Wasatch Front (lyrics)

Left my desert hometown when I was just a child
spent some time on the San Fran line
yeah I spent some time out in the wild
Flew out to Wyoming, singing home, home on the range
High mountain plains, yellow grass and sage
shouldn't have felt so strange

Arizona marriage and some Arizona kids
Under an old saguaro is where my wife's heart lives
Still spent every summer--and I guess we always will--
Out here in the shadow of the everlasting hills

Along the Wasatch Front, everything is easy
On the Wasatch Front I'm home

Walking down the canyon to the valley of my birth
I've never seen the grass so green
anywhere else on earth
Standing at the graveside now of David Ray and Bee
Grandpa was a thinker
Grandma taught me to sing

On the Wasatch Front, everything is easy
Along the Wasatch Front I'm home

Pappa used to say, "Cache valley is the most beautiful place in the world"
I'd agree, it's a sight
But seeing my dad with my two little boys
and my mom with my sweet little girl
It's like I said-- Everything's alright

Along the Wasatch Front, everything is easy
on the Wasatch Front, I'm home.

Summer songs

Summer is fading. Tomorrow I'll be traveling back to Illinois with my family and Wednesday I'll be back at work. But today I sit on the couch at my parents' house in American Fork trying to relish it.

I think Jon and I did pretty well on our summer challenge. Jon may not be done, but we have, right now, four songs each. Enough for a short album's worth of material--and EIGHT more than we might have had without a challenge.

This last song from me was written over the last 10 days here in Utah. The melody started one morning in the shower and I filled in words whenever I could--sitting at church, in the car on the way North, whenever...

The song, for me, is a sweet one. I haven't lived in the same town as my parents for 12 years, but whenever I'm in their home, I can't help but feel home. This is a song for them.

Wasatch Front from Only Anything on Vimeo.

Here's a YouTube link as well for those of you who have trouble with Vimeo: Wasatch Front

Amusing toddler cinematography

Here is the post as promised, but it's not what I thought it would be. Listen for "that's Sally's dress" and "what's going on?" as she puts her fingers over the lens.

Speak Your Mind from Only Anything on Vimeo.

It's hard to keep promises. I may have to adjust the goal to 10/2.

I haven't dissappeared totally

At the beginning of the summer I promised regular updates and even though most of you are probably not thinking too much about my lack of submissions I will give a brief update. It has been difficult to fit music into my busy summer schedule, but I'm not backing out. I have some great ideas going around in my head and a few partially recorded songs so don't give up on me. This weekend you will see some proof. Somehow I will present to you 7 more songs before the first day of Fall. I just figured out that although email and facebook are justifiably blocked at work, good old blogger is not! My lunch break is over now but check back by Monday for new songs!

imaginary break-ups

A few months back I tried to write an album in 30 days. It didn't happen, of course, but I did get several song ideas that have ended up working for summer.

Funny thing is, they are all wintery songs, and they're all about fading, troubled relationships. And though they are simple, 3 and 4 chord songs--I'm proud of them. I think the melodies are pretty strong, but mostly I'm proud of the stretch outside my own experience.

I'm a happily married man. But these songs--"My Last Mistake" "Old Psychosis," and "Don't Ask" (see below) are about people breaking up--or at least people who have encountered significant love-challenges. Tina and I are a normal couple--we have the occasional disagreement and even less occasional argument. I tried to take some of the feelings of those circumstances and put an exponent on them. The results were kind of sad songs (though "Old Psychosis" is actually more cynical and therefore kinda funny) about the prospect of going it alone.

When you listen to the song in this post and "My Last Mistake" of a few weeks ago try to think of the coldest February day you can summon up. You're in an empty house or a lonely cafe and you've just lost the love of your life.

Don't Ask from Only Anything on Vimeo.

For those of you with Vimeo problems, the video can be viewed on YouTube here.

I recorded this one in ONE take. Despite the few chord errors and words flubs, I decided to leave it. Tempo is also something that is in the air here--I tried to speed it up a bit, but maybe the tempo's a little too fast (I didn't want it to be a 6 minute song though). What do you think?

