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  • john

    Songstuff Writer and Artist Development Challenges

    By john

    Independent writers and artists face several large disadvantages when they are compared to signed, mainstream writers and artists.  Disadvantages that add up to making it a competition that indies can’t win. Hell they can’t even compete.   Lack of budget and poor contacts are fairly obvious disadvantages. Lack of experience and a lack of knowledge restricts songwriters and artists alike. Lack of an overall strategy, and a limited set of incomplete tactics, makes for a critical problem
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"Accept" finally released today! I'm so pumped to share it with you.

Two years is what it took for this day to arrive. I’d been doing this “music thing” for many years but the opportunity to go into the studio and do a solid record with a band had always been a far fetched idea.   Two years later, here I am having worked with an incredible bunch of musicians to put these incredibly songs together and share it with you today.It is safe to say that “Accept” changed my life; as a musician and as a human being. I’m really glad to be sharing these songs with

Mahesh

Mahesh

CAN: the psychedelic days of future past

German band Can established themselves as pioneers of experimental avant-garde by seamlessly combining their influences, from the tape-splicing technique of electronic composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, the trance-like drone of The Velvet Underground, the minimalism of composer mavericks like Terry Riley as well as the jazz rhythms of James Brown.   When Can formed in Cologne in 1968, the members had little experience with rock. Two former students of avant-garde classical composer Karlhe

childed

childed

"Accept" releases worldwide September 30!

"Accept" is finally releasing on all platforms on 30th September!   After two years of hard work and learning, I'm glad that it has finally reached its final lapses of the journey. Over the course of this project, I have collaborated with so many different kinds of people on so many different fronts; so much so that it became a central theme to what this EP has been all about. And based on that I'm doing a few collaborations in the city as we move toward the final launch gig!   

Mahesh

Mahesh

Spotify To Allow Indie Artists To Upload Directly

According to Billboard, starting today, 20th September, Spotify is to allow independent artists to bypass distributors and upload directly to their streaming service via their Spotify For Artists account.   Direct upload will initially be made available to a small group of a few hundred invited U.S.-based artists. Other artists can sign up for a mailing list, to be invited over the coming weeks.  

john

john

Your Mind (music video) is out now!

I’m super excited to be sharing with you, “Your Mind”, the second single and music video from my upcoming EP “Accept”.    After the melancholic first single “Come Find Me”, I wanted to release something that gave a contrast to the somber side of me and my music. Your Mind is a song about coming out of the bubble that we create for ourselves with our minds. We create a false sense of reality where only those things that are pleasant find their place while the truth stays hidden deep und

Mahesh

Mahesh

The drama of The Chain kept alive on the big screen

The Chain, included on Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1977 Rumours album, has retained that particular brand of culturally iconic for decades, but even so, it is safe to say that the recent years pushed the song to a much more immediate pop culture awareness.   The credit mostly lies with Hollywood (though TV had its fun much earlier with Glee, The Americans, and even BBC’s Formula One coverage used the ending bass line bass line as a theme tune from 1978 till 1997) and its generous streak of

childed

childed

Cream's biggest hit inspired by Hendrix's debut in England

Sunshine of Your Love by the British rock band Cream is perhaps their best known song that spawned numerous covers across genres over the years.  The song's origins lie with Cream bassist Jack Bruce and his distinctive bass riff which he developed after attending Jimi Hendrix's first London concert at the Saville Theatre on 29 January 1967. After the riff had taken roots, guitarist Eric Clapton and beat poet Pete Brown later contributed to the song.    Read more on MusicTales.club

childed

childed

Who is the true architect behind The House of the Rising Sun?

The authorship of The House of the Rising Sun can not be accurately determined to this day, since the song is a folk ballad.   It is based on the tradition of the 16th century ballads, and the melody might be related to a 17th century folk song Matty Groves. Presumably, The Rising Sun was the name of some English pubs, and the location was changed from England to New Orleans by Southern singers. The first known version of the lyrics was printed in 1925.   Read more on MusicTa

childed

childed

I Put a Spell on You: the wild roots of the song's blackout drunk recording

I Put a Spell on You is a 1956 song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins that became an instant classic and remained his greatest commercial success.   Hawkins wrote this as a calm ballad lamenting the lost love of a woman he longed to get back. His first recording of the song in 1955 was not released, and was a lot more slower and tamer than the version everyone is familiar with.   A year later, at his second attempt at the song for Columbia Records, Hawkins and the studio music

childed

childed

Prog rock version of Jerusalem was banned by BBC

Jerusalem is a British national song based on a poem by William Blake printed in 1808. At the heart of the poem is the contrast between the harmonious, peaceful society Blake aspired to and the crushing reality of the rapid industrial transformation of his natural world.   Blake was a radical poet and artist who lived most of his life in poverty and obscurity. Like most Romantics, he wrote and poems that celebrated energy, imagination and freedom, but what separated him from the rest w

childed

childed

Mahesh - Fly Away (Live in the Room Sessions)

