• The Grief and the Grandeur

    I was asked to write a love song for someone’s wife.  He gave me a list of things he loved about her.  I gave the list back to him in the form of a slow jam.

     

  • I Love You Forever

  • Free Download of Cover Songs

    I recently added a Helen Reddy cover from the movie Pete’s Dragon to the list that already includes Katy Perry, Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers and Kris Kristofferson. And Queen.

    Queen’s “We Are the Champions” with Alex Skolnick of Testament

    The Darkness’ “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” with Ben Folds

    Queen’s “Dragon Attack” with Alex Skolnick of Testament

    “Hocus Pocus” by Focus with They Might Be Giants

    Tom Wait’s “Innocent When You Dream’ with Nick Offerman and Puddles Pity Party

    Electric Light Orchestra’s “Turn to Stone” with This Island Earth

    Kraftwerk’s “Wir Sind Die Roboter”

    Bon Jovi – “Never Say Goodbye” at Love Bites

    Van Halen – “Runnin with the Devil” with .357 Lover

    Katy Perry – “California Girls” in the style of Van Halen with .357 Lover

    Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away” with The Love Show at Our Hit Parade

    “5000 Candles in the Wind” with Nick Offerman and Puddles Pity Party

    Dean Martin/Nancy Sinatra “Things” with Anna Copacabanna and The Losers’ Lounge

    “Volver” with El Vez

    Nick Cave – “There is a Kingdom” in Dead Dream Machine

    Franz Schubert – “An Die Musik” with Dr. William Schimmel

    Beck – “Title of This Song” with The Red Hook Ramblers

    The Pogues – “Fairytale of New York” with Puss ‘n’ Boots

    Lady Gaga – “Poker Face” with Lady Rizo

    The Bee Gees – “Staying Alive” with Tragedy

    Grease Soundtrack – “You’re the One that I Want” with Tragedy

    Madonna – “Borderline” with Tragedy

  • Schubert’s Die Winterreise with William Schimmel

    I lost my voice street performing in Edinburgh a while back and found a voice therapist named David Fairchild. Fairchild introduced me to the songs of Franz Schubert. I immediately took to them. He got excited because none of his students were interested in these. Fairchild was also a fan of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who performed these songs written by Schubert. Fischer-Dieskau’s ex-wife, Christina, lived in the apartment that David rented as a vocal studio. Every once in a while, she would peek her head through the door and smile.
    William Schimmel played on Frank’s Wild Years and Rain Dogs, the former being one impetus of my accordion playing. We met at an accordion seminar where he gave a lecture on accompanying vocalists. He mentioned Gerald Moore, who accompanied Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Moore and Fischer-Dieskau put out albums of Franz Schubert’s love songs, including the song cycle Die Winterreise.
    We both loved this work, so we performed selections from it together at his accordion seminars in 2013 and 2014. He recorded those performances. I continue to work on being a better singer, especially on these songs.

  • Issac Asimov Article

    I enjoy sci fi short stories. I found this magazine at a used book store in St. Paul, MN. The Issac Asimov article about Strontium-90 is non-fiction. You can download it free or stream it here.

  • Glum