Songs

The Songs…

When I first set out on this project, it came from a very strong breakthrough that seemed to clear a very large writing block I’d had.  In 2014, I formed the idea of writing this concept album because life had changed dramatically, I was feeling great physically, and the energy of getting through some things lent itself to not only a few songs, but a story – a path of trials and tribulations – which had been 50 years in the making (well, 49 technically in 2104, but who’s counting?)  The reason was only to use the energy positively and creatively, but also, like many songwriters, to share feelings that had struck my life and/or shaped me, and putting it together with music seemed like the natural way.

The first song that really specifically got written for this project was “No, Father”, and the entire span of writing it, recording it and then working on an official release to be heard was quite an ordeal.  The first mix sent for distribution was terrible, and I realized that my producing skills were stuck in the middle of “I can do this” and “Oh crap, can i do this?” and that my technology was severely limited.  So I did what every 50-year (49) old does and went back to college to finish a bachelor’s degree in Audio Production so that I’d know the right and current ways I needed to be recording, and to fully understand the entire process from start to finish in today’s world.  Wait, what?  Get a degree to work on an album?  It wasn’t just that – but it was a major motivator and I have used several of my own songs in projects and music written for my music theory class lent itself to the writing of the music portion of ‘Grace’.

Long story short I have 9 months left as of September 2019 and have worked on some of these songs over the last several years, with a major jump in production that came at the end of 2018 and a burst of new writing, continued fishing recording the music for some, mixed and remixed, and as of 9/24/2019,  I only have 1 to complete the arrangement for, and one that was planned for not even being on this collection – but it’ll be the “promotion” point in 2020 when the album DOES come out in May

Kenny.  9/24/2019

Within this next week, I hope to have a small introductory video up for each song, describing the inspiraiton and the intended meaning, as well as pointing out the areas written to express that idea in musical expresion only.  It’s been one of the most exciting developments.  Next to Austin Kennedy’s contributions to the project, it’s one of the biggest because it will explain where everything is coming from.

-Some interesting ironies that this album has shown me:

  • The keyboard used in “With Love” is the original keyboard it was written on way back in the early mid-90’s.  I have recorded this song 3 times now, staying true to the arrangement but updating the instrumentation each time.
  • Sallie Juvenal & her son were set to play strings on this song in what would have been excellent story-worthy happenings, but unfortunately that pairing did not work out as intended, and the strings ended up being more appropriate as written, which was synthesized (sample) and sequencing.
  • The song I thought would be the hardest was the first one that “wrote itself” when album-mode got turned on.  That was “No, Father”.
  • The song that started this all – “Worth The Wait” was the last one to have its music updated and in fact was one of the oldest songs on the collection, but the last one updated.  I found that very interesting myself.
  • The song that has proven hardest to write has been “Opening Exits” as it deals with a very dark spot in life for me (contemplation of suicide) and even revisiting the path out of that item was difficult.  The pressure to get it written was going on at the same time as finals for a strong session at school & it was tremendously stressful.  I even found that other than “Rain” it was being inteded to remain as an instrumental – and that was nothing more than me not wanting to attack the song head on.
(Below this line is the history of this page.  I'm keeping it here so that I can refer back to it after release... this has been quite the journey, one of the hardest projects I've ever started, and I wanted to keep the trail alive.)

Creation….creativity….writing….every songwriter I know feels pretty much the same about the songs they write, even the bad ones:  they’re like babies to you.  You “give birth” to them; you nurture them, you make them out of nothing, you try to make them better than they were when they started….until one day they’re ready to turn out into the world.  When you’re trying to write a whole album of them, centered around a whole life as a concept, you think don’t want anyone to see and/or hear any of them until the whole “herd” is ready to be seen, and therefore judged, as a group.  Writing these at times can be very difficult for me but I am also determined to see this project through.  

This 4 & 1/2 minute mix below is 5 of the songs combined into short clips, just to give you a feel of where the demos in this album are heading.  All will still be reworked, some re-recording as well as mixing & full mastering prior to the end of the project for release.

Before you listen, let me say that if you’re the type of person that only listens to one thing and one thing only and that is your only gauge of “good music” then understand going in that this is my version of ‘Pop Music’; as i refer to it in style more than commercialism.  I’d love for a song to take hold – I write catchy hooks and have studied the business for years.  I write just to write, but I am not a hip hop guy or rap guy, and some of my best inspirations (and adult years) came from the ’80s, so you’ll hear hints of that period throughout for sure.  But I have been influenced by many people over the years and I think those styles will come through when needed too.  Regardless, this is just ‘me’, all original music, telling a story and a journey that somewhere might help someone else.  Music has always done that for me, and even though most have only seen me as a perfomer in karaoke clubs (many times hosting), there is a long period of stage and club performance in the past.  I never stopped wanting to do that – but as many of us, life trapped me with other plans and kept me away from what I was supposed to be doing, with short bursts of energy only being left to spend on the project.

I’m not whining – it’s made the project better and not rushed in writing – I have just refused to TELL MYSELF to sit to write; the  best songs come naturally.

So I hope you like what you hear and that you’ll get a copy when it comes out on May 1, 2020 – and I do hope that you’ll find it was Worth The Wait.

A new “sampling is coming in 2019 with updated song demos that have been completed.

(The player below features a sample mix of “It’s Alright”, “No, Father”, and “Grace”, which are completed vocals.  Instrumental samples of an earlier version of “The Color of Light” and “BOOM!”)

The approach to writing has also changed with me on this project – and in many cases, the music ended up showing me the way to write the lyrics as some were being written with concepts more than exact lyric content.  It’s obviously more difficult to explain yourself via lyrics, but when it’s the right lyric content coming out, the blending of the words and music has become a great way of moving past things, looking forward to other things, and hopefully a chord strikes with someone from the experience of similar good – and bad.  There is strength in numbers…

WORTH THE WAIT

TRACK LISTING AS OF 9/24/2019

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

“No, Father” – #6 ON Reverbnation, Austin Pop Charts 7/2015

“It’s Alright” – #1 on dropmusic.net, 4/2015

“Grace” – #6 on Reverbnation, Austin Pop Charts 7/2017

“From My Mountain” – #3 on Reverbnation, Austin Pop Charts 9/2019

Ongoing stats from resources online:

SOUNDCLOUD:  My covers and recordings have garnered over 65,ooo listens and nearly 4,000 downloads as of September 2019.

REVERBNATION:  My originals only on this site have now played my music over 2,000 times and there are over 1,300 fans, and over 300 video plays.  A cover CD was put together in late 2018 of well recorded or remixed material.

JANGO RADIO:   I’ve been lucky to have had over 13,000 listeners on Jango Radio where my music plays alongside established well-known artists and has allowed exposure all over the world, with nearly 250 new fans there!

Here is a link to the Jango Radio Player:

SOUND CLOUD Sampler will be updated soon to reflect the level of completion.,

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