12-19-09 Chili Dump

This day last year was our early Christmas celebration with the Ackermann family. Instead of a traditional turkey dinner, the family does what is affectionately known as the Chili Dump - everyone brings in a pot of chili. Because what's better than chili for dinner? Three different kinds of chili, that's what.

My nephew Shane (who was in 8th grade when this was recorded) is the co-writer and co-performer on this one. With a song title like 'Chili Dump', it would be a crime if the song didn't have a hot trombone solo in it. Thanks, Shane!

Shane and Snuggie.

11-18-09 Did It Taste Bad, Pa?

This will take some explaining.

During the course of the Intiman show (Abe Lincolin in Illinois), I came to memorize large sections of the text. (I was onstage for about 80% of the show. I played music for about 10% of it.) The language was very colloquial, and bits of this antiquated dialogue would get stuck in my head.

I got the idea to record a bit of dialogue from every member of the cast - just a word or a catch phrase, if they happened to have one. (The only exception was Langston, who played fiddle during the show, so it made sense record a sample of his playing.) The idea was to make a sort of aleatory piece, a la The Books, something that incorporated these bits of text into a musical form. One of the young actors in the show, Hannah, speaks a line as Abe's son, asking him about the medicine used to treat a sick child. I discovered that the way she said the line had a very distinct melody. That's how it all started out. Throw in a dance beat, and it pretty much writes itself.

I don't expect it to make much sense to anyone not involved with the show, but for me, it's hilarious and awesome. Thanks to the cast for making this weird piece happen.

9-11-09 Cheeks On The Glass

Uh-oh.

This one's kind of terrible, but in a really fun way. This was recorded in the Portland Hilton with Sarah, on our anniversary weekend. We'd been listening to a lot of Serge Gainsbourg on the way up, and it spawned this. The title actually came first, thanks to an unfortunate photo taken in our hotel bathroom of, well, cheeks on glass. Use your imagination. Or don't.

4-15-09 Mr. Destructo

About two years ago, I borrowed my friend Paul Gude's video camera. He lent it to me with a caveat - I had to record an album of his songs. He made it very low-pressure as far as the end result of the songs. "You can just beat on a bucket if you like" was an exact quote by Paul of the liberties I could take in the endeavor. He sent me lyrics and sound files to about 12 different songs.

By the end of 2008, I'd completed exactly one song. Every time I saw him, he was all, like, "Hey, how's my album coming?" And I'd be all, like, "Mumble mumble yeah I'm... uh..."

At some point, I decided that the Song a Day project was the perfect opportunity to complete the album. So during the course of the year, I revisited all of the lyrics and wrote new music for them. So Mr. Destructo is the first in a series of collaborations in order to fulfill my contractual obligation. It was great writing songs for these lyrics - Paul is a mad genius. Check out his stuff here.

4-12-09 Jared's Rhapsody

This one's cheating, but I'm still going to count it.

We had gone on to visit my aunt and uncle in Los Altos in our California vacation. My cousin Sid's son Jared, who was nine, was learning guitar and fascinated with Garage Band. So, with my help, he created this piece. He picked out the samples, and played the tasty guitar lick. Link!

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?"

2-16-09 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.

1-26-09 Maggie and Milly and Molly and May

alright, I cheated a little bit on this one. The lyrics in this song are an e.e. cummings poem. I could write songs to cummings' poems all day. Whilst looking for an appropriate image for this, I found out (to my chagrin) that I'm actually not the first person to set this poem to music.

Here's the full text of the poem:

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea