My Heart Acoustic Cover

Hey everyone,

The summer has unfortunately meant a lack of blog posts. My Guitar is currently in Sunderland so I apologise for the lack of updates.

What I do have for you is a song that I recorded with So Long Lisa a few weeks ago. If you can remember, I performed a cover of My Heart for this blog a while back with Mark Andrew, lead singer of So Long Lisa. We decided to record the track and here is the final outcome.

Because it is a youtube music track, the sound lacks in quality (which is a pity). If you would like to hear the quality version, please check it out on So Long Lisa's bebo page http://www.bebo.com/solonglisa You don't need to have a bebo account to get to this site.

I hope you enjoy.

The Lyric Game

I was just reading through some of the blogs to see everyone's final touches and I've got to say, I'm loving them all. I was reading through Joanne's Online Sketchbook blog there now and her post entitled bands, bands, bands really interested me. I absolutely love the artwork she has done. I'm also envious of the fact she's been to see some amazing bands at Leeds Festival.

It was her artwork for the band Simple Plan that sparked something in me and I couldn't help but blog about it now. Her artwork reminded me of a game I used to play. It's what I've called 'The Lyric Game' and it's mainly for when you're alone with nothing but your boredom and your music for company.

Basically what you do is set your ipod/itunes/media player on shuffle and let it play. Each song that plays, you listen and write down your favourite lyric. (If that song repeats again, then write a different lyric.) What you have is a collection of lyrics that obviously mean something to you. They might be good, bad or just plain hilarious. I find I end up playing this game during my 'emo' days of when nothing but the sound of my music seems to matter. I ended up making a piece of artwork similar to Joanne's after my game so I thought I'd post it up.



So anyway, whenever you find yourself bored out of your mind but too lazy to do your assignments, have a go at the game. It might bring the 'emo' out in you!

I need to go to 'Busker's Anonymous'

I’m beginning to think this blog has made me a ‘Buskaholic’! All I seem to think about is when the next Busker’s Night is and what new songs I could learn before then. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing!

It all started a few weeks ago when we were in The Borough. The manager Grant, who we’ve got to know over the past year, came up to me and started talking about busking. He had spotted my facebook profile picture, which is of my buskin’ at Paddy Whacks and asked me to come to his busker’s night. He had heard that my night at Paddy Whacks was quite successful (thanks Lisa) and wouldn’t take no for an answer about me coming to his.

I couldn’t disappoint him and honestly, I was actually looking forward to my next opportunity. It must have been about 10pm last night when I randomly decided to head to The Borough but it was worth it. Arriving a bit late, I only got to play two songs but despite that, it was great fun. I played ‘We Are Broken’ by Paramore and also ‘Stop and Stare’ by One Republic, a song that I haven’t been playing long.

I was a little bit disappointed with the guitar though. I thought there was a bit of a weird sound coming from it and the lighting wasn’t exactly the best. But despite that, I got on with it and even though I was still a bit nervous, it was fun. Thanks to my ‘camerawoman’ Lisa Ovenden for leaving her work to come down with me. I guess I've got to thank her for giving me that ‘kick’ to get up there in the first place. Now I can’t seem to get enough of it.

Knowing me, I’ll probably be buskin’ again before I leave Sunderland for the summer so if I am, I’ll let you all know. But for now here are the videos for ‘We Are Broken’ and ‘Stop and Stare’. Apologies for the lighting and that ‘crazy’ guitar and I hope you enjoy!

Never Growing Old

I couldn't help but giggle today when I was cleaning up my room and found the last book I bought. I'm still finding the time to start it though. The book is 'Peter Pan' by J.M Barrie. For anyone who knows me, ‘Peter Pan’ is by far my favourite children story. For being nearly 20, I’m too obsessed with the children’s story for my own good. The book blurb says “Step into Neverland with this magical timeless classic”… I think I stepped into Neverland a long time ago and I’m not sure I ever found my way back.

I’ve been this way for years. I was one of the few people over 12 for the Peter Pan movie release a few years back, which I now proudly own on DVD. I ran to Waterstones on the day the official sequel “Peter Pan in Scarlet” was released last year and I even have my own Peter Pan teddy that sits proudly in my room, along with a few Tinkerbell cushions and my own framed Peter Pan screenshot from the Disney cartoon that hangs over my bed. But now, with my own J.M Barrie novel, I’m pretty much set.

Buying this book has made me want to share something with you all that I’ve never told many about. For my GCSE Music composition piece, I based my study on Children’s Lullabies. I had to write my own lullaby including lyrics. Funny enough, it was before Christmas of my GCSE year and when Peter Pan the movie was to be released, so the hype of the movie ended up influencing my composition. My Children’s lullaby, entitled ‘Neverland’ is the first (and pretty much only) song I’ve ever written and recorded. I wrote and performed all the music for the track, including the vocals. It turned out really well in my opinion and I ended up with 94% in my composition part of my coursework, which (as you can imagine) I was over the moon about.

I’ve never let anyone listen to the track but I’ve decided to share it with you all. I’ll admit the vocals are a little bit off in places as I only took one take to record them, but other than that, I’m actually quite proud of the track. I hope you enjoy it and maybe in the future, I might start writing a few songs that won’t put you to sleep!

A little help from a friend

Hey everyone, hope you've all had a great Easter.

I'm just back from a week in Scotland with my mum. It was great but it was also good to get back again. I've enjoyed my Easter break. I've seen everyone I've wanted to see and it's been quite a laugh really. I'm obviously looking forward to getting back in Sunderland but at the same time I'm dreading the workload that comes with it. At least I can look to music to calm me down. Speaking of which, I never thought I'd say I miss my guitar! I do have an electric guitar here but my shabby little acoustic is in Sunderland and I miss just messing around with it.

I knew I couldn't go three weeks without doing something musical, it seems like the only thing I have been doing these past few months. I got together with my friend Mark from So Long Lisa to record a little something. We both love Paramore with a passion so it was fun recording. Haley Williams is amazing. Her vocals are something no-one can imitate. Here are a few live performances of hers on youtube. The first is of Hallelujah and the second is of Misery Business.







As you can imagine, she's a bit of an idol of mine. So it was a challenge for me to do this song justice. I decided to pick My Heart because it's one of my favourites. It was fun just singing for once and not having to worry about whether or not I'm playing the right chords on guitar. The performance is nothing spectacular and it was the first take. Unfortunately you can barely hear mark's vocals past me, but he's singing I promise! Thanks again to Mark for helping me out and please check out Mark and So Long Lisa on http://www.bebo.com/solonglisa, it's much appreciated. Anyways, on with the video. This is My Heart by Paramore and I hope you enjoy!

My BOTM

I've been home for a week now and I'm loving the fact that I've got Sky TV and the selection of music channels at my fingertips. I guess that is one thing I miss about Sky (not counting Sky Sports), the fact that I'm never up to date with new video releases from my favourite artists and of course some new ones. I've had to keep up-to-date with everything from my brother but now, after a week of updating myself, here are my Bands Of The Moment.

The first band I'm going to mention have started making a name for themselves in the past few months. One Night Only have been together since 2003, gigging around and about their home town of Helmsley, North Yorkshire. They released their debut single 'You and Me' in October 2007 but it wasn't until their second single was released that they started turning some heads. 'Just For Tonight' was released in January 2008 and has proved to be their biggest hit so far, reaching #9 in the UK singles chart. It was also known as the theme for the European 2008 Qualifiers as well as the occasional Ford Super Sunday. (Or so I've picked up on by watching too much football at the weekends.)


One Night Only's album 'Started a Fire' was released in February and has proved quite popular following the success of 'Just For Tonight'. Their first two singles are on the album along with a range of songs that have this originality and addictive sound. The classic melodic bounce is great and they are definitely worth a listen. Check them out on Myspace, Bebo and their website. They are due to release their third single 'It's About Time' on April 28th and if their previous is anything to go by, this is due to be a success. Here is a youtube video of 'It's About Time', I hope you enjoy.





I kind of have to give my best friend Mark a bit of credit for this one. I think it was summer last year he mentioned Elliot Minor to me. I think we must have been driving or something when he played me a song of theirs. I did take note to look into them but never did. But the past month all I've had is Elliot Minor Fever.


The band has something different compared to other bands and I guess this is what makes them stand out. Their music is kind of like a combination of classical music and rock and it seems to gel perfectly. I personally love their use of harmony, which is completely unique. They started off in 2005 and released their first single 'Parallel Worlds' in April 2007.


