Kenny Peters SoundCloud Feed: Recent Episodes
Kenny Peters
Music has always been at the very core of 'who' I am....and I like that in the fact that it's always changing. I'm still working on "Worth The Wait", and it WILL be out this year come hell or high water. You can actually catch an updated version of the instrumental tracks for both 'Nightwind' and "The Color of Light" as recent uploads here.
Because work has been so very sparse and sporadic for the last year, I've definitely taken SoundCloud up on the "Artist Support" button. If you have enjoyed my songs, both original and cover music, and are so inclined I'd be honored and humbled and very appreciative.
The album itself has a playlist here of the mostly-most current versions of the tunes, with a few taken down for a variety of personal reasons. But it is coming along nicely, with some songs finally being able to BE finished... they still had some growing, and I'm not ashamed of that. And, as I'm doing all the recording, writing, arranging, and re-writing myself with no input or assistance, this is a painstakingly long process for 13 songs, and trying to keep life in order at the same time. I thank you all for those who have had and expressed patience at the final project - I really think you're going to like it. It is as unique and personal as I myself am, and I'm sure you are too. I have not really heard anything like it out there and I am super happy about that - as well as the fact that with each song that I've played for friends/family/school friends, the one thing that is most often said is that they found themselves humming the tune sometimes even days later, and then realizing it was my song. If that's not the sign of a good hook, I don't know what is.
I get asked / chided about the bulk of cover material that is here and on my YouTube channel. It is just as a matter of rehearsing and keeping my voice in some kind of shape. I post the items here for no other reason than to share the power of music. These songs have all touched me in some way, and I hope you enjoy them too.
As always, thanks for the notes of encouragement, understanding where a song is coming from, and the wonderful support, Never give up on a dream. Kenny
Marie ConnectionThe song became associated with Donny and Marie Osmond after they performed it together on their 1970s variety show.Their performances leaned into the song’s romantic theatricality, which helped introduce it to a new generation of TV audiences.Given your playful “special appearance by Marie Osmond” idea in that image, it actually fits beautifully—the Osmond variety-show era loved this kind of tongue-in-cheek romantic nostalgia.🎵 Musical StyleThe song sits stylistically between:Tin Pan Alley balladBig band standardTraditional popCommon musical traits:Slow romantic tempoLush harmony changesSentimental lyrics about evening romance🌙 Why the Song Endures“Deep Purple” keeps resurfacing because it has:Timeless imagery (twilight, gardens, love)Simple but elegant melodyHuge interpretive flexibilityIt can be done as:a jazz ballada crooner standarda pop duet
A live (tracked) performance at my weekly show that I've been wanting to sing for 40 years and to catch it live was a great opportunity to snag a recording. I'll definitely keep this one in the rotation - it's such a great song written by the Vannelli's and sung by Gino's magnificent multi timbred voice. This was the single song in history that changed my own musical direction and I remember that being the first time I'd heard a man sing with that kind of power and control and emotion in his voice. I've since covered several of his songs including 3 from the "Nightwalker" album itself. I've had the pleasure of meeting him 3 times now as well and that album not only deeply affected me at the time of it's release but also 2023-2024 as one of the main albums I listened to during the cancer journey. I hope I brought it a bit of justice. Thiis was only my 2nd take on the song and I'm sure there will be others.
By far my favorite Christmas or holiday tune, I have recorded this before and used this same arrangement, but it was at least a decade ago and my style has changed along the way in many ways. This is the Larry Gatlin arrangement which floored me the first time I heard it - seems tailor-made for me!
Probably one of Dan Fogelberg's best songs - and there are many of those to choose from. I haven't done much of his stuff over the years although I really really like most everything I've ever heard. I believe he was tremendously talented, and maybe I'm just having a Renaissance moment. This song has been in my head the last week or so, and this was the easiest way to get it out.
By far my favorite LRB song, this is patterned after their 2nd recording of the song on "The Hits...Revisited" with a slightly faster tempo than the 1983 recording. I rushed at the chance to record this a few years ago and didn't like the resulting recording, I'm much much happier with this vocal performance and added a bit of production myself to the arrangement. I think it rocks and it's always going to be one of my favorite tunes.
Probably one of the most beautiful tunes I've ever heard, with the original version being stunningly performed by Gino Vanelli. I had actually heard just a piano & vocal version he'd done, and then I heard the studio version and was even more blown away. But there's more about this song than just this cover version.
In the early 80's after I graduated high school, I began singing in some of the local nightclubs in the area around Oak Lawn in Dallas, and was introduced to a man named Paul Allen. Paul was an incredibly talented pianist and we hit it off very well. We performed at a club called "The Blue Mill" for over 2 years on a regular basis and really became close friends. Life happens, you go in other directions, and it was wonderful to be able to pop in where he was playing pretty much anywhere - and he'd always ask me to come up and sing a few songs. He could play literally anything and played for many many people over the years. We still stayed in touch through social media and email, and every once in a while i'd forward a song to him or he'd suggest something to me to learn.
We both sent this song to each other at different points; he was blown away by the piano only version and I was blown away by Vanelli's voice on both. We said we'd make it happen one day.
Well, many years passed, and I got contacted to perform at a memorial for another fabulously talented individual who had played for many many people over the years and was a good friend of Paul's, mine, and many others. Buddy Shanahan. I immediately knew that Paul would be playing and we both knew it was time to work this one up. But we had very little time, no sheet music arrangement, and Paul said he'd just transcribe it out when I got there to rehearse. We had one rehearsal the day before the memorial and there we were, over 30 years from those first days of playing together, to performing a song that we had both been wanting to do for years and years.
It was the last time that Paul and I would see each other or perform together again, as he was tragically taken away from us all in a senseless crime the next year. I still have a hard time watching the video of our performance, knowing he is not here anymore, and the wonderful love of music he shared with anyone he ran into in his life. I hope he rests in peace, and I had promised him at one point I was going to do this in the studio.
I hope his angel gets to hear it because I love how this turned out.
It also marks the first recording I've ever gotten to do in which I was able to get a successful vocoder recording in an arrangement. It's in the 2nd verse, and brings a dreamlike quality to the words, in my opinion.
It's beautiful slow jazz; a song like this comes along once in a lifetime to get to spend time working on and recording. If you like this you should really check out both versions that Gino Vannelli has done - they're both on Youtube.
One of the most popular songs of the entire 70's, this sad tale about life has moments of happy sounding chord progressions.. but it covers the life of a man after being left at the altar, losing his parents, and unsure of what life has to bring. But it's also one of my all time favorite songs that I've wanted to record. I hope you enjoy my take.
This is such a timeless and classic song originally written and performed by the legendary Roy Orbison. Don McLean covered it several years later, taking the song out to a lushly orchestrated ballad arrangement, which happened to be the first version of the song I heard and became familiar with. I've always loved it, and many years later, kd Lang recorded it both solo and as a duet with Roy Orbison himself. If you get the chance, you should check out a live recording she did several years ago that you can find on YouTube, and hear what she does with her amazing voice with this song.
In honor of Bobby Caldwell, who recently passed, and was the original artist of this great song. Go West recorded it too many years later, and fortunately stayed true to the original arrangement. I just started doing this song a few months back as it's an all time favorite, and it gets a grear reception every time. This is a live recording, slightly mixed, that I'll probably end up doing in the studio soon. Hope you enjoy this classic!
This is one of the most iconic songs from the entire late 70's and 80's catalog combined. It is still played on radio and it's just such a great song. You can almost feel yourself out in the wind, on a quiet sailboat, just you and the water, and maybe someone special with you. I had done it live years ago and decided it was time to update it. I completely remade the intro with those awesome orchestrated swells and put in a little actual sound of being on the water along with it. .... I hope you enjoy! Just meant to be a one-off, but the recording kind of took on a life of it's own in the process. I love this song.
Air Supply was the first group to release the song "The Power of Love" in the United States, several years before Celine Dion had a mega smash hit with it. It was also recorded and released overseas and then again in the US by Laura Branigan before Celine too. None of the US versions hit, but I think this arrangement, using Air Supply's arrangement and instrumentation is superior. There is only one other male version that I am aware of and that is by Englebert Humperdink several years ago. It's a "big" song - and I have wanted to sing it since hearing the original release by Air Supply, which I believe was 1985. I do hope you'll enjoy it.
This was one of Toto's slightly lesser hits (but only slightly) following their megahits with Toto IV, and a change in the lineup on most lead vocals, but it was strong enough to be the lead single from their "Fahrenheit" album. I loved the song immediately and covered it literally within weeks of it coming out - at a club in Dallas, TX where several hundred people heard me. This would have been in 1986. Fast forward to 2023, and a friend who was local back then (has since moved away) posts the song on my Facebook page and tells me that they heard me sing it - way back when - and that it left a lifetime mark on them, and has special meaning. That may be one of the most wonderful compliments that I've ever received in my life. I think every singer hopes for a real moment to have that kind of impact or an impression in someone's memory, and it really warmed my heart.So I decided to record it and did that tonight. There will probably be a video following soon, but not immediately as I'm still in the catch-up stage on some other projects. I hope you enjoy this!
"The Visitors" was the 4th single released from this ABBA album from the early 80sm and it was not a hit at the time. Due to being adopted by dance clubs and remixed, the song found a home and was successful in the long run. It's one of my favorites from ABBA and I decided to add my vocal take to the song's history. A fun project for sure!
ABBA was one of the most successful pop groups fro the 70s and 80's before they disbanded for a 10 year period. This has always been one of my favorite songs of theirs, and after finding a piano-only track, decided to make a full blown cover of it with my own choice of instrumentation. Everything you hear in this recording except the piano is by yours truly ;-)
This song stuck with me from the first moment i heard it and Amy Lee's amazing powerful vocal will live on forever past our days. The haunting melody and rock arrangement of the last chorus are things of pop music greatness. I never thought I'd get a chance to record it, but stumbled upon a track with a lowered key and thought I'd give it a shot. Mostly the same arrangement, but I took dramatic license of the "stopping points" to bring the song to a complete pause on each of those, although brief. A video will be up soon with this. Great song.
The classic song originally recorded by Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli, convered here by a vocal coach from Australia and myself, two people who have never met, talked, or know each other. I found her version online where she had just recorded the female verse, and i am in the process of learning this song so it was a great opportunity. This was only my second take but I liked how we blended. I don't speak Italian and this is all learned phonetically for me... But the song is just beautiful and fits into my current mode and pattern. I hope you like it and I will be recutting this with Hope Boyle at some point in hopefully the not too distant future. Recorded June 23, 2022.
MercyMe made history with this amazing song by having the most successful contemporary Christian song on the charts, ever. The song has a great history and story behind it which is chronicled in the movie, "I Can Only Imagine". One for all the feels, for sure.
While I knew if the song itself, I was only vaguely familiar and had never sung it before. In the last year, my personal journey toward spirituality and faith became more cemented, and the joy I get from mentally imagining myself as the person singing this song to Jesus, should I be among the forgiven, and how I would feel is immense. It captured so much of how I felt, the power of God's love for us, and have me hope that maybe my life is valuable after all. With Him, I know it always has been even if my self doubt has waned greatly over the years.
My pastor said some very magical words to the congregation on my 2nd visit before becoming a member of the church that really drove the point home for me, and they were simply: "Even if you have taken your eyes off the Shepard, he has not taken his eyes off of you."
Open your eyes, and let yourself imagine...
I will be making mixing revisions and a few overdubs along the way on this song, and will update the file accordingly before the video is completed but I did not want to delay posting this great tune any longer. I hope you enjoy my take on this great testament...
I only became aware of this song a few weeks ago when asked to lead it at church, and learned it pretty quickly. However it reallly touched a chord within me and I decided to record it at home and experiment with it a little. Will make some other changes to it at some point, but I love this one. I hope you enjoy it!
In the mid-80s Sheena Easton, while riding a huge wave of commercial success, took time out of her busy schedule to learn Spanish - phonetically - and re-record several of her biggest English-language hits for the Latin America market on EMI. As most were only familiar with hearing her awesome Scottish accent speaking English, this was a surprising move but also a very successful one as the album produced a Grammy winning song in a duet with a then-very-young (15) year old teen singer named Luis Miguel with their hit "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres". (a song which did not have an English counterpart, incidentally). I received a copy of the album for my birthday that year from Sheena's then-management-secretary Andi Stevens, who knew how big a fan I was of Sheena's.
Also not speaking Spanish in any sort of understandable way, I was immediately struck how the beauty of the language enhanced the songs I already knew; notably on the tile track which was the Spanish version of Sheena's previous hit "Almost Over You". There is a recording on my SoundCloud of the single one time I did this resulting duet live, at a karaoke show in the early 90s, which alternates between English & Spanish phrases & verses.
Now, all these years later, I decided to do a proper studio based recording of the vocal, and this is the 2022 version, with a small alteration at the end which fans of the original song by Sheena will recognize immediately as a change. I was pleased with the way this turned out and after all these years, actually know what some of the phrases mean ;-)
Here is "Todo Me Recuerda a Ti" ("Everything Reminds Me of You", aka "Almost Over You" with Sheena's lead vocal and my dubbed duet voice. I hope you will enjoy this.
one of two new songs I am getting to do at church, both of which knocked me out with the lyric content at this particular time of my life. This is just a demo, my first take vocal recording. I'll definitely be working this one up
The beautiful "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel", with this version being inspired from David Phelps incredibly moving arrangement. Modified a bit as I did not want to do a note for note recreation but definitely wanted to put a nod to his version, which is probably one of the best I've ever heard. The song can be viewed from many angles from secular to spiritual. The message of walking through the strife we experience, the wind, the rain, with Hope in your heart reminds us that we don't have to walk alone. I hope you enjoy this take.
Probably one of the most unique love songs I've ever heard, it was written by and originally performed by Joan Armatrading in 1976, and then covered by Sheena Easton in 1984 on her amazingly successful "A Private Heaven" album. It was not a single release, but an album cut with a unique vocal pattern and rhythm all together. The very beginning here I decided to have a little bit of fun with but It's not too far from either previous version. What sounds like is going to be a small ballad turns into a really great slow laid-back rocking' jazz-infused pop song that you just can't help but tap your foot or move to, even if you're sitting down.
The vocal arrangement here is completely my own. Neither of the previous versions presented multiharmony vocals and it has been fun and quite challenging to fit this together. I've worked on it for about a week and finally hit the sweet spot tonight.
I do hope you enjoy it!
My updated and second recording of this song, one which I consider a Hallmark for any singer to attempt. I'm not sure how successful some will consider this - for me, I'm satisfied for the moment as I started trying to learn this classic tune earlier in the year, and made a "first attempt" video. Of course, I'd heard countless versions but not being a Latin speaker, learning the pronunciations to be coming out of my own Texan mouth was pretty difficult. After a large number of attempts and rehearsing, it finally started coming together along with a few changes to the arrangement, which is also mine. I may work on this in coming years, but I can compare the first version to this version and know there are definitely improvements here. I hope you will enjoy this.
I should sing more often when I'm depressed.. as this really helped me today. Could be the song, but I've been pretty down and out lately, and this contemporary Christian song by Amy Grant is not only one of her best written songs, but it's an eternal favorite of mine. I've wanted to record it since I first heard it and today, well, I just had the calling. This is also a first take vocal but I'm happy with it, as well as the added backing vocals. I'll probably enhance the guitars at some point, but I wanted to share the song. I hope you enjoy "The Water".
This track originally performed by Amanda Marshall is one of those great "story songs" that sticks with you, as it has me for years. I'll eventually be replacing the track with my own instrumentation but I have been working on this a few weeks and wanted to share it.
This is an alternate mix of a recreated version of Olivia's "A Little More Love". The other version is a bit more on the grunge/pop/rock side. I love this song and love that I took the time to try & record it, but more happy that I spent the time getting the chord chart and recreating it from the ground up instead of using a track. I so dig the harmonies on the chorus of this song!
Updated Mix 11.28.2021 **This is a first- take vocal and not a rehearsed song as the arrangement was just created and this is a work in progress, hence the word demo. Please keep that in mind as it changes and improves!)
I have always loved this song originally as performed by Olivia Newton-John, with special notation to the harmonies of the chorus. While the lyrics remain the same there is a variation to the melody line on the first line of each refrain of the chorus, along with her gorgeous harmonies. It was what made the song unique in addition to the interesting chord progression as well. I covered her "Falling" tune a few weeks ago and have been listening to a good deal of her music, and I keep coming back to this song, and how it makes me feel. But I didn't want to do just a cover to the track, because it IS that unique. So I set out to recreate the entire tune from the ground up, something that I rarely allow myself time to do because it can be extremely time-consuming, even having the song chart available for chords, etc. The other reason is that i tend to get tunnel vision on a project such as this until it's done, and I always have too much to get done to allow that. However that was the case and here's what I ended up with. I actually have 3 mixes of the song but this one is the one that I "feel" the most. Consider it ONJ meets grunge pop rock meets a Carpenters influence and a little something different thrown in to the mix. I hope you will enjoy this take on the song, and I'm playing every instrument here and all vocals. I need sleep ;-)
I was blown away when I heard Adam Lambert choose this song to honor Cher with at the Kennedy Center Honors concert, and I think Cher was too. The song is totally different done as a ballad, and even though it is over 20 years old there is still a huge age range of folks who know and appreciate it. I am hoping to use it as my final song in the current project I'm working on which is a Talent Contest for Talent Watch - the Texas branch of that contest, with the finals taking place today, 11/13/2021.
Every story, every song, every movie, everything in our lives has a beginning... and this is the intro song presented for my upcoming album "Worth The Wait", arriving soon!
There are no lyrics, just sounds and if you close your eyes, you'll experience the beginning of... well, everything. We begin in space, and the pace picks up rapidly to reflect from the big bang to oceans, meadows, and even children playing. The last set will be combined with the intro to the album's first "proper" song, entitled "Little Me", but I wanted to reflect that we all start from something, somewhere, and whether your beliefs reflect a Creator or a creation, you still began...
I hope you enjoy this. Newfound techniques have been a huge gamechanger in terms of finishing out the album, and I hope you'll find the overall story once completed to be a satisfying and intriguing journey. I know I have.
***The power went out when I was uploading and corrupted the file, which I didn't realize until a few hours after posting. This is the corrected version. If you're on a mobile device, and you get a glitchy version of the song, you just need to empty your cache. In the SoundCloud app, go to your profile (your picture when you're on the "Library" page, upper right hand corner). Select "Settings", then "Basic Settings" and then click the "Clear application cache". That will take the wrong version out of your phone's memory and load in the new version.).
in 1997, Amy Grant released an album titled "Behind The Eyes", which, quite frankly, changed my life. There's a long story behind that statement, but let me just say that the songs contained on that album were so very different from the pop field that she'd been in for a while that it was somewhat jolting. It's a very personal album for Amy, with songs reflecting many emotions and situations. There are at least 5 songs on the album that I'd love to cover; they are quite personal to me too. I have never seen anyone do a cover of this particular song, and it wasn't a single, but an album cut. Still powerful. You should also go out and find that album/CD and listen to it - very impressive writing that doesn't have to bang you over the head to get your attention. Amy's ability to put a lyric and a piece of music together is wonderful and underrated by the general public. "Behind The Eyes" is by far my favorite album of her entire catalog.
I hope you'll enjoy this song. It is "Cry A River" by Amy Grant, sung here by me. All vocals and the vocal arrangement are minei! I'm also very very happy with the quality of this recorded effort! But you should definitely hear it by Amy as originally done - it's outstanding.
posted the first mix of this a couple of days ago, but have now added an enhanced crowd clapping beat, a few other things. I simply cannot help but bounce my feet when I hear this song. I hope you enjoy the added production
One of the best songs to come out of the '80s in my opinion, and I've always wanted to record it. However, the track was slightly lackluster and I had the idea this past week to add in a supplemented piano/bass line to mimic the original riff, and to add a little enhanced drum. I also got super creative with the intro in terms of a vocal change. This has turned out pretty nice and I just love the vibe of this song - makes you want to roll the windows down on a summer day. Will be updating the backing vocals later as well as a little video project in the next week.
I have recorded this before and my resulting mixes have been done prior to not only going to school for audio production, but also during the "hands on" learning phases that took place even after graduation, and trial and error with what works and what doesn't. So first, I apologize for all the bad mixes of other songs along the way (hahah!!!!) and not only are some of them being updated and re-recorded where necessary, I'm finding that it takes time to curate good recordings and that the mixing process is painstaking and seated deep in good acoustic sciences. I hope you'll appreciate this mix that I've finally been able to achieve on this song. I love this tune.
I'm working on this one currently and will have video in the next few days along with the completed mastered track, but I wanted to give this clip specifically for my friend Tracy M who suggested this track to me over a year ago.... I'm so slow! After I got used to the song I found that I really really like it, and I wanna do it right before releasing the whole thing out on the interwebs ;-)
I've been working on this tune for about 2 years and am hoping to get vocals recorded tonight. The song will be on the upcoming album in its fully finalized form, but here is "Nightwind". Until I record the lyrics with it, I'll let you decide what it's about, but I will say that I think this is one of the prettiest tunes I've ever written.. very calming and satisfying.... I hope you like it!
"Chloe" is a beautifully haunting tune written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin for Elton's "The Fox" album from the early 80's. It has long been one of my favorite songs for it's beautifully written melody, one that just sticks with you upon hearing it. I stumbled upon a track for it and then put in a little sweetening of my own. I love this song and hope that you will enjoy it too.
This is such a great classic track from Lonestar and wayback before they were huge; I think it's their first big hit. Anyway, there was a huge country hit with it and then a poppish mix was also done and I greatly enjoyed that. it's been hard to find a backing track for that version, but I did and I promptly got that song re-recorded. Right down my alley, and the Lonestar version is amazing.
This song has been through a myriad of changes over the years and again, like several other songs on the album, just wasn't "ready" to finish writing itself. The lyrics are being tweaked right now, but it is reflective of both current times and historical challenges, and getting to a "better place" for all. I will probably work on vocals all weekend as they are rather difficult. It's funny when you have a song in your head for 20 years but have never actually really sang it - you're literally learning your own song. I love this piece and can't wait to finish it out. Of special note are the use of the orchestra with focus on cello, mostly, and perhaps a violin/viola section.
Finished the music finally to this song, one I consider to be a cornerstone of the album. It's been such a long journey and this song has gone through some amazing changes, but like the others, there were things that weren't "ready" yet in terms of the context of the song itself.... it had to kind of write itself. I will be recording vocals either tonight or tomorrow.
The amazing radio-staple of "Sara Smile" - originally by Hall & Oates - with my vocal replacing here. Such a great song, and always instantly recognizable. I hope you enjoy it!
Well, as promised for quite a while now, here's the updated version of It's Alright as of 2020. The only things I kept from the original were the piano, sweep pad and background vocals. I will be recording the new lead vocal in the next few weeks. There had been an update on the previous version that included a new guitarist but that is not on this track. I duplicated some of what was provided stylistically via sequencing through ProTools for the guitar. I am still kicking the end of pneumonia and don't have my full voice back as of yet. But as soon as I do this vocal is coming.
I have wanted to record this song since I first heard it a few decades ago when it was released by Cutting Crew. It was their 3rd and unfortunately last hit in the US but the impact of the song on me was huge - one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. I have looked for a track forever but one was not available in regular venues; so I was able to commission one and they did an outstanding job of recreating the instrumentation exactly the way I desired it - patterned from the original. I hope you will enjoy this tune - it means a lot to me personally.
A direct cover of Kenny Loggins' "Heart To Heart", which in my opinion is one of his best songs ever written and one I've always wanted to take a stab at. I was in good voice today prepping for an audition and thought "Why Not?".
This has long been a favorite of mine and i always intended to go back and remix and/or rerecord it. Since I have been expanding my library with so many "updates" now, I decided to upload this version new instead of just replacing the old file.
A complete remake of Alan Parson's excellent "Eye In The Sky", attempting to lock on to the original vibe as close as possible for engineering purposes. I have worked on this off and on for about 3 years, finally finishing my mix in May 2020.
My original from 2000, which has been through multiple versions and demos, all of which I've enjoyed greatly - finally finds a spot in 2020 with all updated vocals and instrumentation. The only thing that is from the original version s the background vocals. While I had a guitarist who was contributing some awesome stuff to the project, he seems to have dropped out of the picture and/or is no longer interested in playing. The power chords on the chorus refrains here are inspired by what he had contributed before.
UPDATED MIX 2.9.2020 (uploaded incorrect file before) A classic song, and a very favorite of mine - the Leon-Russell penned ballad about love and an appeal to a heart.... I altered just the opening line by adding an acapella open. It seems to work well.... I've been wanting to get this finished with this particular mix and get it posted up. It's patterned after the Carpenters version for sure complete with that amazing sax solo in the middle... and meant for the 37th anniversary of Karen Carpenter's passing.
Updated file on 4/8/2019 with further drum/rhythmic and volume changes. If you have listened to this before you will need to empty your cache on your mobile devices (under settings on your main page of SoundCloud) or refresh the page on a computer when on the song page itself to hear the changes. Updated again 4/2/2019 with a few instrument changes and attention to volume balancing issues. remixed to fix phase issues found in the original mix; a ProTools user error ;-) This is definitely in demo mode with some changes to coming still rhythmically but this is the tune for the most part; lyrics to follow A much softer side of "Worth The Wait", but still a tune I've loved writing and finishing this last few days. I have had this melody in my head and unrecorded in any form, and I had a very inspiring moment this week, so I took advantage of the energy and got this done. Interesting arrangement, probably one of the nicest pieces I think I've written, personally. It's positive, but it also has a sad side to it.
The song will eventually include lyrics and I'll give a little bit more about the writing process soon
One of the first projects I got to work on in Logic Pro X while in my theory class in this degree program was this song - I was thrilled because the song was already planned for the album, and it was a great opportunity to use what I'd just learned and put it in action. This was he first time I'd ever written a tune completely with just computer input. The first version/mix of this got to #6 on Reverbnation's Austin Pop Charts in 2017, and I decided to use what I'd learned at the 2 year mark to remix it; bringing out clarity to both the lead and background vocals with a better mix of the music. I also added a very small amount of orchestration to the end to fill in a blank measure before the last verse.
This song is 100% about my mother...whom I love dearly and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to share it with her. Feel free to share it with yours...
Every word in this song has a very special meaning and memory between she & I...
This will end up being the opening track to the album and mixed in 5.1 surround sound; this is a stereo mixdown of the song which will actually have a prologue to the intro, but short of vocals being added, this is the final audio track. I'm quite proud of this song production. From "Worth The Wait", coming in 2020!
This will have lyrics upon the release in May 2020 but I needed to put this back out and it is one of the tunes that have had issues with getting the right lyric. I do have a full lyric for it, but there's been something missing.... and that came to mind today as I observed the 7th anniversary of my sister's passing. I now dedicate this to the memory of my sister Debbie, who passed away in December 2012. So, the lyric has to be just right.
Till then I hope you'll enjoy this melody - I think it's one of the nicest sounding that I've ever had the joy of writing.
And of course, Austin Kennedy's guitar really brings out the right additional notes....
