I\u2019ve been continuing to jam with Erik every week or two. The whole winter has gone by and spring is here, and it\u2019s sounding really good. I\u2019ve definitely gotten better at singing, and at singing and playing piano at the same time. Every time we get together we do a few new songs. This week the list included The Battle of Evermore (since Erik had borrowed a mandolin), Kid Charlemagne, and Don\u2019t Take Me Alive. Last time it was Just Like Starting Over and some others. We also have a set of songs that we\u2019ve done enough to consider to be in regular rotation and gig-ready.<\/p>\n
The best news is we also have six originals worked up, three of his and three of mine, with more in the pipeline. Originals take a while, and we\u2019ve been pretty focused on it. Erik\u2019s songs are Before the Fall, Time Passes By, and Snakes and Lairs. They\u2019re all very good, taken from a Floyd\/Genesis-esque concept album he\u2019s writing. Mine are from the last two Buzzy Tonic records. We\u2019re doing Get On Back 2 U, Ghost in the Machine, and Heat Wave. GOB2U and particularly Heat Wave are hard to play live, much harder than Erik\u2019s songs, because they use weird jazz chords and I\u2019m always doing little things with harmony and rhythm. GOB2U has a tricky middle section with a phase jam, while Heat Wave is very uptempo and in an odd meter (7\/8), and I\u2019m singing lead and covering the bass part with my left hand. In fact I had originally thought Heat Wave was too hard to try to do live, but Erik really liked the song and asked me to teach it to him. Now I\u2019m a better musician now for having worked up this song. And it\u2019s totally worth it, since it\u2019s a great song.<\/p>\n
Now we\u2019re looking to start going to open mic jams as a duo, so watch for that soon. I still have it in my mind to try and add a rhythm section. I know some guys who play bass and drums, and we\u2019ve had the bass player jam with Erik and me, and the drummer and bassist jam with me alone. But everyone is busy with everything else in our lives, so it\u2019s been hard to get everyone together so far. It\u2019s okay because it\u2019s taken time to get this far with just the two of us. Everything is happening. Patience, precious.<\/p>\n
Oh, and I\u2019ve started working a new song in the studio, called Black Swan. It\u2019s a longish, darkish, proggish Steely-Crimso kind of number. Liberal use of the jazz altered (7#9) chord. Some big bass parts. Looks like it\u2019ll be about seven minutes long. It\u2019ll be good to close out an album side. I also have a new partly written song called Your Dancing Shoes, that has a sort of classic soul\/R&B vibe, maybe kinda Van Morrison.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, if you like lists as much as I do, you many enjoy this:<\/p>\n
Originals we have down:<\/p>\n
Get On Back 2 U – JS
\nGhost in the Machine – JS
\nHeat Wave – JS
\nBefore the Fall – EB
\nTime Passes By – EB
\nSnakes and Liars – EB<\/p>\n
Covers we have down:<\/p>\n
Breathe In the Air – Pink Floyd
\nDig a Pony \u2013 Beatles
\nWatching the Wheels – John Lennon
\nShow Biz Kids – Steely Dan
\nPretzel Logic – Steely Dan
\nDaddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More – Steely Dan
\n(What’s So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding – Elvis Costello
\nCheap Sunglasses – ZZ Top
\nBurnin’ For You – Blue \u00d6yster Cult<\/p>\n
More originals of mine that I\u2019ve been practicing to teach Erik:<\/p>\n
Making Miles – MS
\nChecker Cab – JS
\nFine Red Wine – JS<\/p>\n
Songs we\u2019ve jammed once or more that sound pretty good:<\/p>\n
Midnight Rider – Allman Bros. Band
\nAin’t Wastin’ Time No More – Allman Bros. Band
\nI’m Bad I’m Nationwide – ZZ Top
\nWild Horses – Rolling Stones
\nFrom Hank to Hendrix – Neil Young
\nCinnamon Girl – Neil Young
\nRoadhouse Blues – The Doors
\nSpirit In The Night – Bruce Springsteen
\nTenth Avenue Freeze Out – Bruce Springsteen
\nSubdivisions \u2013 Rush
\nPeace of Mind – Boston
\nDon’t Let Me Down – Beatles
\nOne After 909 \u2013 Beatles
\nStrawberry Fields Forever – Beatles
\nJust Like Starting Over – Beatles
\nTake It Away – Paul McCartney
\nI Wish – Stevie Wonder
\nPearl of the Quarter – Steely Dan
\nKid Charlemagne – Steely Dan
\nDon’t Take Me Alive – Steely Dan
\nThe Battle of Evermore – Led Zeppelin
\nMisty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
\nThe Rain Song – Led Zeppelin
\nSince I’ve Been Loving You – Led Zeppelin
\nTiger in a Spotlight \u2013 ELP
\nTurn It On Again – Genesis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been continuing to jam with Erik every week or two. The whole winter has gone by and spring is here, and it\u2019s sounding really good. I\u2019ve definitely gotten better at singing, and at singing and playing piano at the same time. Every time we get together we do a few new songs. This week … Continue reading “And the Beat Goes On”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zingman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}