Here's one of the brighter moments from my CD release show in July: Dennis came out from behind the drum kit to play the conga and sing with Laurie K. and I on Holding Back. It's pretty awesome how the occasional three-part harmonies carry the song along. Definitely a high point of the evening!
Scott Andrew - Holding Back (live at Egan's)
[audio:live/Scott Andrew - Holding Back (live at Egans).mp3]
Unfortunately, most of the live audio I got from the show was not great quality. I've salvaged a few tunes but I'm still working my way through it all.
By the way, there are less than ten free copies of Love My Way left. Grab 'em while you can.
UPDATE: the September contest is over, and Holding Back finished at #5 out over 550 entries, which should hopefully put me in serious contention for that opening act slot. Mission accomplished! Thanks again for your help.
Mongol General: Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.
As a rule I don't enter song contests or "battle of the bands" anymore, because 1) most of them are outright scams, and 2) I don't like begging people to vote for me. You and I, we have better things to do.
So it's with some squirming trepidation that I refer you to Ourstage.com and my song, Holding Back, which at the time of this writing is #3 out of over 500 entries.
Why am I telling you this? Here's why:
I don't really care about winning the contest. All I care about is keeping Holding Back in the Top 10 or so.
Why? Because I'm in the running for a chance to open for Matt Nathanson when he comes to Seattle in November. They're basically going to look at the top ranked singer-songwriters and pick the most suitable artist for the gig. Being the only Seattle-based guy in the Top 20, I think I have a really good chance.
So yeah, I'm asking for your help. The catch is, Ourstage is righteously, outrageously fair and doesn't allow mob rule. You can't just vote for my song and then skedaddle away. Instead, Ourstage will randomly serve you two songs, and you "judge" the best of the two.
Lucky for you, it's the quarterfinals! Which means there are only 20 songs to vote for. So the chances of Holding Back popping up for you are very very high. But even if it doesn't, it's important that you still judge fairly, the idea being that Democracy In Action will float the best songs to the top.
So here's what you do. Go here, sign up, then go here and start judging songs. It's actually kind of addicting (I've done it a bit myself). If you see Holding Back, vote it up, yay! If not, just keep judging until you're bored, hungry or your boss comes wandering by.
It's become a joke that any cover song I perform will be scooped up by a more famous artist. When Laurie and I were performing as the Walkingbirds, we used to play Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," which was cool until people started asking if I'd heard of this Jeffrey Gaines fellow, and wow his version of "In Your Eyes" is just awesome, so we must be like total fans or something, right?
Anyway, I'm not sure what the brothers Butler had in mind when they wrote this tune. All I know is it's been stuck in my brain for months, and it's my moral imperative to appall hardcore fans with my baby-soft treatment of the best pop tune of '82, and I must do it before Death Cab For Cutie does.
Why is this a clip? I thought you hated clips.
Yeah, about that. This is a cover song, which means I had to buy a license, and that license only allows downloads, not streams.The license also limits the number of downloads, so at some point the links below will stop working. Sorry, gotta play by the book on this one.
Just like the last tune, the 128k version is free to Demo Clubbers, and the 320k version can be had along with acoustic and instrumental versions for one US dollar.
Scott Andrew - Love My Way
[audio:misc/Scott Andrew - Love My Way (30 sec clip 128k).mp3|no_dl=1]
[mp3:/misc/Scott Andrew - Love My Way (128k).mp3|100]
Buy MP3 bundle for $1 (17MB ZIP file, 320k, includes bonus acoustic and instrumental versions)
Congrats to my internet pal Brad Sucks who released his new album Out Of It today. I'm rocking out to it this very moment. "Bad Sign" alone is worth whatever price you're willing to pay (and you can name your price).
I've taken a lot of inspiration (as well as stolen ideas) from Brad over the past few years and we've had email conversations about the ups and downs of being a DIY musician. I consider him part of my virtual peer/support group, so to see him charging out of the gate with Out Of It makes me wanna cheer and jump around.
So hey, I'm releasing new songs on the web again. Yay! Here's one I wrote early this year, and in an uncharacteristic display of patience, even played live a few times before I recorded it.
I've had the chorus lying around for years, but it never became a song. One day I was noodling around and came up with the opening guitar riff, and the rest of it came out in a day or so. I recorded most of it in an evening, and then walked away from it for two weeks so that when I came back I'd forgotten all the awkward performance details, and all the layered guitars had melded together like the flavors of a really good lasagna left in the fridge for a night. Lasagna made with noodles of bittersweet clarity and tomato sauce of quiet resolve.
