|
When the world goes nuts, make a funk album! |
Produced by Bill Mohn
Recorded 2023-24 in Minnesota, Alberta, Argentina, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Ukraine!
Songs written by Bill Mohn
Vocal arrangements by Hannah Kain
Horn arrangements by Jesse Braunagel
Lead & backing vocals - Hannah Kain
Drums & percussion - Bill Mohn
Trumpet - Jesse Braunagel
Saxophone - Keith Thornby
All others as noted
Album design by Bill Mohn
Art by Midjourney Artificial Intelligence (sorry!)
Thanks to John Hutchinson and Michael Walther for their feedback, Hannah for knocking it out of the park, and my family for enduring this obsession...
1. Minnesota Funk
Bass: Matt Webb
Clean Guitar: Imanol
Heavy Guitar: Bill Mohn
2. Clickbait
Bass: Bogdan
Clean Guitar: Imanol
Heavy Guitar: Bill Mohn
Spoken word: Bill, Kendra, Josiah, and Katja Mohn, Elijah Blow, Mr. Jack
3. Who Ya Gonna Listen To?
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar: bill Mohn
4. Just Think About It
Bass and guitar: Imanol
5. Nothing's Better
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm Guitar: Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Mr. Jack
6. Crisis of the Week
Bass: Matt Webb
Lead and Rhythm guitar: Mr. Jack
7. Mickey, Why?
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar/additional bass: Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Jared Harty
8. Donít Blame Me
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar: Mr. Jack, Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Mr. Jack
9. Virtue Signal
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar: Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Junayed Hossain Rayhan
10. The Rant
Bass: Bill Mohn
Lead and rhythm guitar: Jared Harty
11. Whole New Light
Bass: Matt Webb
Piano: CJ Hanson
Guitar: Bill Mohn
12. Rejoice
Bass: Joshbii
Piano: CJ Hanson
Additional BGVs: The Mohn Gospel tabernacle choir (mostly Kendra; some Bill)
How to Make a Politically-Charged Funk Album in Three Easy Steps
Well, not really…Let me back up: Elsewhere on this web site you can read the “fascinating” stories of my other musical projects (Outstate, Turbocharger, Moanin’ Jack Webb, and the SkyBlues Band–whew!). Once the dam burst and I realized that it was possible to write and record your own albums, I got all kinds of ideas, including cheesy hair metal (Turbocharger) and…funky hard rock!
That was the initial idea, anyway. It thought it would be fun to try to write a collection of songs that were funky, but also heavy, and this is what I ended up with. Not EXACTLY the original vision, but close enough.
I also thought it should have a girl singer, because that sounded interesting. So, around the time I wrapped up the 3 ½ year ordeal that was Turbocharger (you’d think I would’ve learned my lesson), I started work on “The Funk Album.”
Finding a singer was important, so I messaged a girl I used to be in a band with who has a super cool, soulful voice. No response.
In the meantime, I started writing songs. I didn’t intend for it to be political, but the events of 2020-2021 were so traumatic that I had to process them somehow. I guess the several blogs I wrote (see blogs section of this web site!) weren’t enough.
Honestly, that was the most frustrating, scary (not because of a virus), and all-out maddening time of my life. As it turns out, the first song I wrote wasn’t for this project. It was “Crisis of the Week,” which appeared on the Moanin’ Jack Webb record. It was written and recorded during 2020. It was a last-minute addition to this record, when it occurred to me that its lyrical theme fit perfectly (if not musically). I re-wrote the verse melody, re-recorded the drums, and viola! Here’s version 2.0.
During ‘21 and ‘22, as I was still finishing up Turbocharger, I wrote more songs. In the early summer of 2022, I found my next vocalist candidate. She was singing at church, and I thought, “Her voice is cool! I’ll ask her!” She said yes, and I sent her my ROUGH song demos in August of ‘22. After five months of nothing, I realized it wasn’t happening. To be fair, she and her husband had just started an intense business venture, and she didn’t have time to be a funk singer…
Besides having a cool voice, I needed a singer who would actually sing these lyrics (and she would’ve). By that point, I obviously knew what the songs were about, and I was wondering if I’d gone too far. Well, I heard ANOTHER girl sing at church, and knew right away that she was a pro. I figured she could pull it off, so I asked her, and she said she’d give it a shot. Five months later, and she had requested a key change on one song, but…she was really busy, too. I was starting to panic.
