2-28-09 No More Risky Pinches of Salt

During our Half Brothers retreat last year, we watched a lot of the old Flatt and Scruggs TV show that aired in the 50's. It was sponsored by Martha White's Flour. In between scorching bluegrass numbers would be long-form ads for different Martha White products, which always included the catchy tagline, "Goooooodness graaaaaacious - it's good." This particular sponsor segment inspired the song I wrote that day.



Shaky backups provided by Rick.

2-27-09 The Butterstrut

Rick contributed the vocals to this one. Recorded during a Half Brothers retreat in Port Townsend. We came up with the title first as a confusing thing to shout out to a pretty girl if you're a construction worker. "Hey, Butterstrut, how's it going?"

2-26-09 A New Song

Uh-oh.

2-25-09 Hot Water Shoes

If I could make these, I'd be a millionaire.

Or I'd at least be revered by my sweetheart forever. She gets toe cramps in the middle of the night on a regular basis. She wears socks to bed. She uses a hot water bottle, but has to keep her feet in one (awkward) position to keep them warm. So my invention would essentially be hot water bottles you can wear on your feet. They'd probably look something like Crocs.

If anyone wants to sink some capital into this idea, let me know. Seriously, we're going to make millions. And this will be the jingle for our product.

(thank you, Garageband loops.)

2-24-09 Margaritas and Viagra

This title was provided by my wife. She had an encounter with a maintenance guy where she works on a Friday afternoon. After a small amount of obligatory niceties, he volunteered (unbidden) what his plan was for the evening, involving - you guessed it - margaritas and viagra. Thus a song was born. I imagined him as smarmy and full of chest hair, lost in the swinger-encrusted 70's. Sorta like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.



A fun song.

(Song a Day 2009 does not endorse the mixing of these two contolled substances unless you are seriously groovy.

2-23-09 A Song I Sing Before I Go To Bed

Not to be confused with CSN's classic. Another late-night entry. One day I'll learn.

2-22-09 Don't Worry Sarah

An a cappella ode to my wife.

2-21-09 Good Night Sleep Tight

Hey look, another song called Good Night Sleep Tight! Clearly, many of the songs I made in 2009 were made shortly before going to bed. With this one, the "Awesome" boys were sleeping in the same house for our retreat, so I had to be especially quiet.

2-20-09 Your Face

This one was made kunjabunja-style at an "Awesome" retreat (i.e. written and recorded on the spot). Random silly vocals contributed by the boys.

2-19-09 Lizard On A Stick

A jingle for the latest taste sensation. There was an "Awesome" retreat coming up to start throwing around ideas for West, and for some reason this is what came out of me in thinking about it.

2-18-09 Subdued

A nice little classical guitar piece. An interlude, if you will.

2-17-09 Feel Like I'm Gonna Die

This one's fun to listen to for me. I recorded it lying in bed with some of the worst stomach pain I've ever had in my life. Had to have Sarah bring the computer over to me because I couldn't get up. That's how committed to this process I was.

2-16-09 Wild Game

This is yet another song for the Half Brothers' Epic of Gallus Domesticus show last year. What's here is a couple unfinished scraps. The lyrics are actually written by fellow Half Brother Rick Miller, and this song did find its way into the show. Unfortunately, I don't think we ever made an audio recording of the final version of the song. It's a star-crossed lovers song between the hero, Gallus, and a Wild Game Hen. Very touching and absurd at the same time.

2-15-09 Mandouke

This one has a pretty ukulele melody that could actually turn into something good. As it stands right now, it was a bit of a rush job.

2-14-09 Here's Where The Party Begins

...don't let it end. Link!

2-13-09 2-13

A list song that details notable persons who share my birthday.

(By the way, I wasn't born in 1976, as you're led to believe in the song...)

2-12-09 I Swear My Dear

Contrary to what you might think after listening to this song, the accordion is not my primary instrument. Weird, huh? I bought this accordion from a friend for $50 several years ago, and, unlike a fine wine, it has not aged well. It's clunky and wheezy and clicky, all at the same time. (If I were still writing a song every day this year, 'Clunky, Wheezy, and Clicky' would be today's song title.) However, it's marginally better than not having an accordion, so it gets used once in a while...

2-11-09 Lake City's A Shroud

In the two and a half years we lived in the quaint burg of Lake City, it became clear to us that we were in a mini-convergence zone in the city of Seattle. Whenever there was snow in the region, our neighborhood seemed to bear the worst of it. We'd consistently get a couple more inches than Capitol Hill (which is about five miles from us), and the snow wouldn't melt until days after it had melted everywhere else.

Additionally, we lived on a steep street that often be closed during these snowfalls. We got to count the cars that would attempt to drive up the street, spin their wheels madly, and careen back down softly into the snowbanks.

This song was written during one of those periods. It's amazing how the snow could temporarily convert what was kind of a crappy neighborhood into a place of wonder and melancholy. hmm.

2-10-09 A Little Box

For some reason, the vocal effects on this one always made my computer crash while I was mixing it.

2-9-09 Westward Home

Another West-themed song. A little on the earnest side. Might have been more interesting if I'd called it Westworld Home.

2-8-09 Never Been

I'm trying to reserve judgment for the majority of these and let you decide for yourselves which songs you like and which you don't. This one, however, I really like.

2-7-09 Coraline

So far, of all of the new 3-D movies that have exploded on the screen in the past couple years, Coraline was the most engaging and used the technology best. (Yes, yes, the day-glo forest and floating waterfalls in Avatar were cool.) I think it was the textures that really blew me away. Even though the script was flawed in some ways, it was the experience of those textures that kept me coming back; I wanted to wrap myself in that movie like it was a blanket. Anyways, this instrumental captured the enveloping creepiness that is Coraline.

2-6-09 Hey Hey Dashiell

Okay, I'm pretty sure that for this one, I was trying aggressively to write an annoying song. Mission accomplished!

2-5-09 Sweet Pea Rocks

One of my many day jobs is teaching music at a preschool in Seattle called Sweet Pea Cottage. Every year there's a big auction to raise funds for the school. Last year, they put together a video to give to all of the families. They needed a theme song for a montage of the classrooms in action, so I volunteered my services. Theme songs I can do. Be prepared for happy shininess!

2-4-09 Party Like It's Yesterday

hmmm. well, okay, then. wish I could at least claim responsibility for the bitchin' harmonica part. that repeats. over. and over. again. thanks, garageband. sigh.

Guess they can't all be winners.

2-3-09 Four Thirty AM

An ode to the pleasures of insomnia. I imagine that once this blog hits the big time, Sunny Day Real Estate will be banging down my door to cover this song. Or maybe not.

2-2-09 Ukulele Requiem

The ukulele has saved my sanity on a number of occasions. It's portable, it's fun, and it's surprisingly soulful. On days when I was out of town in 2009, the uke and my laptop traveled with me so I could soldier on with this project.

This piece is more film soundtrack than song.

2-1-09 Lewiston to Clarkston

Last year, "Awesome" embarked on our latest venture, a show we're calling "West". When we started out, westward expansion was our jumping off point. Everyone learned a lot about Lewis and Clark. This song was inspired by that jumping off point. It turns out Lewiston and Clarkston are walking distance from each other.