New Single Out Friday!

 As well as keeping on top of my blog series on finishing your songs, I've also managed to actually get some music done recently. I appear to be inadvertently three songs into the next EP so it's definitely time to get a single out and put some additional and unnecessary pressure on myself to do the rest of the work.

For some reason Blogger is not letting me add a link to the image below so here's the URL instead: https://ditto.fm/years-drew-stephenson

And just to really keep you on your toes, this one actually verges on being a happy song...

It also features Sam Inglis on pedal steel.

Curtis Stirling

 The next piece of the back catalogue puzzle (and the key to a future playlist) is now on all the usual platforms:

https://ditto.fm/curtis-stirling

Norfolk Island Sound now on all your favourite streaming services*

 Whilst work on the new album is ongoing I'm slowing getting round to getting all the older stuff up onto all the usual platforms.

This time it's Norfolk Island Sound:

#newmusic #NewRelease #newsong #ActuallyItsNotNewAtAll

*Also on the ones you hate.

New single, Lizard Skin, out today

My poor neglected website!

Blimey it has been nearly a year since I updated this. Oops. Oh well, not a lot has happened to be fair. The album launch went well and some people said some nice stuff about it. I've started working on the next one - this will be a bit different I think as I've got lots of people collaborating this time. And this release went live last week.

(But those of you who follow me on bandcamp will know it's been there a while. Pro-tip, it's where the next one will be coming first as well. Hopefully fairly soon.)

The Cables - new song

 This little ditty just came out tonight, think the middle 8 needs a bit of work but the principle is there I think:

Curtis Stirling

 I've just fished this old recording out and given it a quick tidy: 

It's a thing of its time and the limitations (mostly in knowledge) that I was working under then, but it provides another piece of the jigsaw puzzle that will be the new album when it comes.

OHIO

 This will be re-recorded to go onto the next album, but here's something I've pulled together in the last couple of days.

Enjoy.

New album in the works...

 I've had a list of EPs to work on for a while but for various reasons I've ended up working on a track here, a track there and maybe one over there too... 

So none of them are anywhere near completion.

I've also been writing and recording some new stuff.

And I sat down last night and realised that actually there could be a theme tying some of these together. And with a bit more thought, and a bit of shuffling of track order I could see a story there.

A quick look through the yet-to-be-recorded list found another three tracks that would fill the gaps and give me, and ultimately you, a full album.

So that is now the plan.

Loads of work to do of course but I'm probably more than halfway through.

So as a bit of a teaser here's one of the tracks that's pretty much there:

 

Blinddrew · Red

In the meantime I'll sort out volume 2 of the lockdown sessions.

Scrapbook part two

Things have been a bit interesting here of late. Will explain more in due course but in the meantime, and my apologies for the delay, here is batch two of the scrapbook from my recent-ish song-writing course.

The Last Sense You Lose

What I Know To Be True

The Last Damn Time

Only A Small Step

Scrapbook part one

I went on a songwriting retreat last week. As well as being a great week away from it all with some great people, it was also pretty productive.
I'm not sure how many of these will survive in the longer term but I thought I'd share the rough recordings of the songs as they formed.
Four this week, four more next.

Fat Rolf

The Map

The Least and the Most

Collateral

New single out

Looking back over my posts it appears I have become so excited by International Hawaiian Shirt Day that I've forgotten to mention that I have a single out.
Doh!
It's called Road Song, and it even has a video:

As well as youtube you can also listen to it on:
Spotify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zOcXAxVZZk
Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DNZVQVB/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1528918275&sr=8-2&keywords=drew+stephenson+road+song
Apple Music: I don't have itunes so I don't have a link yet, sorry.
And apparently on Deezer as well, but no-one uses that so it's not really important.

But the BEST place to listen to it (and cheapest place to buy it) is on Bandcamp, where you can get an uncompressed download if that's your thing:
https://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/track/road-song

I'll sort that apple link out in due course.
I would say, "Enjoy" but it's not really that kind of song...

