Yeah, but What's the Song About?

You can now buy the digital download of Ghost Notes the Audio Book at CDBaby.

And please listen to "Incident," download it for free, and pass it on to friends and family.

I really don't care what most songs are "about."

I've always believed that pop songs are, first and foremost, about the feelings they evoke. When I hear one of my favorite songs, I get a weird chill, and something pleasurable happens in my head. Nothing said about the song should take away from that experience.

When songwriters talk about what their favorite songs mean, I'm usually disappointed. I respect artists like Dylan and Babb, who seem preternaturally opposed to revealing even a shred of what their songs are about, or what they might mean. It's probably better that way.

So I'm going to violate this rule with my new song, "Incident", which I just released for free at my ReverbNation page.

I violate it because it's a story I tell when I play the song live, and it seems to add to, rather than subtract from, the enjoyment of it.

The song is about a conversation I once had with my friend, we'll call him Bob.

At the time, Bob was two things that he really didn't believe went together.

He was 50, and he was single.

So, if it's the 21st century, and you're fifty and single, and you don't like it, what do you do?

Why, you go to match.com, of course.

So, Bob signed up with match.com. He had to select a "radius," or how far he was willing to travel to meet with that special someone. He chose 20 miles and got a list of 15-20 possible women within that radius.

He went through each of these women and, for one reason or another, none of them worked out. They were all too this or too that, and his communications with the few he contacted didn't go so well.

So, what do you do when you can't find a love connection within your radius?

Why, increase your radius, of course.

So, Bob increased his radius to 50 miles, and he got a new list.

But none of those ladies worked either.

So he started getting crazy with his radius. He went to 100 miles, then to 200, then to 500.

Pretty soon he was getting emails from women in Michigan, in New England, in Austria, in Southeast Asia.

So, "Incident" is about Bob's experience with match.com, and about increasing your radius.

Give it another listen and see if it makes more sense.

If you want it to make more sense.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the novel or brand new audio book.



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel

Ghost Notes the Audio Book Sample Up!

Get ready for Ghost Notes in Audio Book!!! It's coming your way June 15th!!!

In case there was any doubt 80s music kicks ass:



Somebody get me that drummer's number.

Finally, I have some Ghost Notes audio for you.

After four months, I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. All of the words have been recorded and most of the chapters have been edited. Now all I have to do is finish editing, get the files mastered--which involves applying some compression, which, thank God, Mr. Hartley knows something about--chop the files up into 3-4 minute segments, and get the files to CDBaby, who will run the show from there. I'll be so glad when it's done and you can hear the whole thing.

But you don't have to wait to get a sample!

I've posted a snippet from the first chapter of Ghost Notes for your listening pleasure at my MySpace Audio page. Come on over and take a listen!

As you might imagine, it's a pleasure, and a bit surreal, to have your characters come to life in this way. I'm thrilled with the results, but I'd be curious to know what you think, especially if you've read Ghost Notes. Does it sound the way you thought it would? How does it compare to other audio books you've heard?

You are my core readers--yes, you--and I'd like to know your thoughts. So don't be shy. Leave a comment or shoot me an email/message.

Also, this sample is supposed to be available as a free download, but MySpace made a change recently to their layout and damned if I can figure out how to download. If you download it, please let me know.

And get ready for Ghost Notes the Audio Book, unabridged, in TWO WEEKS!

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes



Buy Songs from Memory


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix

I'm 40 Today.

Get ready for Ghost Notes in Audio Book!!! It's coming your way June 15th!!!

Yes, as of today, I'm old.


I've never had much of a hang-up with the idea of being 40. I've always held fast to the notion that I'd peak--whatever that means--at 45. The rest of my life is just screw-around time. Hell, I've got five years before I have to straighten up.

In recognition of my 40th birthday, I'm passing along another nugget to you for your aural pleasure. This one is another live cut from my show at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta last year. Shalom, soundman extraordinaire, had our trio dialed in but good that night, and Mr. Hartley doctored the recording a little to make it sound even better. Come hear a live version of "I Don't Know Right Now" at my MySpace Audio page, where you'll find lots of other stuff, too. You'll be glad you did.

Also, I've booked another Portland gig! I will once again play the Twin Paradox coffee house in Sellwood, this time on a weekend night, Friday, June 12th, from 8 to 10 PM. This is an all-originals show; I'll play pretty much everything I know that isn't a cover. Mark your calendars now for Friday, June 12th, from 8 to 10 PM. Free show!

Finally, I'm hoping to find someone who'd like to accompany me for this gig. It can be any second instrument. Another guitarist is the obvious choice, but it doesn't have to be. If you know of someone in the Portland area who might be good at adding a little melody to my songs, please let me know at ae[at]artedwards.com.

That's it for me. I'm off to Ashland to enjoy plays, hiking and food. Yes, life after 40 isn't so bad.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes



Buy Songs from Memory


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix

The Price of Freedom

First of all, Jon Grayson was kind enough to post our radio appearance on the KMOX Web site. Interested? You can stream it here.

Radio Show

I want to talk about free mp3s.

I like to give away free music, as evinced here and here.

(These offers are still good, by the way. Send me an email with "Birds Sing" or "Nickel" or both in the subject line, and I'll send you mp3s of "Birds Sing" and/or "Nickel." I have another free song, an outtake from Songs from Memory, I plan to give away later in the year. Stay tuned.)

But I don't like to give away everything for free. There are things, like Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory, I can't afford to give away for free.

In casual conversation, I've even been known to suggest that CD replicators offer the option to make your CD un-copy-able. The buyer can't download the songs, or duplicate them, or put them on his iPod or iTunes. You buy a CD, you can play it in your car or on your jam box or on your computer, and that's as far as it goes. "There's got to be a scrambling device that could make this a reality," I've said. "They do it for DVDs." If you want an electronic version, you can buy that too, but with some limit on how many times it can be replicated, if at all. I think iTunes does it this way, even if they don't like it.



In the last month or so, I've found a few people who disagree with me. At one point, one guy referred to me as "Lars," as in Lars Ulrich, the drummer of Metallica.



Another guy said there's no sense in employing such a scrambling device, since people can always put a mic up to a speaker and record it anyway.

I did my share of this back in the day, or a similar thing.

The old "play/record" option on the jam box.

When I was 20 years old and first moved to Arizona, I had two Memorex cassettes with a total of four Talking Heads albums on them. I drove around the Valley all day, doing one of my many driving-related jobs, listening to those two cassettes. When one finished, I replaced it with the other.

It was my favorite part of going to work, listening to those cassettes over and over again.



So here I am, 18 years later, claiming to have stolen Talking Heads records and claiming to have listened to them over and over again for free and claiming to have loved every minute of it, and yet I talk of making my CDs so they're not replicatible.

What a hypocrite, right?

What's the difference?

The difference is, I never once had to worry whether Talking Heads would survive my two blank cassettes to make another record.

The Talking Heads were doing just fine; there was never a chance they wouldn't make records together, as long as they wanted to make records together.

(After a while, they didn't.)

Not so with the independent recording artist in 2008 (if ever). If we enjoy Dead Hot Workshop's new record, or John Austin's new record, or Stephen Ashbrook's soon-to-be-released new record (I've heard it; get ready), we probably should pay for it.

Metallica? Who cares? Go ahead and steal 'em, baby!

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Art

From "Nickel" to the Refreshments

First of all, thank you, Jonathan Lethem, for bringing some attention to the much-ignored form of the rock novel. Everyone who's interested in reading more novels dealing with this type of subject matter should send a message to traditional publishing by buying You Don't Love me Yet.

And guess what? Lethem also has music to go with his book! Take a listen here.

Of course, he’s not the only one.

Today I want to take you from the band origins of “Nickel” to the beginning of the Refreshments. As you may or may not know, “Nickel” was written long, long ago by a band called the Solemines. The Solemines, consisting of Tim Anthonise, Jim Gerke, Dan Lancelot, and me, were regulars in the Tempe music scene circa 1990-1991. We led off for the Gin Blossoms at the Sun Club and elsewhere. (Incidentally, the Gins paid $75 for their lead-off acts back then. I wonder what they pay now.) After a change of drummers, the Solemines continued for a short time in the basement of drummer Dustin Denham’s house, circa 1992. This second incarnation, which we ingeniously called “Solemines II,” never played a gig, but within the batch of material from this period are some of my favorite Solemines songs. “Nickel” is from this batch.

For years, it killed me this music was never played for people, much less recorded. Scratchy practice-room takes were the only proof the songs ever existed. I’m sure many of you have band stories about the songs that got away. “If only you could’ve heard them.”

Well, now we can hear at least one of them, and maybe someday we’ll record more.

When Solemines II disbanded, Dusty and I remained in contact, and eventually we got the lead singer of the Solemines, Jim Gerke, to come over and goof around with us in Dusty’s basement. This new musical act, which we called the Hanson Brothers--not to be confused with the real band called the Hanson Brothers from Canada--had a decidedly different take from Solemines II, or Dusty’s previous band, the Mortals. We were a bit sillier, a bit more tongue-in-cheek, and we certainly weren’t afraid to embrace our less-than-cool side. (Our most popular cover was “Don’t Tell me you Love Me” by Night Ranger.)

The Hanson Brothers played out maybe six or seven times, leading off at places like Papillon’s on Apache in Tempe. (We were supposed to lead off Christmas night at Hollywood Alley, only to be told at the door there were too many bands on the bill and we couldn’t play.) We managed to secure a New Year’s Eve gig in 1992 at Papillon's, leading off for the Phosphenes, and that was the extent of the Hanson Brothers’ penetration into the Tempe music pantheon.

Early in 1993, as the Hansons waned, Dusty, still itching to play, offered to call the lead singer of his previous band, the Mortals, who had just gotten back from an extended trip to a place called Taipei, Taiwan. I had reservations. The Hanson Brothers hadn’t officially disbanded, even though we’d all but ceased to practice. I was also working hard, and well into my senior year at ASU; I didn’t have a ton of time to dedicate to a new project.

Still, Dusty persisted, and in April of 1993, I relented.

Next week, hear about this exciting new band’s first practice.

Art

Nickel

It happened. I'm still a little shaken up by the whole thing.

The boys laid down the law in the studio last weekend, and for the effort we have a recorded version of “Nickel,” the theme song of Stuck Outside of Phoenix, to enjoy for eternity.

“Nickel” absolutely would not be possible without the talents and selflessness of four people.

Tim Anthonise of Gloritone

Jim “Jimmi G” Gerke

Scott Hessel of Gloritone

Tony Robinson of Wahalla Music

All four endured next-to-no pay, bad pizza, and daylight savings time (even though we were in Arizona), so we could all enjoy this tune. If you haven’t already, check out Fainter Farther Still. I doubt you’ll be disappointed. And do you like alt country? Then you’ll love the Wormwood Brothers.

And guess what? The whole thing was so much fun it got us (well, me) jabbering about doing more recording next year.

So, are you ready for lift-off? Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, "Nickel".

How do you get a copy of “Nickel” for your very own? Oh gosh, it’s so easy. Simply email me, and write “Nickel” in the subject line. Not only will you be sent an mp3 of “Nickel," but you’ll be added to my email list. (If you suspect you’re already on my email list, write “I’m already on your email list” in the contents section of the email.)

That’s it. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Art

New Birds Sing, Free Download

The Refreshments prided itself on being something like a democracy. Everyone had a say in band issues, and we all participated in songwriting. That’s why it’s a little uncomfortable to talk about which band member wrote which song. The short answer is, we all wrote them. Still, if put against a wall, I could come up with a single writer for most of the Refreshments tunes. The songs I “wrote” were “Carefree,” which is on our first record, and “Birds Sing,” which is on our second.

“Carefree" cemented itself early as a staple of the band's set and identity. It was one of five songs we played at our first practice. It was also the lead-off song for the band’s first few months of shows. I never worried whether it would have a place on our first record.

I had no such gimme for our second record. As we rehearsed new material for the record that would become The Bottle and Fresh Horses, I tracked songs on my four-track recorder at home. Eventually, I came to practice with eight songs, none of which found favor with the band. I realized that if I was going to have a song on our new record, I would need to come up with something good, and quick.

I wrote “Birds Sing” in about fifteen minutes. (Where these things come from I’ll never know, but it was out there, and I got it, so it's mine.) I took it to our next practice, played it on acoustic for the guys, and by the grace of Yahweh I had a song for our second record.

Now, I’ve demoed a new version of Birds Sing for posterity. It’s called “Birds Sing Redux,” and you can listen to your heart’s content at my MySpace Music Page.

As a bonus, I’d be happy to email you a free copy of “Birds Sing Redux,” but I need you to do two things for me. First, subscribe to my MySpace Music blog at my MySpace Music page:

MySpace Music Page

Second, email me your name and where you live. I’ll add your name to my email list and send the mp3 of “Birds Sing Redux” to you as an attachment. Put “Birds Sing” in the subject line, and I’ll know what you want.

That’s it: blog subscription, an email with your info, and you’ll have a copy of “Birds Sing Redux” in your inbox by the next morning. Sound good?

Art