Creatvity

HarpSong

Original Music Release A Day #15

Here’s another original banjo piece, thought I’d just play another one live since that was fun the first time and y’all seemed to respond to it so well.  

This piece was written in the early 1990’s after encountering a group called Sileas at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. They had just released an album called “Beating Harps” and the sound of these two women singing and playing two harps together completely blew my mind. They were so tight in their picking and in their harmonies together and it made a huge impression on me.  I immediately bought their cassette (ahem..) and have been listening to them ever since (though I’m glad they’re on Spotify now). 

I took their inspiration to challenge myself to try and emulate the joy I heard in their music and this is what came of that.  This might very well have been the piece that sparked my mission to make the banjo not sound like a banjo, or at least to play it non-traditionally.  I loved working out the cascading lines and probably should have developed this more but I was so enchanted with the sound that I just kept playing what I had since it sounded like nothing else I had ever written at the time.

More about my COVID-19 we’re self isolating so might as well make the most of it with creative projects original music release a day:

https://www.ericgeoffrey.com/a-song-a-day/

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Blue Waters

Original Music Release A Day #14

Blue Waters

Spent some time snorkeling in the glorious waters off the coast of Belize a few years back, and the experience inspired this doodad.  I dug up some footage from some of the dives and they seem to go together well with this piece of acoustic guitar work.  Feeling so cooped up, it’s been really nice thinking about warm water and being outside.

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Glass Uke ditty

Music Release A Day #13

Glass Uke Ditty

This was a bedroom recording from 2012 of a theme I developed for ukulele. It’s very Phillip Glass and I recall that was my intention / creative challenge for the piece. Not much more to it than that, and it’s got a really chill vibe.

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StirCrazyCabinFeverReliever

Music Release A Day #12

StirCrazyCabinFeverReliever ~ Original banjo & bass

Not much more to this tune than it’s now been two weeks we haven’t gone anywhere except the local woods and our backyard and it’s a rainy day and everyone is starting to get a little stir-crazy.  Thought I’d take on a little recording project, because why not.

A couple of hours with a banjo, bass, drums, and a synth and I got so wrapped up in the project I forgot to hit record on the video camera.  

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5 Foot 2

Music Release A Day #10 ~ 5 Foot 2 COVER

I’m choosing to go with a cover song today mainly because it’s so much fun and we need up energy right now.  

In the months leading up to our wedding almost five (!) years ago I kept myself grounded and balanced by recording a series of big band and swing tunes.  It was a wonderful project and totally served to keep me from getting too wrapped up in the stress of wedding planning.  

The origins of this song are kind of murky, with earliest references to it around 1914.  According to wikipedia: “Credit for the most popular version of the song, though, is given to Ray Henderson for the music, and Sam M. Lewis and Joseph Widow Young for the lyrics. It was this version that was recorded by The California Ramblers in 1925.”

I’m fond of my version with it’s ukulele rhythmic foundation, a solid bass line, and playful lead guitar work ~ it was a hell of a good time to record this one!

And yes, I recognize the irony of using this picture of my wife in that dress alongside the lyrics to this song…

To the Video~ https://youtu.be/QgjBG_tl1Rc

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Angelic

or The Better Part of our Nature. Music Release A Day #8 ~ March 24, 2020

I was debating whether to share this recording from 20 years ago or to video me playing it this afternoon, and chose to go with the vintage version because there is something so jubilant about this piece and the original recording captures it’s integrity so well.  I love playing this piece so much because it’s impossible for me not to smile while playing it, and it’s an energy I believe we all need right now as this crises deepens and it’s ramifications spread throughout our lives.

This may not be the cleanest execution of this composition, but the rawness of it’s energy is what I really want to share today, so here you have it, another 12 string original, Angelic.

Listen to the piece: https://youtu.be/3Cs5g3pM9L0

About my Release A Day project: https://www.ericgeoffrey.com/a-song-a-day/

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Alchemical Reaction

Release A Day #6 ~ Alchemical Reaction

As I stated in my launch post, creating or birthing music has been a vital tool for me over the years to manage my emotional landscape, to give form to significant experiences, and to have a release valve for challenging passages.  Music has been my therapist, and the conversations we’ve had have been captured in these recordings.  

