I was playing with my new Echo this morning, and this is what I came up with. This is probably about the thirtieth take, because I couldn’t figure some things out. I’m still on the learning curve.

Although this is the first recording of this song, it is not representative, as the song is intended for heavy electric guitar, drums, and bass. However, it captures the song in its initial acoustic form, and it displays the ability of my most recent audio recording equipment, the Echo AudioFire4. If you don’t have one of these, you need to get one. It ROCKS.

My friend Robert Waltz wrote the lyrics to this song, called “Is This Thing On?” For those interested, Robert’s greatest musical influence is Bruce Springsteen. Enjoy!

This one is about a week old.

Finally, a new original song. Enjoy!

My apologies for the long delay between blog posts.  It has been an unusually busy month, with the advent of a new personal relationship, the passing of my grandfather and the trip to his funeral, and then coming down with what I’m convinced is the swine flu!  Okay, maybe not the swine flu, but some kind of sinus flu.  Honestly, who gets the flu in July?  I called out from Potbelly three days, which I rarely ever do.

When I’m in full voice again, I will upload a new video.  I have a new song in the works, instrumentally, but I haven’t found the words yet.  Meanwhile, I have a portfolio full of words with no music.  I just need to find the time to fill in all the gaps.

This is my latest collaboration, with lyricist Robert Waltz.  Check out his lyrics written in tribute to Nikola Tesla, which are posted in his writing portfolio, here: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1576510

And it seems I may be moving my weekly blog posts to mid-week instead of weekends, thanks to some changes in my personal and professional schedule.

Enjoy the song!

I had a gig two weeks ago.  I was asked to play a three-hour set at a private party.  The caveat?  “We like eighties music.”  Eighties music, I have.  Three hours of eighties music?

Believe it or not, I came up with it.  This particular party was fond of the hair-band style eighties rock, and their favorites were Skid Row, Whitesnake, and the ever-popular “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.

This is a calmer sampling from my newest collection of covers, but just as popular as the rest.  There’s no compliment like a crowd singing along with you, and that’s the truth.  It was a long, tiring five hours (they asked me to stay an extra two!), but I loved every minute of it.

I ordered some gear, and though it’s not all here, I have some of it.  One of the cables is like six inches long, like that’s going to do any good at all!  Who designed that?  The other cable is completely wrong, and it’s my fault. I have no idea what I was thinking when I ordered it.  Fortunately, I think the six inch cable will serve its intended purpose; I’ll just have to improvise a little, when I get the chance.

I had a gig Saturday, a private party, and it was a blast.  They wanted eighties music, and I broke out everything from Madonna to Journey to AC/DC to Pat Benatar to Skid Row.  They were a fun audience, singing along to their favorites at the top of their lungs.  It was great!  I would love to do more parties and events, so shoot a comment if you’re in the Columbus area and need contact information.

Here’s a cover of “Bleeding Love” for you, though I recorded it the “old” way.  Enjoy!

Let’s face it: we’ve all got gadgets. In my case, gadgets include amplifiers by Fender, Marshall, and Roland, microphones by Shure, software packages by Cakewalk, Finale, and Creative, a digital mixer/recorder by Yamaha, and an upgraded soundcard in my Dell laptop. …but do I actually know how to operate any of it? Some, actually.  About enough to annoy my neighbors and throw together recordings for YouTube.  When I have three hours to spare, I try to learn a little bit more.  I rarely have three hours to spare, and that’s how much it takes to learn anything at all.  Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out how to make recordings that sound semi-professional.  I’ll keep trying.  Meanwhile, here’s a little something for y’all to talk about: