100yearpicnic.com

This is one way to write songs…  And one way to get them done and recorded very, very fast…

A week ago, my friend Tony from Oxide Lounge Recording asked me if I would be interested in helping him out with some sort of online songwriting challenge/experiment.  Well, since 100 Year Picnic is all about the songwriting and recording experiment, I happily obliged. 

The challenge was to take a pre-existing drum track and write a song around it.  Tony had already put together the chord progression with guitars, bass, and keyboard.   By the way, Tony’s main instrument is drums, so we have casually referred to our collaborations as "The Drummers Who Write Songs Club."  So by the time I came in, the challenge was to put together melodies, harmonies, words to go with a pre-existing rhythm track, and record them all in a 4 hour time box. 

So you want to hear what we came up with?  So glad you asked…  Here ’tis for your free downloading delights:  Calm Down (mp3)

You should also check out the free downloads of what other artists around the country came up with for this little experiment.  One of them is the original song the drums were intended for.  It’s all very different, with some very creative stuff.

A few of you probably have heard me talk about writing I’d Take You Anyplace (lo-fi) in this very same fashion.  I had a drum track laying around that I had recorded for another song for my friend Tommy Neal.   As an experiment I tried to write a song around it.  Turned out pretty cool.  Anyway the idea of boxing yourself IN to something causes you to box yourself OUT.  The boundaries help you limit your options to create something bigger within a smaller space.  If that makes any sense…  (I know it doesn’t, but I like it anyway).  Basically, the experiment comes down to fun because you do things you would never do…especially with the arrangement. 

A lot of the new 100 Year Picnic music is being written like this, only using improvised songs as the bed for the melodies and words.  Some pretty wild stuff coming out of this process…

So all you songwriters out there, take the drum track challenge someday soon.  You will likey.