Lyrics the session players may appreciate.

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mikeh

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These are some lyrics I wrote about 12 years ago, when drum machines were really taking over the recording business (which thankfully has reversed to some degree).

A guitar player and I were sitting in a bar discussing how technology was taking alot of session work away from real players - and I wrote this with that concept in mind. I pictured myself sitting in a bar, with no gigs. Obviously this pokes fun at the concept.

Rock & Roll Loser

Intro Verse

Sitting alone in a bar downtown
Waiting for someone to buy a round
Watching MTV without any sound
Fading from sight in the city

Verse

Havn't had work in over a year
One day the gigs just stopped coming
Replaced by computers with silicone chips
Now they have machines do the drumming

More than a decade of riding on top
Laying down tracks everyday
Fame and fortune were yours for the asking
Now it seems a lifetime away

Bridge

Living in a cheap hotel gold records on the wall
Waiting for someone to call

Chorus

Rock & Roll Loser
Waiting for another break
Just may be your last mistake
Time is runing out
Rock & Roll Loser
Don't be thinking one last try
Rock & Roll has passed you by
You're a Rock & Roll Loser

Verse

Polishing cymbals and planning a comeback
Thinking 'bout good times gone bad
Retelling stories to anyone listening
Drum machines are only a fad

Friday night jam sessions
Monday night drum lessons
No other gigs left to do
You can talk about feel
Or Playing with heart
But those programs sound beter than you

Repeat Bridge
Repeat Chorus
 
I am 30 now. I kind'a feel like my chance to become a well known songwriter is fading more with each year. (Athough I still write tons of music) When once I had the freedom to tour anytime I wished and no real financial resposibilies, now i have a family (although i wouldnt trade it for the world) but the possibility of gigging and getting my music out is greatly lessened.

So be it..

I liked the lyrics of your song. They made me think about that whole dynamic in my life.

Do you have it set to music at all?

-Alex
 
mikeh,
I really like the lyrics, good job. I too would like to hear it if set to music....I kinda heard a tune in my head until I got to the rock n roll loser part. I was thinking more along the country genre up to that point. my bad.

Alex,
Dude, you're right down the road from me....small world, eh?


bd
 
alexspetty said:
I am 30 now. I kind'a feel like my chance to become a well known songwriter is fading more with each year. (Athough I still write tons of music) When once I had the freedom to tour anytime I wished and no real financial resposibilies, now i have a family (although i wouldnt trade it for the world) but the possibility of gigging and getting my music out is greatly lessened.

So be it..

I liked the lyrics of your song. They made me think about that whole dynamic in my life.

Do you have it set to music at all?

-Alex
Click to expand...

Hey Alex…Don’t sweat that shit man. Songwriting and gigging can be mutually exclusive events. I love performing, but have given up any aspirations (at least I won’t admit to any ;)) of getting any kind of recording deal. Even though I’ve got a good enough voice, I’m too old and too fat ;) :D (just turned 40). I am still pursuing songwriting here in Nashville however and I’m really just getting started at it at my age. Doesn’t mean I’ll have any success, but it’s still fun hanging in the game and giving it a whirl. I’ve heard some of your stuff since joining here and you are a good writer. Maybe lessening the gigging will actually give you more time to write and more opportunities to follow that path. I actually made that choice about 5 years ago. I was playing in an acoustic duo (2 acoustic guits & vocals) and we started to get fairly decent. Our gigs were getting bigger (at one point we were supposed to open for the Indigo Girls in a major club in Chicago - didn’t happen because the club went bankrupt and closed down :rolleyes:. We were having a lot fun playing, but I really wanted to play songs I wrote and my partner either couldn’t or wasn’t willing to play my stuff so I decided to call it quits and concentrate on my writing. Looking back I know if that wouldn’t have happened, my skills, as meager as they are, would be even more meager. :D

Don’t know your situation, but just wanted to offer my thoughts on the matter. :)
 
Alex,
I was thinking the same thing....Hell, I'm 48 and have recently decided to get back into it. Maybe this is my midlife crisis....I dunno, I'm just gonna ride that wave into the sunset man.


bd
 
thanks for the words of support with respect to my moment of self pity.

it was kind of silly of me to think along those lines especially given that no age is too old (or too young for that matter) to enjoy life, and to enjoy doing the things we love.

i love making music... so ill prolly do it until my dying day. ive just latley been shuffling off (or at least adjusting) the notion that I will ever be able to make it a full time way of life.

mortgages and kids and jobs etc just make it improbable. i actually would rather have my family than anything else so its all good. but who of us wouldnt want to become a well-known (and well compensated) songwriter! :)

bdbdbuck, you should come up to fantastico's in downtown warrenton the tuesday after next to my singer/songwriter open stage and play a few tunes.
I have it there every other tuesday and its a lot of fun!
id love to meet you in person and hear some of your music!

jagular, thanks for saying the nice things about my songwriting. Ive listened to your stuff too and I like what you are doing. It definitaly sound like you got that nashville thing going on in your style. :)

Last week I was playing out and somebody who was into my performance gave me a card for some supposed well known record guy in nashville. ever hear of Deany Music Group? Just wondering if I should bother calling.

