It says BEDROOM DEMOS because the recordings on this page are completely new and original.  No one has ever heard them before.  We'll be trying to do ONE new song every week.  If we get behind in our writing then I'll post some older stuff that you've probably never heard anyway.  All the older songs will remain for your listening pleasure or torture...whichever applies.

Or I'll just make this a bi-monthly thingy.

But, listen close...the recording quality isn't going to be the best.  Plus, some of the songs might suck bad, especially in the future when I try to keep up with my one song a week goal.

Listen to the song, check out the lyrics (located under "lyrics" on the audio player below), and post a message on the messageboard if you like it or hate it or whateva.
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THIS MONTH'S SONG:  "ZAYDAH (POSSUM'S LULLABY)"

I return to original tunes this month.  I'm thinking of doing a series of covers though, like the one below.  That was pretty fun.  Anyways, this song is about my neice, Zaydah.  She's been through a lot already, at only 2 years old.  Her mother, was shot on memorial day weekend almost a couple years ago now by the great-grandfather.  The trial starts here in April.  I wrote this not long after the shooting.  It's a pretty rough recording.  I tried some different things, like clapping and tamborine.  I also played mandolin, acoustic guitar, and 5-string banjo.  Holler.
 
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THIS MONTH'S SONG:  "ANYONE ELSE" (MOLDY PEACHES COVER)

So I recorded a couple other songs I was going to post here instead, but I really like this one.  Shawnda and I went and saw JUNO and loved it and decided we'd do our own version of the main song in the flick.  I recorded the guitar track seperately while Shawnda was in the shower, if you listen close you can hear her radio in the background.  Also, towards the end, Louie looks up at me and decides that it's time to play.  So he starts barking at me.  And he didn't stop until the end...Shawnda finally lets out a "LOUIE!!!"  

Shawnda make her debut on this one singing a large majority of the verses.  I play guitar, 5-string banjo, and a leather chair that I used for percussion.  Check out The Moldy Peaches if you get the chance.  They write some great tunes.

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THIS WEEK/MONTH'S SONG:  "MAMA'S NOT HERE"

Here in the next few months I will become a Father to a little boy.  It has made me really sit back and think about time spent with my own Father and time he spent with his Father and so on.  I haven't been the best in the department of blocking out time to spend with my Dad, I always seem to be busy with something.  It really is like that Cat's in the Cradle song.  He always wants to go fishing, and when I was a kid, I really wasn't interested in it.  Now that I really like it, I'm always busy with something...whether it be having a show, being in the studio, or spending time at home.

My Dad was and still is a great Dad, so this song is definitely not written from the aspect of me singing to him...It's more from his eyes.  Stories I heard growing up about his childhood.  He spent a lot of time with his Grandparents, up North, fishing.  His mom, my late Grandmother, Alice...was the glue that held the family together.  She's been gone for a little over 10 years now...every once in awhile someone in the family will step up and try to fill her shoes, but it never lasts.  I don't think it can be done.  I'm really sorry my son won't get to know her, personally.

That's why the song is called "Mama's Not Here."  I repeat several times that "Mama's not here no more to take my side..."  That's what she did.  Never one to talk bad about someone...she'd take up for everyone to keep the family strong.  

With all that said, I have a wonderful family on all sides.  But everyone, doesn't matter who you are, has little quirks and qualms about something with their family or their childhood.  These are my vision of my Father's qualms with his childhood.

As always you can read the lyrics by clicking on the LYRICS button the MUSIC PLAYER.

The song starts off at a low volume, it picks up about 10 seconds in.

You can also comment by going to the MESSAGEBOARD.

Enjoy.

-Dave

p.s.  I'm playing Mandolin and making my debut on Harmonica on the track as well.  I actually did this correctly this time.  I just wrote this song last week.


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THIS WEEK'S/MONTH'S SONG:  "THINGS COULD BE WORSE"

Have I slacked a little?  Yes, much more than a little actually.  We've been working on the new album, and still playing shows...so it's been hectic.  BUT, I have finally come through with another song.  This one is called "Things Could Be Worse."  It's one of the first songs I ever wrote and was originally on an old Jakob Freely demo acoustic style.  

This version is a demo studio version...a better mixed, cleaner, more amped up version will be on the upcoming album.  

The tune is about just what the title says, "Things Could Be Worse."  I used to be obsessed with saying that.  Funny, back then, nothing could bother me...I was almost completely stress free.  Somehow, that has all went out the window...but the song remains.  It's kind of Jazzy so get out your jazz hands for it.

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THIS WEEK'S SONG:  "UNDERGROUND"

UNDERGROUND is a song about sort of struggling with your own demons.  At the time I wrote this we were going through a split with some management, that happened to be good friends of ours as well.  It was kind of hard, and we ended up not really doing it (the split) the right way and I still feel bad about that from time to time.

In the song, I reference "the Devil" a couple times.  Which is a symbol of what I/we were struggling with.  And at the end he dies...meaning we were triumphant!  But I end up dying as well, so it's kind of a tragedy.  Actually, now that I look at the lyrics...it looks like I die twice.  