Then I went to a rehearsal with the SkyBlues Band, with whom I played for many years. We had a one-off gig, and were throwing together some stuff. As it turns out, there was Hannah, who had sung with us way back when she was around 18 years old. Listening to her in rehearsal, I thought, “Hannah would be awesome for this!”
Now I have to say, I DID think of Hannah earlier, but her favorite style of music to sing is modern Broadway…however, she’s really good, and can actually pull off blues and rock. And some of these songs have difficult melodies that even decent singers can’t pull off. But next to Broadway? Piece of cake! Hannah gave an enthusiastic yes, and I knew it was finally going to happen! Only a couple weeks after sending her “Whole New Light,” she sent me a multi-track GarageBand demo she recorded on her phone, and I almost fell over! What you hear on this is just a polished version of what she did on her phone.
In short order she recorded the first four songs I sent her (thanks to my daughter Katja for babysitting Hannah’s twin daughters while we recorded!). But by then summer was in full swing, and here in Minnesota we all try to pack about nine months of living into those three rare months of warm weather, so nothing gets done. When September came and went without any more recording, I once again despaired that this wasn’t gonna happen, but Hannah came through over the next few months and nailed it beyond what I could’ve hoped.
In August 2023, my friend CJ Hanson, who did the keys on Turbocharger and Moanin’ Jack Webb, came over to do a demo of “Rejoice.” He did an amazing job! He intended it as a demo, but circumstances prevented him from doing a “final” version (though it sounds awfully good to me). He also told me about FIVRR, where you can hire musicians to play stuff for you. This has been an absolute game-changer. Rather than waiting six months for tracks from friends (which is fine, since they’re doing it for fun and not money), the people on FIVRR get you tracks within a couple days. And many of them are affordable!
Speaking of musicians, any self-respecting funk composer (so I’ve heard) knows that horns are necessary, and I had a couple friends in mind. Thankfully, they both said yes! I sent the “horn songs” to my friend Jesse Braunagel, with whom I’ve played in a few different groups. Jesse is a huge Miles Davis fan, and if you know Miles, you’ll hear it in his playing.
He came over one Saturday, and we spent a fun afternoon chatting, sharing music, and even recording some trumpet. I had previously laid down fake MIDI horn lines as scratch things to give Jesse an idea of the feel I was going for. They were all really cheesy, which Jesse illustrated by sometimes playing them note-for-note before shooting me an impish smile.
He had some general ideas, but mostly just threw out parts off the cuff (thankfully not using my suggestions). I then sent the songs to the multi-talented Keith Thornby (who plays some beautiful guitar on my next record–stay tuned!). He copied Jesse’s parts on the unison passages and added some blazing solos. Thanks, guys!
I ended up playing a lot more rhythm guitar on this than I wanted, because people are busy, and I can’t afford to hire people for EVERYTHING! I did supplement the bass playing of the always-amazing Matt Webb with some guys I found off FIVRR. The same goes for the flashy rock stuff and even a little of the funky rhythm guitar tracks.
I’ve been slowly learning more about mixing, and am happy overall with the sound on this album, which is head-and-shoulders above anything I’ve done previously. In the end, I’m just really thankful it’s done, and that it turned out far better than I dared hope. This is the first time I’ve arranged the song order based on the lyrics, not the musical style. It’s really meant to be listened to as a whole in album order. It’s not a concept album, but it’s a little bit of a journey…
THE SONGS
“Minnesota Funk”
I thought it would be fun to write a silly song about Minnesota, so here it is! I did the “Sven & Ole” intro as a scratch thing, but decided to leave it as is, other than adding the “Ulen AND Hitterdahl” bit at the last minute. Hannah had finished the vocals when she said she thought she should do it with more of a cheesy Minnesotan accent, and it was the perfect touch.
The clean rhythm guitar is played by a FIVRR guy from Argentina (for some reason I put Venezuela in the CD jacket). He got a huge kick out of it and really enjoyed playing it. Keith’s sax solo was a wonderful addition to this one.