This song was the last one added to the setlist for Worth The Wait, and it's hard to believe that I've been working on it for 6 months (along with some others, haha) but this song has gotten a LOT of attention and MANY remixes and rewrites. We did a studio version in August that was...alright, but not quite what I was looking for, with rushed vocals at 1:00 PM in the afternoon on vocal day, needless to say I was not happy with my own sound there. I also had a VERY difficult time deciding on the right rhythm scheme to fit the song. This version, used for my Senior Project 1 class as well as my Mastering Audio class, finally found the song settling into it's correct niche. I will more than likely revise a few things before the official album release in May 2020, but for now with my available resources this is as far as it goes. It'll have a cleanup on Aisle 12 and a remaster as I grow more comfortable with that process. However, the song is one I treasure, and it's immediately hummable by most upon hearing it for the first time. I do hope you'll give it a spin after the multiple mixes that have been out, both on my Soundcloud and even Jango Radio where it's quite popular.
That is partially due to the amazing guitar played here by Austin Kennedy. He plays on several tracks to the upcoming album and I'm extremely grateful for his input. He's really quite talented. You can check out his own material at hotboxstudio.net.
One of my all time favorite songs - "I Love You" by the Climax Blues Band from the 1970's was a huge hit, all over the radio and was a song for my childhood. Ran across this live recording from 1997 at The Mucky Duck in Prestonwood Mall in Dallas....
The idea of me covering a Madonna song was pretty preposterous to me, even way back when - not because i didn't like her music, I do - especially that from the 80's & 90's, but mainly because the range was so high in comparison. However, this was a brand new song in 1996 and I thought it was and till is one of her very best. I was doing a LOT of theater and my voice was in probably the best shape it's ever been in, especially to hit these notes. It was a good couple of years of a stretch of time that I could do this pretty easily - of course, 20 years and being a smoker has brought my natural key down by about a full step and a half, but that also has to do with age. Anyway, ran across this gem tonight and thought I'd share it.
This is the first time that I've gotten the luxury of actually being able to play instruments on any of my recordings. Everything you hear here, with the exception of the strings which are synthesized, is being played on legit reals. Finished the mix today and ran it through AAMS Mastering; will receive a remix and remaster before the album comes out.
The first time any of my songs have been done with live instrumentation for all sounds with me playing several instruments versus sequencing from samples. Guitar by Austin Kennedy, Drums, Keyboards, Percussion by Kenny. First pass without vocal additions.
I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it waaaaay back when David Pack had left Ambrosia to do a solo album - something that had been guessed about for a while. This song got SOME airplay but not enough to break him away from the group for long. He's an amazing writer and producer, and I admire his work. This song was of course right down my alley and I eventually found a decent track and worked on it. I don't know why I was too critical of myself at that time and didn't post it. It's definitely a Kenny song, lol. I thought this turned out pretty well.
I cannot believe that I ran across this on another site, but I'm glad I did because I haven't found my original copy anywhere, and I have been wanting to hear it. I sang this only a few times, but this was immediately after the end of a 4 year relationship and boy was I ever happy to be out of that. Such a great song even to this day - such angst!
There's a lot of story behind this song, most of which I will save for the liner notes once it's completed but it was the last entry into being added to the album. It's short, sweet, and I have recorded it before, but this will be an entirely new version on the album, with everything played live in studio and by some very special guests. More to come on this. I also plan to step behind the drum set for the recording.
Karaoke performance at Last Call on 6.28.2019 - new capabilities allow me to record, export and mix your performance at Karaoke. This was the first night of trying a new system and there will be more tweaks coming to improve the recordings of performers, which will soon be available to purchase and may include video as well.
I finally remembered the password to get into an unused Sound Cloud account I had opened years ago, and found a few gems on it. I have always loved this song and Jodeci did a spectacular job of remaking this Stevie Wonder classic, back in the late 90's. This is from a "live" recording at Glenn's On Stage Entertainment karaoke - he has always had excellent equipment to record and I ended up getting a lot of things from that period of time. I especially thought this vocal was pretty good for being live and karaoke track.
One of the ballad entries for "Worth The Wait", this has been through 10 mixes and revisions to get to this point but is at a final stage for now anyway until a few instruments change before the vocals are added. It's a nice soft tune, and I really like what it's turned into... I hope to have this finished before summer gets here.... but hear it playing at the lake. I wanted to have a fresh upload of the track in case anyone has been following the changes and had listened to the first upload, which I've just been updating the track. If you've been listening to that initial upload and not releasing your device cache, you've not gotten the updated file. This is a stand-alone singular upload here.
A unique sounding and midtempo pulsing tune in the works; reflecting how I feel when I'm either on top of the world or feeling alone like no one understands at all where I'm seeing things from...
Still In the works in format and structureand lyric content- definitely belongs on this album.
Here's the final stereo mix - at least for now - of "Little Me" before being taken into 5.1 surround tomorrow. I love what this has grown into - it's a cool beat and sound, to me anyway, and I can't wait to get the lyrics/vocals laid down to it.
Here;s the latest iteration of "Little Me" and I'm hoping to have the whole thing completed by next month. I've ended up out of the house for 3 weeks of February so that's kinda messed up my plans.
Here's the instrumental track as it stands right now for "Little Me" - with a few things left to be added, and few corrections to be made but this will be the opening track to the album "Worth The Wait", coming next year! There's a prologue that comes before this that i'm not releasing yet, but it's not actually part of the song but an intro that will tie it together. This is just going to be a fun tune, but lyrics are still being perfected so not here yet. That will be the next step and I hope to have the full song finished by the end of February.
A few instruments left to be added (horns/brass, a few percussion elements) as well as the opening prologue movement, but that's really a separate track altogether. No vocals on here yet as I'm trying to exact the lyric still. The next step will be to export this to ProTools for mixing. But I'm digging the groove for sure.
A placeholder track only in demo form and NOT MIXED - all instruments recorded straight through to and through Logic, and not exported to ProTools or mixed - this is the first entry into the LittleMe song evolvement blog I'm starting for this song for those interested to watch how that process goes, just for fun and why nots?
Here is the track now with the guitars, strings, sound effect and synth tracks added. Quite different!
So as I'm in my 2nd half of my audio degree and getting into more advanced classes, especially when it comes to mixing and learning what I can do with ProTools, my most recent Digital Audio Class (2) with Adam Fangsrud had no less than 4 mixes due in 3 months. They were intense learning experiences in different genres. The 4th choice could be our own if we had the ability to do that. I had the original instruments from the recording of "No, Father" and as that original recording was rushed and did not produce the results I would have necessarily liked - yet, for a demo I was not completely horrified - I now had the chance to start working on what I WANTED it to sound like.
Long story short, despite a horrible computer crash the day before the project was due, I have been able to go back, add a little production to the recording, return it to its original tempo and clean up the recording errors originally made. I will post the mixes as they are built here in the next few hours as additional layers get added so you can see the progression of the song, but this mix is Rhythm and Piano only.
Items added to the original recording are additional bass drum & snare as well as a Sub Bass to accentuate the bottom of the stereo field. I've also added the footsteps at the beginning, put a delay onto the cymbal to double the time feel of it and heightened the drum presence all together. The next post will include syth and effect layering and possibly the strings added for this project.
Following up the lyric posting from yesterday, this was recorded this morning after I literally stumbled onto the track. Some will get it, some won't, but I'm no longer following the hearts of others in what i choose to record. This one is a very old touching one for me and for me only but has a world of meaning to me.
I've been wanting to work on covering this song for a while; this was something I needed to work on today. It was just to start getting a feel for it in the studio setting. Thought I'd play around with it. Still owe it to Jen Plank for suggesting it to me. About 2 minutes of it here. Will be re-recording some vocal tracks and mixing different style here.
Another remix to the 1st take of Everything She Wants - such a great tune that i'm reworking a bit. Will be hopefully recording "Take 2" this week with broken down sections for some experimentation in mixing.
With the newer mixing tools and what I've learned through school, as part of the ongoing project of Worth The Wait, I'll be able to present "before & after" tracks, showing what I'm learning and progressing at. I took the instrumental of No, Father and reworked it. There's only 6 tracks here, but I love how it came together. You can hear the effect I'd laid in now where you could not before, and there's much tighter compression on the drums and bass. The song keeps growing as I'm toying with this evil little "chamber-music" style string part that has been playing in my head ever since the song came out 2 years ago. When I lay the vocals back in and remix them, I just might add the string part.
This is only a sample of the now completed (currently) backing track for "Grace", the latest addition to "Worth The Wait". It is also my first recording since returning to school and the first employ not only new recording techniques, but created solely with Mac instrumentation via Logic. Still mixed as of this mix with NTrack but with much more control over compression knowledge, usage and settings. Mastered with AAMS Software. No vocals recorded as of yet.
The "love theme" from "The Mirror Has Two Faces", this song was a great duet to sing with this lovely lady, Adele Little, whom I met on the karaoke circuit in Dallas and is one of the nicest people I've ever met, not to mention a great singer and a staple at many of the Opry houses around the area and even in the country. She does a marvelous Patsy Cline, by the way. If you ever get a chance to hear her, you should. She's just a gem ;-) and I'm both glad and proud to call her a friend. I stumbled upon this recording, from 20 years ago, and was happy to clean it up as much as possible to be able to surprise her with it today.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This sound is the epitome of 60's instrumental beatnik merged with musicians and orchestras, and done well. Billy Strange played a mean-ass guitar and brought some current themes to a different pop light on this collection.