My 12 string guitar has been a primary vehicle in this particular vein of emotional and spiritual exploration and has served me well in this capacity.  We’ve been through a lot together, and I consider her to be one of my best friends and teachers.  

I am choosing to share this particular piece of music today because it is full of turmoil and the facing of conflict ~ it feels like an apt musical metaphor as we collectively stare down the barrel of societal threat.  To stand in the face of an oncoming storm is to confront destiny ~ we are shaped by the experience, knowing we cannot run and we cannot hide.  There’s a vital exchange of information, of surrender, and embrace, and the currency of this transaction is transformation.  We emerge from our turmoils diminished or strengthened, compromised or forged into a deeper presence.  

This piece was born in the murky depths of personal turmoil as I was steadfast and determined to stand tall throughout, face my fears head on, with the hopes that once the tempest had subsided I would emerge tempered and fortified for the days to come.  

The title of the piece is derived from a quote by Carl Jung ~ “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”  

I’m going to add an additional layer of interest to this particular offering ~ I’m thinking that after the video I made today playing this piece (with really cold fingers…) I’m going to tack on a studio recording version of the piece from a couple of years ago with deeper instrumentation as that’s definitely closer to what I hear in my head.  It’s a short piece, so the two versions back to back still come in under 4 minutes. 

I’m also feeling strongly that by throwing this piece out now as we collectively brace ourselves for the sustained winds of hurricane corona as it blows through our communities, I invoke the strength and courage to face fears that this piece was born from. 

Listen to Alchemical Reaction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyl4udns7T0

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Sitting On Top of the World

Release A Day #5 

I wasn’t planning on visiting any covers for quite some time, but when I was looking through a hard-drive for something else to post today I encountered this video from the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 2014 and just have to pass this one along. The smile this brought to my face is just too good to not want to share.  I’ll be back to the original compositions tomorrow but this is just too much fun to pass by.

Written by Ray Henderson with lyrics by Sam Lewis & Joe Young in 1925.

I would love to see the looks on all of their faces if they could see a circus aerialist singing their song while performing aloft.  

I have to say I’m particularly proud of my kazoo break.

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New Beginnings

Release A Day #4 ~ 3.20.20

So here’s the thing. I’ve got a lot up my sleeve, but none of this is planned out. I’m really flying by the seat of my pants having set myself up to do this release a day thing, and am taking it day by day and just trying to be open to what will be the best choices.  I am feeling drawn to another upbeat and celebratory piece today for some reason, perhaps because yesterday’s piece was so well received, and lord knows I’ve got my fair share of intense and heavy pieces as well to share in the days and weeks to come.  

New Beginnings was born a couple of years ago when moving into a new house and there was great acoustics in a very large room. I loved how this piece rang out and the waltz timing feels so fluid.  It makes my wife smile every time she hears it, so I like it for that reason alone.

It’s also a great example of so much music that comes through me, where I sense that there is so much more going on in the composition than what I can actually play myself. I’ve tried to approximate what I hear with the strings, but approximate is the operative word.  It’s what 90 minutes of creativity has afforded me today, and I’m happy enough with it to share, though it still feels like a sketch.

I hope it brings a smile to your face as well. 

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Equinox Greeting!

Release a Day #3 ~ Spring Equinox 2020

I moved into a room once when I was in my mid 20’s and found an old banjo in the closet.  It needed a lot of love, but of course I was intrigued.  I nursed it into playing shape, bought new strings for it, asked a friend carve me a new bridge for it, and it became playable.  I’ll never forget the first clear note that rang out from it, and that moment shaped my relationship with the banjo ever since.  It made me think of so many other things than a banjo, and I resolved then and there to discover how to coax new life from this wild creature, figuring that there were enough banjo players in the world already, I wanted to do something different.

I’ve spent years exploring that path, and rarely have I ventured into territory where my banjo sounds like a bluegrass instrument, and I really like it that way.  

This piece was born in the summer of 2019 in the backwoods of the Adirondacks of NY while on retreat with my family.  I instantly fell in love with the vibe as I feel it captures the essence of a peaceful summer day.  

On this first day of spring 2020 I thought I would offer something more in the spirit of the day as we welcome an uncertain spring with so much turmoil and challenge. I hope that this serves as a reminder of pleasant days both past and those to come.  Perhaps this is my prayer for healthier days down the road for all of us…

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