I'm also trying something new here: besides the free 128k MP3 download, you can also get a ZIP file containing a higher-quality 320k version of the song, an acoustic version, and an instrumental version, all for a measly dollar.
Think of it as a single with bonus tracks. BOOM, I just blew your mind.
There's even some artwork to go along with this track. Click the image above on the right to download it to your desktop, then throw it into iTunes or whatever. (Here's a tutorial I found.)
Lyrics after the jump. Enjoy!
Scott Andrew - You Promised
[audio:misc/Scott Andrew - You Promised (128k).mp3]
Buy MP3 bundle for $1 (17MB ZIP file, includes acoustic and instrumental versions)
You've got a jealous heart
you don't wanna be a part
of anything you didn't have from the start
'cause you said so
And we are a broken toy
unfit for a girl or boy
refusing anything that could bring you joy
'cause you say so
and you and I are working through something
yeah, you and I are working through something here
you promised me that things would change
but you and I, merely more of the same
yeah but I can learn
to stand without you now
(but I still fall down sometimes)
I'm learning to hold my tongue
don't wanna be outdone
you see it in the faces of everyone
I suppose so
a sky full of winter gray
I've been underneath for days
but you could feel it coming from miles away
with your eyes closed
and you and I are working through something
yeah, you and I are working through something here
you promised me that things would change
but you and I, merely more of the same
yeah but I can learn
to stand without you now
(but I still fall down sometimes)
You've got a jealous heart...
you promised me that things would change
but you and I, merely more of the same
yeah but I can learn
to stand without you now
(but I still fall down sometimes)
you promised me that things would change
now you're up in the air
now I'm out of your way
yeah and now I've learned
to stand without you now
(but I still fall down)
Last Saturday I went to a friend's benefit show at the Sunset Tavern, and among the bands playing was Duff McKagan's band Loaded. Duff played a Les Paul goldtop, which I covet and continue to covet.
Fame is weird. The band was actually pretty great, straight up rock. But I have to admit that part of the reason I squeezed in closer was just to be within ten feet of That Guy Who Played Bass on Appetite. I've never been a huge GN'R fan, but geez, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon basin have heard "Paradise City" at least once.
It's weird seeing someone so famous so close up, doing something totally different in a different context. When I used to go to SXSW, this kind of thing happened a lot. Already-famous people would debut their pet projects at SXSW, and sometimes you wouldn't know until they took the stage. (Here's a tip: look for too-wacky-to-be-real band names in the program guide.)
Anyway, I guess it's a unique kind of cognitive dissonance.
My CD release show for Save You From Yourself was pretty fantastic. We packed the house, and Suzanne and Dennis were brilliant. Man, I could totally get used to having a band. I'm waiting on more photos, video and audio so I'll post a more thorough recap later on. But in general: wow! If you were there, thanks for coming, hope you enjoyed it. (Hat tip to Maggi, who snapped this pic from the crowd.)
This Friday I'm the musical guest at A River And Sound Review, a local live literary arts show. I'll be performing some tunes in between readings by Tacoma's poet laureate William Kupinse and 2006 National Book Award finalist Jess Walter. I guess I should wear some nice shoes. Admission is free, but if you're not a WA local, shows are archived as podcasts on their website.
I've also started recording some new stuff, but you know how that goes.
Thanks to Jessica for using my song More Good Days in her LIS 460 Student Podcast. Remember: if you've used my tunes in your podcast, let me know so I can link you up.
The July 2008 issue of the Victory Review, a magazine that covers acoustic music in the Seattle area, has an almost frighteningly positive review of Save You From Yourself. You can download a PDF from the website. Thanks, James!
Speaking of which: if you have a copy of Save You From Yourself, please consider writing a short review of it at Amazon. Customer reviews are pretty awesome for convincing new people to try out the songs, and it's an easy, no-hassle way to help out the DIY rockstars in your life.
Sam tipped me off to the fact that my new CD is gracing the cover of the latest Disc Makers catalog. I had totally forgotten that I'd agreed to let them do this months ago, but I never thought they'd put it on the cover. Funny thing is, I don't think I get the catalog anymore. (Update: ooops, link above was broken. All fixed now.)
Full props go to Scott Mongrain who did the camera magic, and thanks again to all the CD contributors, without whom there wouldn't be a fancy CD package to begin with.
The July 2008 issue of the Victory Review, a magazine that covers acoustic music in the Seattle area, has an almost frighteningly 