When Jesse was laying down trumpet tracks, he said, “This reminds me of that Prince song, ‘The Everlasting Now.’” The horn riff was perfect! Then, he was musing about some other Minnesota song, for which he couldn’t remember the title. I said, “The Minnesota Rouser?” and he began playing it (though that wasn’t the one he was trying to think of–we never did figure that out). Awesome! As of this writing, no one has recognized it, but it’s SOMEWHERE on “Minnesota Funk”--it’s up to you to find it!
“Clickbait”
All but about two of the spoken examples of clickbait are actually from the internet. When Elijah Blow (the lead vocalist on my forthcoming Outstate album) was recording some clickbait quotes for me, he started having way too much fun and made some up on the spot. I recruited my family and Mr. Jack for more.
I knew I needed frantic slap bass, so that’s another FIVRR guy–from Ukraine of all places. It was Hannah’s idea to add in a flurry of incoherent clickbait quotes on the bridge, which I think really adds to the madness.
“Who Ya Gonna Listen To”
Thus begins the serious political stuff. This is a common lyrical theme on this record. I honestly don’t see how ANYONE can trust the mainstream press, especially after the fear-mongering and (yes) MISINFORMATION they spread in the Age of Lockdowns. I wanted some random, almost chaotic, jamming at the end, and you’d never know my horn guys have never even met. Nice job, guys!
“Just Think About It”
In the summer of 2023, over a year since I thought I had written the last Truth Bomb song, I innocently walked past our pet rabbits. I sang a little ditty I made up on the spot to them as I walked by, presumably about their fur or something profound like that. I sang it over a couple times and thought, “This would be a cool bass riff!” The next thing I knew, an hour had passed and I had written most of the lyrics and melody for the entire song. Such is songwriting.
I wanted it to be simple and repetitive. It’s not unusual for me to write songs that only go through the chorus twice, so I wanted to just repeat this one to death. I hope it isn’t too annoying. The lyrics speak for themselves (no, these aren’t the original bunny lyrics). Stop the insanity.
“Nothing’s Better”
This was inspired lyrically by my friend Michael. Through the Age of Lockdowns and beyond, he has often pointed out the folly of a formerly prominent politician who said, “We have to do something–even if it’s the wrong thing.” How many bad policies have been pursued in just the past century because of that mindset?
This is one of my more bizarre songs musically. I used to write all my songs intuitively, just coming up with a melody either out of thin air or something I came up with singing over a chord progression. On this album, I wrote a lot of my melodies from a music theory standpoint, sitting at the piano and thinking about intervals, etc. This was one of those songs.
In this case, it turned out weird and nearly unsingable. Kudos to Hannah for not only hitting the notes, but doing a melodramatic faux opera thing that makes it a lot more fun. Also Kudos to Mr. Jack for playing a guitar solo that was EXACTLY what I envisioned.
“Crisis of the Week”
I already wrote about this above. Hannah’s harmonies take it over the top.
“Mickey, Why?”
When I first wrote this, I was admonishing Mr. Mouse not to go down that dark hole. By the time we were ready to record, he had not only gone down that hole, he built a huge fortress down there. Remember back when Disney produced content everyone could enjoy? Sigh.
And yet, ya gotta have a sense of humor, so I thought a schizophrenic combination of funk and metal would be fun. The lead guitar is a FIVRR guy–Jared from Canada. Great player and super nice. Hannah gave the chorus a bit of an Evanescence (that’s a band) vibe. Awesome.
“Don’t Blame Me”
Now we’re finally getting to the REALLY controversial stuff. This song has nothing to do with blaming me or anyone else. But it has everything to do with the Marxist organization that has the same initials as the Bureau of Land Management…
Musically, this is in competition for my favorite song on here. I’m really happy with the pre-chorus and chorus in particular. Then add what Hannah did on the vocal arrangements, and I get goose bumps. Another nice solo courtesy of Mr. Jack.
