Say Cheese

I take full responsibility.  We’ve had plenty of photos posted but as some of you have noticed, none of Gus or me.   I wish there was an exciting reason why!  It’s been tough balancing the things we want to do with the things we probably should do as far as self promotion goes.  Ok, and I’m not a huge fan of getting my picture taken!  The photos of instruments and locations were documented well from our last release, however, it was all done after recording had been completed.  I’m happy to say you can finally put faces to Martinez and Guthrie on our website (www.NeZrecords.com).  Gus’s wife, Marty, took these photos recently (March of 2008 ) of Gus and me working on new material.  These photos kick off our efforts to document the process of our writing, recording and releasing another set of  tunes with photos, blogs and videos.   Check back often as we plan to post updates a couple of times a week.

 

 

joe

www.NeZrecords.com

 

We’ll See Where

New photos for the songs Try and Where From Here are now posted at www.NeZrecords.com.  

I did the most traveling for the song Try.  It also has more guest musicians on it than any other song.  The first several notes of the song exemplify this.  Jamie Daly from Arlington provided the wonderful upright bass play with the french horn beautifully played by Joe Brotherton (recorded in his kitchen in SE Washington D.C.).  I recorded the piano at an assisted living facility in Fairfax, VA, the only piano I had access to.  Steve Selby played the guitar solo (recorded on his first take) which in my opinion is one of the greatest moments in the album. 
 
The song Where From Here didn’t involve as much travel though it went through a few incarnations to become the song you now hear.  The original version I wrote almost a decade ago and had almost a slow Mexican mariachi feel to it.  During a practice one night Gus wanted to explore changing the rhythm.  We did and were happy to find the change worked great for the song.  I threw in a couple of tracks of a trilling 12-string guitar and an accordion to give an almost European (maybe a little French or Italian) feel to it.  Terry Judd added the great bass line toward the end and we have what we have…

The recording of new music has begun!

joe
www.NeZrecords.com

Better Off

Posted: Tuesday, January 15, 2008

New photos for the song Honor on the Run have been posted on www.NeZrecords.com.  

I wrote the original version of Honor on the Run the day after I met and sat in with the band No Better Off.  Tom Stamp, a great teacher, musician, storyteller and friend taught at the same school as I did in 2004.  Knowing I enjoyed playing drums/percussion he invited me along to his usual Friday night get together with friends who were also musicians.  It was there that I met guitar player and singer Steve Selby, bass player Terry Judd, harmony singer Marty Guthrie, and guitar, mandolin player and singer Gus Guthrie.  After introductions, with drinks in hand, we settled into a circle and rotated conversation and laughs with playing songs for the rest of the night.  I left an admiring fan. 

The next day, in trying to capture the prior evening in a song, I wrote the first version of Honor on the Run.  While the lyrics don’t have anything to do with that night, it’s the hint of an acoustic roots style song that endured as inspiration.  Fortunately, for me, I was invited back a few times, passed the various hazing they put me through and am now considered part of the band (albeit the new guy even after a few years).  The impact this group of quality friends has had on me is too far reaching to ever try and put into words.  What I can say with certainty is that I still arrive on Friday nights to play music with No Better Off feeling very fortunate just to be in the room.  

  
joe

www.NeZrecords.com

Happy Birthday

Posted: Monday, December 17, 2007

Gathering Change is a year old! 
 
New photos for Bye and Cornered have been posted at NeZrecords.com.
 
Similar to the song Home, both Bye and Cornered were born many years ago and went through many stages to become what they are on the recording.  I feel very lucky to have stumbled upon the drum part/rhythm for Bye.  It’s actually something for which I feel a great deal of pride.  As for the lead guitar, there wasn’t supposed to be one.  In fact, mixing had already been started on the song without the lead guitar.   Gus had always mentioned there should be one but I could never find something I thought fit.  Finally, after many hours of failed attempts, I was able to get a part down that I now think really helps make the song what it is.   You’ll have to also listen for the ‘vase’ I played in the song! 
 
Although the sounds of a Puerto Rican cuatro (similarly a tres in Cuba) were heard a bit in the soundtrack of my upbringing, it took hearing authentic Cuban music on a trip to Spain for that ‘double string’ sound to get its hooks in me.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the song Aye Papacito by Eliades Ochoa will be a great introduction to you of this style of guitar playing.  Upon my return from that trip, almost a decade ago, I came up with the lead intro and chorus part to Cornered .  Fast forward many years and versions of the song later and Cornered’s music and lyrics were completed close to its final recording.   I used a 12 string guitar to try and emulate what a cuatro or tres would sound like and threw in as many percussion instruments as I could to make the song what it is today.  Speaking of percussion instruments–almost as proud of the beat/rhythm in Bye is my finding a spot for the guiro (percussion instrument) in the bridge of Cornered.  It’s the little things that count, right?
 
joe
www.NeZrecords.com

Parts to a Whole

Posted: Monday, November 05, 2007 Motor or computer parts laid out before me to put together? No thanks. I’d rather be forced to pick 500 apples in a grocery store (if you read my last blog, you’ll understand).   I’m always intrigued by how parts come together to make a greater whole. Dismantle a piece of furniture and, well, it’s easy to see how and why the parts come together. However, starting out with a box of parts, without pictures or directions, and the role of each part is no longer as obvious. Seems to me most everything is the result of endless cycles involving, and in no particular order, perspective, decisions and outcomes. Since recording Gathering Change was done in various homes with numerous people and with a multitude of instruments, I thought it might be interesting to post sets of photos on www.NeZrecords.com to illustrate some of the parts that came together to record each song.   

The first set of photos is from the song “Home”.
 
The song “Home” is what it is today because I don’t sing well.  A few years back I completed a CD on which I sang (not well)! Upon some objective insight, I decided not to release it. Thankfully I met Gus soon after and upon hearing him sing, I knew I wanted him to sing the songs that I had written. One of the songs on this never released album was “Home”. At a couple of years old, this song went through many stages and versions before Gus ever heard it. While Gus had learned a few of my other songs, I think Home was the first song he could really hear himself singing.  While the original version of Home included a clarinet, I almost convinced myself it was not needed for this newest version. On a whim I contacted Jim Sivard, who plays the clarinet, and soon found myself recording him on the last recorded track for this song at his beautiful home in Leesburg, VA.       

The second set of photos is from the song “Is As If”.

“Is As If” was the last song written and recorded for Gathering Change. While most songs take me a while to write, “If”(the working title) was written in one afternoon.  Thankfully Gus had some great ideas for rewording the original choruses to make the song what it is today. A lot of people don’t get the title of this song, so the first 3 people to correctly tell me how we arrived at the title “Is As If” will get a free Gathering Change t-shirt!  Email answers to info@NeZrecords.com.

The photos for the rest of the songs will be posted on the website soon.
 
joe
www.NeZrecords.com

“Paying Close Attention”*

Posted: Monday, September 17, 2007I’d rather not have to pick apples in a grocery store. Avoiding this process would allow me to avoid the ensuing frustrations with myself for being, “detail oriented”*.  I’d rather deal with avoidance issues than the 20 minutes I would have to spend not only picking the 5 best apples of the bunch but for the badgering I give myself for taking so long.  Along the same lines, I laugh at myself, after the fact, for the amount of time and energy I put into writing, rewriting, reading, rewriting, rereading, and rewriting an email.  Especially ironic is the amount of time I spend on the one or two line emails where I’m trying to make the response appear quick and casual.  Usually though, this “quality control” way of doing things pays off.  Apple-wise, after scouring for a time, I end up as the proud owner of near perfect apples.  Gathering Change too was a product of my being “infatuated with particulars”*.  Since this CD was a home recording, I was afforded the time, freedom, and comfort to get the tracks and parts down the way I wanted to.  There are always faster and easier ways of doing things I suppose, but I can’t imagine doing anything much differently.*

Fine, go ahead and plug in “obsessive compulsive”!
 
