This is another one of the defining moments of this transitional time. And last night listening to this song in the car I was aware that the balance between acoustic and electric guitars was not optimal. Here is a revised version where I have thinned out the acoustic for more of the strummy sounds above the melody. Have a listen. I Wanna Love You (free mp3 download) @jmacofearthAugust 22, 2010 at 9:07 am
permalink: http://bit.ly/love_you_new
This EP is dedicated with thanks to my friends in the WYRE* class that just ended. Man did I need that. This quick-release EP is for you guys and girls who have grown so much these last 11 weeks. And the full CD is coming. Hold me to it. The title comes from a conversation I had with Krista where she said she and her kids were “shooting beer cans off the buddha.” In a later conversation she let me know they were indeed tallboys from her neighbor. When asked if she drank tallboys, she replied, “No, I don’t.” The tracks on this EP tell a shortened version of the full-length “Admitting There’s a Problem” CD that still requires a few tweaks before it’s ready for prime time. I wanted to put this out in celebration of this moment in my life, at the close of our group and a terribly painful phase in my life. I pause this evening and breathe as I anticipate the next adventure. The tracks on this EP are: @jmacofearth *WYRE – When Your Relationship Ends groupfrom the buzzie.com blog March 19, 2011 at 8:53 pm
permalink: http://goo.gl/tUmEL
(click on cover to see the full-size printable image with track listings) Music for Film - contains 21 clips and 4 songs - download here (72 mb zip archive of mp3 files) includes: It is my intention to make this music available free of charge to independent films. Any rerelease as part of a soundtrack or score would require mechanical royalties and licensing fees. Please contact me directly with any questions. Here's all the info you could want about these clips and songs.
The Martian Dust Devils - Music for Film
© 2000 - 2010 Happy Mac Tunes (ASCAP)
Composer: John McElhenney, All Rights Reserved.
36 minutes of ambient/electronica originally released as Prayer Cycle ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR.I am also interested in working on scoring and soundtrack development with film makers as well.
1. Above Water (1:00)
2. Alone and Dreaming (0:28)
3. Ambitech (0:44)
4. Bed of Nails (0.37)
5. Between Two Worlds (1:02)
6. Brianica (0:35)
7. Dancin In 2002 (1:05)
8. Eekay Oh Ah (0:35)
9. Funky All Over (0:43)
10. Influence (1:15)
11. It's About Dreaming (0:42)
12. Jason's Car (1:40)
13. Meeting You Again (0:33)
14. New Ramble (0:39)
15. Stellar (0.52)
16. Underneath the Beat (0:40)
17. In the House (0:40)
18. New Linguist (0:41)
19. Static (0:34)
20. Under Her (0:39)
21. Baby Cryin (0:45)
22. Prayer Cycle ONE (5:41)
23. Prayer Cycle TWO (5:16)
24. Prayer Cycle THREE (Newborn) (6:05)
25. Between Two Worlds (complete) (19.27)
Contact:
John McElhenney via
512-9-ZERO-9-99-FOUR-9 (phone)
john.mcelhenney (at) gmail (dot) com (email)
@jmacofearth (twitter)
Namasté.
My son Jason shot some video of our show at the Orange County Fair. He wasn't so focused on the show but was making some great comments along the way. I don't know if he was going for an art piece, but he sure got one. This was shot on a Flip video camera and edited with iMovie. Click on the image below to watch the video on YouTube.
The Buzzie musicians are:
John McElhenney: vocals and guitar
Robbie Rist: guitar and vocals
Derrick Anderson: bass
Marc Joseph: drums
The song "Just Another Day" was written and performed by John McElhenney.
©2009 All Rights Reserved, Happy Mac Tunes (ascap).
Many thanks to David Bash and the entire staff of International Pop Overthrow.
The video is also available on
@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/buzzie-live
The photostream is also available on Flickr.
And now by popular request is the raw footage of She's Gone, the song behind the video, un-edited and narrated by Jason.
Lucky we were to have a professional photographer in the audience. Here’s the email she sent on Monday with the attached photos.
I photographed your band because of your great energy and passion for your music. I was just compelled to! Love the music!