My dad played this album a lot when I was a kid and I was thrilled to find it on YouTube but all the songs were sped up. I have corrected their pitch and speed on these. Not sure if they'll get to stay up or not but it's worth a shot.
60's at its best.
This is an album cut off a Carpenters album from the 70's called 'A Kind of Hush" that was the beginning of their commercial decline, and is definitely on their sweeter side, but I love the sentiment of the song and especially the line "You are one of the few things worth remembering", both in lyric and chord arrangement/structure. It also seemed the perfect song to give my partner of nearly 19 years who holds me together every day, listens to me, and cheers me on in his own way. There's so much excitement going on in life right now I have to remember to tell him so...for his 50th, this is just "You".
This incredible song from Gino Vannelli's "Nightwalker" album is the last tune on the first "side" if you're talking from a vinyl or cassette point of view...the whole album is a true masterpiece in his catalog. There's never been a karaoke track available to it, and the album has long been a favorite of mine and my friend Glenn Lukin's, who ran a very popular set of shows back in the 90's & 2000's. This was recorded in 2001, shortly before I moved to Austin, using a vocal elimination filter on the CD. The backing track turned out pretty nicely but did remove a portion of the guitar on the awesome solo. It also left a good deal of residual reverb that was impossible to remove here, from the original vocal. Someday I will remake this song. You should check out Gino's original, both the song and the album itself, "Nightwalker". This was the single sole time I ever sang this song live and I simply cannot believe I found this tape, quite by happenstance in February 2017.
This song found a home with the movie "Phenomenon" but it has been recorded by a few other folks other than Eric Clapton, who wrote it and had a major hit with it. Wynona Judd had also recorded a version of the song as well. I began singing it within the year it was released because it was just a great tune and I stumbled across this recording tonight and ran it through the mastering software to even out the live recording. Love this song very much!
As my mixing capabilities have grown I decided to remix and remaster this Christmas Classic.... 2016
Always a favorite tune, this was also covered by Anne Murray who had a very large hit with it as well. This is in the original Kenny Loggins/Jim Messina arrangement, which is my favorite. It's a great song that still pops up on radio today. I love the lyric to this song because so many people can identify with it, especially the chorus. But I like it because it can be seen as both a commentary/narrative but as also a directive, which the 3rd verse is definitely so, or a request, if you will...dedicated to my friend Cindy Newman Winn, who passed away December 2, 2016. I will always remember you. Thank you for always inspiring me and encouraging me to dream.
Carpenters recorded this song in 1970 and it instantly became a Christmas classic, still played today at the holiday season. With Karen Carpenter being one the most influential vocalists to my development, I had always dreamed of meeting her. Of course, that was cut short by her passing away in 1983. Fast forward to 2015, when I decided it would be fun to try & match up my recording of this song with hers. However, even though the songs were recorded in the same key, the tempos were off a bit. Painstakinly, I digitally altered the Carpenters version and mixed them to where I could get a workable "duet" together. Please feel free to visit my YouTube channel to see a short "video" where I give a quick phone call to heaven, to make "a special wish" for a det with Karen, so to speak. That link is at: https://youtu.be/41lw5z8Q1Jo
Thanks as always for your support! Happy Holidays, Kenny
In my opinion, this is one of the finest of the contemporary Great American Songbook tunes ever written, of course by the great Leon Russell, who just passed away in November 2016. This song has been covered by so many people, many of whom are among my favorite artists. This version is patterned after Carpenters from a 1972 album with the same name. While theirs was not a single, it was the lead off song of the album and is a fan favorite and features an amazing saxophone solo in the middle of the song; very sultry. I was lucky enough to find a nearly-identical track and lowered it 3 half-steps to fit my range. RIP Mr. Russell - you provided the soundtrack to many lives around the world.
I think Rob Thomas is a great songwriter and I actually prefer a lot of his solo material to the work with Matchbox Twenty but the bulk of it is bleed-over in style with little differentiation. I thought this was a great tune and had a hint of 80's stylistically. One of the biggest benefits I received from singing at the bar solidly for nearly 3 years was that I was able to break out of my comfort zone of a mostly-ballad heavy set and sing more uptempo material, of which this definitely is. I like the frenetic feel of the drums and the chorus, and the bridge of the song is just great. I hope you like it. Remixed and mastered in November 2016; recorded in 2014.
One of the all time great R&B "old-school" songs.... the incredible Lou Rawls had a huge hit with this and it's something I never thought I'd sing for sure because the beginnings of the verses are so low, and that sure wasn't in my range... but as I started getting a bit older and my voice changed with more usage over the years I found I could do it. This was recorded in 2015; remixed fully and remastered in November 2016.
A song that will be used in a project I'm just about to finish up, picked specifically for its lyric content and haunting melody combination. The timing couldn't have been more perfect with my increased capability to isolate my own recorded vocals. This song has a beautiful melody and long standing place as a favorite of mine. It's not a well known hit and was covered by The Carpenters in the 70's on their "A Kind of Hush" album; it is a fan favorite. I never thought I'd have the chance to record it and stumbled across a track last year (2015). I cut it, but at that time never really got a satisfactory vocal recording. Now, with newer technology available to me and increased knowledge, I have gotten much better control on my recordings. This is a remix of that recording but it definitely has new life. Here is "One More Time"; with the effects on the 2nd phrase intentional to represent going to see the ghosts of the past, One More Time....
I'm going way down south to Louisiana, tonight Well, I'll just close my eyes And everything's alright And though I'm really far away I'll make my get away And no one need really know that I've been gone...
One more time for the good times That far out weigh the bad One more time for the good times When love was all we had
I'm going way down south to Baton Rouge Well, I'll just close the door And turn out all the lights And all the images dance by Of folks and friends who lie Back home where things are slow and easy going..
One more time for the good times That far out weigh the bad One more time for the good times When love was all When love was all When love was all we had One more time
SONGWRITERS LEWIS ANDERSON
A tune that can be used for many varieties of the word, "Proud" is about a decade old or so but has never been remixed correctly and definitely never mastered through software. I spent a good portion of the day today messing around with it. I'd LOVE to have a full band to play this and alter the arrangement a slight bit, but I think it's a great tune with some fantastic lyrics and I had a lot of fun with this song and the backing vocals. This is "Proud".
One of my all time favorite songs, this has been covered quite a few times but George Michael really slammed it down and this version is based on his recording. A few different versions on my own have surfaced and they have never been cleaned up and some are even at the wrong speed, which results of course in a higher pitch. This is the corrected speed and pitch and the only bother to me is that it is to a track; I'd LOVE to do this LIVE.
I wasn't too keen on this song when it first came out, right after Clay Aiken's rise to success through American Idol, but it kinda grew on me, and became apparent that it'd be a good fit for my voice. I recorded it only this one time. I found it in transferring files between hard drives and realized it had not been recorded with proper filters and had never been mastered. Here's the updated version, done on my birthday, 2016.
If there was ever a song of hope that encapsulated a generation, it's "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. Not only did it capture the heart of their fans, but the entire 80's generation and for generations to come. That was "my" generation and the song has stayed with me, in some ways arresting that teenager forever in that great music. But it also has stayed with generations that followed for the song is still quite popular as evidenced by its resurgence and cover by the television cast of "Glee". When I first heard it by that group I was actually impressed with how they'd arranged the song with a vocal backing but also paying homage to the original's infamous guitar run. It's an iconic song that I was also privileged to solo on part of with the 2nd run with River City Pops and a friend whose no longer with us, the wonderful Kendra, for part of it. Anyway, the song itself sends a great message of hope that we must NEVER stop believing...in anything...ourselves....our dreams...for the movie never ends, it goes on & on & on & on....
LIVE performance! - of "Gypsy Days", with the magnificent Paul Allen playing piano. Now, there's a history there that I won't go all into here, but Paul & I worked together in the very late 80's for 2 years at a small bar in Oak Lawn (Dallas, TX) and he was the first pianist I ever worked up songs with. It was a wonderful period of life I built a lot of time out of. This recording is the first time we've worked together in 25 years+ and I'm hoping we'll have crisp clear video & accompanying clear audio in the next few days, but I was not going to miss the chance to get some stamp of this. We've talked about doing this song for many years, and only got a little bit of rehearsal time in the day of, but I love the vocal performance, love Paul's playing, and love the song. Great night, this was. Audio lifted from finalized video.
When I heard this the first time I wasn't too hyper over it and then I saw the video and loved it immediately. I started playing it when I DJ'd and then even later on thought it'd be a fun song to sing once I found a good track and started moving towards more upbeat things in shows. It was definitely a fun tune on crowded nights. I love the tune and this is of course just demo fun. Remixed/Remastered 7/2016
A little known Carpenters tune unless you're a fan, I recorded this a year ago, but as I keep learning my software better for home recording I wanted to tweak this a bit better as it's actually one of my favorite songs written by Randy Ederman. No one will ever match Karen's vocal, and it's a short song. I took out the harmonica solo at the end because the track that I had did not do it justice with its midi version, and it just didn't fit the reading well; but this version is superior to the 2015 recording. Remixed & Remastered 7/2016
I fell in love with this song initially because it was played over the sneak preview of the upcoming "Star Trek: Enterprise" TV show that was coming in 2002 on the Paramount Network (UPN?) and then of course it was released as a single. I recorded it to a solid track much later, in 2008 during a healing period from illness and I just love the song. Tinkering with some software upgrades, the vocal here was cleaned up immensely with compressors and limiters being used correctly. Remixed and remastered 7/2016
For all of us, right now.