Band on a budget - the recording process part 19

Ok, this is well overdue. Stuff has happened, like Christmas, and other things, that have delayed progress, but there has been some progress.
Here's an early listen to the third track I've been working on, Northshoremen:
https://soundcloud.com/the-southern-wild/northshoremen-20180121/s-kN8Re
It still needs the lead guitar parts adding and the backing vocals. There may yet be space for some banjo and or mandolin. If these do go in we'll make space for them by cutting bits from the accordion and existing guitar parts.

I've also made a bit of progress with a solo thing I've been working on for a while:
https://soundcloud.com/blinddrew/road-song-20180121/s-GVItz
This isn't the latest version, but it's the last one I've got downloaded.

Today though I went back to the band stuff and had a look at Denmark Street. The bass part is full of glitches and needs completely re-recording, but this should be straightforward. In the meantime I've been fixing all the glitches in the drum track and sorting out the odd timing issue with my guitar part. Sadly the other guitar part is also going to need rerecording. Add it to the list...
On the positive side, this should be a simpler mix as we're going for a much more stripped back vibe on this track - I think.

Still writing...

Just in case anyone does stumble across this site...
As well as the band stuff (www.thesouthernwild.com) I am still writing solo stuff as well. Most of it gets published on youtube as I write it and then soundcloud as it gets more worked up.
I'm currently planning on pulling finished versions into a series of EPs that will be available to download from Bandcamp.
The first of these is not far off ready and will be called A Norfolk Island Sound.
Stay well
Drew

Trains (not plains or automobiles), new song up.

It seems that train travel is a very good way to stimulate my brain into creative activity. "A prologue" was written on the train last month and this week, coming back up from down south again, I wrote another song - a slightly more upbeat one this time so hopefully Hils will like it...
Scratch video embedded below and lyrics below that. What I haven't got yet is a proper title for it - other than "Curtis Stirling".

Curtis Stirling, so I’ve been told, built a flying machine in his back yard.

And after all the questions I’ve asked, it seems that this is where it starts.

This could be the middle of nowhere, if somewhere had ever cared.

And you can see three counties from that spot over there.

This is how the story starts. This is where legend begins.

And after all, after all, it all comes back to him.

People talking will make a king appear, sometimes all it takes is need.

Curtis shined a light into the dark, they sing a defiant hymn round these parts.

This is how the story starts. This is where legend begins.

And after all, after all, it all comes back to him.

Sometimes they hear trumpets. Sometimes they see wings.

Sometimes there come investigators, to tell them that they’re seeing things.

Curtis Stirling, so I’ve been told, took the flying machine from his back yard.

He’ll be coming back one of these days, wrestling bears when times get hard.

Curtis Stirling, so they say, didn’t die and he won’t fade away.

This is how the story starts. This is where legend begins.

And after all, after all, it all comes back to him.

It all comes back to him.

It all comes back to him.

New Song in draft form...

On the train down to Norwich last week I came up with some words.
Here they are:

A Prologue

There's a dead man in the back seat, but he's not my main concern.
There's a dead man in the back seat, and a lesson for someone to learn.
There's a dead man in the back seat, and there's a gap in my mind
between where he and i meet, and the evidence you find.

There's a natural explanation, there's some history hiding.
I'm sure I can find some kind of truth if I just keep on driving.

There's a dead man in the back seat, and we're running low on fuel.
He and i are going to have to figure out exactly what we're going to do.
See I'm not short on ideas but it's preying on my mind
that, one way or another, we're running out of time.

There's a natural explanation, there's some history hiding.
I'm sure I can find some kind of truth if I just keep on driving.

Someone's father? Someone's son. 
Some wrong punished or some wrong done?
A straight road to the coast to dump a bag of bones?

There's a dead man in the back seat, and only he and i know
how this came to pass and how it's going to go.

There's a natural explanation, there's some history hiding.
I'm sure I can find some kind of truth if I just keep on driving.