“Virtue Signal”
My only regret is that at the last minute I bumped up the level of the clean guitar, because I listened to it on something (I listened on various devices while mixing), and it seemed too soft, but now…it kinda drowns out Jesse’s trumpet, which bums me out, because his trumpet work really makes this song…along with Hannah’s great vocals. And how about that guitar solo? It’s my favorite Bangladeshi guitarist (found on FIVRR). :)
I felt like I was being too mean, so I wrote that somewhat awkward bridge. I don’t hate these Karens, but they DO frustrate me.
“The Rant”
I was so worried about these lyrics that when I sent it to the previously mentioned guitarist Jared, I actually wrote alternate lyrics that were totally silly and recorded scratch vocals for it, even though Hannah had laid down her first draft. I was afraid that he’d be offended…I hate confrontation, so yeah…Hannah got her chance to do a little Lizzie Hale (of the band Halestorm). If this offends you, just know that there are a lot of people who feel the same way as I do. This is years of pent-up frustration coming out, and it ain’t pretty, but it’s real.
“Whole New Light”
This was the first song I wrote specifically for this album. I like to call it “The only normal song on the record.” We were on vacation right around Memorial Day 2021. One morning I went out on the dock in the little bay where we were staying in Virginia Beach. It was a gorgeous morning, and it reminded me of the 4th of July back home. After all the turmoil of the past 15 months, I felt like God reminded me of what really matters. Before I knew it, I had all the lyrics, along with a melody for the verse and chorus. Only the bridge melody was added later.
See earlier note about Hannah’s amazing vocals. Big thanks to CJ Hanson for the beautiful piano!
“Rejoice”
See my earlier notes about CJ’s great piano work. I really wanted to end this album on a positive, non-political note. I also really wanted the last song to be a super fun Black Gospel-type song. It turns out that this nerdy white boy had a REALLY hard time writing a Black Gospel song. But, my supporting cast of musicians make it fun. Thanks to my wife Kendra for adding backing vocals to make an even fuller sound.
The horn work is great, though I do have to take Jesse to task for those riffs on the fast ending part. As we were recording, he said, “This reminds me of The Price is Right!” So if what he plays there sounds familiar, or if you start thinking of Bob Barker, it’s Jesse’s fault!
Recorded 2023-24 in Minnesota, Alberta, Argentina, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Ukraine!
Songs written by Bill Mohn
Vocal arrangements by Hannah Kain
Horn arrangements by Jesse Braunagel
Lead & backing vocals - Hannah Kain
Drums & percussion - Bill Mohn
Trumpet - Jesse Braunagel
Saxophone - Keith Thornby
All others as noted
Album design by Bill Mohn
Art by Midjourney Artificial Intelligence (sorry!)
Thanks to John Hutchinson and Michael Walther for their feedback, Hannah for knocking it out of the park, and my family for enduring this obsession...
1. Minnesota Funk
Bass: Matt Webb
Clean Guitar: Imanol
Heavy Guitar: Bill Mohn
2. Clickbait
Bass: Bogdan
Clean Guitar: Imanol
Heavy Guitar: Bill Mohn
Spoken word: Bill, Kendra, Josiah, and Katja Mohn, Elijah Blow, Mr. Jack
3. Who Ya Gonna Listen To?
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar: bill Mohn
4. Just Think About It
Bass and guitar: Imanol
5. Nothing's Better
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm Guitar: Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Mr. Jack
6. Crisis of the Week
Bass: Matt Webb
Lead and Rhythm guitar: Mr. Jack
7. Mickey, Why?
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar/additional bass: Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Jared Harty
8. Donít Blame Me
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar: Mr. Jack, Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Mr. Jack
9. Virtue Signal
Bass: Matt Webb
Rhythm guitar: Bill Mohn
Lead guitar: Junayed Hossain Rayhan
10. The Rant
Bass: Bill Mohn
Lead and rhythm guitar: Jared Harty
11. Whole New Light
Bass: Matt Webb
Piano: CJ Hanson
Guitar: Bill Mohn
12. Rejoice
Bass: Joshbii
Piano: CJ Hanson
Additional BGVs: The Mohn Gospel tabernacle choir (mostly Kendra; some Bill)
How to Make a Politically-Charged Funk Album in Three Easy Steps
Well, not really…Let me back up: Elsewhere on this web site you can read the “fascinating” stories of my other musical projects (Outstate, Turbocharger, Moanin’ Jack Webb, and the SkyBlues Band–whew!). Once the dam burst and I realized that it was possible to write and record your own albums, I got all kinds of ideas, including cheesy hair metal (Turbocharger) and…funky hard rock!
