Cowrite Session with William Blake

I've had the chance to write with some great lyricists in the past, but this weekend was especially unique. I was able to write with someone 200 years my senior. At first I was, like, "What could this old fart have to say?" (a sentiment, no doubt, similar to what most people think when they first hear my stuff..) But he had a really good idea, so I decided to give him a go.

He was pretty firm about his lyric. Really firm... Wouldn't budge. Turns out a lot of people like his stuff, so there seemed to be zero motivation for him to change it based on my pithy observations. (For instance, I asked him, "Don't you think some of the verbage is a bit old fashioned?", and he replied "Go pound sand, Timmy. Take it or leave it.")

I have to tell you, though, the lyric was short, concise, and convicting from the first time I read it, so I decided to do the good Elton John - Bernie Taupin thing, intent on not changing a thing... staying true to Bill's original message.

And a great message it was to me. It clapped like thunder and shuddered through to my foundation, causing me to pull out some old seasoned 2x4s, a hammer, and nails to shore up a few timbers. (although, I must admit I still have a few cracks to repair.)

All said and done, though, I went into the studio on Sunday and recorded THE GARDEN OF LOVE. Bill even insisted that the title remain un-altered. I repeated the first verse without his approval, though. I haven't heard any complaints from him... yet.

Enjoy.

Tim

Click here to hear it on my myspace page.

Shadows Feet

Currently reading THE GREAT DIVORCE by C.S. Lewis. More amazed every time I turn the page.

“Reality is hard on the feet of shadows”

Nightmare

So my normally serendipitous relationship with my Mac was less than pleasant this past weekend. I upgraded to Leopard and it was not a fun time.

In Leopard’s defense, it was my fault.

I inserted the disk and said upgrade. The first thing it does is verifies that the DVD is good and it started scanning the disk. It became apparent that that step was going to take 20-30 minutes and since it was a new disk I selected skip.

Well it started upgrading and hung.. as it turns out, there was smudge on my DVD, and my laptop is going on 4 years old, so I’m sure the DVD drive aint what it used to be.

Unfortunately, by the time it hung it had wiped my previous operating system and rendered my laptop inoperable.

Well, to make a long story short, I cleaned the disk and managed to upgrade my OS, but not able to “upgrade” as far as my existing system, files, and apps, and I’ve had to reload almost every app and email file... etc. Not a fun experience.

I AssUme-d the disk was good (and clean).. what can I say.

Now that its installed, however.. its great. I love SPACES to Pieces.

Tim

Light and Her Shadow

“Light and Her Shadow” was born on a flight to Nashville. I was flying down to do some writing with friends and co-writers. I was reading Seamus Heaney and saw an interesting phrase. I believe it was membrane between light and shadow.. and I loved the image that the phrase invoked. I wrote it down and started turning the phrase around in my head to see if there was something there.. I finally settled on Between the Light and Her Shadow... and wrote the phrase down.

Over the next few days in writing sessions I brought the phrase out and got this ‘deer in the headlights’ looks from my co-writers.. actually a lot of my ideas got the same look.. lol.

I had a great time on that trip and wrote a number of cool tunes.. but nothing using that idea.

We have this Blockbuster online account that floods us with movies whether we want to watch them or not. While that’s another journal entry, we had a Roberto Benigni movie the following week where he imagines his life without his love.. and suddenly the idea and the hook connected and “Light and Her Shadow” came together.

(Incidentally, there is a little more to the story. Originally the song was composed with 3 verses and a bridge...which is problematic as far as songwriting goes.. (named “In Between”) The current version was pared down from the original and currently has drawn some interest for use in television soundtracks.)

Enjoy. Thanks for listening (and reading)

Listen to Light And Her Shadow

Tim

Amazing or Crazy? Selfless or Self-Serving?

I think as humans we loose perspective very quickly. We take an amazing message and it becomes rote memory, sometimes losing its deep impact and becoming something we just memorize and mindlessly repeat.

For instance, we are certainly thankful for a Father who was willing to give up his only Child to save us, and yet, what would we feel towards someone we know who would do the same?

Would we doubt the purity of his motives.. would we pity him.. would we just say, ‘how tragic’. Would we question whether there was another way? Would we feel just how undeserving we are of such an action.

What if we were in the position to make such a choice for the sake of others? How would we choose? How would we live with the choice?

What an unlikely thing to do. Who could make up this story?

I think we often forget just how radical God's action was! How amazing it is.

I wrote a bluegrass lyric this spring while pondering this thought. I cowrote the music this summer, and Joel Lane helped me bring this one to life. Its actually going through a rewrite, but but I'd love to get your opinions. Hope you enjoy it.

Tryin’ To Get Them Clean

He's Singing a Song, Written For You

I sang at my church this weekend.. did a song called Unwritten.

I showed up and, having been cast at a different campus than I was rehearsed for, I quickly found out I needed to be singing a 3rd above my practiced part. I was good with it, except for the occasional high “Bb”. Should have warmed up before the run-through.. lol.

Anyways, the service this weekend was about God’s unconditional love for us, and it talked to the fact that many feel that God’s disposition towards us is extreme disappointment. For most of us, I’m sure, we can relate to that.

Scripture, however, says he sings a song for us! Since he’s pretty much a singer/songwriter, I have to conclude he wrote a song for us, as well.

How cool is that?!? Anybody else writing songs for you lately?

Do we fall short? Certainly. Do we do it often? Absolutely! Does it lessen His love for us? No Way! We can’t earn His love.. its just there! Bask in it. God’s pulling for you!

He’s singing a song written for you... and its beautiful!

Silent? Who me?

So, I’ve been kind of quiet lately. Not much to say. Not much to write. I go through this once in awhile. I used to get concerned. Not anymore.... Its a cycle for me.

I just got done paying fall tuition bills, and of late, I’m dwelling more on the ‘make-a-living’ part of my life, and during those times, creative juices get pinched off.

I’m working on mastering my catalog. I’ve heard from many people that they would like to purchase some of my songs, and while I’m not sure if there will be many who actually will.. lol... I’ve used the request to motivate me to do something about it.

Now let me be honest. I don’t consider myself a performer. As an instrumentalist, I envy the talent of others, as I’m pretty simple in my skills.

Vocally, I can carry a tune, but most of my songs would sound better with someone else singing... I’m not trying to put myself down, mind you, but there are much better voices out there.

I recognize, more and more though, that I need to perform more to float these songs I write over a live audience. Its the live reaction to a song that is the best gage of its ability to connect. When I write a song and record it.. all without ever playing it out for an audience, the odds of a song’s final version connecting with the listener fall drastically.

I’m working to change that. The first step is performing more. Another step in the journey is finishing the past songs for sale, and that’s where mastering my catalog comes in.

In the next coming weeks I’ll be releasing an EP of my latest tunes, and in the near future, I will be releasing some of my old songs. Many of you may have copies or access to these songs. I have them posted on various sites.

The new versions however, will be re-mastered, giving the songs much higher clarity and definition. As many of the older songs were recorded on old-school recording gear, this will be a challenge.. but I’m looking forward to rebirthing the old versions.

Look for “Nothing Special”, my new EP in the coming weeks.

Thanks all for your overwhelming support.

Tim