For three reasons, the subject of this Ohio Spotlight would probably surprise people that know me.  First, much of the music is country or country-adjacent, and that's not a genre I particularly enjoy.  (More on this later.)  Second, Lydia no longer lives in Ohio, having left us for North Carolina, and unlike Orville and Wilbur, her relationship with North Carolina does not appear to be solely for dunes and wind.  Third, she is famous.  Well, maybe not the kind of famous that means she can't leave her home for fear of paparazzi, but famous enough to have been the subject of a documentary, and successful enough of a musician to have been on Tiny Desk. If these are thoughts you might have had, I assure you that I get it... but when I first discovered the music of Lydia Loveless, she still lived in Ohio,... also, my blog, my rules, yes?

The first Lydia Loveless song I heard was "Same to You". Doctor Jipson played it on his Tuesday show on WUDR.  I think everyone can probably guess what I noticed first... yes, the bass.  Before the vocal starts, in the instrumental vamp intro, that bass line moves around and the groove had me right away.  Then the loud/quiet dynamics of the verse and chorus... the big voice... the harmony vocals in the chorus... the interesting panning of the electric guitars.  One listen, and this song blew me away.  I remember not having any idea who this was... but thanks to Dr. J's habit of tweeting about the songs he is playing, I quickly found out.  (Keep that up Dr. J!)  "Same to You" was the lead single from the 2016 album Real.  I loved this song so much, listened to it nearly on repeat for a few days... also enjoyed the rest of the album.  I never got a chance to see the band live, but you know, there are plenty of good examples on YouTube.  Here's one. How great is that performance?  

Does that sound like a country song to you?  Me neither.  This song was very much right up my alley... so much so, that I started digging into Lydia's earlier albums... and yep, there's a lot of country there, and it was surprising to me.  I did end up listening to her entire catalog, but Real ended up being my favorite collection of songs.  That said, genre aside, there is some great songwriting on all of her albums.  (Also, how many country artists write love songs using 19th century French poets as a point of reference?)

Back to "Same to You" briefly... and we'll use this as an example of why I feel like I have a great deal to learn from Lydia Loveless, and also why I feel like we have a great deal in common as songwriters.  Check out this solo performance. The verse is only two chords.  For the full band version, that gets kind of obscured in all the cool stuff going on... but this... with just an acoustic guitar and that powerful voice... this is how the song was probably born.  Simple song, but outstanding lyrics, the bridge is in a perfect spot and does a perfect thing, and the melody is brilliant.  Now, I don't play guitar, and I don't have that voice of course, but I write on a piano with the end goal in mind of having full-band renditions of my songs, so there are many things I can learn from Lydia's approach.  Craft your lyrics. Craft your melody.  Simple is ok.  Pay attention to arrangement. Write from the heart. (Another thing we have in common is we both love Chris Cornell's Euphoria Mourning album, which was the subject of an earlier blog entry.)

Go listen to this songwriter's music.  If you enjoy country music, maybe start with The Only Man or Indestructible Machine and work your way forward through her catalog. If not, start with Real, which is where I started.  

For Squirrels - Example

This album came out while I was in high school.  I loved the lead single, and remember watching its video quite a bit on MTV, but by the time I got my hands on the album and listened to the entire thing, there were six or seven songs I liked even more.  Front to back, this is an album I always loved.  

Tragically, a van accident killed the lead singer and bass player shortly before this album was released, so this band remains rather obscure.  I remember in my early twenties always being surprised when I would meet someone who also had this album.  Usually, if someone had it, they were just about as enthusiastic about it as I was.

Example reminds me of my youth, gone many years ago.  It reminds me of longtime friends,  many of whom are gone in different ways.  It reminds me of driving down 35 or 270 or 33 to go hang out.  It makes me wish I could write a song that makes someone feel the way that "Disenchanted" still makes me feel all these years later.  It makes me wish I could write something with the brilliant simplicity of "Eskimo Sandune".

