I love making new songs. I love the feeling of getting a new idea and imagining where it can go. Often I’ll get next inspired through studying a scale or chord voicing. It can be one or two notes that triggers something in my mind that that will later blossom into a fully formed song. The biggest factor in this process is in me being open to “hearing” the idea in the first place. It’s almost like having a net out in the water to catch fish, but this net is in my mind, open to catch ideas.
Category Archives: Music
Marvin Gaye
My mom had a great record collection. While I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s she’d play a lot of the “crooners” (Frank Sinatra, Glenn Yarborough, Dean Martin, Neal Diamond, etc.), some jazz (Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Glenn Miller), a ton of R&B/Soul (Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind and Fire, Issac Hayes, The O’Jays, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Blood Sweat & Tears, etc) as well as a bit of rock and country (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash).
But it was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album that made me realize that music really is something special. Between Marvin’s beautiful voice and powerful lyrics, James Jamerson’s fantastic bass playing, the arrangement of the songs and their production, this album left an indelible mark on me. To this day it still moves me at the deepest level.
Thank you, mom, for bringing such amazing music into my life.
Art Boutiki
Had a great time playing at the Art Boutiki’s open mic last night. For those that have never been there, I think it’s one of the best sounding rooms in the area and has a great vibe about it. The open mic happens once a month and you can find the schedule here.
Music Sketch #54 “Further” – Repost
Repost of music sketch/song idea “Further” with video edited to the track.
Video footage taken while visiting Venice, Italy in 2017.
Music Sketch #56 “Foothills” (Keeley Dark Side pedal test)
Music Sketch of a new song idea I came up while testing out the “Dark Side” pedal from Keeley Engineering that I picked up from Vision Guitar recently. Super cool pedal from a really cool shop!
Video made from shots we took at a nearby park this morning.
Music Sketch #55 “Perception”
MusicSketch of a song idea I came up as part of a assignment in the Hans Zimmer Scoring Class on masterclass.com.
Music composed in Logic Pro X, visuals captured in iTunes and then assembled in iMovie.
Music Sketch #54 “Further”
MusicSketch of a song idea I came up with in the middle of a study session the other day.
Photo taken while visiting Venice, Italy.
Music Sketch #53 “Someone Somewhere”
MusicSketch of a song idea I came up with after watching the documentary about the Tragically Hip called “Long Time Running”.
Photo taken while visiting Venice, Italy.
Music Sketch #52 “Window Seat”
MusicSketch of a song idea I came up with after getting back from a recent trip to Europe.
Photo taken during flight out of SF Bay Area.
Music Sketch #51 “The Duke”
MusicSketch of a song idea I came up with noodling with my cool new Jazzmaster that I put together as part of the SF Guitarworks custom guitar workshop. Thanks to Geoff at SF Guitarworks and Matt at MJT for all their help.
Photo taken while playing with our dog, Duke, at Scott Creek Beach, CA.