as it translates to an acoustic number. I kept the main guitar thing simple as their arrangement is really sparse, but the synth is the major driving factor. Without the 16th note push, I think it would have fallen apart acoustically.
What do you think?
It Was Always You
Woke up sweating from a dream
With a different kind of feeling, oh
All day long my heart was beating
Searching for the meaning, oh
Hazel eyes, I was so color blind
We were just wasting time, uh uh babe
For my whole life, we never crossed the line
Only friends in my mind, but now I realize
It was always you
Can’t believe I could not see it all this time
All this time
It was always you
Now I know why my heart wasn’t satisfied
Satisfied
It was always you, you
No more guessing who
Looking back now I know it was always you
Always you
All my hidden desires
Finally came alive, hmm
No, I never told lies
To you so why would I Start tonight
Hazel eyes, I was so color blind
We were just wasting time, uh uh babe
For my whole life, we never crossed the line
Only friends in my mind, but now I realize
It was always you
Can’t believe I could not see it all this time
All this time
It was always you
Now I know why my heart wasn’t satisfied
Satisfied
It was always you, you
No more guessing who
Looking back now I know it was always you
Always you
Ah, yeah (you, you, you, always you, you, you) 2x
Woke up sweating from a dream With a different kind of feeling
It was always you
Can’t believe I could not see it all this time
All this time
It was always you
Now I know why my heart wasn’t satisfied
Satisfied
It was always you, you
No more guessing who
Looking back now I know it was always you
Always you
It was always you
Enjoy and share on your favorite network!
Not long ago I made a post about She Looks So Perfect and the band 5 Seconds Of Summer. Well, now I done went and made an acoustic cover of the song. I guess I just ended up liking it way too much to leave it alone. Thus I set up my video camera, my lappy with Logic, the awesome Telefunken C12 and plugged my guitar into the mic pre – hit record and away I went!
What you’re getting is unadulterated recording of me singing a fun pop rock tune out of Australia.
Plus I decided to have some fun with a video filter. I figured it kinda fit the vibe or at least created a new vibe that says hey, I can change up the look of the image for fun. Of course, I probably should have thought about it a little longer, but who cares?
She Looks So Perfect
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Simmer down, simmer down
They say we’re too young now to amount to anything else
But look around
We worked too damn hard for this just to give it up now
If you don’t swim, you’ll drown
But don’t move, honey
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now, that I’m so down
Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Let’s get out, let’s get out
‘Cause this deadbeat town’s only here just to keep us down
While I was out, I found myself alone just thinking
If I showed up with a plane ticket
And a shiny diamond ring with your name on it
Would you wanna run away too?
‘Cause all I really want is you
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down
I made a mix-tape straight out of ’94
I’ve got your ripped skinny jeans lying on the floor
And I know now, that I’m so down
Hey! Hey, hey, hey hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Chorus 1
Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down (hey!)
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now, that I’m so down
Enjoy and pass it around!
It’s not often where you’re in a studio talking about a drum fill. At least not often where you’re proclaiming you love it. This is precisely what happened during a moment in the recording process of Till We Meet Again, a song written by myself and the awesome Jesse Stern. We’re in the studio doing vocals with George Leger III when George blurts out something entirely unusual for an engineer / co-producer.
Talk about getting caught off guard, especially when drumming is like ESL. I remember wanting to be a drummer when I first wanted to learn an instrument. However that got nixed by my mom due to saying it would be too noisy. Instead I got a guitar and an amp. How much noise did that make? A whole lot more.
Imagine my surprise when a drum fill part I created elicits a response like what I get in the video. Of course the most polite response is what I gave, but seriously, in my head I was like – hey! I did that. Maybe I should have been a drummer first. What a different world I’d be in if that had been the case. I might not be the songwriter I turned out to be. Who knows, I could have become an on call studio or touring drummer. Ah, who am I kidding – I love the musician I am, but there are times. Times when I do wish I were a better drummer.
Drum Fill Love
Transcript:
I said I love that drum fill!
Thank you.
Fuckin’ love it.
It’s a cool drum fill.
It’s totally cool.
I done did that.
Totally fuckin’ cool.
yeah.
I have to make that a Phil Collins thing somehow.
Get it to sound like it’s in a fuckin’ glass room or something bizarre.
Oh lord.
Aw, c’mon man.
Have you subscribed to my YouTube Channel yet?
One of my first successful co-writes was All The Things with Greg Watton. It happens to be the subject of today’s post. Mostly because I thought it prudent to make a lyric video for it in an acoustic environment. The bonus is that you get to see and hear what I’m singing and how I played the acoustic guitar part in the song. It was written just before I had gone to a songwriter’s conference and it was one of several songs that A&R people from the major labels were interested. That’s always a shot in the arm to boost one’s confidence in what they’re doing. Greg and I have written a few other songs – but none have made to the airwaves yet.
All The Things Lyric Video
http://wp.me/P20RW6-35g
Lyrics & song by Jody Whitesides, Greg Watton
Ever since I was a kid Everyone picked on me
Growing up was the hardest thing For a boy with no self esteem
So I found a little place In the backyard of my mind
Disappeared without a trace Didn’t want them to find me
For every year that passed me by
There was less of me to recognize
I wish I made more room to grow
Instead I hid I didn’t know
All The Things that people say
All The Things that people do
Will bring you down When you let it get to you
All The Things that you don’t know
All The Things that make you fall
Doesn’t really matter When you rise above it all
Now that I’ve become a man You were there to walk me through
Facing each memory Of those who harmed me
Now that I’m trusting you I’ve started exploring everything
Emotions that may drown me Like a river pouring out-
(Chorus)
Finished with the words that hurt
Finished with feeling like dirt
No use living in regret
Instead its best to forget
(Chorus)
Enjoy yourself!
