Coffee Cup Half Moons

This week’s song is the ever-popular “Endless Rain” from my “Heaven” album.

This week’s song is “Irrational” from my Two Sides Of The Same Soul album.  This is a pretty dramatically introspective song (go figure) with a general free form, and it’s one of my wife’s favorites. 

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHiUv2Ws6-w

Well the challenge worked.

For those who don’t know the back story, my friend Phil Taylor and I, having been somewhat lacking in the new material, challenged one another to write and record a new album before and to be released on January 1, 2010.  This was in approximately November (2009 of course).

Knowing my own lack of spare time, I knew I would not be able to do full studio productions, but I felt confident I could write the songs.  After all, I had made a 2009 resolution to write new material, and I needed some catalyst (kick-in-the-butt).

I had originally intended to do 13 songs, but I ran shorter on time than even I anticipated, so I settled on 10.  I would release the album as my podcast on January 1 (how convenient that it fell on a Friday).  I figured that would would be perfect, because in my business I had missed 2 weeks of podcasts already.  Unfortunately, even at that, due to the New Year’s gig I did with Town Crier, I lost my voice, so I even missed the January 1 podcast.

At any rate, I finally got the songs recorded (once again on my trusty Sony ICD-SX700), and here they are.

1. The Teacher mp3 lyrics
2. Can’t Say mp3 lyrics
3. The Fortune Of Fallacy mp3 lyrics
4. The Way Home mp3 lyrics
5. The Thirst mp3 lyrics
6. The Walls mp3 lyrics
7. The Restless Folk mp3 lyrics
8. The Mirror mp3 lyrics
9. The Things I Say mp3 lyrics
10. Stand By mp3 lyrics

Unlike usual, I did do minimal editing, but only to do some equalization correction.  The recordings were not perfect anyway (they include the occasional flub and some cameos of my son screaming), but I wanted them to be as “tolerable” as possible.

My goal is to do full productions of this album by March of this year (2010), but I admit this is highly ambitious. 

So take a listen, enjoy, and feel free to impart your reactions here!

My site has been down for about a week, so this is posting late, but here is this week’s podcast.

I chose to play “Alone” off my album “Triad,” and my friend Phil Taylor talked me into covering one of his songs.  I chose “Love Song” from his album “Tales of Love or the Lack Thereof” (recorded both by Phil and his former band Unborn).

I had a few moments of hitting the mic / other background noise on this.  I’m not sure why, but just in case you hear it and wonder. 

podcast.0015.Jeremy Tharp-Alone
podcast.0016.Phil Taylor-Love Song

As usual, it’s me on my acoustic — no editing, recorded on a Sony ICD-SX700 voice recorder.

Happy Thanksgiving!  (for those who celebrate it) 

This week’s podcast is another of my originals: “Endless Rain” off my album “Heaven.”

podcast.0012-Jeremy Tharp-Endless Rain

As usual: me on my acoustic, in my studio, no editing, recorded on Sony ICD-SX700, blah, blah, blah …

Even though I decided to do two songs per week moving forward, this week I’m only doing one as my schedule is a little hectic.

The song I did is one of my favorites that I wrote called “Walls of a Dream,” and it’s off my album “Heaven.”

And, as usual, this is just me on my acoustic, in my studio, recorded on my Sony ICD-SX700 digital voice recorder, no modifications other than trimming at the beginning and end.

podcast.0010.Jeremy Tharp-Walls Of A Dream

Oh, be cautioned: There are large fluctuations in volume 

After what has been, even for me, a long hiatus with no new music, hope may be alive for the small but dedicated constituency that follows my music. 

As I have slowly worked myself back into playing music, forcing a regular schedule of it into my life with my band and with my podcasts, I’m trying to do a little more.  One of my goals for 2009 was to write and record a new album.

Seeing as how 2009 (and my 10th year playing guitar) is coming to a close, I have little time to do that album, and I had given up any realistic odds of it’s happening — until today.  Phil Taylor contacted me with a kind of “motivate each other” proposition, where we would simultaneously produce albums — kind of keep each other accountable.

Since this works right into my goal for the year, I told him our deadline would be January 1, 2010.

Now, there’s no way I will have time for full productions with drums and whatnot, so I am only pushing myself to write at least a dozen songs, and record them with me singing along with the guitar.  I may do more if I get motivated, but since I would prefer to master the album once it is complete, it’s unlikely.

Anyway, I’ve set up the project page on my website, and you can keep tabs on it here:  http://tharp.me/8

I have mentioned in various forums that this song was a big influence on me on my “Unnatural” album. That was mainly because the drums are amazingly well done–and for a long time I couldn’t even figure out how they were being played. Anyhow, there is a moment of metaphorical, poetical genius in this song that makes me wish I could one time reach such a profound level of connectivity with my words, without leaving the metaphor as when Sting says:

“Woke up this morning // Can’t believe what I saw // Hundred billion bottles // Washed up on the shore”

This line is perfect, simply put. It just amazes me how that particular line tells me so many things without telling me any of them.

(This was written a long time ago, but I thought I would port it to this blog)

I will unhesitantly classify this as one of my favorite all time albums. Yes, I listened to it religiously during a very interesting part of my life (my mid teens), and it has always spoken to me. It may very well be one of my biggest producers, so to speak.

Anyway, I didn’t even fully appreciate it until I started making my own music, and I realized how incredibly adept this album is musically. The bass player alone will bring you to your knees, and the lyrics have such a beautiful subtle satire and cynicism that I don’t think I could ever master a work so perfect. Every song just tells me something new.

(This commentary was written a long time ago, but I thought I would port it to this blog)

Ok obviously I have disappeared for a while, and honestly I will probably not be doing much here for a while. I just thought it would be nice to drop a line and kind of update things.

For the many of you who don’t know, I am getting married — in August (2007) and between my quite occupied social life and the very significant amount of work I’ve had to do lately (no regrettably of course) I really have not had much time to do musical anything. In the last few weeks, however, I have picked up my guitar a few times and again I am getting some tinges — ideas on maybe a new album. (Don’t expect too much). The idea, however, is to work up some very rocking album using lots of finger tapping and heavy rock guitar, combined with a complementary banjo, overlayed with some awesome philosophical theme that I have yet to come up with.

Hey it will probably be a while, but here I am, still alive — on my grandmother’s birthday and my 5 year college graduation anniversary. I hope everyone is rockin and I hope soon I am again too