Photographically and Musically Yours,
Christina Baldwin
http://www.christinabaldwinphotography.com
Blessings. @jmacofearth
Before we were FC we were Johnny Rocket
Blue Landing Strip Patterns - J and J from the Bridal Path Treehouse in Austin, Texas
Hey Mama - J and J from the Bridal Path Treehouse in Austin, Texas
Changes In My Life - J and J from the Bridal Path Treehouse in Austin, Texas
In The Beginning - J and J Live from Mt. Bonnell in Austin, Texas
Poems of the Past - J and J from the Bridal Path Treehouse in Austin, Texas
We Can All Be Friends - J and J from the Bridal Path Treehouse in Austin, Texas
Just Might Be - J and J from the Bridal Path Treehouse in Austin, Texas
As Close to Austin City Limits As We Could Get
Hey Girl - Caught Live at the University of Texas | City Limits Studios
Music Is The Magic - Caught Live at the University of Texas | City Limits Studios
Set Me Free - Caught Live at the University of Texas | City Limits Studios
Less Than 15 Minutes of Fame - But What a Rush
Local Licks Live Intro - Jodi Denburg
Caught You In A Feeling (rough demo)
As You Like It Holding Back the Night (JMac demo)
Lifeline - (JMac demo of FC Song)
Not Alone Again (JMac Demo)
Clear Designs (JMac Demo of FC song)
We Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now!
Permalink: http://bit.ly/felixculpa-playbacks
It's fun to see them having fun. After their dismal tour movie I could hardly imagine any of them smiling. And here they seem to be having fun doing a retro cover of New Order. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xliP7OdBtM&eurl=http://www.uber.la/&feature=player_embedded Enjoy. @jmacofearth
So what is it that keeps my beloved Taylor from getting the love it deserves? It was like the birth of a child when I was able to afford this lucious guitar. My fingers were well worn, I changed the strings every couple months because I was playing them so much they became dull. I was in the studio recording songs like a madman... What's changed?
Kids? But that's no excuse. Work? And while that's a pretty good one, it does not hold at the moment while I have a breather to ponder my next move. Energy? Nope, I'm as boyant as ever, rising early staying up late and catching a nap in the middle if the day affords it. Inspiration? Perhaps, but that's not a very good reason. If we paused our creative production to wait on inspiration or "muse" we would be silent much of the time. Joy? Health? Time? Nope, all good on those too.
But something bigger keeps us from singing our song. Something that goes beyond the fact that my Taylor is STILL DUSTY now in Feb. 09! The only thing that even comes close, that is big enough to repell my spirit is fear.
That's got to be it. I would be guessing, because I am not conscious of being afraid of failure or embarrassment at the moment. But I have always had the artistic repulsion from my "studio, journal, practice" what ever it is, when I have not be in the "mode," when I have not been doing it. So if I just DO IT, will I do it more?
I am full of inspiration and expression of thought. I am beating the crud out of the RockBand drums. I am as happy as I have ever been. [That alone is quite a statement!] But I am also content. In a zen way, I am not urgently needing to express anything. I don't have a broken love story to tell, I am quite elated with where I am in my marriage. I could write about job angst, except for the moment even that has passed.
But something is holding that Taylor just a few feet from my hands and keeping it there. I brought it out of it's case back in July when I wanted to propel my fingers into action. And since then I have picked it up and plucked a couple of times. And my kids, who are not used to hearing me play and sing, were quite supportive and excited to hear me playing. But it didn't sound as good as I liked. I didn't remember the songs that were so fluid in my soul. The guitar was hard to tune, because the strings were so old and dull. And I did not have the burning desire to continue. So in a zen world I would say I am content.
Back a number of years I was playing a festival in Los Angeles with my band Buzzie and a girl in the car asked a question. "So is it better to be content with your life. Or is it better to be intent and striving for more."
I believe Michael Carpenter, from Australia, who was playing on stage with me said, "Striving, definitely. Endlessly striving for the next song, the next note or tone. Striving to express myself."
When it was obviously my turn to talk I said, "I don't know. I am very content right now with my wife and kids and regular life back in Austin. And I am also aware of my lack of striving at this festival. I am happy to be here and all, but I am also missing my ordinary life back home. So I would have to say, content. But that's not very good for my musician cred or my productivity."
"No," she said. "I can see that in you."
@jmacofearth permalink: http://bit.ly/songwriting
If you graduated high school after the 80's you might have missed the HUGE impact ACDC had on the rebellious and angry youth of the late 70's and 80's. Unlike KISS who provided some glam anger, brothers Young and Bon Scott blew the lid off every hard rock "old school" band we knew and loved. [My bands were Aerosmith, The Who and Zepplin.] And in doing so they paved the way for bands like Judas Priest and G-n-R and even Nirvana.