joe
www.NeZrecords.com

Under The Influence

Posted: Tuesday, August 28, 2007Okay, I admit it, as a genre, I can’t say that I like jazz.  I truly wish I did.  If for no other reason than seems like the people who like jazz are in touch with something very deep and, well, cool.  A sizable portion of my music diet while growing up, especially when I didn’t have a choice as to what I listened to (cop out!), was popular music on the radio from the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Somehow, admitting that just doesn’t seem to capture how, um, deep, and uh, cool I really am!  Some LPs played in the house while growing up included The Carpenters, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Jerry Vale, Paul Anka, Los Panchos, Los Hispanos, and Marco Antonio Muniz.  As for when I started making my own choices–the first album I  purchased was Prince’s Purple Rain (I refuse to count Mickey Mouse Disco), my first cassette was Van Halen’s 1984 and my first CD…hmmm, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I don’t remember.  Other genres I found myself interested in while growing up included rap from the late 80’s and early 90’s, D.C.’s go go from around the same time, hard rock/metal and classic rock to include all of the big names you might suspect.  Heading into my late teens and early twenties was when I really started settling into acoustic music as well as music with interesting rhythms.  A few of the many singer/songwriters I enjoy/ed are Nick Drake, Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, and Cat Stevens.  Music and rhythms from Jamaica , Africa, Puerto Rico, and Cuba were also very present at this time.  One song that I feel truly captures the seed planted in me for blending acoustic singer/songwriter music with interesting flavors and rhythms is Paul Simon’s Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard.  I’m happy, for me, that the music I play and write has traces of all that I have listened to and have been exposed to.  I am truly excited to continue to work on songs that assemble components of the varied styles of music I enjoy, for me.
 
joe
www.NeZrecords.com

Forgiving All Who Listen

Posted: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 

I’m always struck by the ease with which we all seemingly accept contradictions.  Ever watch something on T.V. you know is going to frustrate you but you watch it anyway?   Maybe it’s a certain politician or a televangelist.  I’m guilty of this with both examples. Recently, I caught myself watching a few minutes of the ESPYs which, if you don’t know, is an award show ESPN puts on to further celebrate the accomplishments of athletes since, one more high five and pat on the back is what they obviously need.  (I admit I’m a huge sports fan but I also believe professional athletes are celebrated much too much).   However, in the middle of my, “Who do you think you are, ________ (fill in the name of a pro athelete)?” conversation between the show and me, I was pleasantly surprised with the contradiction of seeing an award being given for an accomplishment actually worthy of being celebrated.  The Arthur Ashe Courage Award was presented to Trevor Ringland and Dave Cullen from PeacePlayers in Ireland, who bring kids from Northern and Southern Ireland together through sports.   The theme being if they can learn to play together they can learn to live together.   I mention all of this because it truly exemplifies for me, on many levels, the meaning of the line, “enduring contradictions”, in the song Honor On The Run.   No matter how one looks at it, contradictions are always enduring and must always be endured. 

joe

www.NeZrecords.com

A Cinderella Story

Posted : Wednesday, July 18, 2007  

 I am happy to announce that I just finished (as of 1:00am Sunday morning) the book Snow by Orhan Pamuk. One way I can tell if I have enjoyed a book is my secret desire to do research on it and uncover facts about the story. This was also the case after reading Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

As a kid, I actually had the same desire to research the potential authenticity regarding the story in the song, In The Air Tonight, by Phil Collins. That, of course, was in addition to my enjoyment of playing air drums to it. Along those lines (regarding air drums, that is), remember John Mellencamp’s song Jack and Diane? Now there’s an air drum part! This idea of looking behind a book or song and playing air drums really do pertain to Gathering Change, if it’s not already obvious to you! To look behind my drumming abilities is to find Cinderella. One way I learned to play drums was by playing (in the air, of course) along with 80’s bands. Knowing the basic set up of a drum kit and how the different sounds were made, I’d sit at the edge of my bed and meticulously play along with their songs. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Cinderella can’t take full credit for my drumming. I’ve actually always been fascinated with drums, percussion and rhythms and, since I can remember, have focused in on them when listening to a song.

joe
www.NeZrecords.com

First Blog

Posted : Monday, July 09, 2007

Here I am, a couple of weeks into the summer, trying to get the Gathering Change music out into the world. One area I’ve neglected, probably out of fear, is blogging. From this point on I’ll do my best to share thoughts and ideas having to do with past and present projects I think you might find interesting. I’ll be posting blogs here, and on the news page of NeZ Records (www.NeZrecords.com) while I look around for the ideal blog spots.

As I mentioned earlier, fear. While not “making it” in music, (for now let’s just say not “making it” means not making a living at it) is a big fear, running out of excuses as to why I’m not “making it” is an even bigger fear. Who wants to get to the point of having to tell yourself, “Well, guess I’ve done all I can, time to move on”? It’s the process and not the end goal we should enjoy, right? Maybe this process of trying to “make it” is the best part of all? Maybe this unconscious (I guess now it’s conscious) sabotaging of my success is actually a brilliant move in disguise? After all, it is my given right to have success, isn’t it?!?! I’ll keep telling myself that.
joe
www.NeZrecords.com