Anyways, the track has me playing acoustic guitar, 6-string banjo, and keys.  I don't know what shape it will take on the album, but I hope it's like this.  We'll see.

Be careful when you listen to this track.  The mix is pretty bad.  But, I think you'll get the jist of where we'll be going with it when we hit the studio next month.  But again, be sure to check out the lyrics below on the media player.  And when the song starts it will be kind of low, but the volume with pick up about 1 minute through.

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THIS WEEKS SONG:  "CHASE"

Here's another upcoming album track.  We've actually been sparingly playing it for the past couple of years.  It was supposed to go on our first album, but we didn't feel it was ready.  Now with the Mixtape Bandits behind us, I think it's good to go.

But, it's a track about the beginning of a relationship.  Not the very beginning, but about 6 months to 1 year into the whole thing.  Guys all over the world will tell you stories about their friends calling them "whipped," around this time.  Flash to a picture of the one guy looking at his friends, shrugging his shoulders, and his friends going "tsssh!" and making a whip crack jesture.  

At the time I wrote this, I thought back to when Shawnda and I first got together.  I decided to call the song 'Chase' because everytime she didn't like how something was going...she'd just leave.  "And just like tug-of-war, I'll lose and get pulled into the mud...cuz everytime she runs, I chase."  That's the part of the song that references that...I really did chase her.  Like we were in kindergarten or something.

Every guy goes through it though...if you haven't, then you haven't been in a long term relationship OR your way too Captain Tough Guy to admit it.  Either way, it must be done.  It's part of the courtship.  Although, I don't think most girls leave their future husbands in the middle of Kentucky with no ride home...that's one time I actually didn't chase.  I just called Greyhound to see how much tickets to Ohio were.  

Sit back and listen to the track.  It was recorded at my friend Josh Skeens' apartment.  Bobby, Dennis, and I sat around a single microphone.  This particular track was supposed to be part of an EP called the "Loyola EP" but all the tracks sound a bit to airy...so we scrapped it. 

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THIS WEEKS SONG:  "DARK GLASSES (DON'T CRY)"

I kind of cheated a little here.  This was actually written about 3 years ago.  BUT, we're starting to record the new album in September, so I pulled it out of the shoebox and re-worked it a little.  For once, I actually took the subject matter away from my wife, Shawnda...well kind of.  I lived out in Minnesota for a few years, and everytime I'd come home to visit...naturally, I'd have to leave.  Mom would always start to act tough, telling me to put on my seat belt, as I was leaving, waving...tears streaming down her face, smudging her make-up.  Then one day, when I was set to leave, I looked up and she had shades on.  Then all I could see was a lip quiver or two.  If you click on the LYRICS button on the player, you can see where I reference these things in the song.  

The second half of the song is about...guess who?  Shawnda.  She's a stressed out mess and she'll be the first to tell you, so I'm not breaking any new ground with my claim.  At the time I wrote this, she was having a particularly hard time with her Grandfather passing away, planning our wedding, and Bells Palsy.  If you don't know what the Palsy is...you don't want to.  The entire left side of her face was paralyzed...It was crazy.  But Shawnda can talk her way out of anything..."She can paint the prettiest picture with her words, man, she really knows how to speak..."  You can read the rest on the LYRICS page on the Mp3 player below.

While I'm being a sappy asshole, the song is about a couple people who I've always known not to let other people feel sorry for them.  "You, don't cry for me..."  Not exactly their words, but definitely their motto.  I had a third verse in there, but the damn thing was getting up over 5 minutes and I had to realize that I wasn't writing a novel...it's supposed to be a Pop song.  I hope you like.  Go HERE to comment.

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THIS WEEKS SONG:  "HOLLYWOOD"

It's back to the ol' goofy, sort of light hearted Freelystyle.  I was toying around with a melody one day and I looked out my living room window.  On the ledge of our deck, sat three empty and cracked flower pots.  The house we purchased in January came with them, and I guess we were too lazy to remove them, but we did eventually.  Then, Shawnda bought three beautiful flower pots filled with vivacious colorful flowers,and within two weeks...DEAD.  So we emptied them out and once again we have empty flower pots on our deck.  After I had those first two lines, the rest came easy...even if it doesn't make much sense.  But most songs really don't.  To comment go HERE.

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LAST WEEKS/MONTHS SONG:  LUNACY
Lunacy is about going to war.  A few of my friends have been on a tour of duty more than a couple times already.  Everytime they are sent over, they fear it may be their last.  Most have families, other jobs, etc.  And yet most of them show nothing but support for what they are about to embark on..."Momma told me this is suicide, but to die with dignity," is a lyric I used to show that.

If you read the lyrics, you'll see that I kind of injected my own thoughts about the situation.  "They tell us freedom has it's cost, and it's price is lunacy..."  I'll leave it at that.  To comment go HERE.

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-Dave