The sheer repetitive headbanging beats, with mean and raw lyrics were more connective than the punks of the Sex Pistols or the Ramones. With ACDC you could sing along with songs like "Highway to Hell" after the 1st chorus. And it was almost impossible not to do the headbangers head bop while listening to the most-rockin songs. My next door neighbor, when he was giving me his Tama Rockstar drum kit to "store" in my garage/studio said he learned drums because of Back in Black. If you know the song you know the infectious, /Dun, dd dun, dd dun, deedoobeedoobedum, dd dun, dd dun/ that pulled my friend out of geekiness into the dark abyss of rock n roll.
And I have tweeted a lot about how RockBand 2, the version I got for my birthday in November, has changed my approach to the recording studio and my enthusiasm for making music again. And how many of my friends, similarly situated between their 30's and 40's, were also RockBanding alone and with friends all through the holidays this year. Nary a day went by when someone on my tweet list wasn't saying: how much time they spent; how much fun they had; what their party was like with ROCKBAND. 
So a couple of weeks ago I bought the ACDC FAN Pack for Rockband. Rather than just getting the PS2 game this one came with a concert shirt from "Black Ice" [their latest moderately successful new disc] and a DVD "directors cut" of some show they did in a Madrid bullfighting stadium, called "NO BULL." And of course the PS2 TrackPak.
[A moment of revelation: Why and I not listening to ACDC on iTunes right now as I write. Click, launch, select play. Okay, got that taken care of, going Bon Scott era with Powerage.]
So I would say I've spent probably 20 hours on Rockband 2 up until yesterday. And I've gotten through most of the songs in "medium," even the ones I don't like. But yesterday I put the ACDC Trackpak in and just about blew my hands off.
There are a couple of non-hits in the selections, but as each song is revealed along the path of performing, I was like, "She's Got the Jack!!!! Woohoo! Dirty Deeds! Yeah! and then finally "Back in Black. Oh yeah!" And when I got up this morning, after exchanging Valentines with my lovely wife and cuddly kids I was off to "finish the set." And I plowed through the last 6 songs on the 18 song set. By that time my son was aching for the TV.
"One more song, on medium this time," I told him. As I finished "Thunderstruck" with a big drum solo, I asked, "Can I do ONE MORE SONG?"
"No."
And I turned over the cable selector and turned off the stereo. But I was exhausted and exhilarated. I can't wait to call my neighbor over to show him Back in Black RockBand style. My guess is he will dig it too.
There are a few funny things about the ACDC Track Pack though.
I like the remakes better than the Brian Johnson versions of the Bon Scott-era songs. A lot better.
Angus is a stacked black female guitarist wielding a logo-ed an often highlighted Fender Strat. I don't think I ever saw Angus with anything but his Gibson SG. But of course Fender is the sponsor. And you know they could never do Angus's antics justice in animation. I DO really want one of the Fender Precision base replicas, but I have enough REAL guitars to no start collecting RockBand guitars and paraphernalia. [What are the origins of that word para-pher-a-lia? I wonder.]
I have never seen ACDC live in concert. [A moment of silence, for Bon Scott.] And since Bon Scott died in 1980 I never really had a chance, but watching the No Bull DVD I'm kinda glad. Bon Scott, from what I've seen in videos was a rockstar embodied. Brian Johnson, no so much. Angus is still great. The songs are still great, I just don't find myself having the same empathy for the "older rocker" that I do with say, Robert Plant or Pete Townshend. His antics on stage are bazaar and lame. IMHO.
But the ACDC Track Pack takes my already heightened fascination with RockBand to a new height. Even with the few clunker tracks, it rules! It takes me back to a time when I would take a few friends to Taco Bell at lunch and we would speed (really fast) down the new Loop 360 and our ears would be ringing from the Fosgate powered versions of Black In Black that blasted out of my VW Sirocco.
Rock On!
@jmacofearth permalink: http://bit.ly/acdc-rocks
Note: I have requested a developers kid from both Harmonix and the other programers and game companies asscociated with RockBand because I would really like to put some of my songs, or some XTC or Beatles in RockBand format, but they have not responded at all. Nada. Nothing. Bummer. ;-(
Dedication: This post goes out to AC who rocks along with the best of us. Dude, rock on!