Today I’m finally getting around to changing the strings on my Taylor 615ce with a set of Dean Markley Blue Steel acoustics. After several live performances and a couple of recordings, including a cover of “Not A Bad Thing” by Justin Timberlake, it’s time I sit down and get my first impression of a new line of strings.
Sit with me as I take off some old flat strings that got played to death. Then watch me do things I don’t recommend doing with your strings.
Get tuned up. Stretched out. Ready to play.
Finally top it off with what my initial reaction is to hearing how Dean Markley Blue Steel acoustic strings make me feel. Rather what I think they sound like on my favorite acoustic guitar.
First Impression Dean Markley Blue Steel Acoustics
Transcript:
Sometimes your strings are flat and you need to change ’em.
First things first. Sexy, minimalistic packaging going on. Some kind of sticky thing. Inside we have a package. Sealed strings. Let’s open ’em up. Let’s find out what they’re like.
They come in two winds. They look like they’re kind of color coded. Better read the packaging. High E, is black. The B string is blue. G string is black. D string blue. A string black and low E string, blue. Alternating color scheme. I’m using medium acoustics. Thirteen through fifty-six, my favorite kind. De-tune strings. Get ’em off. Here we go.
Low E string if I remember correctly that is going to be black. The B string. Agh. I can tell you right now that they don’t taste very good. String G. Cryogenically activated strings have a very very odd taste. Don’t eat your strings.
Fly and be free.
Black for the A. The lower strings, they don’t taste any better than the upper strings. Ah, what a symphony of sound that is.
Stretch ’em out just a little bit. Blue steel’s generally don’t require a whole lot of stretching on the electric side. So hopefully they won’t require a whole lot of stretching on the acoustic side.
Handy dandy PolyTune by T.C. Electronics. Awesome app for getting your guitar in tune.
Ok. We’ve got it tuned up. Let’s clip the strings off. Once you’ve clipped the strings it’s a good idea to tune once again. Just incase there’s any slippage.
That’s interesting… No slippage whatsoever, it’s still in tune.
As far as sound goes.
They have a good solid tone to them. Not overly bright but nice and solid at least with the fingertips.
They have a real nice solid tone to them. I really dig it. Don’t sound overly buzzy. They sound nice and big and full. That’s actually a really good thing. I like that.
Dean Markley I think you’ve hit an A+ out of the park home run with these strings.
Sit down with me and take a little ride as I knock out a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Not A Bad Thing” with my Taylor Guitar. Like many people I found out about the song last week when it popped up at #10 on the iTunes chart – when I looked at the chart. It’s actually the first time I had glanced at the chart in a while and I was surprised to see some of the songs in the list. Because of this surprise, I’ve decided that I need to check out the chart each Tuesday so I can stay on top of the changing landscape of the music world. Seeing Justin’s name pop up made me think “Hey, I need to hear that.” I took an instant liking to it. So much so that I grabbed my guitar and started working out the chords.
Later that night I video chatted with my buddy Chris Hellstrom to provide a little sounding board as to how I should approach arranging the song (which is a complex pop arrangement with lots of little parts mind you). Chris made the suggestion that I ought to work it out in an alternate tuning. Thus if your wondering why I don’t look like I’m playing the changes of Gmaj, Emin, Dmaj/F# you now know why. The tuning is an open G tuning (D G D G B D) which actually allows for playing the right inversion voicing of the song’s chords and gives the guitar riff a neat, easy way to play it in the bass register.
I recorded the vocals with a Telefunken C12 and ran the Taylor Guitar 615ce direct into Logic X. I used the Izotope Nectar 2 plugin on the vocal to give it a nice shine. Then blended the direct guitar in with the sound of the acoustic as it leaked into the vocal mic.
If you’d like the Tabs of what I’m playing. Contact me on twitter and I’ll tell ya how you can get it.
Not A Bad Thing
Justin Timberlake
Said all I want from you
Is to see you tomorrow
And every tomorrow
Maybe you’ll let me borrow, your heart
And is it too much to ask for every Sunday?
An while we’re at it throw in every other day to start
I know people make promises all the time
Then they turn right around and break them
When someone cuts your heart open with a knife and you’re bleeding
But I could be that guy to heal it over time
And I won’t stop until you believe it
‘Cause baby you’re worth it
So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me
Cause you might fuck around and find your dreams come true with me
Spend all your time and your money just to find out that my love was free
So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me, me
It’s not a bad thing to fall in love with me, me
Now how about I be the last voice you hear tonight?
And every other night for the rest of the nights that there are
And every morning I just wanna see you staring back at me
‘Cause I know that’s a good place to start
I know people make promises all the time
Then they turn right around and break them
Then someone cuts your heart open with a knife
Now you’re bleeding
Don’t you know that I could be that guy to heal it over time
And I won’t stop until you believe it
Cause baby you’re worth it
So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me
Cause you might fuck around and find your dreams come true with me
Spend all your time and your money just find out my love was free
So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me, me
It’s not a bad thing to fall in love with me, me
Not such a bad thing to fall in love with me
No I won’t fill your mind with broken promises
And wasted time
And if you fall
You’ll always land right in these arms
These arms of mine
Don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me
Cause you might fuck around and find your dreams come true with me
Spend all your time and your money just to find out that my love was free
So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me, me
It’s not a bad thing to fall in love with me, me
Not such a bad thing to fall in love with me
Enjoy and please share it around!