Share The Blues – Song and a Chat

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Episode #155: Share The Blues (Song starts at 3:25 & 26:46)

I’ve had an interesting time recording this episode: I got into my studio early, thinking I’d be clever, get the job done and get an early night. …yeh, right! Not.

I ended up recording a ‘produced’/arranged demo, with some different sounds, which took me a while. Consequently, it was a very late bedtime. It was recorded pretty late at night.

What inspired this song was the feeling of waking up at dawn. This is actually the song I was thinking of when I picked out ‘Drift Away’ for last week’s episode.

A similar mood, but different melodies.

There’s a bit more of me in this song (perhaps more personal than ‘Drift Away’) …there’s a line “ there’s a personal limit in us all ”. Yep, we all go through stuff, it’s great to be able to get things off the shoulders and put it into art.

As it turns out, I recorded another version of ‘Share the Blues’ – a piano vocal take – at the end of the episode. It happened on the spur of the moment. Listening back now, I think the piano/vocal version is stronger. The melody changed in the chorus. Oh well, it was fun recording the other earlier take and there’s some interesting ideas on it. Perhaps it would be interesting to turn this into a duet sometime.

All songs are a work in progress until they’re released.

Variety with my songwriting has been a real key for me. I’ve been very lucky with some long term residencies … actually I mention ‘Loves Me Like A Rock’ by Paul Simon. Paul Dredge (long term songwriting buddy) and I were singing and playing it live one night – after a huge day of trout fishing and driving. We got to the gig. Someone turned the lights up and then the next thing we knew, the camera was rolling.

Here’s the youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG6Fsw_ssAg

The residencies were so much fun. They also gave me time to get to know myself as a songwriter. This process takes time and it requires freedom, which is precisely what I’ve had plenty of for so many years.

Yep, I’d say I’ve been lucky, but I continue to strive to hang on to my freedom. It’s a challenge and there are sacrifices along the way. But for me it’s a rich path, creatively speaking.

I think perhaps I wrote the lyrics for ‘Share The Blues’ immediately after ‘Drift Away’. I often used to write in bunch in bunches of 2 or 3. Writing one lot would awaken my pen (my voice), so I would make the most of being ‘in the zone’.

Being in this creative state, it feels like a slightly altered reality, come to think it. You’re a time traveller; an observer; you get to sort of view things from another person’s view point at times. It really does have the effect of opening your mind to new possibilities.

Perhaps that’s why I love composing songs so much.

It continues to be a pleasure to be sharing them and talking about the songs/ the creative process in general, here.

I hope you enjoy ‘Share The Blues’. I enjoyed singing the 2nd version (look out for it at the end of this episode.