That was the initial idea, anyway. It thought it would be fun to try to write a collection of songs that were funky, but also heavy, and this is what I ended up with. Not EXACTLY the original vision, but close enough.
I also thought it should have a girl singer, because that sounded interesting. So, around the time I wrapped up the 3 ½ year ordeal that was Turbocharger (you’d think I would’ve learned my lesson), I started work on “The Funk Album.”
Finding a singer was important, so I messaged a girl I used to be in a band with who has a super cool, soulful voice. No response.
In the meantime, I started writing songs. I didn’t intend for it to be political, but the events of 2020-2021 were so traumatic that I had to process them somehow. I guess the several blogs I wrote (see blogs section of this web site!) weren’t enough.
Honestly, that was the most frustrating, scary (not because of a virus), and all-out maddening time of my life. As it turns out, the first song I wrote wasn’t for this project. It was “Crisis of the Week,” which appeared on the Moanin’ Jack Webb record. It was written and recorded during 2020. It was a last-minute addition to this record, when it occurred to me that its lyrical theme fit perfectly (if not musically). I re-wrote the verse melody, re-recorded the drums, and viola! Here’s version 2.0.
During ‘21 and ‘22, as I was still finishing up Turbocharger, I wrote more songs. In the early summer of 2022, I found my next vocalist candidate. She was singing at church, and I thought, “Her voice is cool! I’ll ask her!” She said yes, and I sent her my ROUGH song demos in August of ‘22. After five months of nothing, I realized it wasn’t happening. To be fair, she and her husband had just started an intense business venture, and she didn’t have time to be a funk singer…
Besides having a cool voice, I needed a singer who would actually sing these lyrics (and she would’ve). By that point, I obviously knew what the songs were about, and I was wondering if I’d gone too far. Well, I heard ANOTHER girl sing at church, and knew right away that she was a pro. I figured she could pull it off, so I asked her, and she said she’d give it a shot. Five months later, and she had requested a key change on one song, but…she was really busy, too. I was starting to panic.
Then I went to a rehearsal with the SkyBlues Band, with whom I played for many years. We had a one-off gig, and were throwing together some stuff. As it turns out, there was Hannah, who had sung with us way back when she was around 18 years old. Listening to her in rehearsal, I thought, “Hannah would be awesome for this!”
Now I have to say, I DID think of Hannah earlier, but her favorite style of music to sing is modern Broadway…however, she’s really good, and can actually pull off blues and rock. And some of these songs have difficult melodies that even decent singers can’t pull off. But next to Broadway? Piece of cake! Hannah gave an enthusiastic yes, and I knew it was finally going to happen! Only a couple weeks after sending her “Whole New Light,” she sent me a multi-track GarageBand demo she recorded on her phone, and I almost fell over! What you hear on this is just a polished version of what she did on her phone.
In short order she recorded the first four songs I sent her (thanks to my daughter Katja for babysitting Hannah’s twin daughters while we recorded!). But by then summer was in full swing, and here in Minnesota we all try to pack about nine months of living into those three rare months of warm weather, so nothing gets done. When September came and went without any more recording, I once again despaired that this wasn’t gonna happen, but Hannah came through over the next few months and nailed it beyond what I could’ve hoped.
In August 2023, my friend CJ Hanson, who did the keys on Turbocharger and Moanin’ Jack Webb, came over to do a demo of “Rejoice.” He did an amazing job! He intended it as a demo, but circumstances prevented him from doing a “final” version (though it sounds awfully good to me). He also told me about FIVRR, where you can hire musicians to play stuff for you. This has been an absolute game-changer. Rather than waiting six months for tracks from friends (which is fine, since they’re doing it for fun and not money), the people on FIVRR get you tracks within a couple days. And many of them are affordable!
