What are you listening to? What is inspiring you?

[michelew]

Hi everyone,

Well as I'm on holidays I've got a bit more time to listen to music and some new stuff. Today I've been exploring Joshau Radin. I really love his "No Envy, No Fear" and today I've discovered that his other stuff is right down my alley too. It's full of beautiful acoustic guitar, lots of fingerpicking, it's sweet and cute and sad and sort of joyful, and basically moving. I've always been a bit of a sucker for singer song-writers and the sparse folk-ish sound. I'd Rather Be with You is grabbing me. In fact I'm finding myself looking up the chords of a few things, so that's always a good sign.

So it got me to wondering, what are y'all listening to? and what's captured your attention? What new stuff has made you go "Oh I'd like to learn that"? What's inspiring you?

There may be different answers to all of the above or.... not...

Just curious.

I'm looking forward to comparing notes.



Michele

[Chasplaya]

Hi Michele,

I'm currently hooked on Adele, even as far as trying to improve my keyboard skills (or lack of lol) Plus my Wife's boss, also a very good friend is a great singer and has agreed to accompany me on at least a few of Adele's songs - Rolling in the deep and Set fire to the rain. Just need to convince her to allow recording.

[michelew]

Chas, Adele is AMAZING! She moves me to the point of ... teary, very sad. She's got an amazing voice and I love her songs. No wonder she inspires you. I hadn't heard of her before Lisa brought her to our attention. Then I sort of wore out the album, playing it on repeat. Powerful stuff.

Thanks

M.

[Chasplaya]

michelew wrote:

Chas, Adele is AMAZING! She moves me to the point of ... teary, very sad. She's got an amazing voice and I love her songs. No wonder she inspires you. I hadn't heard of her before Lisa brought her to our attention. Then I sort of wore out the album, playing it on repeat. Powerful stuff.

Thanks

M.

She is outstanding eh? I have her permanently on You Tube at the moment and dare I say found a lesson somewhere else shhhhh

[lueders]

Hey Michele! Great post!

I dunno if it this the new year or I'm still Christmas vacation mode or what...but I wanna play anything an everything right now!!

I have multiple New Years goals but can't kind decide which long, mid-term or short term projects to attack first. (trying to do
too many things at once probably.)New Years Goals...(memo: this should probably go in Andy's thread...but it kinda fits
here..I s'pose))

1.) Start small with Singing...ya know? actually be aware of the target notes and stuff! lol! Anyways been working on simpler
strum songs so I can work on that. Tom Waits "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" is one I have been having fun with. I figure hell,
its Tom Waits...how bad can you butcher that? Well I could...but even the Ramones covered it too and I'm pretty sure they
are completely tone deaf. lol! Also another one I have gooffin' on with my uke is Crash Test Dummies "Supermansong" And
also a simple Sinead O'connor strummer tune that I have always loved: "Black Boys on Mopeds"

2.) I wanna start getting a handful of tunes together to do an open mic or two. We can agree on Damian Rice and Dolly
Parton's Jolene(been putting that one off for a while now.) the rest we can't really decide on.

3.) I wanna get a good solid repertoire of old timey sounding stuff. Songs I am targeting there are: Frankie & Johnny, Long
Tall Mama, Where'd Ya Get Yer Liquor..., & Ain't No Telling. I have been messing with all of these here and there.

[willem]

Hmmmm.....good question.....

In honest, I'm quite distracted by TK and just kinda finished working on songs by Billy Joel. So now, just playing them a lot to make them completely my own........so....inspired, sure, just not for the guitar....

Don't get me wrong, I play the guitar every day, but am not really inspired by something, at least not right now. Could change easily though, maybe there will be another cool lesson coming out this week, you never know, right?!

Ness

[AndyT]

Hmmm... I was going thru my book today, just trying to give my fingers a good workout when I came across some songs I hadn't played in quite some time.
And even a couple I'd never played! (I typed them up fro friends and never worked on them)

The ones that really hit me today were,

Empty Garden.
Carry On My Wayward Son.
Here Without You.

Carry On has been in my book over a year but today was the first time I played it. Great fun!

Tomorrow it's likely to be something different that inspires or moves me.

[willem]

Happy holidays M. For me it is a kinda strange I don't listen to anything ,,well on the stereo or other players,,only while driven my cab it is the radio so it is what they give,,for example in December it was the top 2000.

Inspired I am on the keyboard side/site and try ''return to sender'' on the guitar side/site I'm practicing only ''on the horizon'' and ''in my life''.

W.

[dsmarion]

Only been listening to piano songs lately and (unlike Ness who sounds like she already has a whole piano song list going - big surprise LOL) I am working on my first song. Also I have been working a lot on learning some theory which I have avoided for so long.

Scott

[Max]

Lately I've been going back in time and trying to play some older stuff.
The one song that I'm really trying to get down is T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday". I know it's kinda depressing, but I love the chromatic chords changes.

As for what I'm listening to, Adele has been on my playlist for about a year. She's got to be one of the best new talents around.
Also I've been listening to more Amy Winehouse, her new album Lioness,specifically her remake of an old Doo-Whop classic "Our Day Will Come".
Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, My Morning Jacket, Mumford Sons and OneRepublic have all had lots of playtime.

And I must admit some of my guilty pleasures, Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, and LMFAO.

Happy New Year, Max