God loves a lullaby In a mother's tears in the dead of night Better than a Hallelujah sometimes God loves the drunkard's cry The soldier's plea not to let him die Better than a Hallelujah sometimes We pour out our miseries God just hears a melody Beautiful, the mess we are The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a Hallelujah The woman holding on for life The dying man giving up the fight Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes The tears of shame for what's been done The silence when the words won't come Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes We pour out our miseries God just hears a melody Beautiful the mess we are The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a Hallelujah Better than a church bell ringing Better than a choir singing out, singing out We pour out our miseries God just hears a melody Beautiful, the mess we are The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a Hallelujah We pour out our miseries God hears just a melody Beautiful, the mess we are The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a Hallelujah (Better than a Hallelujah sometimes) Better than a Hallelujah (Better than a Hallelujah sometimes) Songwriters: HARTFORD, CHAPIN / HART, SARAH
This is probably one of the strangest but most magnificent pieces of music I've ever tackled; and one of my all time favorite songs. Written by Jon Anderson (from Yes) and Vangelis, it was later covered by Donna Summer in a version produced by Quincy Jones. While it was somewhat close to the original (and is the version represented here) it is just an odd beautiful quirky song with amazing lyric content... I had considered obtaining the full rights to reproduce it on "Worth The Wait' but it was going to be too costly in the long run and timing got stolen from me at the precise moment anyway so it died while I started looking for the appropriate key to sing it in. I do believe I'll record the song some day though. This is purely only a demo.
One of the best examples of positive energy encapsulated in song & lyric, this is Savage Garden's amazing "Affirmation".
David Pack, the leader of the group Ambrosia, wrote and first released this song in the 80's. It had the definite sound of Ambrosia, but he released it as a solo effort on his first solo album. Later on, it was slightly retooled and released on Ambrosia's Anthology album as an Ambrosia song with Michael McDonald and James Ingram featured heavily on backing vocals. It's a great song for my style & range, and I finally got the chance to lay down a vocal - make that SOME vocals for it. I love this song and while I had a vocal elimination live recording of this from the early 90's, it was only in recent months that I actually found a real track to the song. Recorded on 6.24.2016, remixed & remastered on 9/1/2016, my 51st birthday.
Disclaimer - This is a demo, not a finalized recording, and a one-take lead vocal first attempt. It is far from a perfected recording. It is emotionally a hard song to sing now, but I do intend on either re-recording or overdubbing some areas.***
One of my lifelong (since the age of 16) friends, Scott Kox, passed away this last year, and I'll never forget his presence in my life, and all he did for me. This was one of his favorite songs and he had always wanted me to sing it. I never got to do it for him, for the one chance that I had, my voice was not in great shape from a slight cold. I started working on a demo of it in the summer of 2015, and he passed away in August, shortly before his birthday. I can't bring myself to go in and re-record the vocals, but I have remixed it and remastered it, and this turned out quite a bit better than the first mix. Always there for me, this is dedicated to my friend Scott, may he always rest in peace.
Written in the mid 1990's, this was re-recorded from the ground up in 2007 and I ran across it partially with the vocals separate but not the newer instruments separated. It is the 2nd instrument set, but one stereo track on them. I will ultimately redo this again because I do love the tune. One of my mom's favorites of my originals, and a nice little Love Song... ;-)
Who couldn't love this song from Sister Act II? I remember watching the movie the first time and being blown away by the arrangement of this gospel tune and how soulful the beginning was, never thinking I'd had a chance to sing the amazing song myself. Then, I stumbled upon a track... Well, the dance part of the track left about a zillion things to be desired, but that tender opening was wonderfully intact, so through a little editing magic, I replaced my vocals onto the start, and the voila! The cast joined me for the rest.... I hope you enjoy my "insertion". Remastered 2016.
[live karaoke performance 1995] I used to get compared to George Michael a lot, and I did a lot of his tunes in the 80's & 90's, and this one was one of my favorites, but I didn't start doing it until the 90's because the tracks that were out there just plain sucked. This one was a better one because it reflected the remixed version. I only had recorded it once, and I was so surprised that it was the 2nd version that I screwed up the lyrics on the "extra" part....of course that's this version so it's notable for that... found on the "lost tapes"...remastered 2016....but indicative of my range at the time - I had some liquid encouragement on this night as well. ***Tempo corrected February 2017
This great song was one of Queen's best, and yes, I knew it waaaaay before it was featured in "Shawn Of The Dead". I was actually at Summer Camp (at Camp Langston in Mt Pleasant, TX!) when I heard Queen's "Jazz" album, I think summer of 1979, and this song was on it. I thought it was awesome. Many years later, after Karaoke had started, Queen actually released a CD of their original tracks for karaoke, and this was one of them. I only performed it live once, and this was that time. I'd love to have made it a regular song. I had a little liquid energy encouragement this night ;-) Great tune.
Another - and the only other - duet with one of the most beautiful voices the world had heard in the early 80's...and this one song held so much for me. The post can't explain everything, but this version of the song was the first version I'd heard, although several people went on to record it; Gary Morris had a huge country hit with it, and then a few years later, of course Bette Midler used it in Beaches and it was a smash. However, this was the "original" to me, and helped me through some terrible times at home in my personal life. I heard it as a duet, and while I have the two-track master somewhere, I FINALLY found a cassette copy and transferred it over after the tape being lost for ages, over 30 years, as this was recorded in a small studio in Dallas in 1984, and I sent it to Sheena for her birthday the next year.
This is such a great group number but I was lucky to stumble across a backing that had minimal background vocals, allowing me to add in to layer as I wanted. It turned out nice, and I found this in the "lost files"; full folder so I decided to remix and remaster for the first time.
Another on this series of found "lost recordings" I have special reason for sharing this beautiful Michael Jackson tribute to anyone who has lost someone they love.... as in the years prior to recording this, our original karaoke family lost our friend Gary Berez to a car accident... and we were all very lost without that wonderful soul. I ran across this recording after the sudden passing of a friend, and then my cousin, and then a family friend within a timeframe of less than 3 weeks...so it seemed destined to be found.
One of my all time favorite tunes, Kenny Loggins' style had just started to undergo slight changes and indicators of where his musical path was heading which was actually a continuation of themes he'd long had but had previously been glossied up in pop packages. The albums that followed where this one came from moved toward a very good mix of Jazz & R&B infused pop that were quite sublime (check out his "The Unimaginable Life" and "Leap Of Faith" albums; you won't be disappointed!) Anyway a track to this song was a long time coming from when the song first came out, but a good friend supplied it to me and in the middle of a bunch of stress in 2015 I recorded a quick take. There are a few areas of distortion that will be redubbed but overall I loved the tune mix enough to remaster a version here. Love this song and can't wait to get back to it someday
I worked a long time on remixing this, and short of re-recording the lead vocal, this is just a wonderful capture of what I think is one of the greatest songs ever written. A young man, a guy named Jack, who was working at Dave & Busters when we first started gigging there in 1990 I think approached me one day and asked me if I'd learn this song, and gave me a cassette tape with the original on one side and the artists's track on the other. At that time, it was nearly unheard of to have an original track of the artist's backing. I'd never heard the song and wasn't much into Contemporary Christian music, but I was touched by the message of the song immediately and loved it. I began performing it and people responded well to it, and even requested it from time to time. My friend Dory Swyhart Coyle (at the time) and I used to have "Gospel Off's" with this and her amazing "Pour On The Power"..good times. I still struggle with faith at 50 years old, but when I envision the meaning behind this song, the struggle isn't very hard at all.
This is the very first song I ever sang in front of a crowd. I believe I was 21 or 22 in this recording.
It's somewhat of a funny, but touching story, but has 2 parts... and two different crowds. The first time I ventured out to try to sing in front of a crowd was at The Old Plantation on Cedar Springs in Oak Lawn area of Dallas. I had been going to the bars a long time by that point, and knew a lot of the drag queens, and knew of the amateur shows...I finally got up the nerve to ask Michael, the organizer, if I could just sing live instead of having to think about trying to do drag, because believe me, no one would have wanted to see me try to do that... he said "Sure, why not?"...so I got up the nerve to try...and this was the song I chose. At that time, tracks didn't really exist because karaoke didn't exist in the USA, so I sang over the record. First time out of the bat, I won the contest...and came back the next week and placed 2nd. I ended up being a show regular within about 6 months. It was great. Within a few years I moved out of the gay community and into more mainstream clubs by using tracks and doing some theater projects..but this song also led me to my first real romance AND my second real unreachable infatuation (separate people)...but such is life! Wonderful stories that remain with me today. This was a "signature song" for sure for sure for me for many years. Found on the "lost drive", 3/2016
This was just always such a great tune to relax to - Christopher Cross's "Sailing". We had a great track to it in the early days of our group and this was another stumbled upon recording I had that I remastered as well as I could. Hope I did it justice.
This is the "Amazed" track I referred to yesterday when posting "I'm Already There"; this was my first exposure to Lonestar, and I've performed this song many years. This version was recorded about 10 years ago or so. Found the folder in the "lost drive" and remixed and remastered it here. March 2016. May make some adjustments here & there along the way but I do love this song. There's another arrangement out there that someday I'd love to do that has a slight more pop tinge to it, but this is pretty good too, definitely the country mix.