Speaking of musicians, any self-respecting funk composer (so I’ve heard) knows that horns are necessary, and I had a couple friends in mind. Thankfully, they both said yes! I sent the “horn songs” to my friend Jesse Braunagel, with whom I’ve played in a few different groups. Jesse is a huge Miles Davis fan, and if you know Miles, you’ll hear it in his playing.
He came over one Saturday, and we spent a fun afternoon chatting, sharing music, and even recording some trumpet. I had previously laid down fake MIDI horn lines as scratch things to give Jesse an idea of the feel I was going for. They were all really cheesy, which Jesse illustrated by sometimes playing them note-for-note before shooting me an impish smile.
He had some general ideas, but mostly just threw out parts off the cuff (thankfully not using my suggestions). I then sent the songs to the multi-talented Keith Thornby (who plays some beautiful guitar on my next record–stay tuned!). He copied Jesse’s parts on the unison passages and added some blazing solos. Thanks, guys!
I ended up playing a lot more rhythm guitar on this than I wanted, because people are busy, and I can’t afford to hire people for EVERYTHING! I did supplement the bass playing of the always-amazing Matt Webb with some guys I found off FIVRR. The same goes for the flashy rock stuff and even a little of the funky rhythm guitar tracks.
I’ve been slowly learning more about mixing, and am happy overall with the sound on this album, which is head-and-shoulders above anything I’ve done previously. In the end, I’m just really thankful it’s done, and that it turned out far better than I dared hope. This is the first time I’ve arranged the song order based on the lyrics, not the musical style. It’s really meant to be listened to as a whole in album order. It’s not a concept album, but it’s a little bit of a journey…
THE SONGS
“Minnesota Funk”
I thought it would be fun to write a silly song about Minnesota, so here it is! I did the “Sven & Ole” intro as a scratch thing, but decided to leave it as is, other than adding the “Ulen AND Hitterdahl” bit at the last minute. Hannah had finished the vocals when she said she thought she should do it with more of a cheesy Minnesotan accent, and it was the perfect touch.
The clean rhythm guitar is played by a FIVRR guy from Argentina (for some reason I put Venezuela in the CD jacket). He got a huge kick out of it and really enjoyed playing it. Keith’s sax solo was a wonderful addition to this one.
When Jesse was laying down trumpet tracks, he said, “This reminds me of that Prince song, ‘The Everlasting Now.’” The horn riff was perfect! Then, he was musing about some other Minnesota song, for which he couldn’t remember the title. I said, “The Minnesota Rouser?” and he began playing it (though that wasn’t the one he was trying to think of–we never did figure that out). Awesome! As of this writing, no one has recognized it, but it’s SOMEWHERE on “Minnesota Funk”--it’s up to you to find it!
“Clickbait”
All but about two of the spoken examples of clickbait are actually from the internet. When Elijah Blow (the lead vocalist on my forthcoming Outstate album) was recording some clickbait quotes for me, he started having way too much fun and made some up on the spot. I recruited my family and Mr. Jack for more.
I knew I needed frantic slap bass, so that’s another FIVRR guy–from Ukraine of all places. It was Hannah’s idea to add in a flurry of incoherent clickbait quotes on the bridge, which I think really adds to the madness.
“Who Ya Gonna Listen To”
Thus begins the serious political stuff. This is a common lyrical theme on this record. I honestly don’t see how ANYONE can trust the mainstream press, especially after the fear-mongering and (yes) MISINFORMATION they spread in the Age of Lockdowns. I wanted some random, almost chaotic, jamming at the end, and you’d never know my horn guys have never even met. Nice job, guys!
“Just Think About It”
In the summer of 2023, over a year since I thought I had written the last Truth Bomb song, I innocently walked past our pet rabbits. I sang a little ditty I made up on the spot to them as I walked by, presumably about their fur or something profound like that. I sang it over a couple times and thought, “This would be a cool bass riff!” The next thing I knew, an hour had passed and I had written most of the lyrics and melody for the entire song. Such is songwriting.
I wanted it to be simple and repetitive. It’s not unusual for me to write songs that only go through the chorus twice, so I wanted to just repeat this one to death. I hope it isn’t too annoying. The lyrics speak for themselves (no, these aren’t the original bunny lyrics). Stop the insanity.