Thanks all,

-alex
www.drumfish.com
 
Alex,
Thanks for the invite, I'd love to stop by and bang out a few. I will try to make it. Where exactly is it?

Secondly, regarding Deany Music Group, I personally have never heard of them, you might want to do a search on them. Do they have a Rep affiliation (ASCAP, BMI, etc.) listed on the card? If so, dial up the affiliation's website and check there, although BMI doesn't have that option. I would say that if you were invited to call, what would it hurt? They won't force you to do something you know not to do.

PM me and give me directions to the club.


bd
 
Hey, alexspetty & bdbdbuck,

Thanks for your kinds words - I figured this thread was goning to drop of the board with no comments!

Actually, several years ago I recorded a demo (on a 1/4" 8 track Fostex - to refresh you on the "home technology" back then) - the music was for lack of a better phrase "blue eyed rock/R&B" - kinda like some of the early Huey Lewis & the News (which was probably the musical genre on the radio when I first wrote the lyrics.

I actually recorded it useing a drum machine and tried to program the hippest, funkiest drum part - to illiustrate the point of the song. This particular song was more for my personnal pleasure - I tend to spend my writing/recording time on more "commercial" material (always working the publishing issues!!!)

The only reason I posted the lyrics, I stumbled on them recently (I had forgotten about the tune) and thought the people on a site dedicated to recording/songwriting could relate.

By the way - I'm 50 and I still gig (30-50 gigs year) and I still record - and most importantly I still manage to get a tune here and there published and placed - so no matter the age, if there is a will there is a way.
 
alexspetty said:
Last week I was playing out and somebody who was into my performance gave me a card for some supposed well known record guy in nashville. ever hear of Deany Music Group? Just wondering if I should bother calling.

www.drumfish.com
Click to expand...

I haven't heard of them, but that doesn't mean anything. I just moved down here 3 years ago and have been inactive that whole time as far as writing goes. I'm just starting to get back into it.

I couldn't find any hits on them with a quick google which is interesting. Could be worth a call though. Who knows? Plus if you come to Nashville for a visit, let me know. Maybe we can hook up for dinner or a show or something. :)
 
Mikeh,
I'm just curious to know....the songs you have placed/published, do you feel you have been justly compensated...or do you find yourself wonderin where the hell the royalties went?


bd
 
Alex,
Thanks for the map, piece-o-cake man. Been past it a million times, just never knew it was there.


bd
 
bdbdbuck,

As I'm sure you know getting published really means little, the material sits in a catalog and you hope that it ends up being recorded. Even if it's recorded, it can mean very little, if the recording doesn't sell.

Hell, I've had two pieces placed in movies that ended up going direct to video - which means very little in points.

Candidly, I occasionally get a check here and there for anywhere between $5 to about $150. Over the course of time it has been enough to purchase a couple of pieces of gear and more importantly, provide proof to Uncle Sam that the tax write-offs are for a legitimate business/artistic pursuit.

The main value in being published, is that it at least gets a foot in the door. Unlike "the old days" it is indeed harder to get publishers (at least legitimate folk) to even accept material.

So, in answer to your question, I can't say I've felt "justly compensated" (given the sweat and tears put into my efforts) - but being a realist, I accept what meager success I've had - I gave up the though of having music support me many years ago, but it is still a pretty decent "part time job".
 
A very well written song and probably a true story. I have played some gigs with e-drummer and sometimes it went well.
One thing I would like to say, though , is that if it has made life tough for some mediocre drummers, it has thinned the ranks so that the drummers you do hear these days are the best ones, the others have stashed their drums or pawned them. One other effect, maybe secondary, is that the drummers ( the best ones ) will practice to a click track or e-drums resulting in solid pocket playing. If you've ever worked with a drummer who couldn't quite settle into a groove then you know what i'm talking about.

chazba
 
chazba, Thank you for your kind words about the song.

I do agree that the advent of drum machines did thin out the ranks a little. However, I find it tended to eliminate the drummers who would not or could not embrace technology. Although form a gigging (vs. session) standpoint I agree there are drummers who can't groove and can't keep trime.

I've played drums/percussion on a lot of sessions and I've also done sessions as a programmer and a keyboard player. I've never run into a session drummer who could not groove in the pocket. I doubt that type of player would get more than one or two calls before he was dropped from the rotation.

I have seen drummers fall from the ranks because they would not add e-drums or triggers or samples to their gear, or because they would not learn to program a drum groove on a machine.

Session cats don't lose session work because of lack of chops - they would not get session work at all it they didn't have chops. They lose work because they have poor work ethic, poor attitude or because they refuse to adapt to newer musical trends/technology.
 
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