The Song-a-Week Podcast

Richard makes use of hand-brushed acoustic, strummed acoustic, solo electric (x2), three vocals and bass to prepare what might almost be termed a .. erm ... happy song!

This number by Mr. Hendel examines the attitude of the modern home owner.

This number by Mr. Hendel examines the attitude of the modern home owner.

Nothing about this offering from Chris came out exactly as planned. Slow, meditative fingerpick? Gone. Lush, dense arrangement? Gone. Happy, uplifting lyrics? Oh, so gone. That said, this sparse piece of lovelorn desperation features Chris's first ever guest performer, the fine fiddler Becky Wolfe from his regular band, Inis. The fiddle bits were recorded on stage between sets at an Irish pub and hence are a bit rough but add a nice touch. And lest his recent string of love-gone-wrong songs give you the wrong impression, HIS relationship is just fine! It's called imagination.

Richard pinch-hits this week for Chris, who had to leave town on a family emergency and then for vacation, for which Richard has Chris's undying gratitude. This week, he offers up 'Salt Bones', which he bills as 'kind of a love song to my wife.' He continues, 'I set out to play with finger-picking, and, well, mischief managed.' Oh, dear.

Richard pinch-hits this week for Chris, who had to leave town on a family emergency and then for vacation, for which Richard has Chris's undying gratitude. This week, he offers up 'Salt Bones', which he bills as 'kind of a love song to my wife.' He continues, 'I set out to play with finger-picking, and, well, mischief managed.' Oh, dear.

This contribution was written to be an up-tempo duet, but conflicting schedules couldn't get the other vocalist recorded for this week. So, Erik makes a new arrangement of the song and sings it himself, with a cold. He wasn't doing a Tom Waits impersonation. Really. And this vocal was done in almost one take ... because he couldn't possibly muster up a second one. (This also explains why there are no back-ups or harmonies.)

This contribution was written to be an up-tempo duet, but conflicting schedules couldn't get the other vocalist recorded for this week. So, Erik makes a new arrangement of the song and sings it himself, with a cold. He wasn't doing a Tom Waits impersonation. Really. And this vocal was done in almost one take ... because he couldn't possibly muster up a second one. (This also explains why there are no back-ups or harmonies.)

Quoth Richard: I set out to finally use my Long-Scale 3 String Chromatic Strumstick in a SAW! Hooray me! I actually tooled around with 2 other mellow singer/songwriter type songs, but neither came to fruition, so I returned to an instrumental that I had done late last week. I filled it out, but it still wasn't quite busy enough to be JUST and instrumental, so I put some fitting lyrics on the first part. And VOILA: SAW! I also finally employed my Boss DR-670 drum machine, marking its SAW debut as well. To not terrible effect, I think. But I freely admit that I have a thing or twelve to learn about using it. Anyway, enjoy!

This song wasn't supposed to turn out this way! The lyrics were written first, and the guitar-composed music seemed to point to a sensitive singer-songwriter approach. But the thematic similarities to the Pet Shop Boys' 'You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk' and the general PSB-like melody eventually saw Chris's comfortable guitar strum give way to this more lush, mostly-electronic arrangement topped with four-part harmonies. He's almost unbecomingly proud of this one.