Gregory Douglass is another artist that I discovered on Pandora Internet radio. The first song I heard of his was his amazing track "Sentimental Fury" of his Up and Away album. I was instantly blown away.
His song writing is brilliant and full of lush melodies and captivating rhythms. I instantly bought the album and quickly fell in love. I then searched for videos and information on this dynamic performer. The first video I found was this:
Yeah... Color me impressed. So I bought that album too.
From there, it was a quick collection of all his recorded materials. As I delved into his music, I also read more about the artists and discovered that he was an out gay artist. For me, this was a revelation because at this point in my life I assumed to have any kind of success you would have to stay closeted in the music world. His courage to be completely open inspired me to do the same. in the end, art can only be damaged if filtered through a dishonest filter. And an omission is still a lie.
Watching his guitar playing also inspired me to finally do something that I had been meaning to do since I started writing. Pick up the guitar. I went out and purchased a guitar and played until my fingers bled (literally) I always though that was just a poetic musing in that Bryan Adams song, but it turned out to be factual.
The guitar has definitely opened up a whole new world of writing and music for me, and I have in part thanks to Gregory Douglass for opening up this world.
The numerous teen suicides that are in the news right now are completely devastating to me.
Many of you would never guess it from knowing me now, but when I was 13-15 growing up in Wisconsin, I was completely on the edge. I felt completely lost and alone and thought that something was horribly wrong with me. I did not have any gay role models to show me that it was OK and that things would get better. I very nearly ended my life, but I was lucky enough to find music in time. It saved me, but these young men were not lucky enough to find something or someone to save them.
We all must do a better job of speaking up and letting any kids who may feel outside the normal that they are perfect the way they are.
In regards to GLTBQ youth, we must speak out against these loud voices that are telling them that they can not marry, serve openly in our military, teach, or live safely in our schools or communities. When we let these voices go unchecked, that is all these young kids are hearing. We need to stand up for them and tell them that it will be OK and let them know they have an ally that they can go to when they inevitably go through these hard times.
Silence is killing these kids and we can't stand by and let it happen any longer.
No artist has been more integral to my understanding of social issues and empathy for people who are seemingly different from myself than Tracy Chapman. Many issues that I am passionate about and fight for today were first discovered in one of her songs. Issues of socioeconomics, race and bigotry, and the bi-product of greed in our capitalistic society were not even on my radar growing up a white middle class midwestern boy until they were sparked by her writing.
I remember the first time I heard her song, Fast Car. I was very young, but somehow I could totally relate to this voice and her emotion even though I had no basis to truly understand the situation she was speaking about. It was the first time I can remember feeling transported into another persons life through a song. From that moment, I think I began to really understand the power of music and songwriting. With one song, an entire new world was opened to me.
It wasn't till much later that I really started listening to her. In high school as I began to form my own personal beliefs, I found I was drawn to her songs and began to really study her music. Her amazing voice makes you emotionally connect with what she is singning about, so it was natural to fall into the stories she was telling. While exploring these new worlds, my mind was cracked open and filled with new possibilities and I began to challenger beliefs that had been instilled in me as well as the status quo. As an artist, I feel it is essential to be able to break from what you know and think about every angle. Tracy's music helped to break those molds.
During this time, Tracy became my go to artist when I was troubled with the world. Not only for her insight, but because the emotional depth she has. I'm the type of person who listens to sad music when I'm sad and it makes me feel better that I am not alone. When I feel like I'm drowning in a world gone mad, Tracy's my woman.
She has also become an artist I can trust. When she puts out an album, I buy it. I know that I will love every song and learn something as well. There are very few artist that I trust so implicitly. I think she is one because I always believe what she is saying. There is an honesty in her voice and writing that can't be faked or replicated and that hooks me every time.
It would be hard to pick a favorite album, and impossible to pick a favorite song, so I will pick a highlight off her most current album, Our Bright Future. In the song, Thinking of You she delivers a lyric that makes me strive to be a better writer.
"I used to think, consider gravity If I placed you on a pedestal, you'd slip and fall for me But you floated on the air, far away at light speed I guess some objects do defy the laws that we conceive."
-Tracy Chapman
And here is one of my favorite videos of her.
Ok, and one more.
In the end, she is definitely one of my favorite artists and biggest inspirations. Her talent, songs, and her integrity in the way she has navigated her career without every losing herself in it make her a true icon.
When I was in Jr. High school back in Kenosha Wisconsin I went to the yearly talent show. This was the first time I saw Carmel Mikol perform. Seeing this performance would change my life.