After several top40 hits later, the band re-released ‘Parallel Worlds’ again, a year after the original release in April 2008. This was the first song from their debut album, released a week later on April 14th. The album ‘Elliot Minor’ debuted in at No. 6 in the Album chart. They’ve announced that their next single to be released from the album will be entitled ‘Time after Time’, another upbeat tune typical of the Elliot Minor sound.This is a youtube video of ‘Parallel Worlds’, in my opinion, their best song by far. It’s a tune that can become easily addictive.




I guess I can’t take credit for One Republic either as they already made a name for themselves as ‘that band’ featured in the Timbaland hit ‘Apologise’. I guess with the success Timbaland has been having, it was a great move for One Republic to remix ‘Apologise’ with him. ‘Apologise’ gave them the mainstream attention that they undoubtedly deserved.


They formed in 2004 and since the summer of 2006, they’ve been known as one of the ‘myspace musical acts’ due a lot of online promotion. But it wasn’t until ‘Apologise’ in 2007 that they were officially in the spotlight. The single has now gone triple platinum and has no doubt become one of those ‘unforgettable’ tracks of this era.


Their album, Dreaming Out Loud, has sparked just as much attention, selling over a million copies worldwide. It was released in America in November 2007 to coincide with the release of Apologise. The album was released in the UK on March 10 a week after their second single ‘Stop and Stare’ was released. The album debuted in at No. 2 in the album chart, with ‘Stop and Stare’ reaching No. 4 in the singles chart. Here is a youtube video.

Dreaming Out Loud, in my opinion, is one of those rare albums that each track affects you in a different way. No track is similar to the one that it follows. I rarely find an album that I can listen to straight through without skipping. This is it by far.

Lead singer Ryan Teddler’s vocal ability is mesmerising. He is also a producer, after being taken under the wing my Timbaland himself. He has worked with many high profile artists, producing some amazing tracks, one example being Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’, which he co-wrote. (One thing which makes him my idol is that he majored in PR before getting kicked out for skipping too many classes because he was busy writing songs.)

I would honestly recommend this album to anyone. I can’t get enough of it. I love it so much; I couldn’t help but learn some of my favourite tracks on the album. I hope you enjoy and I hope you find time to listen to the bands I've mentioned.

Apologise


Stop and Stare


Come Home


Say (All I Need)

Buskin' love..

Last night I came up against my biggest fear. Well, it's not exactly my biggest fear.. that is heights or spiders but this does come pretty close. With it being the last night before I headed home for Easter, we decided to head out to celebrate the fact that we haven't killed ourselves yet over Uni. Thursdays are normally not on the weekly agenda so I was pretty excited. The last time we headed out on a Thursday night was before Christmas and we stopped by Paddy Whacks. There was a open mic night and as much as I was egged on to get up there, I knew there was no way I could have. Back then, playing the guitar was the thing I did in my room when I didn't want to do work. I've sang infront of hundreds of people in the past but adding guitar to that was something that scared me. So that night I was thankful the set was booked up and I couldn't get on. But I knew that there would be a time that I'd have to face my fear.

I guess I was thankful for a bit of preparation time before heading into the 'pit of fire'. I knew there was no way Lisa was going to let me go to Paddy Whacks without getting up there. I am a lot more confident now with the guitar than I was before Christmas but it was still scaring me. Before heading out, I had a few songs in mind so when we headed to Paddy Whacks, I couldn't walk for my knees shaking. I was excited though but it was the usual, I just had a gut feeling I was going to forget everything. When we arrived, I barely had enough time to compose myself before I was up on stage, staring out at a packed out Paddy Whacks.

I'm still buzzing from last night. The guitar was a full size one whilst I've been used to working with a 3/4 size so obviously it was a bit wierd. There was a few times that I missed chords and that but I didn't let it bother me. During my first song, Angel by Sarah McLachlan, I was really nervous because the crowd was quite loud, but I played on thanks to my little crowd of supporters. I've got to say thanks to everyone who came down, you all made it easier for me. Overall it was fun, putting the nerves to one side. I'd definately do it again but before I do.. I think I should invest in a full size acoustic. I think I might steal my friend Mark's when I'm home this Easter and get some practice in.

Have a great Easter everyone!