Also, these lyrics from "Under Smithville" have taken on different meaning for me than they did back in the day:

"And I've been feeling so old / Tell me now who you think I am"

What's this?  It's not Monday.  Yes, I'm a day late.  I got sick on Sunday with the beginnings of a nasty cold, and it hit me full bore yesterday.  Ok, with that out of the way, welcome to a "Songwriting Story" edition of my blog... oh, but there is a twist.

I want to tell you the stories behind the songs on Defacing the Moon, which is the split album out on Local Music Day from me and The Paint Splats. However, I wrote five of the songs on this split album.  That would be an awfully long blog entry, and even the three people that read this every week probably aren't going to sign up for several thousand words, right?  

Here is what I will do... I will verbally tell you stories about writing these songs.  In fact, I will do one song a day beginning with Monday 4th November.  That day, by the time the evening of Friday the 8th rolls around (this is the +1 bonus day for "Local Music Day), you'll have a story for all five songs.  I'm going to use my Instagram page to do this, specifically the stories section.  If you're not following me over there, please do so.  You can click the link in the previous sentence, or the one at the bottom of the screen on my website here.

To quote a Mel Brooks movie, "Everybody got that?  Good."

In order to give you a peek behind the curtain at my songwriting process, I'd like to tell you about my second attempt at the 5 in 5 Song Challenge.  I have written about this challenge in a previous blog entry, so this time, I'll skip explaining the big idea and get straight to the songs.

Day 1, 14th October 2019.  Prompt was to use at least five of these ten words: creek, orange, cider, make, gather, cotton, oak, spinning, poured, without.  Amplifier bonus (which I don't recall being part of the challenge the last time I participated) was to use the chord progression Dbm, Fm, Eb7.

I'm proud of what I managed to write for this one.  I started with the chord progression, as I figured that would be the hardest part.  It was.  If you're not a musician, let me tell you that those three chords are kind of creepy and ominous sounding when used in sequence.  I structured my verses for the song around them, and managed to use all ten (!) of the words, which I believe is a first for me.  Here's the thing... using those specific words, but making it seem natural and not forced... that was tough.  All told, there is one part here that I will re-write.  I didn't like the melody I used in the bridge, so will go back to work on that.  Other than that, I think the rest of the song will stay as-is, and I'll be adding it to my live repertoire next month.  

Day 2, 15th October 2019.  Prompt was to use the following idea as a starting point:  It has to come to an end, before it can begin.  What is it?  (If that sounds to you like something Seneca might have said, well, you're not the only person who thought so.)  Amplifier bonus was to use a minor 4 chord.

For this one, I did not write fresh lyrics.  Rather, I used lyrics from my collaborator, Ruth.  She had lyrics that needed music, and when I saw the prompt, I remembered these specific ones, as I thought they fit.  Lyrics in hand, I wrote the music, which I found to be rather easy this time.  I mostly write in minor keys, and if you write in a minor key, your 4 chord is automatically minor.  Easy as pie.  From reading some of the comments in the group, I might be the only person who understood the amplifier this way, as a few folks asked for clarification, and the clarification was to take a major 4 chord and change it to minor... but that's not what the prompt said.  Maybe the default assumption is that people only write in major keys?  

Day 3, 16th October 2019.  Prompt was to use "Harvest Moon" as a song title.  Ick.  Amplifier bonus is to write in a key you're not comfortable in.  

Well, I'm not really comfortable in any key that requires me to use more than just the white keys on a piano.  I'm not a competent pianist by any means, so I feel all warm and fuzzy writing in A minor.  For this one, I wrote the song on bass instead of piano... and I wrote the verses in G minor, but the chorus in B flat major.  I leaned toward snarky and humorous for the lyrical content.  I think this song is the best one I wrote all week, and I plan to record it next year and get it ready to release in time for fall.  I'll be playing it in public starting next month.

Day 4, 17th October 2019.  Prompt was to use at least five of ten given words.  Now, I don't have the complete word list (oops), but here are the ones that I used: older, settle, calling, pocket, strong, resist.   That's six.   Amplifier bonus was to use this chord progression: F, G, Cmaj7, Am.

That chord progression basically told me to write the song in A minor, which as I mentioned above, is my warm & fuzzy key.  Ok.  I wasn't too thrilled with the list of words, but no matter, I got to work.  I used the fantastic closer from the album The Blinding White Of Nothing At All, "All You Really Want Is Love", as inspiration.  The main songwriter, John Davis, is a strong influence on my songwriting.  Now, the song in question (please listen to it) sounds like it was written in a major key, and I wasn't about to do that, but I did write the B part of the song to have a slight major key feel.  I wrote it in second person.  I also followed a similar structure. A B A B outro.  

I wanted to write a song that I love as much as I love most everything on that record, and I fell short of that goal.  However, I like what I came up with enough to add it to my live setlist starting next month.  It needs some light editing, but there is potential here.  I also feel that this is a good song for We Met In Paris, so I sent it over to Ruth.

Day 5, 18th October 2019.  Prompt was to use the following idea as a starting point:  she is strong as an old fallen tree, but hollow inside.  Amplifier bonus was to change key during the song.

This time, let's start with my overall goal.  I wanted to write a Guided By Voices style song.  I did that just a little bit on one of the songs from the last time I did this challenge, and after editing, it ended up being called "Huns of Doubt", and you will be able to get your hands on it soon.  This time though, I didn't want to use any non-sequitur chords or a crazy time signature.

Beyond GBV, I think of the Wright Brothers and aviation when I think of Dayton.  Transportation terms popped into my head.  I thought about calling it "Propeller", but that's the name of an early GBV album, so no, can't do that.  I thought about the airplane imagery in some of their songs and album artwork... then I decided to call the song "Submarine".  Boats are called "she" by sailors, right?  Submarines are strong, and hollow inside.  Ok, title achieved.  For the lyrics, I used terminology related to submarines as a metaphor for a break up.

Musically, well, doing a key change is not new to me.  For Prompt 2 during this challenge, I wrote the verses in minor and the chorus in major.  If you remember "Harvest Moon", I used relative minor/major keys.  For this one though, I did something I've never done before... I just moved the entire thing a whole step up.  I tried to be clever doing this... I have some harmony vocals in it, and one of the harmony vocal lines, I keep it droning on the same note, before AND after the key change.  I think there is some potential here, and I might go to the studio with it next year sometime.

***

Summary.  Five days, five songs.  Three songs added to my live rotation, just as soon as I learn them well enough to play them from memory.  All of the songs will need to undergo a little bit of editing, but I don't foresee a major re-write on any of them.  I felt more comfortable doing this challenge than the previous one.  It would seem that all of the songwriting work I have been doing is paying off... I'm getting better at my craft.  That said, there is always always always room for improvement, and I'll probably jump on future challenges like this in an effort to do just that.

If you would like to hear these songs, I encourage you to sign up for my mailing list on the homepage of this website.  At some point, I'll be sending them as gifts to the folks who are subscribed.

Boyz II Men - Cooleyhighharmony

This album came out in 1991.  I was in junior high school.  I remember that you couldn't get away from the two hit singles on this record.  The more upbeat of them, "Motownphilly", had a video that was on MTV all of the time... you know, back when MTV played videos.  Four young black men, well-dressed, and singing some tight harmonies over a hip hop beat.  I don't remember having heard anything like it.  The other ubiquitous single, "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday", was sung a cappella in four part harmony, with finger snaps being the only percussion.  I didn't know at the time that this was a cover.  What a fantastic choice to do a rendition of this song like this and put it on the album.  Maybe the album doesn't go nine times platinum without this song.

To do my due diligence for this blog post, I went back and listened to this album again.  It sounds very much of the time period from where it came, but it still sounds good.  

Those of you who remember this album might think that I have forgotten to mention "End of the Road", which was another single that you couldn't escape from hearing.  Well, it wasn't originally on this album.  It was a single produced for a movie soundtrack, and it did so well, that the label put it on the re-issue of Cooleyhighharmony that came out in 1993.  (The re-issue contains a fantastic a cappella rendition of "In the Still of the Night", and I remember wishing I could sing like that.  I mean, check out the glory of the nineties in this video.)

Listening these songs again takes me back to wandering the halls of Central Junior High.  I am also reminded of my younger brother, who loved this group and this album.

On the heels of the Breeders show came Dayton Music Fest.  This is an annual music event mostly featuring bands from the Dayton orbit, but also including some touring artists.  Nathan Peters put together a great lineup of talent representing different genres.  I saw lots of great music, including a group I wrote about last week, and I don't want this post to be several thousand words, so I won't tell you about everything I saw.  How about three things?  That's a nice, easily digestible number, yes?

Let's start with The Mulchmen.

This is a surf-rock band, and their pieces don't have lyrics.  (I find that I can't bring myself to call them "songs" if there isn't any singing.)  Many years ago, I heard their music on the radio on a local music show, but never got a chance to see them play.  Their drummer, a very beloved and respected musician in Dayton, passed away... this is over twenty years ago.  When I learned that Nick Kizirnis would have The Mulchmen make their glorious return on the Dayton Music Fest bill, well, I was all in.  Lots of other folks were all in as well, this was the biggest crowd I observed at Yellow Cab on the evening.

That's Jim MacPherson filling in on drums in the picture there.  If you can't see it from the bass drum, you might recognize him from another Dayton band.

Ok, moving on.  How about some fake news?

Specifically Seth Gilliam and the Fake News.  This was only my second time catching one of their sets, and I didn't even catch the whole set.  (This is a hazard of Dayton Music Fest... there is so much good music spread across multiple venues, so there is no way to see all of it.)  Their songs are well-executed and played with enthusiasm.  If you want a sample, they have a music video, but it's a little frightening.

On to my personal favorite part of the weekend... the return of Captain of Industry.

This is one of my favorite music groups of all time.  It's just a bonus that they're from here.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might remember me writing about them in the first Ohio Spotlight post.

For this show, they brought some additional firepower.  Joseph Remnant came all the way from the West Coast to play some rhythm guitar and sing some harmonies.  (Those of us who have followed this band for awhile remember when he served as the bass player for a bit.)  You can't see him, but Tim Krug is way in the back there on your left (stage right) beside the drummer, making additional keyboard noises.  We got a six-piece Captain Of Industry.  You can only see one of Kevin Oldfield's arms, but I assure you that both of them worked just fine, and he brought his typical Johnny Greenwood-esque fireworks.  You also can't see John Lakes holding it down in the back, but we could all hear him nail those interesting drum parts and sweet sweet harmony vocals. 

They played songs across their entire discography, and although their set was cut short because they took the stage late, everything they played was spot-on.  It's like they never left.  
 

Dayton Music Fest.  Two days of music for only 20 dollars.  Hard to find a better deal than that.

MOIRA is Aaron Hardy, Alicia Grodecki, and Patrick Hague, if you list them alphabetically by first name.  These are three musicians whose relative youth belies their experience.  Punk, metal, pop, extensive touring... these are the things you'll find as you look into their past.  All of that experience combines to produce art that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Inventive rhythms from Patrick behind the drum kit, including the occasional drum pad being triggered.  Thick synth and sturdy bass lines from Aaron, on the audience's right.  More synth, Rhodes, and vocals that oscillate between delicate and strong from Alicia, over there on the left.  Songs that are carefully constructed and given time and space to develop, to breathe, to surround you.  

MOIRA is one of my favorite artists around these parts right now, and the only thing I would ask of them is to get us more records.  Please.

Their first EP, Asleep/Repeat/Awake, came out in 2015.  They have a brand new release that just came out a couple of weeks ago.

You can catch them playing shows around Dayton, and also around the Midwest.  If you haven't gotten a chance to see them yet, and wonder what they are like live, well, I recommend their excellent performance at the Paste Magazine studios in New York.  Watch it here.

It occurs to me that this blog post would certainly fit in my Ohio Spotlight category, as well as under the Concert Review category.