I was always drawn to music, but never thought that I could do it myself. Seeing this girl my age performing a song she had written suddenly opened a door that would end up leading me down the path of my life. At this point in my life, I was combating a slew of issues relating to my family and myself and was longing for an outlet. I could see salvation in this opening.
I remember asking my mother for a keyboard soon after the talent show and she got me a Casio keyboard with light up keys. Little did she know at that moment that this small keyboard would completely change my life. I began writing immediately and started learning how to play as I wrote. A little backwards, but always my way.
In high school I had a class with Carmel and we became friends. I shared with her my interest in writing, and she became a sort of mentor. We spent countless evenings after school playing songs that we had written for each other. She was far more advanced in her craft, but she listened intently to all of my fumblings as I learned to walk. This was one of the most magical times in my life, because for the first time in my life I was able to get out these shadows inside me. Through my music and my friendship with Carmel, I was finally started down the path of self-discovery and self-acceptance. It's a little scary to look back and wonder what would have been had I not gone to that talent show. I truly do not know who I would be.
Even in Jr. High, Carmel was an incredibly advanced and percosious writer. Her song "Seventeen Tomorrow" that she had written before she herself was even seventeen is still to this day one of the best songs I have ever heard.
"She's a wild horse rider, a mustang driver Too many cigarettes for an unbroken heart She's lonely girl on an empty sky With hurricane hair and midnight eyes"
-Lyrics from Seventeen Tomorrow by Carmel Mikol
After high school, Carmel moved away and we lost touch only to reconnect every few years randomly. Then some time went by and I didn't hear about her or her music. I remember being afraid that she was no longer pursuing music and thinking what a loss that would be. Then out of nowhere I began to hear news of her performances in Canada (where she hails from originally). I was ecstatic. Not only because she was still writing and performing, but because it meant I would get to hear new music from her.
She released an EP called Lost Lives, which set the groundwork for her quick rise in the Canadian music scene. She followed this up with her full album In My Bones.
In My Bones is a powerful and poignant album that deals with love, loss, and the human experience with incredible wisdom and sensitivity. Crafting personal tragedy, the loss of her father whose guidance set her on the path of music, and her innate ability to translate what she sees and experiences into compelling songs, this album is a thrilling debut.
The title track starts with an incredible lyric that exposes Carmel both personally and as a skilled writer.
"We're young, then we're old Born with a fire that burns to coals The path of hungry living is our one and only road We're pressed to make decisions that divide and conquer souls Its a pity we're forgiven, cause it makes our sinning bold."
-Lyrics from In My Bones by Carmel Mikol
The whole album is full of these lyrical and musical moments that create a stunning piece. Some other notable standouts are:
Hometown- A song about the meaning of home and trying to reconcile the realities of coming home and facing a history we have tried to escape.
Escape To You- The oldest song on the album. I remember her playing this song for me back in high school. It's amazing to see how it has grown in the years since.
Blaming Myself- Probably the most pop leaning song on the album. This song has a hook you will not be able to get out of your head. It topped the East Coast Countdown for multiple weeks. This is a hit.
Colt 45- This song is sexy and sultry. Best listened to with a bottle of red.
I'll Never Find You- This track makes me cry every time. There is a longing in this song that I think all of us have deep inside, like trying to find moments lost that we can never get back. Universal and heartbreaking.
For me, this album is the realization of that girl I saw at a talent show over ten years ago. Critics have agreed, and Carmel has won multiple awards and toured cross country sharing her incredible music and stories.
To me, she will always be one of the most important connections I have ever made. Carmel and her music are the reason that I am a songwriter and thus the person I am today.
My new album "Space," is out (or as I like to say, in orbit) and I have received a lot of amazing feedback. One of the frequent questions that I have been getting has been about the cover. People wanting to know if the image was photo shopped, or how we got the picture. Well, the image is 100% real and here is the story behind it.
After finishing the album, which I see as a concept EP/super single, I knew I wanted a striking image for the cover that captured the essence of the project. I immediately contacted the amazingly talented Luke Redmond about shooting the cover and he graciously agreed.
We started very conceptually, trading music and images, found objects and other album covers to get the creative juices flowing. We talked a lot about what the album and songs were trying to say and also what Luke was getting from the music. This was a really key element because it put us on common footing and gave us a common language to speak in. We came up with a few concepts and two locations to shoot; Grand Central Terminal and Central Park and we set a date for the shoot.