This is just such a great song. Even though I'm not a huge country person there are songs that come through that are just well written and this is one of them. I had just gotten to know "Amazed" by Lonestar and Ed's brother in law Roger asked if I'd heard this, and suggested I learn it. I didn't actually hear it until a few years later and I was blown away by it. Loved it immediately. This particular version was recorded just about 10 years ago and I stumbled across the files on that hard drive. Remixed and remastered March 2016. A bit more work will be done on it but I wanted to post it today.
Elton John is by far one of the most prolific musical geniuses of our time and when he works with Bernie Taupin, something magical always happens. This song was their reuniting after many years apart and it's one of my favorite of all songs. I completely forgot that I had ever recorded it and I stumbled across the digital folder today. Remixed and remastered March 2016.
The subject of "signature songs" came up earlier and that's always a funny subject. When a lot of singers run around together they always have a certain group of songs that each consider "their" songs. There are always stories. Anyway when our little group of singers started growing, and when we first started having our tunes that were identified with us, this one was one that people always seemed to identify with me. I loved doing it, and it was a show-off song in a way because of the infamous ending of the tune, which was a huge hit for Billy Vera & The Beaters. I think it was used on a TV show and was popular mainly because of that. It was also that groups only mainstream hit, but it was a huge one for them. Another in the lost drive series...
So, in the late 80's when I started branching out from singing at just the bar where I'd started gaining my confidence, and moving into nightclubs and more, I also started getting into a few different styles of music, and trying to adapt it not only to me, but adapt to it as well. I loved Luther Vandross's voice and stylings and wanted to try this....and it became sort of a "signature song" for a long while, won me a contest to Vegas and was a big part of my life for a while.... here it is remastered.
This is a remastered version of this song I originally recorded in somewhere around 1991 or 1992 I believe, with Dean Bailey in the studio. It was a good time and he was a really great and patient man, and I learned a lot from him. I was not the most responsible person back then and don't think I don't remember it - but he did help me get some good recordings, and this was one of 4 or 5 we did. I patterned this after the George Michael & Elton John version which was a huge hit at the time. Hard to believe that's nearing a quarter of a century - but it's a classic song. My other upload of the original mix of this song is at over 2500 plays I believe!
This was always such a great song in its heyday and one that should have been with backup. There must have been a reason Glenn wasn't singing along this night, but there are good backings on the track, and it was one of just a few times I ever sang it. Reminds me of my childhood in music but this night was a dedication to my one & only, and recorded approximately 1999 or 2000. Remastered 2016
Recorded in 2008, this is just a timeless and wonderful country song. I've been itching to get in & give it a proper remix and remaster and finally got a chance to do that today (9.18.2017) as I'm looking for a good country tune to feature in an upcoming one-off song/gig next week. This might be the one. Love the melody and chord progression of this tune.
I thought this was a cool little song by the unfortunately-named "Extreme", who'd just had a huge hit with "More Than Words", and by all practical purposes, this should have been a big hit. But it was nowhere near the success of their first single. Either way, it was a fun song to record. Found on the lost drive and remastered February 2016
A true surprise find today on the lost drive, another trio with the awesome harmonies - Glenn Lukin & Hope Boyle. This was nice.
So...this one takes some splainin'....
In 1984, Sheena Easton recorded an album of her hits in Spanish, and learned it phonetically at the time. She didn't speak it. The album actually did well in Mexico and Spain and earned her another Grammy Award in the song with Luis Miguel, recorded when he was like 15 years old.
On the spanish version of the song "Almost Over You" (which had been a hit here in the US) I suddenly heard a "duet" version or a harmony line to the lead. This was in the very early 90's and I edited together a Spanish/English version of the song (same arrangement & track) and then I actually performed this one night with the track playing, and me singing the harmony line, creating a duet with Sheena1 Hey, if Barbra & Neil can do it......
Anyway, I don't speak a word of Spanish well, so I too, learned this phonetically to be able to sing it...so literally, pardon my language. But it was fun. ;-)
Found on the lost drive 2016, remastered 2/2016
This is just a rockin' song any way you look at it, and it was always fun to do. We very happy to find it floating in the lost drive. Remastered 2016.
One of Fogelberg's greatest tunes in my opinion, and another on the "lost drive", but this is a much later one, when I'd started recording at home to much higher quality, and had started getting better control over sound. This one is remixed, and remastered here. Turned out quite nice if I say so myself. One of my favorite tunes.
This song is the first thing I heard from Josh Groban and I fell in love with it immediately. There was a lot going on in life at the time. My biggest regret is that I only have the mixed down file and not the source tracks on this, one of the first things I played with at home to record. It was a very decent vocal performance and I'd love to be able to go in now and remix the whole thing. But such as it is, here is "To Where You Are", via Kenny, and dedicated to anyone you've ever lost.
Another in the "lost songs" file, and another that was a pleasure and joy each time we got to do this - long before The Fugees and Lauryn Hill remade this classic, Roberta Flack's timeless "Killing Me Softly (With His Song)" captured the hearts of millions around the world, and still does. This song, with Hope on lead, was a great opportunity to provide 3 part harmony. Again, we all just knew each other so well and developed our own arrangement... remastered 2016.
One of our favorite things to do in the originating days of our old "karaoke group" was to get up for 3 & sometimes 4 part harmony. We never rehearsed outside or anything, there were just small groups of us that "clicked" because we'd been singing together for so long, we knew how the others sang the song and adapted musically in harmony. This was one of our favorites. Featuring Bill Dome on lead vocal, this is one of I think 2 recordings I have of this cover of "Lady" (Kenny Rogers) with myself & Glenn Lukin on backing 3 part harmony we kind of "created" for this song.
So...this song, the first time I ever heard it was when Brian McKnight released it and I was blown away by the power of the song and the songwriting. I learned it and did it. This was one of the nights it was done out with "the gang". Again, found on that "lost hard drive" and cleaned up a little and remastered. Some minor clicking in the first chorus, but otherwise, it turned out nice. Probably recorded around 1995 or 1996.
I remember loving this tune when it first came out, off Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" album, before "Thriller" and thought it was a gorgeous ballad.... it was way before I started singing. This was a live/karaoke but caught and now remastered as part of the "lost drive" series.
So, in 1998, when Ed & I met, I told him I was "a singer", and that a bunch of my friends did karaoke regularly. A few weeks into seeing each other regularly it was time to not only meet the friends, but to expose him to this part of my life. However, we'd kind of started having "our song", and it was "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain, which had just come out and was very popular. Ed had never heard me sing live before, and even though I was rehearsing a show when we met, he'd not been to rehearsals or heard me...so we met up with a few of his friends too, and went to one of my regular 'hang outs" for karaoke. I got called up, and this was what I sang, to him...and this was the recording. ;-) Can't believe I was able to capture it on tape. And keep it all these years....now remastered from the "lost drive"
I loved this song immediately when I heard it and thought it told a great story, regardless of whose viewpoint it was told from. Again, from a point in time when I was in a show where my upper register was being used heavily and very developed, it was pretty fluid. Regardless - it's a great tune. Would love to rework this live with a band someday. Remastered from lost drives in February 2016
This duet was seemingly an "under-the-radar" hit for Whitney Houston & Jermaine Jackson and at the time, one of my favorite songs. It had a great range on it especially for the female part, but also for the male part and great harmony lines. During the early to mid-90's, one of my very favorite duet partners on songs like this was the incomparable Hope Boyle (Hope Calzada) and we were lucky enough to have them recorded by none other than Glenn Lukin at the time. I found this in the "lost drive" and remastered it today.
I first heard this song on the impeccable "Madness, Money & Music" album by Sheena Easton in 1982 and fell head over heels in love with it. I NEVER though t I'd have a chance to sing it. I stumbled across a track to it a few years ago and this particular recording was done at home in June of 2015. I was a little under the weather which is heard in some of the raspiness, but it still turned out on the fair side. It's a great song, and while the verses are in the original keys of the tune, I did drop the choruses down an octave to stay in my normal range. You must hear Sheena's original version; it's stunning and especially her belt on the last note. I plan to share this with her.
There was a time when I was using my upper register so strongly in a fun pop stage show that I was being dared to try some fun pop stuff that was on radio, and my director was calling stuff "in the Kennysphere" and it was pretty fun to do. This was a huge pop song on the radio infamous for a very high note at the end. I tried it out. The songs a sappy 80's hair band love song, but was popular. Recorded live at karaoke, found & remastered in 2016
I've always loved this song, and never thought a Carpenters tune should be remade. This was pretty much their definitive song in the early part of their career so taking it on was risky for anyone. Anyone except Luther Vandross, who nailed it with a very different version. I decided to combine both styles here. Again, an old recording found and remixed/remastered here.
In 1985 I got the opportunity for the first time to actually go into a recording studio to SING something. Even though it was still using a track, it was my first experience doing so with professional equipment. This song had been out a few years at that time, and while the idea of the word "karaoke" was still a few years away, there were a few small independent "fun" outlets in which you could find tracks for performances. I had found one of Gary Morris's version of the song although that still wasn't the first version of the song I'd ever known or sung. That's coming a bit later. i will be posting a link to the background of this very, very special song and why it's so special a bit later, but I found a copy of it on that lost hard drive, cleaned it up the best I could considering the source file, and here it is, dedicated to my mother once again as her copy was taken away by the tornado on 12/26/2015.