Levitt Pavilion is a open air concert space in the heart of downtown Dayton.  Think of it like a very small amphitheater... there is a stage, a small area in the front with concrete, and a large grassy lawn that extends outward and upward from those first two areas. This space has 50 free concerts each year, in an effort to build community through art. Their schedule of artists is diverse, with all sorts of genres represented.  I am fairly certain that the most recent show this past Saturday was the highest attended they have had, as thousands of people packed the lawn and even overflow areas in the back.

The Breeders are the reason for the crowd. They were introduced to the crowd as "platinum recording artist, The Breeders".  This is a rock band with albums that have received high critical acclaim.  One of the albums contained a single whose video was in heavy rotation on MTV, back when MTV still played music videos.  The Breeders went on the road with Nirvana for multiple tours, and have played all over the world.  They are from Dayton, Ohio.  One could consider this a homecoming show.

This was my first experience seeing The Breeders live.  Back when you could catch them in the friendly confines of Canal Street Tavern, I wasn't into local music yet and was too young to be going to shows.

You can check the show setlist here, but I'll mention a few songs that were personal highlights for me.

The Breeders opened the show with "Saints", which is my favorite song from their second full-length album, The Last Splash.  The second song was "Wait in the Car" from the 2018 album All Nerve.  After briefly basking in the raucous applause, Kim Deal acknowledged that the band is from Dayton, and then mentioned that there are some other bands from this town... and then they fired off their GBV cover, "Shocker in Gloomtown".

Daylight turned into twilight, and twilight gave way to dark.  During this time, The Breeders played all of "the hits", and many other songs from across their catalog.  They gleefully engaged in banter with the audience, which contained many of their friends and family members.  Kelley said "I was born right over there", before looking around to get her bearings, and then pointing in the direction of Miami Valley Hospital.  Both the Deal sisters and Jimmy Mac name checked several Dayton suburbs and neighborhoods before closing the main set with a song that was specifically for Tipp City.

Personally for me, a bass player, the evening ended the only way it could... with Kim Deal playing bass on a song she wrote while with Pixies.  The set closer was "Gigantic".  When I was first learning to play my instrument, I spent a lot of time with Pixies albums, trying to learn Kim's beautifully simple bass lines.

After the final song, the band said their goodbyes, and again expressed their thanks at such a large turnout.  Kelley made her way to the front of the stage, shaking hands and giving high fives to the folks in the front ranks, many of whom seemed to be friends.  Jim encouraged the crowd to further support local music by heading a few blocks East to attend the first night of Dayton Music Fest (where he would be playing the following night during the triumphant return of The Mulchmen).  The band surely received "a big big love" from the community.  I was thinking that this was exactly what someone had in mind when making Levitt Pavilion a reality.

I've been working hard in the studio, supported by Patrick Himes and a rotating cast of other Dayton musicians.  I've already mentioned that I have a split album coming out on Local Music Day.  I have five songs on that compact disc.  That left 20 songs.

20 is a lot of songs.  From that group, I've decided not to do any tracking at the moment on 3 of them.  I either want to give more consideration to the arrangement (looking at you, "Podiacide") or try to improve the lyrics (this means you, "Let's Go"), or perhaps even do a complete re-write (this could be you, "Rock Show").  Ok.  20 minus 3 is 17.  

This is the group of songs from which I will attempt to put together an album that will take you, the potential listener, on an adventure.  Some of them are finished... mixed and everything.  Some of them have drums and bass tracked, but need the rest of the instruments.  Just three of them are still waiting on me to record a bassline.

I won't pretend to know when I'll have this ready for release... but it certainly won't be this year.  More updates to come.

I have a vegan sister-in-law.  As a present to her, I made reservations at Le Potager de Charlotte when we went to Paris in the spring.  Note that I am definitely NOT vegan... but this place is fantastic, and even if you are an omnivore, if you happen to be in Paris, I recommend you stop by.

First, it's a family run restaurant.  There are two of them... one is in the 17th arrondisement, and the other is in the 9th.  One of the co-owners greeted us at the door and was also our server.  I like to support small businesses, especially the kind where the folks who own the place put so much work and energy into their restaurant.

Second, the food is outstanding.  Here, have a look at the menu. Note that some things on the menu change, based on what kind of vegetation happens to be fresh and in season. 

I started with the chickpea and rice crêpes.  (A side note to the folks at Le Potager de Charlotte... I'm an anglophone, and personally, I think it sounds strange to call these "pancakes".  Sure, they're thicker than your normal French crêpes, but I feel that your English-speaking customers know what a crêpe is without needing to translate it.  Just my opinion.)  You can see a picture of this starter on their website.  That cashew cream filling... wow.  It tasted fatty and cheesy, and the espelette powder on it added just a small background spiciness.  This was outstanding.  As you can see in the picture, it was served on some mixed salad.  No complaints about this course.  For my second course, I had another entrée, the avocado.  This is where I wish I had taken a picture.  It was basically a riff on a hard-boiled egg... but this is a vegan place, so the avocado was standing in for the solidified egg white.  The substance that made up the "yolk" was a deep yellow color, no doubt due to turmeric... and also a creamy and fatty mouth feel... see, this is the challenge with vegan food to me... how to make up for the taste and texture requirements where animal-based fats traditionally exist in a recipe.  These folks were super successful doing so.

I had small tastes of what my wife and her sister had ordered.  One of them got soup.  It was good, but could have used more salt. I forget what the other one got... suffice it to say that every bite I had was delicious.  Again, let me repeat... I am NOT vegan.

As for dessert... well, the description doesn't do it justice.  The picture doesn't either, but here it is anyway:

Coconut whipped cream... and the texture was fantastic.  Roasted hazelnuts.  Beautiful flowers (yes, I ate them).  Chocolate powder.  Under all of that stuff was this substance that strongly resembled chocolate mousse... turns out they make that with avocado... they need the fat for the right texture... but you couldn't taste avocado, it tasted like chocolate mousse.  This dessert was delicate and flavorful, and I would eat it again any day.

Wonderful food aside, let me tell a brief story about our arrival experience in order to show just how great the folks were here.  The day we had this reservation was our first day in the country, and I made the reservation at a normal French dinner time (read: very late for your average American) in order to force us all to be awake and active all day so we could sleep well that first night and beat the jet lag.  Well, through no fault of my own, we were running quite late to dinner.  No worries, I called the restaurant and told them that we would be late.  See, the restaurants are small, so if someone misses a reservation, that costs them money... they combat this by charging your credit card if you don't show up.  Well, when I called from the phone of the apartment we had rented, I managed to call the wrong location.  They are a small enough business that they could handle this... the very nice lady who I talked to said she would pass the message along.

Fast forward.  We are late, and we take Métro line 12 to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.  Now, I've been to Paris many times, and know my way around some parts of town very very well... well enough that on more than one occasion, I have been able to give directions to actual French people.  This part of town is not one of the ones I know.  I had never been to this Métro station, nor had I been to this part of the 9th.  When we exit the Métro... chaos.  It's one of those odd French intersections where multiple roads converge in a less-than-logical fashion.  On top of that, there is construction.  On top of that, the street signage leaves much to be desired.  We get lost.  I am not often lost in Paris, so this was frustrating.  We wander one way, and when that clearly is wrong, we wander another way... and then I decide to wander into a local hotel to ask for directions.  The folks in the hotel are not familiar with this restaurant, and are also not familiar with the street it is on... but I was able to point out to them on one of their hotel tourist maps where I thought it was, and they were able to tell us how to walk in that direction.  Ok, finally headed the right way... and from that point, it's only about 15 minutes to get to the place.  We get there, and we are so late... very much later than we had possibly foreseen.  We're so late that they have locked the front door, as they're not letting any more folks into the restaurant.. However, upon seeing us, they open the door and ask if I am Mike.  I say that I am and explain that we got terribly lost getting there on foot, and profusely apologize in the most respectful French I could summon.  The very kind co-owner gentleman who I mentioned before lets a sigh of relief and immediately shows us to the table that had been reserved for us.  We received a fantastically warm welcome.

To sum up... food outstanding, service outstanding, experience unforgettable, you should go here if ever you are in Paris.