1/26/2013
I'd been looking recently for a song to cover, but was havin issues finding the 'right' one. There are a billion songs I Love and would Love to tackle. But which one? It has to be Beautiful and lend itself to the way i approach my vocals, etc.
Well, one day Kelsey & I were listening to one of our Pandora stations, and I heard a song that sounded really soft, with only a single voice and a guitar, but then there was an awesome vocal counterpoint that broke out of nowhere--it was quirky and I had to Shazam it. Turns out it was Crosby, Stills, & Nash and the song was called "Lady of the Island."
I don't remember ever having heard this song before (though I may have), but I Loved it, and so I put it on my iTunes "car" playlist. Unfortunately, didn't really get a good chance to enjoy the latest version of this playlist for all the other things I needed to take care of. So I was psyched for Friday, the 25th, when I was goin to see Ben Cote's band, 3 Mile Island, in Plaistow, NH. On this ride, I'd definitely get a chance to chill with all the dope music on that playlist. I was pumped when the song came on and told Kelsey to check it out--it was just so Beautiful. All of a sudden, a Eureka moment--i said, "Hey!!! I need to do this song."
The next day I had to accompany one of my students to the district band auditions. As I was getting ready that morning, I listened to the song on repeat about thirty times so I could learn it. In the car on the way to the auditions I listened some more. On the way home, still more listening/studying....
When I got home, I got set up in my music room, and asked, "How am I gonna start this? Where am I goin with this?" Finally I worked my way through the arrangement musically (grueling details in another blog) and the lead vocals, when it hit me that I needed to play the contrapuntal vocal part on my trumpet instead of singing it. I'd learn 'verbatim' what the two parts did and reproduce them.. panning, uneven rhythms and all. And when all that was 'finished' I found the 'beat'--a beatbox.
Pleased with where it all ended up, I quickly opened iMovie, added the song and several promo pics and uploaded the video to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9LB4keancg
"LADY OF THE ISLAND" SONG CODE: L21835; WRITTEN BY GRAHAM NASH; PUBLISHED BY: SONY/ATV SONGS LLC OBO NASH NOTES; LICENSED BY THE HARRY FOX AGENCY, INC. LICENSE NO.: 1165434076 ON 1/27/2013
***I've been making notes for the upcoming video that will realize this song the way I see it...
I'd been looking recently for a song to cover, but was havin issues finding the 'right' one. There are a billion songs I Love and would Love to tackle. But which one? It has to be Beautiful and lend itself to the way i approach my vocals, etc.
Well, one day Kelsey & I were listening to one of our Pandora stations, and I heard a song that sounded really soft, with only a single voice and a guitar, but then there was an awesome vocal counterpoint that broke out of nowhere--it was quirky and I had to Shazam it. Turns out it was Crosby, Stills, & Nash and the song was called "Lady of the Island."
I don't remember ever having heard this song before (though I may have), but I Loved it, and so I put it on my iTunes "car" playlist. Unfortunately, didn't really get a good chance to enjoy the latest version of this playlist for all the other things I needed to take care of. So I was psyched for Friday, the 25th, when I was goin to see Ben Cote's band, 3 Mile Island, in Plaistow, NH. On this ride, I'd definitely get a chance to chill with all the dope music on that playlist. I was pumped when the song came on and told Kelsey to check it out--it was just so Beautiful. All of a sudden, a Eureka moment--i said, "Hey!!! I need to do this song."
The next day I had to accompany one of my students to the district band auditions. As I was getting ready that morning, I listened to the song on repeat about thirty times so I could learn it. In the car on the way to the auditions I listened some more. On the way home, still more listening/studying....
When I got home, I got set up in my music room, and asked, "How am I gonna start this? Where am I goin with this?" Finally I worked my way through the arrangement musically (grueling details in another blog) and the lead vocals, when it hit me that I needed to play the contrapuntal vocal part on my trumpet instead of singing it. I'd learn 'verbatim' what the two parts did and reproduce them.. panning, uneven rhythms and all. And when all that was 'finished' I found the 'beat'--a beatbox.
Pleased with where it all ended up, I quickly opened iMovie, added the song and several promo pics and uploaded the video to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9LB4keancg
"LADY OF THE ISLAND" SONG CODE: L21835; WRITTEN BY GRAHAM NASH; PUBLISHED BY: SONY/ATV SONGS LLC OBO NASH NOTES; LICENSED BY THE HARRY FOX AGENCY, INC. LICENSE NO.: 1165434076 ON 1/27/2013
***I've been making notes for the upcoming video that will realize this song the way I see it...