Come see DandyLyon Whine make their FULL BAND debut at VARNERSTOCK '09!
One week from today (Sat. Sept. 26th, 2009) at 7:00 pm in Varner Recital Hall on the campus of Oakland University DandyLyon Whine will kick off VARNERSTOCK '09! This is a free show, but all donations benefit the Danny Jordan Endowment.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Album Doing Well
Wow. It has been a while since I've written.
Sorry for that, my life has been hectic. Between working a couple of crazy 14 hour overnight shifts, to a teachers strike at school, to being sick for the last four days I really haven't gotten much done. Certainly nothing has been finished on time.
The album is doing well and I thank each and every one of you that has taken the time to download and listen to it. I hope that listening has proven to be an enjoyable endeavor. So far the album has been downloaded 33 times in the MP3 format and 6 times in the AIF format. To add to that I am, as I write this blog, uploading a copy of the album in FLAC format for those of you that want loss less in a non-apple format.
I have also updated the MySpace page to have a few more tunes on it. I will most likely upload the enitre album over the next few months now that MySpace allows one to post ten tunes.
I have had a few orders of the print disc as well. Thanks much to those who have made that purchase. I hope that the packaging and extra disc live up to the cost.
Thanks again. Check back very soon for some info on an upcoming gig.
Sorry for that, my life has been hectic. Between working a couple of crazy 14 hour overnight shifts, to a teachers strike at school, to being sick for the last four days I really haven't gotten much done. Certainly nothing has been finished on time.
The album is doing well and I thank each and every one of you that has taken the time to download and listen to it. I hope that listening has proven to be an enjoyable endeavor. So far the album has been downloaded 33 times in the MP3 format and 6 times in the AIF format. To add to that I am, as I write this blog, uploading a copy of the album in FLAC format for those of you that want loss less in a non-apple format.
I have also updated the MySpace page to have a few more tunes on it. I will most likely upload the enitre album over the next few months now that MySpace allows one to post ten tunes.
I have had a few orders of the print disc as well. Thanks much to those who have made that purchase. I hope that the packaging and extra disc live up to the cost.
Thanks again. Check back very soon for some info on an upcoming gig.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Restocking Fee
I'm putting this one up early because the ALBUM DROPS AT MIDNIGHT!
Restocking Fee is certainly the capstone of the album. If there is a thinly woven concept throughout then this song is the plot summary. It is the embodiment of my writing style, which I characterize as simple, standard, yet beautifully voiced chord progressions and desperate, hopeless lyrics.
The title comes from the fact that I bought a chest freezer I was going to convert into a kegerator that ended up not working out. I had to return it, and of course there was a restocking fee. The term just seemed to fit. The very first demo I made of the song included the voicemail message I got from her explaining the return policy and etc. Unfortunately I am not sure exactly what happened to that version or else it would have ended up on The Day Before Labor Day.
So, that's it. 9 tunes, 1 album, 1 summer, no rest. Back to regular life, the grind, and no recovery over the last 3 months. Tomorrow is the day after labor day, the day you go back to school, the first day of fall. Summer is over and it is time to start working again, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and go onward. It is the end of the childhood; The end of innocence. It is the time to realize there is nothing out there you can count on but yourself, that anything can change at any moment, and nothing is worth relying on. If it needs to get done you need do it. It's time to grow up and it is time to start being a man.
Restocking Fee is certainly the capstone of the album. If there is a thinly woven concept throughout then this song is the plot summary. It is the embodiment of my writing style, which I characterize as simple, standard, yet beautifully voiced chord progressions and desperate, hopeless lyrics.
The title comes from the fact that I bought a chest freezer I was going to convert into a kegerator that ended up not working out. I had to return it, and of course there was a restocking fee. The term just seemed to fit. The very first demo I made of the song included the voicemail message I got from her explaining the return policy and etc. Unfortunately I am not sure exactly what happened to that version or else it would have ended up on The Day Before Labor Day.
So, that's it. 9 tunes, 1 album, 1 summer, no rest. Back to regular life, the grind, and no recovery over the last 3 months. Tomorrow is the day after labor day, the day you go back to school, the first day of fall. Summer is over and it is time to start working again, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and go onward. It is the end of the childhood; The end of innocence. It is the time to realize there is nothing out there you can count on but yourself, that anything can change at any moment, and nothing is worth relying on. If it needs to get done you need do it. It's time to grow up and it is time to start being a man.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
4:10 (Sure)
4:10 (Sure) was created in 12 hours. One night at 4:10 am responded with "Sure" and sealed an inevitability. By noon the next day the song was written, and by 4 pm the demo was recorded. It was the right answer, but the wrong situation. I'm not the kind of guy that says "Don't." I am also not the most interesting guy at the table.
The album version of this song is actually recorded from the demo. Both of the guitar tracks and the organ track are in the original recording. I attempted to start the song from scratch, but after laying down about 5 guitar tracks and trying all sorts of methods I just could not get as good a sound as I got on that original demo. Thus I used the original demo file and rerecorded drums, vocals, and added bass.
If Lazy Sunday is the least personal song on the album, this one is the most personal song on the album. I look at the lyrics and think that some of them are hokey and cliche, but each one of them is linked to a memory during a very specific time my real life.
One left to go. Today is the day before labor day, which is the title of the demo CD that comes with the limited edition print version of The Day After Labor Day. If you were interested in hearing that demo, well it's on there. www.dandylyonwhine.net
The album version of this song is actually recorded from the demo. Both of the guitar tracks and the organ track are in the original recording. I attempted to start the song from scratch, but after laying down about 5 guitar tracks and trying all sorts of methods I just could not get as good a sound as I got on that original demo. Thus I used the original demo file and rerecorded drums, vocals, and added bass.
If Lazy Sunday is the least personal song on the album, this one is the most personal song on the album. I look at the lyrics and think that some of them are hokey and cliche, but each one of them is linked to a memory during a very specific time my real life.
One left to go. Today is the day before labor day, which is the title of the demo CD that comes with the limited edition print version of The Day After Labor Day. If you were interested in hearing that demo, well it's on there. www.dandylyonwhine.net
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Doubling Up
I missed one, so today you get two!
ON THE EVE OF THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is the only completely new song for this album. The song has no demo because it was written during final recording. It is a fairly straight ahead rock tune with a blues progression that goes to 4 at the bridge. Pretty standard stuff. The name has nothing to do with the song, but it works. I don't know about you but I think that leaving town on the eve of the zombie apocalypse is a good idea. The other possible name for it was IT'S TOO HOT TODAY, a Simpsons reference. Decent, but not as good as the final.
LAZY SUNDAY is the classic hit. It's the one that all the girls like and is the only hopeful song on the album. Every other tune is really desperate, this one is willing. The truth: it was inspired by a Country Time Lemonade commercial. It is the least personal song on the album and the one removed the farthest from my true feelings.
The demo is missing the beginning of the bridge section, due to the fact that it did not exist at the time that the demo was recorded. That section was written during the song's tenure as a Russian Spy Orchestration song. Like I Don't Wear My Seatbelt Either this song had different, better lyrics. I think we called the song "Goodnight Berlin."
Two more to go. Two days till release!
ON THE EVE OF THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is the only completely new song for this album. The song has no demo because it was written during final recording. It is a fairly straight ahead rock tune with a blues progression that goes to 4 at the bridge. Pretty standard stuff. The name has nothing to do with the song, but it works. I don't know about you but I think that leaving town on the eve of the zombie apocalypse is a good idea. The other possible name for it was IT'S TOO HOT TODAY, a Simpsons reference. Decent, but not as good as the final.
LAZY SUNDAY is the classic hit. It's the one that all the girls like and is the only hopeful song on the album. Every other tune is really desperate, this one is willing. The truth: it was inspired by a Country Time Lemonade commercial. It is the least personal song on the album and the one removed the farthest from my true feelings.
The demo is missing the beginning of the bridge section, due to the fact that it did not exist at the time that the demo was recorded. That section was written during the song's tenure as a Russian Spy Orchestration song. Like I Don't Wear My Seatbelt Either this song had different, better lyrics. I think we called the song "Goodnight Berlin."
Two more to go. Two days till release!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Knights Of Livonia
KNIGHTS OF LIVONIA was originally known as LOST AND FOUND. As with most of my songs, this one was fairly complete musically long before it was finished lyrically. I specifically remember sitting down on the patio of my buddy Josh's house the summer before I re-entered school and playing this song on his old cheap hand me down acoustic. I played the tune a lot that summer because it was the newest completed song. If you buy the print edition with the extra disc of demos you will hear the lyricless version.
I'm not sure when the lyrics began. Once they were written they remained basically unchanged, but key words and ideas started to move around after I was kicked out of my fathers house by his girlfriend. I felt homeless for a long time after that. I have since remedied that, but the situation has completely changed my outlook on life.
There is nobody else. There is no one else. You can't count on anyone but yourself. Those who claim to love you will turn their back on you. If you want it done right, do it yourself. It's true when they say you can't go home. etc...
I'm not sure when the lyrics began. Once they were written they remained basically unchanged, but key words and ideas started to move around after I was kicked out of my fathers house by his girlfriend. I felt homeless for a long time after that. I have since remedied that, but the situation has completely changed my outlook on life.
There is nobody else. There is no one else. You can't count on anyone but yourself. Those who claim to love you will turn their back on you. If you want it done right, do it yourself. It's true when they say you can't go home. etc...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
TRY SO HARD has been floating around for a while. My best guess places it sometime shortly after high school; I'm ten years out by the way. However it was in a completely different form at the time. As you can hear from the album preview that is available on the MySpace page, the song is currently in a slow swing, countyesque style. The original was a straight ahead rocker. Unfortunately I have no original version of the song recorded. I am toying with the idea of playing that version live when I get a band together for gigging.
This song is definitely a favorite around the campfire.
This song is definitely a favorite around the campfire.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Co. Ink
THE Co. INK was the first song I ever wrote that really related to, even depicted, real events in my life. That first verse "Ever since that night behind the bar / sandwiched between you and your car / I can't sleep at all. / I stay awake ..." I suppose it helps that I have sleep problems. Anything out of the ordinary causes me to stay awake, just for its sake.
Cutlass was written shortly after a friend of mine committed suicide. He put his heart and soul into restoring a '71 Oldsmobile Cutlass. I am sure that he had many other issues weighing on his mind as well, but wrecking it threw him over the edge. He was at least able to drive the car home and park it in his garage one last time.
The song has more to do with my own suicidal fantasies and my longing to not burn out, but fade away. The lines asking "Will you take me back?" are often misinterpreted as a jilted man asking to reenter a relationship. They actually are the character talking to God and asking if it's ok to come back early.
The song has more to do with my own suicidal fantasies and my longing to not burn out, but fade away. The lines asking "Will you take me back?" are often misinterpreted as a jilted man asking to reenter a relationship. They actually are the character talking to God and asking if it's ok to come back early.
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