Driving Home Blues
Episode #190: Driving Home Blues\xa0 \xa0 \xa0(Song starts at 3:00)\nI\u2019m really enjoying producing these episodes - it\u2019s a live online gig, really. That\u2019s what it feels like. Thanks so much to those of you who are tuning in regularly. If you\u2019re new here:\nI\u2019m looking to shine a light on some aspects of how I compose a song. I\u2019m certainly not to looking take away the mystery - as if I could do that. The mystery is half of what makes song writing intriguing.\nIn 1991, when I wrote song #190, 'Driving Home Blues', I was working in a piano bar with Paul Dredge, my song writing buddy and great friend. We played 5 nights per week for 3 years at this residency. We learned so much. We are still writing and recording today - our 6th album is nearing completion.\nI was single at the time. A brief stormy sort of a relationship had snuck up on me. It made me feel stuff. It made me grow up in a hurry. I had to toughen up, look after myself.\nThen it was all over before it started. At the time I decided to go out and buy a sheet music book, of Bob Dylan\u2019s songs, with the purpose of analysing Bobs songs - his Melodies and chords, etc.\nPaul, and I were already playing lots of Bob Dylan (and Neil young). We\u2019d worked out there songs by ear, but something made me buy this book and study the notation.\nAfter 30mins browsing the book, I was sort of in the mood. I thought: \u201cI\u2019ll have a go at writing a Bob Dylan sort of song\u201d and I wrote 'These Bills Blues' (featured on an earlier episode)\u2026.\xa0 and then about 5 nights later I wrote 'Driving Home Blues'.\nWriting \u2018in the style of\u2019 isn\u2019t something I\u2019d done before or since, to be honest. But I\u2019m glad I gave it a go.\nWe can learn so much by following in the steps of the masters. So it\u2019s not plagiarism, nothing like that. It\xa0 was more noticing how few chords you could work with, how few words you sometimes need. And how simple a melody can be for it to work.\nBoth Bob Dylan and Neil Young have at times written some very, very clever simple songs that say so much, which ultimately was enhanced by the way they were so brilliantly sung and produced.\nAs a piano player, you tend at times to use a lot of chords. So this was something that pushed me in a slightly different direction, and it\u2019s something I never forgot.\nI\u2019m not afraid to write simple songs.\nOn that note, I\u2019ve never been afraid when composing. You can\u2019t be afraid of making mistakes. Being aware, now I think that\u2019s super important, being aware\u2026( eg how original is this song I\u2019m writing?)\u2026 a sense of honesty and originality. It can take a while to find your own style.\nIt\u2019s a such a pleasure to be writing songs, still, after all these years.\nBecause I\u2019ve been so busy doing this podcast and my blog, teaching 24 kids piano each week, painting seascapes and cartoons, - and selling them - it\u2019s all been \u2018go\u2019 around here, for years.\nI\u2019ve written 800 songs, have 12 albums out & have 5 albums nearing completion - plus I\u2019m working on tuition videos (music and art). These video courses have taken me far longer than I thought it might. Oh well.\nIt\u2019s important not to be to hard on yourself if you\u2019re on the creative path. It\u2019s like a river sometimes you\u2019re in a holding pool, other times you\u2019re in the rapids and away you go.\nWhen writing the music, it seems like you can somehow \u2018hear\u2019 the beginning of the next phrase \u2018ahead of time\u2019. It is fascinating, and it\u2019s fun to be in the flow, like this.\nI\u2019m grateful I took the time to sit down and write Driving Home Blues. I could've just sat round licking my wounds. Instead, I got stuff off my chest and into my diary. Then I used those feelings and experiences to push me on and turn a murky feeling into a piece of art.\nHere we go. I hope you enjoy hearing new music ..and another chat.\nThanks for having a read, I hope you enjoy the listen. If so, there\u2019s another 180 odd episodes waiting for you. They\u2019re not in an particular order, although I\u2019ve enjoyed the way this podcast continues to evolve.