Beauty & Chaos Behind The Veil
This week my friend, Dirk, sent me a copy of his new album, Behind the Veil. I listened to it. The album is good. It was produced by my other new friend Mike Rozon (who's going on tour with Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell). I met Mike through Dirk. And I met Dirk thru Phil Thomas Katt, who co-produced my last album, Bait & Switch.
One song that stands out from the album for me is Orion. Go here to listen to Orion. Sung by Whitney Tai, there's incredible emotion in the vocals, the drums breathe, the guitars are textural, and the bass holds down the fort. Keyboards are padded. Overall the song has Goth elements and I dare say some Led Zeppelin "Cashmere like" underpinnings. There is real sonic artistry across the entire album. Go get a copy of it today before all the vinyl is gone. I was very lucky to get mine and I shall frame it. When I go out to California, I'd like Dirk and Mike to sign it for me, if they can.
It is funny how there's beauty in all this chaos. Ciravolo and Rozon have worked with folks from Ministry, Cheap Trick, Van Halen and many others. I hope one day to actually get a chance to meet Mike while he's on tour. I'm afraid I'll need to take time off and go to a NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention if that doesn't work out. Mike's a really good slide guitar player.
More chaos? I think it's time to get back to getting serious about my next bit of writing. Meeting inspiring folks always helps me. And the folks I've been meeting recently in music are inspiring me. I really am getting into just how fantastic the players are. If I can write a great song, then, can I perhaps help everyone along? I don't know. Hence, chaos.
More beauty? Rick Wallace and Larry Swartz, who've also played in just about every top line group around Pensacola, introduced me to a group called Ghost. Their single "Square Hammer" is defiantly worth listening to. The song blends a little spooky riff in D minor, has the tempo of a good A/C song, but is reminiscent of Dio's "Rainbow In The Dark." It has touches of piano, some fun like B-52's. What fun Ghost is. I suggest you give them a listen, too. Beautiful music isn't dead. That's awesome. Thanks Rick and Larry!
See just when you thought all was doom and gloom regarding new music, there is hope just behind the veil. There is beauty in chaos.
For a while I've thought about how to put Hook, Line & Sinker together. Dirk put some drums together for me to give me something to think about. And without trying to offend anyone, I'll likely try using his drum recordings to see what shakes out. If that doesn't work out, I'll lean on Rick's drums and see how that goes. This issue I'm running into is my music needs a little room to develop. So, instrumentation and arrangement are important. However, I'm not settled about where I want to go with the next EP. So, I'm really thinking about how to give you something special.
Where is my music right now? I borrowed a very good riff from Def Leppard, mixed in with a little Bob Seger. And that's given me something to work on. However, my mood is more reflective these days, so I might try for something more mellow. We'll see.
In the meantime, get a Beauty In Chaos LP and some merch.
Anyway, thanks for reading my blog. Just a little heads up is all. If you need some free downloads, go to my website and get them, OK? They're free.
Love and Rockets,