I should also say that when I first imagined these tunes, I was listening to a lot of Bon Iver.

Where all the stories go

Why do we love movies and books? because sometimes our lives are so boring or messed up or depressing that we need an easy temporary escape. That's the whole idea of this song, I was particularly thinking about books though. Most of my songs and most popular music aside from jazz has a straight eighth note pulse. There are many exceptions though, one that sticks out in my mind is "Lonely Place" by Goldfinger. It has that swung feel, some call it a shuffle. This song has that rhythm, I think it brings out the carefree feeling I'm going for. The recording is pretty loose, partly because I recorded it quickly and partly because my skills on the drums are not very precise. On all the tracks I used either the first or second take and I'm pretty happy with the end result. I have to be because summer is moving fast and with very limited recording time, I've got to make it productive.
Enjoy:
Stories
click to go.

Weezer Medley: July 1997

Here it is--do you see you in the audience?

Weezer Medley from Only Anything on Vimeo.

OA Summer Song Series 09: Stone's "Old Psychosis"

Old Psychosis from Only Anything on Vimeo.

Here's my second summer tune. I've followed JT's lead here by posting it as a video and not an audio recording. The video option makes it a relatively quick process (though you have to make it through the whole song without messing up--which I don't quite do here--and it was at least a 6th take.)

This song was, like "My Last Mistake" started back in February as part of the RPM challenge. But whereas "Mistake" was pretty much done then, all I had on this one was the traditional blues chords and the first verse "Is there a gamma ray in your nightstand..."

This isn't the first bluesy flavored song I've written--I have another one that will for now only live on in our minds called "the letter" that we recorded back at the Thanksgiving "pie tunes" jam. My hard drive crashed in December and I lost the song which is tragic not because it was an incredible song--it wasn't. What makes me sad about it was that we had all kinds of guest players on it. Brothers-in-law Chad Adams and Trevor Thompson played guitar (that Chad can wail out a blues solo!) and Dave Bertoglio played a mean harmonica on it. :( Sad that it's gone, but we'll have to redo it sometime.

Anyway, hope you like this one, it's got some mistakes and some lyric issues to work out (though I'm ok with the fact that the title is "psychosis" and the actual lyric is "psychoses"-plural). Favorite part? Well that would have to be:

"all you wanna do is play me. betray me. cliché me, delay me, gamma ray me"

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised pt2

So, while you don't get much of us making music in this clip, the activities captured therein were no less important to the album-making process. I for one can't get enough of teenage Mat, floppy Joe, hopelessly nerdy JonStone and ever-focused (on his Chilito) JT.

Here's the blurb from the Vimeo video description:

Later on December 19, 1994 when the boys take a break from the rock and drive around town listening to tunes, illegally taping the inside of a Taco Bell, and hanging around a drainage tunnel. All the while, they discuss the "process," make inside jokes and Cure allusions, and enjoy a lovely December day in Tucson outside of the Sauna.

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised pt2 from Only Anything on Vimeo.

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised

I'm very excited about what follows. In my archive exploration, I came across some amazing footage of the band as we recorded our first album in December, 1994.

I love this footage because it, as most good documentaries do, catches us doing what we loved to do: hanging out and making music--and doing it in our natural habitat. Gone is the posturing for an audience and, as you'll see more in later parts, the performances are intimate and really quite good. There's a lot of teenage noodling with the camera too, which is kind of fun. Another huge plus is the screen-time increase for our best bud and drummer (and brother!) Joe, as well as cameo appearances from Steve and Andy Hunt and Mindy (Hatch) Richins.

The Making of Pleasantly Surprised pt. 1 from Only Anything on Vimeo.

I am still planning on putting out that Weezer medley I promised, but also look for the next parts of what may be the best video footage we have--The Making of Pleasantly Surprised: a documentary in several parts.

Happy Birthday, Jon! You're all growed up!