Homegrown Radio 10/29/10

Wow, October really is zooming past us! Here we are with the final Homegrown Radio segment for the month, which also means it’s the last installment from Joel Murach. Joel sure has done a fine job by Homegrown Radio this month. But not to worry: the series will return in November with Bernie Jungle, who is perhaps the best guitar player it’s my pleasure to know—also a very good songwriter, singer & a truly good guy. Bernie has performed not only as a soloist, but also in bands such as Warm Wires, Thunderbleed & the Great Auk—the latter, a duo with Carrie Bradley, is one of my all-time favorite bands.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s hear what Joel has to say about “Ghost in the river,” this week’s song:

First, thanks to John for having me here at Homegrown Radio. And thanks to everyone who commented on the songs. It has been a lot of fun for me to be here.

I first thought of this song, "Ghost in the river", when I was camping out by a river. I had awoken in the middle of the night, and as I stood outside my tent in the moonlight, there was a fine white mist coming off the river. To me, it looked like a ghost. And it got me to thinking about ghosts and rivers...two recurring themes in my songwriting. A couple years later, I wrote this song, which combines those two themes.

For those musicologists out there, this song is in 5/4, which is a time signature that isn't used much these days. I hope you like it!

Thank you Joel for bringing such quality offerings to the Homegrown Radio table! & don’t forget, folks: you can purchase Joel’s cds on his website here. Enjoy the song.

Homegrown Radio 10/22/10

Observant fans of Homegrown Radio may have noticed that I mistakenly included this week’s song in last week’s embedded playlist.  Sorry about that!  Now that it’s the official new song of the week, let’s hear what Joel Murach has to say about “And the World Was On Fire:”

It was a scorching hot summer and there were wildfires burning everywhere in California. I was driving from Fresno to Santa Cruz. I was in the middle of the worst breakup of my life. To top it all off, I rented a documentary about 9/11 that Earl Butter recommended to me. It was devastating. And it all blended together into this song.

I started by recording a voice and a guitar, but it didn't sound so great, so I added more guitars and voices. I hope it sounds better now. I will probably keep working on it because I think this song is worth it.

Don’t forget: Joel has three albums available, & they can be purchased right here thru his website.  Hope you have a happy Friday & enjoy the song!

Homegrown Radio 10/15/10

Friday is upon us again, & that means it’s time for another installment of Homegrown Radio with Joel Murach.  Mr Murach has another top-notch song for us this week, so let’s see what he has to say about “You Wanna Have Your Cake”:

One day I started thinking about the saying, "You want to have your cake and eat it too." To be honest, I never really understood this saying. But then I couldn't stop thinking about it. And then I realized that it applied to a situation that I was in. And then I wrote this song.

The recording is essentially a live recording. I just set up two mics and played it. Someday, I'd like to overdub some pedal steel on the end of it.

Get ready for a sad one but a good one, folks.  Enjoy!

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Homegrown Radio 10/8/10

Happy Friday, everybody!  Time for some more Homegrown Radio, & we’re back with another song from Joel Murach.  Remember: you can purchase any (or all!) of Joel’s three cds on his website right here.  Let’s see what Joel has to say about today’s song, “Sun, Wind, etc.”

This is the first song that I have ever written that uses a non-standard guitar tuning. It's an unusual variation on the drop D tuning that I learned from Joe Rut. Joe Rut learned it from Bernie Jungle. And Bernie Jungle learned it from Jimmy Page.

I played the guitar and then overdubbed the three voices. From the vocals, I think you can tell that I spent much of my childhood listening to the Beach Boys.

To top it all off, I had the esteemed Earl Butter add some trumpet to it. Earl just seems to be getting better at the trumpet all the time.

Three degrees of separation from Led Zeppelin & the Beach Boys—sounds good to me!  Hope you all enjoy it.

Homegrown Radio 10/1/10

Happy Friday!  It’s time for another edition of Homegrown Radio, & in case you’ve forgotten to change your calendar—yes, it’s time to introduce a new musician for the month of October: Joel Murach!

When I lived in Baghdad by the Bay in the 90s, one of the most fun ways to spend the evening was dancing & grooving to the band Paddlefoot.  Paddlefoot was a phenomenon—a group with a whole lot of talent & energy & just flat-out rocking Americana goodwill.  Joel Murach played bass, sang & wrote songs, & he's kept his music going since Paddlefoot disbanded in the late 90s.  He's played in 86 & the Low Rollers (the back-up band that was formed for his third cd), & has also issued three solo albums & is working on a fourth.  You can find links to purchase his albums on his website right here.  Joel Murach is an accomplished musician & songwriter—also a heckuva nice guy—& I’m very happy that he’s agreed to participate in the Homegrown Radio project.  I know you folks are going to like his music.

Let’s see what Joel has to say about his first song, “I was born in California.”

First, thanks for having me on Homegrown Radio. It has been a slow year for me musically, so I am happy to be here.

The first line of "I was born in California" came to me years ago. I liked this line because it's true, it felt right for me, and it has a nice internal rhyme in it. When I tried to write the second line, the rest of the song just sort of spilled out. Actually, so many lines spilled out that I had to prune them back to what I give you here. Most of these lines are also true, feel right to me, and have some nice internal rhymes. I hope you like the song!

After years of not having a good home recording system, I have finally got Pro Tools system set up on my computer with a couple of cheap but decent microphones. So that's what I'm using for these Homegrown demos. I think they sound better than any demo recordings I have ever made.

You’re welcome, Joel!  & yes—good sound, good song—I’m sure you folks will enjoy it!