Song Spotlight - Courage

I wrote this song for Song Fight (http://www.songfight.org/). The demo was a simple guy-and-guitar version; the full arrangement on Onward To Yesterday fills the song out nicely. This song was the first test of the recording facilities at my house; I had to move everything back home after the flood at the Ashland studio.


Courage

You've seen the vision
The course is charted out
Made your decision
But still you fight the doubt

Can't lose another minute waiting for help
You won't get what you need from anyone else
You've got to look for the courage to convince yourself
You've done the good thing - you've done the only thing

You sent the message
You had the bridges burned
No time for guesses
No option to return

Can't lose another minute waiting for help
You won't get what you need from anyone else
You've got to look for the courage to convince yourself
You've done the good thing - you've done the only thing

(instr.)

And now you're all alone and looking for help
A thousand miles away from anyone else
You better look for the courage to convince yourself
You've done the good thing


This song (and all the others on Onward To Yesterday) can be heard by visitng the mp3 page on this site.

Oh, it's on.

Thank you. Thank you so much. My Kickstarter project has met its minimum, and is on its way to being declared a success on December 26! I am so grateful for the people who have stepped up to help make this dream come true.

There are still 26 days to go, and I got to thinking: what can I do for the backers of my project as the thing continues to grow? Well, I've been spending some time in the studio recently (by myself and with a couple friends), and here's my idea:

If the project reaches $3,000, then EVERYBODY who backs it will get a copy of a new album of previously unreleased original material. That's right, I'm putting together an album exclusively for my Kickstarter backers. The only way you can get it is to be a part of the project. If you pledge $25 or more, you get a physical copy on CD. Less than $25 gets you a mp3 download of the full album.

I'll put up a full post about this upcoming album soon, but for now, I'll just say that it is a wholly lipogrammatic work. That is to say, its lyrics do not contain a particular character. In fact, this character is not found in this paragraph. (I was writing a lipogramattic book, but I found it too long a form; song lyrics suit my writing inclinations, though.) As I said, full information about this bonus album is forthcoming.

Thank you once again. I could not possibly be more excited. :)

God Hates Penguins.

My old friend and screenprinting buddy Keith Morrissey showed up at my show on Saturday (I was playing at the Sunset Grill in Campton). He brought me a shirt he had designed and printed, inspired by my song God Hates Penguins. I think it looks pretty fantastic.

The song appears on the Onward To Yesterday album, and I almost didn't put it on there. I felt it might be a little out of place. But a lot of people told me they liked it, so I went ahead with it. And now there's a t-shirt! I'm working on making these available if anyone wants to get one. Interested? :)

About last night.

Good times at The Country Cow last night. It wasn't real busy in the restaurant, but the online crowd added to the mix nicely. I tried out a couple new songs and they went well enough. I'm off tonight, and I think I'll head right back to the Cow; The NC Blues Co. is playing there tonight, and that's sure to be good.

Tomorrow (Oct 30) I'm playing a solo show at the Sunset Grill in Campton. That show will be watchable online as well.

In other news, my Kickstarter project got a huge shot in the arm last night. A generous backer put up $500, which entitles them to (among other things) a live show in their very own home! Really looking forward to that one. I've still got a long way to go for my project to be a success, but it's off to a better start than expected. Onward!

Kickstarter Project, Day 2.

It's day two of my Kickstarter project, and at the time of this post, it's already 10% funded. I'm humbled by this early support, and I'm excited to send out all the goodies my backers are going to receive! If you haven't yet done so, please take a minute to check it out:

In other news, I'm playing a solo show tonight at The Country Cow in Campton, NH. There's no wifi available, so I can't webcast this one, unfortunately. But it's worth the trip to Campton; tonight is pizza night! The show starts at 7pm. :)

About the 2011 tour...

I'm taking my act on the road in the late summer/fall of 2011. Where is it headed? Well, that's where you come in. Earlier this month I pitched my idea to the folks at Kickstarter, and my project proposal was approved! So I've put together a way for you to help me get my act out on the road. I've got between now and Christmas to make this happen. Take a look, and if you can be part of this, then I'm excited for both of us!

Local Outbreak.

Back in April I did a radio interview. It was for the Local Outbreak program on The Planet 100.1fm. I rode down with Annie (from The Planet) to Rage Rock Studios in Manchester to do a one-hour Q&A with Matt Connarton. They did a nice job of putting the piece together.

The episode aired on Sunday, April 11. You can hear an archive of the show at www.soundcloud.com/jimtyrrell.