Rather than going to work early this morning, I came up with a tune.
Here it is:


But does it need some drums? I'm thinking yes...

Debris, or What's left behind

New song, Debris, up on you tube here: 

It fuses two of my usual themes, death and space hardware.
I'm pitching it well within my personal niche...


I think this is another song that really needs to be done on an electric guitar with a full arrangement behind it, I'm not convinced it works on its own. Whaddyareckon?


This afternoon I have learnt some things.
1) Making the time to write new songs is good, I should do more of it
2) When squeezing seventeen syllables into a line it's best to actually learn the line before trying to sing it.
3) I need a haircut
4) Chocolate tart is good. *


Here are the unmangled lyrics:

And I can see the headlights on the road as we pass by overhead

Some distant automaton calls numbers into the atmosphere

And they are lost, they are all just lost

And who's going to find us now? Who's going to help us now?

so we keep sending out a few hundred letters to the dead

all the while wondering if some of the signal's messing with our head

So when you find that we're falling this far

Who's going to help us now? Who's going to want to help us now?

I don’t want to rot, I don’t want to burn

Spare me from the sea

Send me up with the silent satellites, One more piece of space debris

So we settle into circles behind the wheels of dying cars.

There’s always time for one more drink before it gets dark

And we are lost. We are all so lost.

And who's going to find us now? Who's going to help us now?

And who's going to find us now? Who's going to help us now?

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

I don’t want to rot, I don’t want to burn

Spare me from the sea

Send me up with the silent satellites, One more piece of space debris

Last night I dreamt of blood.

I dreamt of a man with a gun and a time when that wasn't enough.

And he was lost, he was still so lost

And who's going to help him now? How’re you going to help him now?

I don’t want to rot, I don’t want to burn

Spare me from the sea

Send me up with the silent satellites, One more piece of space debris

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

Hold on steady, stay strong, see the light, here’s the dawn,

* To be fair, I knew this before and it's really not related to the rest of the blog.

Some days are better than others...

... as U2 famously sang.
As you may have noticed from the lack of updates and gigs recently, I've not been doing much on the music front. Load of stuff going on at work and home and basically just devoid of inspiration.
So last night when I had some time I just sat in front of the machine and did this:

Tonight however I sat down and did this:

Sorry it's side on, didn't think of that when I took it and don't know how to change it. There's not really much to watch anyway....
Hell, I know it's not much, but considering I came up with the first verse and chorus in one run through and the next two verses on the fly I reckon it's a positive sign.

I've got some stuff going round my head but, somewhat ridiculously given the amount of music stuff i have around the house, I'm currently devoid of a decent way of recording it.
I'll sort it out when the house move happens, in the meantime I'll try and do some more stuff like this.

Free Download of a little taster track!

Well, Stew and I are still working through the mixing for the album but because you've been waiting for something (anything!) from us for so long (my drafts folder tells me we started in 2008) we thought we'd give you a little taster for free.
Hils and I have been playing a version of Josh Ritter's excellent song Monster Ballads for a couple of years now so we've recorded it and it's free to download.
It won't be on the album but it's been recorded and arranged at the same time so it does give you a good idea of the kind of stuff we've got coming.
But anyway, cut to the chase, you can stream it on myspace here:
http://www.myspace.com/blindddrewsmusic
Or download it free from thesixtyone here:
http://www.thesixtyone.com/artist/blinddrew/settings/album/edit/20691/#/s/o1S33EpWLM1/
and soon we will get it sorted on to the mainsite as well but i'm a bit of a luddite and need a bit of help there.

Oh yes, and while i remember, feel free to stick it on limewire, bittorrent or any other file sharing site you like. Digital Economy act my arse...

Hope you like the song
cheers
Drew

New Song

just a quickie for you today, i have, as you will have deduced from the heading of this piece, written a new song. Written, played through once, then straight into the phone and published.
Here is the song what i wrote: