Gold

This is the first song on my first solo album, Apologies, and I've never been able to top it. Being that I've only ever given my albums out to close friends, they all seem to agree that this is my best song. It came very naturally as do all of my better songs and I wrote and recorded the entire thing in around a half an hour. The lyrics are a bit absurd but feel cohesive both in idea and delivery. I'm still the most proud of the piano part during the chorus which just seemed to come to me out of thin air. Hope you enjoy it.

Gold by iceap12

Digging

I recently entered a flash fiction contest in our local newspaper. The contest was to write a story in 119 words or less. I do not expect to win. Actually, I really think my story is pretty much crap. Writing a story in 119 words or less is really difficult. I originally wrote it thinking that it could be 199 words or less and that original version read much better. I happened to glance at the ad again and realized I had to cut it down by almost half. Because of that, it really doesn't read very well. I thought about trashing the whole thing but the contest allowed a person two different entries. I figured I would submit it and write another entry later. I didn't. You can read the story below. It's morbid and dark but if nothing else, at least I told a full story in 119 words, even if it is really crappy and generic.

Digging

Digging, digging, digging. Just a little more and it will all be over.

How did it come to this?

For awhile, it was perfect. We’d take trips to the beach and she’d tuck her hands in my boxers as we lay there soaking up the sun. Her dark hair would shine in the sunlight but it was her smile that lit up the world.

Digging. Almost there.

It started with him. She thought he’d be perfect for our plan.

It was supposed to be pinned on him.

Not on me.

“Alright,” the guard said. “You have a half-hour.”

I sat in my hole and pulled out the shiv. It went through my skin like butter.

No more digging.

Talkin' Death Letter Blues

YouTube is the gift that keeps on giving. Spend 20 minutes on there just clicking on random videos and you're bound to find gems like this. This is an old blues singer called Son House performing "Death Letter Blues" in 1967. The White Stripes redid this song almost 40 years later but I never knew that their version was a cover until now. Though I love the White Stripes, there's just no beating a performance like this. I love how he just stands up there by himself and sings with so much soul and honesty like a prophet of old coming to tell us all to quit our wicked ways. I've always loved how blues and soul speak so openly and honestly about real pain as a way of taking away it's power. It's like the old story about how if you put a name to something then it's not so scary. Except with the blues, it's almost an exorcism, where you sing about it so you can almost relive the pain so you can know for sure that it can't hurt you anymore. Anyway, I'll stop waxing philosophically about the blues and just let you enjoy the video.

Soon

I opened my email the other day to see that I had an email from one of my favorite bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I opened it eagerly to see the following:

That was it. That was the entire email. I guess this is their way of letting people know that their first album in 5 years is soon to come out. But...I already knew that. So, thanks for the email guys but next time send me some new music instead.

High School Is Such A Serious Thing - These Problems Matter

I listen to the Edge every morning and they often have teenagers who call in and want to talk about how hard their lives are. The common complaints are, "My boyfriend is..." or "My girlfriend is..." The guys on the morning show almost always play the song that is at the end of this clip. It cracks me up everytime. Now, you all can sing it to the teenagers in your lives!

The Revival of Folk Music- Fleet Foxes and Monsters of Folk

There is a current trend in music that's been happening over the last 5 years where a lot of bands have started to shift towards folk rock. Two such bands that encompass this are Fleet Foxes and Monsters of Folk. Instead of boring you with my insights, take a listen for yourself (skip the ads at the beginning). The first is a band called Fleet Foxes that have such beautiful harmonies as evidenced by the first song they play (or sing-there's no instruments). The second band is a band called Monsters of Folk that is a super group of sorts made up with four guys that became famous by playing in other bands but shared a common love for folk music. They, too, have beautiful harmonies. Hope you enjoy.

Christina's Song

Christina's Song is a song that I did not write. It was written by our bassist and singer Kevin Darrell and performed by our band Shambala. The bad thing about naming any song after a girl is the fact that if you start dating a different girl, you can't play the song anymore which is why we haven't played this song in a very long time. It's a shame because I always thought that it was one of our better songs. Kevin recorded all of the vocal parts and I've always loved the back-up vocals on the pre-chorus and chorus. If you listen closely, you can hear me whiff the guitar on the intro. We talked about re-doing it but decided we were too lazy and pizza was more important. I'm still a bit embarrassed by it but let's argue that it adds "character" to the song and leave it at that. Hope you enjoy.

09 Christina's Song by iceap12