“Nothing’s Better”
This was inspired lyrically by my friend Michael. Through the Age of Lockdowns and beyond, he has often pointed out the folly of a formerly prominent politician who said, “We have to do something–even if it’s the wrong thing.” How many bad policies have been pursued in just the past century because of that mindset?
This is one of my more bizarre songs musically. I used to write all my songs intuitively, just coming up with a melody either out of thin air or something I came up with singing over a chord progression. On this album, I wrote a lot of my melodies from a music theory standpoint, sitting at the piano and thinking about intervals, etc. This was one of those songs.
In this case, it turned out weird and nearly unsingable. Kudos to Hannah for not only hitting the notes, but doing a melodramatic faux opera thing that makes it a lot more fun. Also Kudos to Mr. Jack for playing a guitar solo that was EXACTLY what I envisioned.
“Crisis of the Week”
I already wrote about this above. Hannah’s harmonies take it over the top.
“Mickey, Why?”
When I first wrote this, I was admonishing Mr. Mouse not to go down that dark hole. By the time we were ready to record, he had not only gone down that hole, he built a huge fortress down there. Remember back when Disney produced content everyone could enjoy? Sigh.
And yet, ya gotta have a sense of humor, so I thought a schizophrenic combination of funk and metal would be fun. The lead guitar is a FIVRR guy–Jared from Canada. Great player and super nice. Hannah gave the chorus a bit of an Evanescence (that’s a band) vibe. Awesome.
“Don’t Blame Me”
Now we’re finally getting to the REALLY controversial stuff. This song has nothing to do with blaming me or anyone else. But it has everything to do with the Marxist organization that has the same initials as the Bureau of Land Management…
Musically, this is in competition for my favorite song on here. I’m really happy with the pre-chorus and chorus in particular. Then add what Hannah did on the vocal arrangements, and I get goose bumps. Another nice solo courtesy of Mr. Jack.
“Virtue Signal”
My only regret is that at the last minute I bumped up the level of the clean guitar, because I listened to it on something (I listened on various devices while mixing), and it seemed too soft, but now…it kinda drowns out Jesse’s trumpet, which bums me out, because his trumpet work really makes this song…along with Hannah’s great vocals. And how about that guitar solo? It’s my favorite Bangladeshi guitarist (found on FIVRR). :)
I felt like I was being too mean, so I wrote that somewhat awkward bridge. I don’t hate these Karens, but they DO frustrate me.
“The Rant”
I was so worried about these lyrics that when I sent it to the previously mentioned guitarist Jared, I actually wrote alternate lyrics that were totally silly and recorded scratch vocals for it, even though Hannah had laid down her first draft. I was afraid that he’d be offended…I hate confrontation, so yeah…Hannah got her chance to do a little Lizzie Hale (of the band Halestorm). If this offends you, just know that there are a lot of people who feel the same way as I do. This is years of pent-up frustration coming out, and it ain’t pretty, but it’s real.
“Whole New Light”
This was the first song I wrote specifically for this album. I like to call it “The only normal song on the record.” We were on vacation right around Memorial Day 2021. One morning I went out on the dock in the little bay where we were staying in Virginia Beach. It was a gorgeous morning, and it reminded me of the 4th of July back home. After all the turmoil of the past 15 months, I felt like God reminded me of what really matters. Before I knew it, I had all the lyrics, along with a melody for the verse and chorus. Only the bridge melody was added later.
See earlier note about Hannah’s amazing vocals. Big thanks to CJ Hanson for the beautiful piano!
“Rejoice”
See my earlier notes about CJ’s great piano work. I really wanted to end this album on a positive, non-political note. I also really wanted the last song to be a super fun Black Gospel-type song. It turns out that this nerdy white boy had a REALLY hard time writing a Black Gospel song. But, my supporting cast of musicians make it fun. Thanks to my wife Kendra for adding backing vocals to make an even fuller sound.
The horn work is great, though I do have to take Jesse to task for those riffs on the fast ending part. As we were recording, he said, “This reminds me of The Price is Right!” So if what he plays there sounds familiar, or if you start thinking of Bob Barker, it’s Jesse’s fault!