The day of the shoot started early and in Grand Central. We picked the famed train station because to me the album is about distance and the space that separates people and the terminal is very spacious and is a place that takes people away from and brings people together. We shot a lot of photos there and then headed out to central park. At this point we knew we had some great shots, but I think deep down we knew we didn't have "the one" yet.
As we left the station, we ran into a giant street fair on Madison Ave. The lighting was perfect so as we walked we took some shots. It was fun because as we shot through the crowds, people began to stop and stare thinking we were doing a modeling shoot, which boosted my self esteem :) These turned out to be incredible, but we were still bent on getting some shots in the park.
We stopped for coffee at the base of the park and looked through what we had. We thought we may have had the shot, but we wanted to finish what we had planned for the day. After sufficient caffeine intake, we headed to the park. We took a lot of shots, but weren't getting exactly what we wanted. As the sun began to set we headed to the Bethesda Fountain to try and shoot in the mosaic courtyard that is right in front of it. It's a really cool space and we were hoping to get a great shot in there, but the lighting was just not right. We took that as a sign that we were done and began to walk to the fountain to relax after a long day. It was then we say the stairway.
On the wall of the stairway leading down to the fountain were these long shadows cast by passers by. Immediately Luke was like "get over there!" It was just an instinct and not at all what we planned, but somehow we both new this was a fleeting moment and we needed to capture it. As I stood against the wall and we watched the shadows play, we knew this was going to be a great shot. He snapped the shutter and looked at what he had. He told me to come over, and just from looking at it on the camera display, we knew we had our shot.
After all the planning and shooting, we got our cover in an unplanned spontaneous moment. I don't think that without all the planning and hard work we would have got such a moment, but isn't that life.
You can check out more of Luke Redmond's work here.
Four years ago this August I moved to New York City.
Four years ago today I was packing up my room in Kenosha, WI and freaking out about the fact that I was moving to New York City.
During the intense packing and preparing that I was doing for the biggest life change I would have to date, I took breaks to take my mind off the immediate. I spent a lot of time on Pandora Internet radio looking for new artists and trying to find music that spoke to my current mood/situation. It was through Pandora that I first heard Charlotte Martin, an artist whose music is now such a part of my life that I can not imagine her music not being on my ipod.
The first song I heard was the track "Something Like A Hero" off her On Your Shore album. I remember feeling immediately that the song was resonating deep inside me with its rhythmic piano punching the down beats. Then her amazingly versatile and emotive voice challenged me to come along for a ride.
"Hello Boys, got directions to the bomb shell factory..."
I was in.
By the time the incredible breakdown begins at the end of the song, I had already opened iTunes and purchased her On Your Shore album.
As I do whenever I buy a new album, I turned off the lights and laid down as the music began. I am still a believer in "Albums" so I love to hear them the first time through uninterrupted as a whole piece. The sound of a small string section crying out in longing pulls you into the first strike of the piano key, and then the album takes off. There are very few albums that I love from beginning to end, but I knew from that first moment that this was going to be one of them.
On Your Shore takes you on an incredible emotional ride that somehow leaves you completely satisfied yet craving more. Four years later, this album still feels fresh and is constantly drawing me back to its shore. So much in fact that every song on the album makes it into my ipods top 50 most played songs list. If you know me and how my ipod is basically surgically implanted onto me, you know this is quite a feat.
That August, when I left everything I knew to follow my dreams, her music was an amazing comfort that filled in some of the gaps inside me. That fall, I got to see her live and met her and after that I knew I would be a lifelong fan. I have since bought every album she has every released and can whole heartedly recommend all of them. She is simply one of those artists that speaks my language, speaks to what I know to be true, speaks to my soul.
If you know her, I'm sure you love her. If you don't, you definitely need to remedy that quickly.
In honor of its placement as the number one played song on my ipod, (Hint: It's over 200 plays... which I am now realizing is almost 12 hours of my life.) Here is her song "Every Time it Rains."
So I have had the idea to start this blog for a long time now, but only in my post surgery haze have I decided to make it a reality. I know there are a million outlets via social networking sites to share information, but I have wanted a more artistic way to bring you with me as I travel down this crazy life of a singer/songwriter.
I also wanted a place to showcase some other artists that I have gotten the privilege to know that have not made the mainstream yet. Think of it as a way to find some great new music that you might not hear about otherwise. I also may get the urge to review and share some of the albums and artists that have inspired me along the way.
There may be some video blogs and general self promotion going on here as well. Just getting it all out in the open so you know what to expect. Hope you check in often and connect in. I'd love to hear what you want to see as well.
