Talk To Me Tuesday #8 – Practice Makes Perfect

September 30, 2009 by

I’m in the midst of vocal rehearsals. We also had the first full band rehearsal last night. I’m going to be sharing the stage with a stellar group of players. I am SO excited for everyone to hear the new songs. But right now, it’s time for another Talk To Me Tuesday.

A Few More Song Details

To continue with last week’s email, I thought I’d share with you some random information about a few more songs:

Stupid Stuff Like That - This song, like several of the others, went through several re-writes. In fact, I still had half of a verse to write a day or two before I recorded the vocals. I knew it would come, but that was a bit too close for my taste. But I’m so happy with how the song turned out.

Goodnight - I wrote the first notes/ideas of this song while in Wichita on a pad from the Hotel at Old Town - and I still have them. In fact, I keep every note on every scrap of paper that helps create or becomes part of a song lyric. The first line of the song is, “It’s been such a very long day / But I didn’t do all that I needed to.”

Just Like New - This song was a result of our buying a 1920’s bungalow. Although it is a great house, it was a bit intimidating at first. There was a HUGE list of things we wanted to fix, renovate. Then, every problem or renovation was harder, more complicated and cost more money than we initially thought. I often said, “I would really like this house if it was new.” I’m much more relaxed about it now than I was when we first bought it. It’s really the same way with the people who come into our lives. They bring their own set of problems, issues and “baggage” with them (just like we do!!), so the house worked as a great relationship metaphor.

This Time Last Year - This is one of the only ballads on the CD. I wrote it as a tribute to my grandmother. She was a wonderful, sometimes proper, sometimes salty Southern woman with a wicked sense of humor. Every time I gave her a card (birthday, Christmas, Mother’s Day, etc), she shook it like she was checking to see if any money was enclosed. One year, I put a dollar bill in the card, which thoroughly surprised and amused her. One year, I put a dollar bill in the card, which thoroughly surprised and amused her. That became a joke of between us and she would often return the favor. One card I gave her came in a bright pink envelope. I mailed it to her with a dollar bill and a note that said, “Hold on to this. I’ll take you shopping the next time I come home.” That card plays into the song.

CD Release Party

Just a reminder - the CD Release party is at Red Light Cafe on Saturday, October 10, 2009. Doors will open around 7:15 p.m. Admission is $8 per person at the door, $7 if you buy them from my website. I am asking/encouraging everyone to buy their tickets ahead of time because I expect we will pack Red Light.

SWEAT Pre-Orders

SWEAT is available for preorder for $12. If you preorder a copy, you can pick it up at the CD Release party, or it will be shipped to you free of charge.

VERY IMPORTANT: To get free shipping, enter PARTY into the discount coupon field at checkout. Shipping charges will automatically be deducted.

The Store page can be found at www.mikerickard.com by clicking on Store. Or you can access it directly at www.store.mikerickard.com.

THANK YOU to everyone who has bought tickets to the CD Release party and/or pre-ordered SWEAT. I really appreciate it.

Weekly Contest

I’m holding a free contest and you have the opportunity to win an autographed CD before it’s released. To enter, all you need to do is send me a question (click on the Win Free Stuff tab on www.mikerickard.com). The best question each week will be entered into a drawing for a free autographed CD and is included in the newsletter. The remaining questions are posted on my website. This is the LAST week of the contest, so you’ve got one more opportunity to submit a question. I will announce the winner in next week’s email. This week, I received 5 questions. The winning question was submitted by JH in Farmersville, CA. He is entered into the drawing.

Q. Bars and get-togethers are noisy places where people like to talk and laugh. Does it bother you when you are singing and playing the guitar if people at those places are talking and making noises during your performances? (JH, Farmersville, CA)

A. No, not anymore. The first of my solo gigs were in listening rooms and they were great. It’s easy to get spoiled. So the first time I played a bar and was more in the background, it freaked me out. But in time, I felt much more relaxed, more free to experiment and mess up than I would in a listening room. In fact, I was really nervous the first time I played a listening room after being in a bar environment. From my perspective, the more - and different - types of environments I play, the better musician I will ultimately be. But I have learned a few lessons from playing in bars:

Adapt your show to the setting. If youre in a bar, do more up-tempo and sing-along cover songs.
No matter how much noise, there will always be folks in the crowd who will totally listen and get what you’re doing. It is my responsibility to communicate in spite of the setting.
It is a GREAT feeling to capture people’s attention and bring the noise to a whisper by doing a really quiet song during the right part of a set.

Here are the remaining questions, in no particular order.

Q. Loved Stirred Not Shaken, I have fallen in love and fallen out of love listening to it. But after 5 years it is starting to sound a bit “dated”. What new influences have come about to make your new release have a fresher & more contemporary sound? It does, right? (RS, Atlanta, GA)

A. There are several. From a songwriting perspective, I didn’t genre hop on SWEAT like I did on Stirred. The songs on SWEAT are much more up tempo. SWEAT is straight ahead pop with rock and blues influences. Lyrically, the lyrics are more positive, “in the moment,” and less reflective - they’re more about action and squeezing the most out of every moment. While there are numerous musical influences (Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Rob Thomas), one CD really challenged me as a writer. That CD is Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield. I thought it was a very fun, energetic record, but it still had a very strong, positive message. “Unwritten” is one of my all time favorite songs. Musically, I used a live band on all instruments rather than using programmed instruments. There are still keyboards, but they are used more for accompaniment, not foundation. There’s a LOT of electric guitar on the record. I think SWEAT cracks with energy.

Q. I imagine with October approaching you are becoming filled with a lot of anxiety and pressure with the CD release coming the 10th. How has this been on Eric? (DP, Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

A. Right now, I am living the “tyranny of the urgent” with a million things to get done. I have been practicing, lining up press, scheduling vocal and band rehearsals, etc. One of the most pressing is to finish a total overhaul and relaunch of my website. I need Eric’s help to do that. Eric has been incredibly patient and supportive. The most frustrating thing for him is solving some of the website issues, but I’m confident we’ll figure them out.

Q. Why did you wait so long between your 1st album, Stirred Not Shaken, and this one? (SS, Cincinnati, OH)

A. That was unintentional, but there are a few key reasons. Financially, I am my own record company, so I had to pay myself back through CD sales in order to fund a new project. Musically, I wrote several songs, some that I have performed and some only partially written, that I didn’t feel would fit this record. I wanted to make sure that I had the best/right songs that worked together as a complete project. I accomplished that with SWEAT. I love the songs on it and am so pleased with how the production honored, yet improved, them. I’ve made a goal to be ready to record again in TWO years. That commitment is now in print. I hope I can live up to it.

Q. Ok… so what were your favorite books growing up and why and do they influence you still today at times? (L, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

A. When I was in elementary school, my mom did a wonderful thing. In the 3^rd grade, I wasn’t very interested in reading and my grades reflected that. So she bought me a Hardy Boys book to encourage me to read. I read it and couldn’t wait to read the next one. So every Friday, my reward was a new Hardy Boys book. I read the entire series and my grades improved. Through high school and college, I didn?t do a lot of reading other than what was required for homework. I do remember being very moved by a Tale of Two Cities in school because it was such a tragic love story set in a very bloody period. As an adult, I read a lot, at times voraciously, and am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series. I’ve also become a fan, of sorts, of amateur fiction.

Have a good week, and I’ll talk to you next Tuesday!