i’ve been sitting on a track called “stars” (4:13 – 3.9 MB) since about january and i thought i’d take a minute and post it in the hopes that it will spark my desire to get back into writing about tunes and what i’m doing in the studio.

part of my backstory on this is that for my birthday i managed to wrangle not one but two guitars. you can hear the 12 string that my wife and son got me in the background. i’ve decided that the full, scrubbing acoustic sound that i’ve always wanted was simply a 12 string. with it in my arsenal now, i feel that i have a much thicker sound that doesn’t lack that extra sparkle that i really like. so it’s the best of all worlds. now if i could only learn to use fingerpicks so i could play it finger style. but i doubt it.

the other coolio instrument i got was an ibanez hollow body electric. i wanted a nice, clean jazz sound and i spent a good deal of time at the devil’s store (which will go unnamed) trying this, that and the other. i ran the gamut from gibsons down to…well…craptastic epiphones. after going back and forth the punk kid at the counter asked me what i wanted. i told him and he said “you need to try this ibanez.” i told him that i don’t usually go for the ibanez brand and he said “i hear that from a lot of guys your age.” punk. kid.

the worst part was that he was right. a fantastic instrument for not a lot of cash. i really dig it.

so for “stars”, i just started playing the 12 string for the baby. he likes to rock out and strumming really does it for him. the track is about 4:13 and that’s mostly because it needed to be long enough so he wouldn’t fuss. i will probably cut it down and get a better drum track. but as it stands, i finally got to do my one track with I – vi – IV – V – I and a 30 second fade out at the end for good measure. two cliches i really enjoy in one track. who could ask for anything more?

i hope you enjoy it. leave me a comment if you feel like it.

stars by j.c. wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at othertime.com.

i decided about a week or two ago to release the green man collection on emusic.com. that means it’s drm free, mp3 format and ready for your downloading pleasure. so if you have been waiting for me to get it together and move past the itunes only release, here you go!

of course you can still get it on itunes and cd by going here!

i want to take a second and mention that this is a great time to be an artist. with all of the free software out there and the great things that can be done with a little research and a modest amount of skill, i would have to say that the possibilities are endless for the individual.

i use tunecore to get my stuff on the iTunes store and without a label or so much as a hint of interference, i’m able to sell my music all over the world.

i know i’m not topping any charts, but that’s honestly not my goal. i want to produce music that people want to hear. i’d also like to make a modest amount of money from my work so that i can further support it. i would still compose and perform without it, but it sure does feel good to know that someone was willing to shell out a couple of bucks for my cd.

for everyone who has bought a copy, thank you. there’s more coming soon!

my musical output has been all over the map lately. the last few tunes that i’ve cranked out have been things that i really enjoy hearing over and over. and that’s unusual for me with my own music. i think i’ve transitioned myself to making music that i want to hear and play. something to experience. and i wonder if that’s a weird sort of feedback loop…or worse.

in any case, i really like this new one. it’s been stuck in my head for at least two weeks and now that i have a halfway decent recording of it (though still quite rough around the edges) i’m quite pleased with myself and i can move on to re-recording an older tune that never quite gelled due to the arrangement, i think.

so here it is: waiting game.

i like it and i’m thinking of expanding it to a full fledged duo for guitar. so i’ll treat this as a song/sketch for now. i do like it.

the working title for the new collection is testing 1…2…3… mostly because i know i won’t use it and it helps me organize things on my ipod.

and speaking of the ipod, i’ve decided that it is my most useful tool. i keep my sketches and nightly excursions on it. whatever i do in the evening, i mix down quickly in ardour and throw into audacity. there, i trim in up and turn it into an mp3 so i can pop it on the ipod. then i can listen to it in the car or at my desk. low quality car audio with noisy traffic and headphones at the office are the new concert halls. i also get it mixed in with other tunes so i can get a feel for how people will “find” my music in eclectic collections.