Bramble Tamble

It's been 10 years since I ...

(Wait. I wrote a song that started like that once, and I'm not above plagiarizing myself, but this post would turn into a sad country song, and no one wants that. Let's try again.)

Ten years gone, and ....

(Oops, that's a Zeppelin song. Climbing mountains and slaying dragons and shit. Not in that mood. One more time:)

Ten years ago, I put the finishing touches on what I had hoped would propel me to at least local music stardom and underground adulation - a rough set of demos called Voluptuosity, recorded under the name Baby Doll Head. The songs themselves weren't too bad, but various glitches during the recording process and the blatant inexperience of my producer/mixer (me) made the whole proposition fairly hit-and-miss.

A year later, I began recording the followup, Nympholepsy, which never saw the light of day. The five songs I committed to tape on that one were a happy mess; the limitations of the equipment made it sound like I was singing in a well, but I thought the songs themselves were stronger than those on Voluptuosity (in particular, "Angora," which is probably the strongest song I've ever written, if I do say so myself).

It may or may not surprise you to learn that I still have visions of rocking everywhere from Bloomington to Scranton and all points in between. Not nearly so much anymore, mind you (though I do hear that Scranton is lovely in the fall), because we all need to grow up someday, but who doesn't want to be a rock star at least an eensy-teensy bit?

Anyway, I rediscovered both sets of demos last week and have been listening to them nonstop, imagining what I'd do different and finally getting used to their various idiosyncrasies, which I was quite embarrassed about at one point but have grown to love as part of the songs' various charms.

So I'm finding bits and pieces and scraps of paper of old lyrics I've written or started to write, and I'd like to do it all again someday - maybe to recapture that whole "best time of my life" vibe, or maybe because I've had these melodies and lyrics rattling in my head for 10 years and it's about time they came out.

(Personal note to The Captain: Whatever comes to pass, the first song on the new one will be "Ping Pong Pigeons Have Electric Vision," with your permission, of course.)

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Now playing: Baby Doll Head - Sometimes We Mean What We Say
via FoxyTunes