In the mid 80's David Pack (lead singer of Ambrosia) recorded "I Just Can't Let Go" as a solo release. It was remixed later and included on Ambrosia's Greatest Hits. In the early 90's, there were songs that some of us were dying to sing, and as karaoke singers without a band someone had developed a way of processing a CD to "vocally eliminate" a lead vocal from a prerecorded track by removing the center frequency. Results were spotty at best, but it often left the backing vocals and some of the music. This song was absolutely one that I had always wanted to do from the time I first heard it, and the remix was even stronger and right up my alley. I only got to sing it once or twice and the cassette recording is not great, but this is as cleaned up as I can get it for now. I'll definitely remake this song some day.
One of the few people that I thoroughly enjoyed singing with on a regular basis in the "early years" was Mr. Glenn Lukin - in fact, he & I STARTED Karaoke in Dallas in 1989/1990 and it took off from there. So many relationships grew out of those days. There were several songs that we built great harmonies out of, and he had the fantastic ability to harmonize like pretty much no one else I've ever known; we instinctively knew where the other was going and he was a master at it. This was a favorite. Found on my "lost drive" and remastered here.
The awesome track by Little River Band, one of my favorites, and another found on that lost hard drive that I felt was in need of remastering. I have always loved this song and the harmonies that LRB wrote in and hope I did it justice.
The classic song by The Righteous Brothers and remade famous again in "Ghost", this was my grandmother's favorite song, is one of my mother's favorite songs, and I ran across this recording on an old hard drive in January 2016. It's a good live performance so I ran it through the mastering software...
Another from that "cleaning off the hard drives" that I found and remastered that I just had a blast on - the classic Journey sing-a-long of Lovin, Touchin' Squeezin...man was this fun. Again, live.
Another older recording I ran across tonight and ran through remastering - this was live, to a track. I used to get compared to Russell Hitchcock quite often - it's obvious to tell why on this tune. I always liked the song and I think it's one of the best Steinman compositions..
So I heard this song one day many many years ago and fell in love with it immediately. It was right when internet radio started becoming "a thing" - would probably have been between 2006 & 2009, maybe, or even a little earlier. But it hooked me immediately, however, I couldn't find out who did it or anything. A few days later, I heard it start again and instead of going to the computer I turned to my piano and started picking out the chords with one hand and writing the words down with the other because I had to sing this. The recording is probably 10 years old, but this is me on both piano & vocal, no prerecorded track. Needs some more cleaning of the mix if I can find the solo piano tracks. I found out many years later it's Stephen Simmonds; very talented man.
January 24, 2016 Opening Games for TXRD - The National Anthem The Star Spangled Banner It has been my honor and great privilege to sing the National Anthem as the Official Anthem singer for the last 3 years for the TXRD on nearly every game. I thank Mr. Robert Muraida for the contact initially and this has continued. I have been warmly received there and the crowd is wonderful and loving and kind! Great people!
Acapella Mix of the remix/remastered 2015 version of 2001's "I Wish You Christmas",recently found and mixed together correctly for the first time since being written 14 years ago. Multi track vocals are always fun to listen to sans music, and I had just started recording them at home with this.
A little sample of the direction of where "The Color Of Light' has been going and where it's headed. Here's a clip of the rhythm track of the 2nd verse and chorus into the skeleton of the bridge w/ no bass. I think it's quite the groovy beat. When I got this lined up finally the other day I actually rose out of my chair and boogied. Yes, I just said boogied. I hope you like it. It's quite a cool little song.
This is just a clip of a current project I'm working on - an 80's/90's artist tribute album a friend of mine is putting together that I've got two songs on. This is one of the selections we're toying around with, and this is the demo I'm playing with. I only started doing this song last year in live settings; this is the first time I've worked it in the studio. This is the 2nd verse & last chorus - what a great tune. The 2nd is an 80's dance classic that I can't wait to share with you, but it needs some production work still.
8th & Final mix after learning lots of tricks along the way. This, my favorite H&O song, lent itself to a great set of lessons along its path and was a lot of fun to work with. Ultimately it'd be great to redo this from the ground up on a project because it's just a great song. The point from 2:25 in the song to the end is probably in my top 3 favorite recorded moments ever.
Kenny's mix - this version of "No, Father" is a slightly updated version from the May 2015 single release. The recording session was an organizational mess and my first real indication that I needed to get some updated techniques - eventually leading at the end of that year to return to school full-time to complete my formal education in Audio Production and Engineering.
A fresher, newer updated mix will appear on the final version of the album in May 2020.
My take on this classic that was a true surprise when "refound" at the time.....I took a little liberty with some of the lyrics, and will be remixing this over time.
Carpenters recorded this and never released it, during their "Horizon" recording sessions, I believe. Richard found it years later and released it on "Interpretations" and it's a great arrangement of the song. Barry Manilow had written it and released it, having a hit with it but with some different lyrics. I did change a few lyrics myself for this version. Carpenters version definitely had a slightly brisker tempo and much harder arrangement as is evidenced here, as this is fully the Carpenter arrangement. The verses are right at the top of my controllable pitch, and this was a very difficult tune to record. It is admittedly a difficult song to sing, and still undergoing a few mix changes.
Full Remix & Remaster March 2017.
On a dare, I was asked to sing this many moons ago one night. I freaking loved the song at that time and still do - and boy is it a high one. I had been doing a show at the time which was utilizing my upper range quite heavily and that upper register was in pretty good form that night. It's a great tune, though you should really hear Ms. Arena do it. Powerhouse voice.
I've spent so much time working on this mix that I realized the vocal only track turned out quite nice - here's an "acapella mix" of the vocals only - I've never done this before! Very interesting! Edited to keep long pauses out. Kinda cool!
This is my cover of Hall & Oates "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid", in my opinion, one of their better latter-day commercial songs. It wasn't a huge hit but it is a great song. I recorded it some time ago and then forgot about the recording. I am so busy and don't have time to re-record the lead vocals like I want, but all the vocals you hear here are me. There's a total of 8 layers at some points. It's patterned after their original using the track. I love singing this song and can't wait to officially remake it later on in another project. This is the final mix, edited down from its near 7 minute mark to a more radio-friendly just-past-4 minutes, truncated beginning, bridge and all vocals returned to the bridge as well with my lyric line added. Entering into next contest phase with this because I do love this song.
*Revised one more time on Halloween 10/31/2015 with a true FINAL mix8
The things you run across when you're cleaning up hard drives.... This was one of Restless Heart's first hits and I loved the song. I can't even remember right off when this was first recorded but I found the files and whole folder lurking on a hard drive and gave it a quick remix and remaster. Hope you like. It's at a minimum 15 years old....
Written in commemoration for my friend and best friend's brother, Matthew, after his untimely passing in the late 80's....
One of the songs that I learned through my lifelong friend Scott, who passed away in the beginning of August was Boston's "A Man I'll Never Be" - a song which had so much meaning in so many ways....today that song is hitting home on too many levels. I had wanted to sing the song live for Scott on a surprise visit a few years ago and was not in good enough voice that night, and intended on sending it to him for a birthday gift this year for his birthday in October....and had just laid down a demo for it in July... I pulled the scratch demo out to remix it today and got this together...it'll be some time before I can re-record a lead on this one. Scott was a great man....and his passing is leaving me questioning why I am even here, to be honest. Answers I cannot come up with today.
Another of my all time faves, I have always wanted to record this song, and while this is a scratch lead vocal, I'm messing around with some different recording techniques. The lead will be re-recorded at some point. This is 2nd verse and last 2 choruses. Love this song!
A "teaser" for the structure of The Color Of Light, the 2nd single from "Worth The Wait". Single due before end of 2015!
This is demo only and final single will be slightly different instrumentation, completely different mix.
Lyrics co-written by Kendra Evans
My take on "Road Ode", talking about a life from the side of the traveling musician...what it's like out on the road, missing home. As crazy as it sounds, I'd take it in a heartbeat. I hope you enjoy this song - it's always been one of my favorites. A lesser known Carpenters tune, but one of my very favorites for sure and you should surely check theirs out, from their sublime "A Song For You" LP.
Accidentally left off the updated listing, this is probably one of my favorite songs from the set of "Covered Up". I've always loved what the Superman image stood for and it was my first tattoo, even before I understood what it would represent to me. After illness, this musical set of recordings represented growth of great personal strength and progress, and this tune was very much part of it. The words are very powerful indeed.
The Leon Russell Classic tune. I used this tune as my audition for "The Voice" this year; of course it was acapella. This is a studio version recorded 5/28/2015.
An edited version of an older recording, but one of my best and most played songs. A live performance that is often requested, and one of my favorite recorded songs. Masterfully caught by none other than Glenn Lukin, this has been remastered via AAMS software and edited to remove the beginning. I love this song & always have, with this version reflecting the Al Jarreau vocal arrangement.
2015 Remaster of 2001's original tribute to those lives lost in the terror attacks in the USA - I had nothing to give other than a gift of song, offering hope to those who had lost everything that hopefully they would find some peace, some hope and some semblance of love that holiday season. Remastered using AAMS software 2015 when finding original source files.