Colin’s Songwriter’s Music Blog

Songwriting with Lee and Garth at Springbrook Part 1

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:13:03 +1000

You’d hope that for all the time you put into the beast called “work” that there would be days when you wake up and think, “You beauty, let’s get to it!” I’m blessed that I probably have more reason than most to bundy on with a thankful heart. I remember the first time I woke up knowing today was the day I was jumping on a plane to head to the Gold Coast with Garth Porter to go songwriting at Lee Kernaghan’s place up at Springbrook, in the hills behind Mudgeribah. “This is my job. Wow.”

Last time we wrote for Lee’s New Bush album. (Close as a Whisper and Little Men are probably my two faves from those sessions.) A couple of weeks ago we headed up again to start the wheels turning for LK08 - my nickname for Lee’s upcoming recording.

A blank sheet of paper is both thrilling and daunting at the same time. Possibility mixed with promise but with no guarantees. But Springbrook is a beautiful place, there in the rainforest, to knock around the ideas and enjoy the creative space.

I took myself on a jog the first morning and took the odd pic or two - in fact it was more shoot than jog really. It’s amazing to look out at the skyline of the Gold Coast and the shimmering Pacific from the top of a waterfall, forest rolling down the hinterland to the coast. I went for a bit of an explore and came across some mossy footings along the way - relics of an old cottage, or path. Next morning Lee took me to twin falls - just 15 mins walk away. We scrambled down the bottom and took some pics on his shiny iPhone - I’ll get him to send them to me and pop a couple up here.

Musically, I’d say we laid the foundations of some solid little tunes. Lee’s got a vibe for the scene song as opposed to the story song at present. In a way it’s just another way of telling a story without that linear thing happening. Fun to knock around. He has a lot on his plate with Auistralian of the Year duties and his role as secretary of the CM Association of Australia. It was great seeing him shed a bit of that stuff and let the musical beast off the chain again. He brought along a reproduction Gibson Les Paul which we all really enjoyed having along. A sort of chunky, solid rocker that helped take things into a slightly different zone.
When I was writing with Troy Cassar Daley the other month I brought along a tinny little half size Chinese guitar which I was able to take as carry-on for the flight. Woeful. I ended up using his priceless de Gruchy - you live and learn. I think songs generally deserve the respect of being written on substantial instruments.

So in a week or two we head back to Springbrook for part 2 of LK08. Open fire, nice red, chilly nights...and hopefully some really solid tunes. A great place to go to work, a great job to be doing, great blokes to share the labour with!

Live Shows from the web...

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:31:14 +1100

I love holding a CD cover in my hand, slipping the disc into the player and thumbing through the artwork, reading the liner notes, finding out who wrote what, who played where and all that stuff. I guess I’m old school. Music I have downloaded one way or another becomes a sort of airplay to me - a pre-cursor to actually buying the physical product... Or not!

But an exception is the live music available on the web through a number of sites - internet archive’s Live Music Archive was where I discovered some of US singer/songwriter Glen Phillips’ shows. There is an amazing list of live shows which have been recorded with the artists’ permission - it’s all legal, but not for sale - sort of approved bootleg stuff. Some of the audio is a bit scratchy, having been recorded in the audience in some cases - others are recorded through the sound desks.

A live show I keep coming back to is Mutual Admiration Society’s Live at The Lime Kiln. MAS came about when Nickel Creek and Glen Phillips both found out they were playing the other’s albums as pre-show music. It turned out they were big mutual fans and collaborated on an self-tiled album as MAS. They have a handful of shows on Live Music Archive, but I just love Lime Kiln. Bass is played by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and drums are Pete Thomas. It’s a folk-rock-songwriter gem of a show. And after the show they came out to the car park and did a quirky set of acoustic tunes which were also recorded. It’s so full of joy and fun and spontaneity - I love it!

Perhaps MAS aren’t your bag, but it’s a great discovery to know there are open-minded artists out there giving their fans more reason to love them and enjoy them. You may recognise some of the acts on the list pages of the Live Music Archive. I’ve listened to Sam Bush (mandolin virtuoso), Bruce Hornsby (amazing collection of shows going back to the taping days of the ’80’s) and noticed John Butler and Xavier Rudd on the there, too. Grateful Dead seem to be the most popular act to be downloaded.

There’s a pay site along the same line here - http://www.livedownloads.com

There are technical matters - the live audio can be in unfamiliar file formats which you may need to convert after downloading. I use Toast on my mac. Also, a whole show can be big - so watch your cap. I sometimes go to a local wi-fi zone and pay for an hour or so and let it download there. And since shows can be recorded from in the audience, it can be big on vibe but a little low on fidelity. You have to be in the right head space to enjoy some of these recordings. Raw but real! Acoustic shows seem to record nicely.

The live music recording community is one way that I think the internet is broadening the reach of original music and I’ve really enjoyed dipping into the live world of familiar and unfamiliar acts.

And I guess it begs the question when might I pop one of my shows up... It’s not so much a matter of intent as time... Watch this space...

I Want To Love America

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:52:49 +1000

I can’t remember the prompt for this tune, but whenever I am asked by Richard Glover to take part in his TGIF week-in-review satirical radio thing I invariably have to write a song at very short notice. This is just that - some have heard it and waited for the “but...”, but I sort of feel it adds a little tension without it. And perhaps it’s for the listener to fill in the gaps with their own experience.

Off the back of APEC in Sydney and a visit by President George Bush (who lifted himself a good few clicks in my mind by going mountain bike riding while he was here) I thought I’d pop this tune on my music etc blog for those who wander by to make of it what they will...

You can listen to the song, live from TGIF some time in 2006, by clicking below:

I Want To Love America Ex TGIF.mp3.

And here are the lyrics,

I Want to Love America
Words & Music Colin Buchanan © 2006 Universal Music (Aust.)

I want to love America
I want to love their schtick
I want to love the way they find some sorry butt to kick
I want to love that louder, prouder winner’s attitude
I want to love America
Yes I do

I want to love America
I want to love their art
I want a bigger blockbuster
To bust my block apart
And show the world a bit of that ‘ole
Red and white and blue
I want to love America
Yes I do

BRIDGE
I want to love the greenback
I want to love their enterprise
I want to open up a drive thru
I want to supersize
I want to meet their leader
I want to shake his hand
I want to say, “I love you” man-to-man

I want to love America
As McHappy as can be
I want to cheer a touchdown
And join the jamboree
I want to make the world a safer place for me and you
I want to love America
Yes I do

I want to love the good guys
And salute the stripe and star
I really want to love America

A Nice Pic I Took of Loch Morlich, Scotland

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:46:34 +1000

Something nice to look at til I get to this neck of the web...