AMERICAN BRIDGE (and other original songs)

These are all rough Demo recordings of my original material (except for "Spoonful" and "Never Walk Alone"). On all of these songs, I am playing all of the instruments (except for the occasional violin). I am not a musician, per se, but I set out to create an eclectic catalogue of interesting sonic material. Most of these songs came out of practice sessions. I would pick up the guitar and come up with a song. I wrote and arranged all of the parts to each song and wrote the occasional lyric or two. I play all of the guitars and other instruments including the bass, synthesizer/beat generator, djembe, oud, bonsuri, sleigh bells, wood block and drums. Most of this material was created spontaneously and quickly with little or no rehearsal. many of these songs seemed to come out of thin air, and in some cases, the recording here is the only time the song has ever been played. There are some great moments and some rough spots. The goal, musically, was to avoid sounding like every other Rock and Roll band/musician out there, and to spontaneously create songs that I enjoyed listening to more than once. This music is entirely me (except for the violin). In order to play all of the instruments myself, and in order to give the album a fresh "live" feel, I quickly play each part and do all of the vocals in one or two takes, often making it up as I go along. The lyrics are often minimal for the sake of expediency. The Korg Pandora has a simple drum machine which I often use to lay down a backing beat for the initial guitar, bass, or drum track (depending on where I begin composing each song). I may then add some hand drums, vocals, some bass, or some other instrument (recording each instrument in one or two takes). Each part is recorded very quickly and then quickly layered together with basic video editing software. Many of these songs were recorded in less than an hour, from start to finish. In fact, the rendering of the video often takes more time than the actual recording of the music. Despite the fact that I am not really a professional drummer or guitar player, my music is all about drum beats and guitars. It is pure Rock and Roll, full of a range of tones and lots of harmonics. Harmonics often create a sonic illusion where the listener hears other instruments that are not there or the guitar sounds like it is layered or multi-tracked when it is not. On a lot of my material, the guitars produce a ton of harmonics, even at a relatively low volume. Despite the poor production quality (especially in the mixing of multiple instruments), it was fun to create this album, and I am somewhat proud of it. Enjoy! AMERICAN BRIDGE (12 songs on the Album) Goodbye Lou Awaken Spoonful Stupid Fool In and Out I Would Love The Heart That Has Truly Loved Beautiful Burnmarks Drum and Piano (Interlude) Who You Are We Know Dreamers Remorse American Bridge