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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/?icid=200510

 

I uploaded a new song to my new album "Cover Songs (by me and Rebel Express or just me by myself)".

This is just an acoustic version of my favorite CW McCall song "Wolf Creek Pass". Check it out if you get a chance.

I have another new song up. "The Zombie Walk"

This song is dedicated to VigWig and Jim Rustemeyer, two of the greatest guys I know, and who have inspired me to "think outside the box" when it comes to my song writing. Thanks you guys!

Here's the song:

http://www.mixposure.com/rs-cain/audio/15079/the-zombie-walk

As always, thanks for listening!

1. Sit on the sofa watching telly with acoustic guitar in hand, picking and strumming until I find some progressions I like. Normally takes a few minutes.

2. Turn the telly off. I haven't been listening anyway.

3. Start building melody around my chord sequence. At least to the point of identifying anchor notes and any special (non-standard) melody/chord combinations

4. Move to computer and write the melody/chord score using guitar pro software to create midi rendition (I always assign piano sound to the melody). Decide if what I have lends itself to verse or chorus (or neither)

5. Having decided what I have, that becomes the context for creation of the missing parts. At least to the point of knowing if I am going to take it up or down from where I am. I normally compose the other parts with combination of acoustic guitar, vocal gobbledygook and direct score writing.

6. Once I feel I have the necessary parts, I move on to deciding song structure and arrangement. All within guitar pro. In order words composing guitar parts, bass guitar part, placement of bass drum and snare etc.

7. Probably I have recently been thinking about some subject matter. I decide if the type of song that is emerging is an appropriate backdrop to explore that subject within the lyric. I generally don't write lyrics until I have decided what I want to say because it is too easy to become attached to 'clever' rhymes and double meanings that do not necessarily serve the song. Once I know what I want to say, writing an initial draft lyric becomes focused and easy. The song melody/meter might evolve during the lyric writing phase.

8. I allow the lyric to mature over a few days, revisiting for short sessions of editing.

9. I begin the record process by generating temporary bass/organ/guitar tracks from guitar pro (these are midi sound tracks) .. initially this gives me an effective framework for building the drum part (programmed or loops).  Then I move on to record the vocal and the various instruments (replacing the midi tracks). Then comes mixing/mastering.

10. Done ... ready for the next song!

 

 

This has been tested a bit but please let me know if you have any issues or comments.

You can now change your artist landing page and background.

On your page, click the sprite (sprocket) to the far right of the band name to go into your Profile. Click on the Customize Tab and then you can choose which tab will load first, timeline, audio, YouTube etc. You can also upload an image to appear as your background.

Hope you like!

The ability to sort songs has been added. You will see the circular arrows on the song page. Just click it and drag and drop songs in the order you like.

New video for American Demon out right here:

A Band Called Mithras - American Demon

Congrats to G I and Joe for having the Mixposure.com Song of the Week! Check out the song here !

Bio

All kinds of influences breed all kinds of creativity. G.I. (Stephan Hoff) and Jo (Joellen Cabot) have grown up embracing all kinds of different music. Joellen loves the vocals of the R & B divas, past and present, and it shows in her soulful, emotional vocal expressions. Her songwriting draws the listener in to relate-able experiences about life and all that a woman senses and feels. Stephan grew up singing and playing in the church. A musical family environment lent itself to his abilities to find a place to fit in, vocally and instrumentally. A stint in the 82nd Airborne Division provided his nickname. His influences range from rock, pop, jazz, and blues, embracing almost all genres of music and using a little part of all them as the driving force behind his songwriting and producing.

 

I was fooling around in the studio the other day and before I knew it I had made a video for my newest song "Don't Look Back". It's kinda silly (the video, not the song...well...you be the judge of the song) but I had a ridiculous amount of fun making it.

If you'd like to take a look it's here:

http://www.mixposure.com/rs-cain/youtube/1953/dont-look-back

I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks!