Releasing Music

10 years ago when we got back from CO, we had just finished a recording of the 14 songs I had written over a 14 year period. Some of the melodies of songs had been in the back of my mind for years before I had finally finished them. Anyway, I wasn't happy with the percussion. I wanted to find a drummer and add drums to pretty much every song I had recorded. We looked for drummers. Friends who were drummers would promise me that they would play on the recording, but then just not return messages. I borrowed some drums and learned a couple of songs... which sounded pretty good live, but not for these recordings. The best drum sound we got was when Braedon decided to try his hand at keyboard drums. But, nothing sounded quite right. For some reason it took me 10 years to just accept them the way they were. Now that I've been releasing them, I'm finally able to start thinking about the "newer" songs that I've been writing. That and I want to augment 2 of the last 14 before they are released.

Oddly, I started writing the newer songs a year before we had moved to CO. So, I've been working on most of this next album over a 14 year period also. And, some of the songs I'm wanting to put on the album were written as early as 1998. So, they're a compilation of 24 years of writing. Regardless, I'm ready to finish the songs I have been working on and record the songs I've been sitting on. Finally. Here's to more short spurts of recording.

Legal Stuff pre-release

So yesterday I did a bunch of stuff to get ready for some music releases. I signed up with BMI and Songtrust. They both help with the collection of Royalty's in case your songs are making any waves. I also signed up with Sound Exchange. They help to identify and track music. Then, I tried to sign up with AWAL, who is a distributer, but I may not have enough stuff out there for them to accept me. I probably don't need them quite yet anyway. Then, I signed up with SoundCloud to upload some music. Soundcloud allegedly is about getting your music heard. I was going to sign up with bandcamp, who is supposedly better at getting your stuff sold, but I don't really have much stuff, so I went with SoundCloud. So then, this afternoon I checked the Copyrights I had worked on a couple of months ago, and there had been some sort of problem. They didn't work. I had called and spoken to a rep who told me precisely what to do, but it was still rejected. I called back, but then remembered it was Saturday. Oh well, I suppose some day soon will be my day to fix the Copyrights and probably delay any music releases for a few weeks. So many moving pieces.

Father's Day 2018 - that's when the video is done. But we're adding drums. Setting up FB and blogger - and YouTube. Hopefully finish and release some day. Some...Christmas? 

Shopping

Trader Joes is a favorite of the Currahs. They seem to have a greater array of choices, in regards to minimally processed foods... great samples and of course, duck-shaped potatoes.

Ebenezer

Ebenezer. Our truck is one, at least for us. Like a monument to both a test and a provision from God to us. A few years after we bought it, a miracle in itself, while living in Golden CO we felt led to set up ebenezers... physical representations or monuments of of our experiences and memories of His provision, faithfulness. Our truck was provision. Included the truck in a video for that reason.

Comment on videos

Feel free to comment on videos at youtube.com/bradcurrah. Or at rumble.com/bradcurrah. Comments can be encouraging, and helpful to us for the next video shoot. So, we'll release some soon. We're planning the next one now. No truck for the next one (we sold it.)

Sing Your People on You Tube. Finally...

Sing Your People video was filmed on an iPhone. More recently life has been busy... with some weekend editing sessions, some occasional nights of Braedon and I recording drums, we'll be done some day. Though, it seems never really done. There comes a point when you have to stop tweaking it. Call it done, let it go. Upload to youtube, then figure out how to set up some sites. Thanks in advance for signing up. I'm new to all of this social media stuff. More time consuming than I'd imagined. That's OK, seems worth it... a good way to reconnect with old friends, make some new ones, and stay in touch.

Our Truck

We've talked about it, and we want to incorporate our truck.  We bought it in CO when we lived in Golden, and we're looking at selling it now.  So, we're hoping to remember God's provision by filming it. Making it the setting of our first music video.  So, we'll detail it, wash it, fix a few things to make it look its best. Maybe we'll begin shooting this week...

First video to work on

The song we're thinking about working on first is "Sing Your People".  We're all singing on this one, and we have this idea of a lot of close up video shots. So, the more people singing - the better.  This is the first worship song that I wrote so it seems appropriate for this to be the first video we make.

Oreo discussion

Good times reminiscing about recording. And lunch.

Deep Fat Fried Oreos

When I asked Aubri about her last experience recording in the studio, I thought it would be a good question to ask... something to write about. At the time, we were stuck with not much to do downtown. It was a great conversation, but not really what I was shooting for. She mostly recalled leaving the studio in between recording sessions, for lunch - of course...  We had gone to a nearby Chinese restaurant in downtown Tacoma. It was good food.  At the time, we didn't plan on doing desert. We didn't expect any dessert. We didn't order dessert.  But lo and behold these... odd, things, showed up. Weren't sure what they were at first.  Turns out: Deep Fat fried Oreos. Brought to us by the owners, as a gift. Kind staff. We didn't order them, we didn't see them on the menu, and even if we had... nah. Aubri recalled "We have had pink peppermint Oreos before, double stuffed Oreos, Oreos ala mode. Had birthday cake Oreos once as a family, and Oreo ice cream. But those were nothing compared to this new oreo-esk experience." And because there are thousands of readers of this blog who are very curious about our recording experiences, we will describe these unusual, Oreos. To both of our readers: Beneath rainbow colored sprinkles atop swirls of whipped cream, lay the surprisingly good tasting yet odd, fried, Oreos. The picture below is not of our actual Oreos, but an internet knockoff. As I recall, Andréa was the first to suggest, while chewing her desert, that she might be eating an Oreo, that is, after taking a bite of the unidentified object... We laughed. We thought she was kidding, at first. My kids aren't very daring when it comes to food. Not at all. But when it comes to Desert, it can be a No-Holds Barred type of thing. Now, Aubri would say that she is fairly daring, although I don't remember - perhaps she was the very first to bite into the strange creamy sprinkle covered somewhat circular concoction. Okay, so now you know about deserts experienced whilst in the studio.  Wait. She also remembers creating back-up parts with her sisters in the studio. No Doubt, with Oreo breath... (my words, definitely not hers.) I really liked the vocals they created. Aubri does admit that Baelina made up most of the backup vocals. She and her sister Andrea mostly harmonized with Baelina. This brings us to the end of Aubri contemplating her most recent... previous experience in the studio. And of her coinciding, remarkable, Oreo experience.

keep old plates spinning

For someone who desires to both perform and write, a decent amount of time needs to be spent on both writing new material and practicing older songs. When you're working a day job, and have 4 kids, a mortgage, etc... neither of these seem to not get enough attention. Constant juggling act. How well do you want to be able to perform your old songs? How fast do you want to write new ones? How tired of your old ones are you getting? etc... how bad you want to crawl under your house and fix your broken sewer pipe instead of practicing? The one right there by that big nasty puddle. Life and its demands - good times. 

writing while working

Sometimes working on the house can be a bit mindless. Painting, mudding, sanding, gluing, framing. They all take my attention, but not much thought. I am writing songs and vocal melodies while I build. I'll replay some guitar riffs in my head until I like the structure. Or, play some prerecorded stuff from a friend... on my phone, until they're memorized... rebuild sounds into a structure that I like.  Time can fly when I'm thinking about music. And hey, I just got 2 birds when I arranged a song.