December | 2013 | Crommunist

0 Sweetest Thing (U2 cover)

A year and a half ago I wandered into Tom Lee Music Store and found myself in the midst of a year-end sale. Because it was marked way down, and because I had wanted one for a long time, I picked up an Ovation round-backed guitar from the Celebrity line. While I loved the guitar to pieces (especially in relation to the one it was replacing), it wasn’t too long until I felt like I had outgrown its sound and was looking for something a bit warmer and brighter. It was along those lines that I found Emily, my new guitar, who is a Seagull Entourage manufactured by Godin.

In this video, I take her out for a test spin on one of my favourite covers to do at karaoke:

I’m looking forward to recording a lot of great stuff with Emily. Incidentally, my recording of Niall Connoly’s “Skin and Bones” was the first song I recorded with Emily, and you can really hear the difference in the guitar tone between that one and my older recordings with Sarah (my Ovation).

0 Grown Up (Stephanie Ratcliff)

A local singer-songwriter with whom I am acquainted posted a new song she had written on Facebook. It’s broadly representative of why I love her music – elegant, deceptively straightforward, and full of potential avenues for reinterpretation and addition. I’ve been looking for opportunities to collaborate with Stephanie for a while, and when I first heard her song ‘Grown Up’ my mind was immediately flooded with ideas of how I could augment it.

The result of our collaboration is now available on Youtube:

Guitars and vocals are Stephanie, strings are me. I was going for the suggestion of strings rather than making the strings the driving force. As a result, I was able to add layer upon layer upon layer, in an attempt to re-create the effect of an entire string orchestra from a single instrument. There is a cello part (I used an effects pedal to drop my viola by an octave into the cello’s range), 6 syncopated ‘brush’ string parts, 2 upper-range ‘descant’ parts, and a solo/countermelody of three voices, as well as 2 ‘pizzicato’ parts. I recommend listening with headphones if you want to try and pick them all out (especially the cello, which sits underneath the bass guitar part).

I used a similar arrangement in my song ‘Saturday’, but made a conscious effort to make the strings more subdued to allow Stephanie’s haunting vocals to shine through. Stephanie too is a multi-instrumentalist, and I look forward to finding an opportunity to return the favour and have her contribute something to one of my songs.

0 Skin And Bones – the countryfied version

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I first heard Niall Connoly’s ‘Skin and Bones’ over the PA after a gig and, flush as I was with musical juice, it immediately jumped into my head and refused to leave. I don’t know what it is about some songs that make them indelible, but I quickly became obsessed with it. The simplicity of the song belies the depth of the sentiment, but simultaneously allows for any number of different interpretations.

I’m not really a county fan, but this song was crying out to me for a pumpin’ back beat and some multi-vocal harmonies. It also needs some banjo, but as yet I do not know how to play that, so you’ll have to make do.

If you like this tune, please consider sharing it as widely as you can. The only reason I record this is for others to hear them, so the more ears the better!

0 Copper Tank – EHO

December 6, 2013
by Crommunist
· Even Handed Odds · Events · Live Music

Playing with my band, Even Handed Odds, at the Copper Tank on Broadway and Balaclava. It’s our triumphant return after a long hiatus, so you won’t want to miss it!

0 Sunset Grill

Playing my regular acoustic set at the Sunset Grill (2204 York st.). Great drink selection, delicious food (try the mac & cheese balls).