Tag: Independent artist adventures

  • Rise Today and Create: How NAMM Rekindled My Creative Fire

    Rise Today and Create: How NAMM Rekindled My Creative Fire

    rise-today-alter-bridge

    Hot 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

  • When Valentine’s Day Took an Unexpected Turn Toward the Stars

    When Valentine’s Day Took an Unexpected Turn Toward the Stars

    It’s getting near that time of year again when there’s a little bit of madness in the air about expressing how you feel to someone else. Some people are really good at it. Others, not so much. I tend to fall in to the not-so-much category, but I do have a bit of a Valentine’s Day adventure that I can share.

    A couple of years back I was making a hearty attempt to do something for someone on Valentine’s Day. I went so far as to write a song, as well as create a card for this woman. Attempted to make plans for the 14th and as such got minimal response. The play-it-by-ear response.

    That evening came and went to no answer from said woman.

    Around 9 p.m. I got a call from a friend inviting me out to watch a live music performance at the Farmer’s Market at the Grove in Los Angeles. Having been soured by earlier events, I agreed to hop in the car and head on out to the show. Of course with such a late start to the show my friend Stew and I got there for the last song. Our musician friends were happy to see a couple of extra faces despite being so late to the show.

    As we were helping them pack up, an invitation was extended for us to shoot up to the “hills” for a Valentine’s Day party. Then the side debate started amongst a few of us. Should we, should we not? I was game for it. Eventually those of us who agreed all piled in a car to head to the party.

    It started with an address and some poor directions which lead us to a strange road in the hills of Los Angeles above Studio City. Clearly the driver was lost. Out comes the iPhone and looking up the address on the map there took us through some more winding roads until we finally found the true destination. A spot on a very tight section of road where there was difficulty parking. Meaning a need to park a ways away and then walking to the party.

    At the front door of the house we’re heading too I’m finally told that the house belongs to Lucinda Williams. I knew about her and her music thanks to my dad. He happens to be a big fan of hers. My friends knock on the door and a moment later it swings open.

    My friends filter in first being greeted by Lucinda herself. Turns out several of them already knew her and visa versa. Bringing up the rear of the group I’m eventually greeted by Lucinda who takes me by the hand and looking up at me declares “I know you!” I stood there wondering to myself – really?!? She proceeds to tell me we’ve met before and I have to laugh. Reality was, we had never met until that point. Yet she was convinced that she knew me and I knew her. After a few moments of suspending reason and belief, she let me pass into the party to mingle amongst the other guests.

    There were quite a few interesting peeps in attendance, including known rockstars, actors, actresses, and even other people of note. One woman I met happened to be the reason the song Afternoon Delight was written.

    I’ll leave the uber juicy details of people there to my biography. Until then, I’m extending an early Happy Valentine’s Day and may it be a cool adventure.

    p.s. – more song updates are coming very soon.