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Everybody stomp your feet to The Bourgeois Boogie

An ironically cheery-sounding tune
about the slow erosion of the American dream in the rust belt

If You've Ever Loved Someone with Mental Illness

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Writing & Recording “Open” from HOTEL BY THE RIVER EP (reposted from Facebook)

Writing & Recording “Open” from HOTEL BY THE RIVER EP (reposted from Facebook)

If "I'm Told You Never Sleep" is my favourite song to listen to from the HOTEL BY THE RIVER EP for its energy, "Open" is my favourite to close my eyes and listen to for the melody and lyrics. "Open" was another song penned long in advance of the EP. I wrote this for my friend, John DePalma. John was the first new friend I made when I moved to Asbury Park, and he has been my best friend in town for the five years I've lived here. Of course, when you live in a town as small

Writing and recording “I’m Told You Never Sleep” (reposted from Facebook)

Writing and recording “I’m Told You Never Sleep” (reposted from Facebook)

This track is probably my favourite piece to listen to off the new "Hotel by the River" EP. Not that it's necessarily the best written song, or the best recording, but because it has an amazing energy, most likely because it was recorded live rather than one track at a time. But that's skipping ahead... Like "Ars Poetica" and "The Bed That Froze," "I'm Told You Never Sleep" had a very short gestation period. I wrote it while visiting my godson in Irvine CA during the final

Recording “Oh, Marie” (reposted from Facebook)

Recording “Oh, Marie” (reposted from Facebook)

This song was something of a (relatively young) orphan that I had written just prior to my 2013 Fall Tour to California and back. I had wanted to write a love song, but obviously, given my aversion to ridiculous protestations of undying love and hyperbole, I was more interested in exploring the empty spaces between the words. Naturally, of course, that required that I write a good many words, so I could find those spaces! I found myself penning something that sounded a litt

Recording "The Bed That Froze" (reposted from Facebook)

Recording "The Bed That Froze" (reposted from Facebook)

Because the latest EP is largely acoustic, the recording was a much less formal affair. Much of what was necessary could be done at my home studio. That was certainly the case with "The Bed That Froze." I recorded piano and strings at home with a quick vocal pilot. Actually, for as short time as it took to create the strings part, I am fairly amazed at how well they sound -- particularly the pizzicato strings in the second verse, which add a ton of tension to that particu

About the writing and recording of the single track "Hotel By the River" (reposted from Fa

About the writing and recording of the single track "Hotel By the River" (reposted from Fa

“Hotel By The River” was a song I originally wrote back in 1999 or 2000. When I wrote it, it was oneof two songs written on the same day, the other being “Jump Into the River.” I had seen an online notice for a songwriting contest hosted by The Point, a coffee shop in Bryn Mawr PA well known for its amazing open mike nights. The theme of the contest was “TheRiver.” While “Jump Into the River” was a scathing break-up song, “Hotel By The River” is a softer, more reflective piec

New HOTEL BY THE RIVER EP available for pre-order on iTunes (reposted from Facebook)

New HOTEL BY THE RIVER EP available for pre-order on iTunes (reposted from Facebook)

I just wanted to let everybody know that you can now pre-order the new EP, HOTEL BY THE RIVER, on iTunes (release date August 29). Starting next week, I'll begin posting blogs about the individual tracks on the EP, but for now let me just provide a few general notes about the EP as a whole. The title track is culled from my MEMOIRS OF A MANWHORE: THE REELING WALTZ OF A DRUNKEN LOTHARIO album. The album version (versus the EP/single version) is a solo effort in Bb; the new s