Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Performance week continues: A double header!!!

Performance week continues with a double feature performance by yours truly, Grunt. First off, I was asked by Rawbean in the last post comments what my influences are and my answer is simple: Jesus. Well, it is hard to nail that one down, but what I listen to doesn't always show up in my own music. Bob Dylan, Beatles, and Neil Young are givens, but guys like Jonathan Richman, Chris Bell, Robyn Hitchcock, Nick Drake, Gordon Lightfoot, Todd Rundgren, and Gram Parsons are definitely high on the list of things that I find creeping into my thoughts when writing songs. I'm leaving out a ton here, but this is what came to mind.

The first song "Losing It Again (For The First Time)" is one that came to me when I was mowing a lawn back in 2006. I had a strong creative streak that spanned from 2002-2007, especially in the middle. Anyway, the chorus came to me first and the rest just fell out of the sky when I went to record it. What is it about? Well, the concept is fairly clear and is about rediscovery. The story must of came from Satan. Yep.

The second song is "Words". This was another song that was written fairly close to the previous song. My rhythm hand is anxious on purpose because the mood should not be regretful, rather, it should be worried. The song and lyrics are like a nagging thought that has no resolution.

Oh, one more thing, I got to use a "star wipe" for the transition between clips. My life is now complete. Enjoy!

6 comments:

Outdoorsy Girl said...

Four thumbs up!!! (You know two thumbs for each performance!) :) It amazes me all over again to actually SEE you perform the songs. Now I gotta get out my Gruntalicious CDs again! Actually, you're on my iPod so...

Thanks for giving me the heads up on your postings! And thanks for sharing your music with us! :)

vera said...

I remember when I first heard "Words"... I loved it then and I love it now. Your voice now does sound different but I like it... The whole song has a bit more maturity to it's sound than before...
xxx
<3 vera

Christielli said...

A new LOLcats header! Awesome.

If starwipe is good enough for Ned Flanders' video dating tape, it's good enough for you, huh?

I like these performances. Well done! Whatcha gonna follow performance week with?

The Grunt said...

O-Girl~ Thanks! It was a while back that I did those CDs for people and sometimes it is hard for me to listen to myself. I'm always trying to figure out what I'm doing right or wrong, but to hear you say that you enjoy what I do makes me doubt myself less.

Vera~ See, there comes a time in a boy's life where he experiences changes. One of those changes comes to his voice;) I have been wondering how new songs that I plan to write will sound in comparison to these older ones. We'll see and I will make sure you get to hear them.

Christielli~ You really do get me, with my Simpsons obsession. The cat painting was from a kitty litter add that I just had to take a photo of with my phone. As far as what to follow performance week with, I dunno? I do have one more song performance in the can that was supposed to be a part of the week, but I forgot. I will have to post it sometime soon. I want to do new stuff for y'all.

Jules said...

I think the best part about your performance week is seeing you put the amount of passion into your music as you do. I love watching your body language while you're singing.

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

I'm so jealous of people that can play music. I'm determined to learn to play something. I got a violin last week but my Vivaldi didn't sound anything like the one on the CD. Stop being so proficient, and making me feel bad about myself... you musicians and your "star wipes"... bah!