I've been doing a lot of things at the same time lately.   Just about to start touring to promote the EP besides working on the second music video, a documentary, launch gig and a lot more music all the while preparing for the EP to release in September with the team at Songstuff's very own Red Circle 7 Records. It's very easy during these times for me to completely forget picking up the guitar. And that concerns me. lol I need my regular dose of music to keep things sane(r).  

Mahesh

Mahesh

Easy Living owes Billie Holiday for giving it voice

A tender ballad Easy Living has forthright lyrics that declare just how wonderful life can be when living for someone you love.    The songwriting team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin wrote Easy Living in 1937 for the film of the same name which was well-reviewed and is best characterized as a screwball comedy classic. Their partnership was a productive one, producing a number of hits in the '30s, and lasted until Rainger’s tragic death in a plane crash in 1942.    Read more o

childed

childed

Man of Constant Sorrow revived in the Coen brothers' classic

Man of Constant Sorrow is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled Farewell Song in a songbook published by Burnett around 1913. An early version was recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928 under the title Man of Constant Sorrow which eventually replaced the original name. That piece was popularized by The Stanley Brothers who recorded their version in the 1950s. Later variations came from many artists

childed

childed

The Birth of 'Venus': from Stephen Foster, to The Big Three, and Shocking Blue

Stephen Foster (1826—1864) was an American composer whose vast contribution to popular song, specifically the ballad genre, earned him an honorary place in the hall of fame of American music history.   He had no choice but to get side-tracked from his main ambitions to compose music for the mainstream market, such as minstrel and sentimental pop ballads which were in high demand at the time.   It is estimated that Foster authored around 200 songs, holding the credits for both

childed

childed

Finally...

I finally feel like I've gotten some of my courage back and I'm being productive again. In the last 16 hours I've finished writing 3 songs, and made decent headway on 2, and made a demo. Now that I've gotten myself to finish writing again, I feel like ought to finish drafting some music too. I've got plenty of half produced songs to pick from, but maybe I should focus on getting my lyrics checked out first?    I think it would be fitting to start things off with a song about inspiratio

ExtraWithExtraExtra

ExtraWithExtraExtra

Placements of hit tracks on albums rooted in vinyl era

Establishing the track number for the album's title song might be one of he most vital things in production. Historically, sound engineers had two main reasons to put the main track in the middle of a record. First of all, the vinyl's edge was far too quick to get worn out, so putting the hit songs at the top of the tracklist was out of the question. Secondly, the vinyl's circular middle was known to have a poorer sound due to its perimeter.   What started as a practical solution has e

childed

childed

Four continents come together for Manu Chao's 'Clandestino'

In Latin America and Europe, this guy is virtually an icon who seems to have taken the role of Bob Marley. Manu Chao is a wandering artist who for years never had his own place, staying forever on the move, as though addicted to the travel itself. He was born in Paris to Spanish parents, growing up to the sound bolero at home and rock'n'roll in the streets.   It is now two decades since Manu Chao released his higly popular 'Clandestino' album. At the cross-fade of the millennium, it so

childed

childed

Seven Nation Army riff conquers sport and classical music

It seems that since the initial release of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army in 2003, the crowds at sporting events all over the world have adopted it as their favorite chant.   One of the origin legends claims that the trend started at a Milan bar when the fans of the Belgian football club Club Brugge KV heard the original tune and started singing along. A few years later, Bruggefans cheered for their club in Rome with the song, and it began catching on in Italy.    AS Ro

childed

childed

Bourrée: French folk dance from the Bach suite inspired prog-rock flute and the work of Sir Paul McCartney

Bourrée is a French folk dance typically danced with quick, skipping steps. The dancers sometimes wear wooden clogs to accentuate the sounds made by their feet. The bourrée was among the dances from which ballet derived its early movements.    Stylized bourrées have been composed as conceptual pieces since the 16th century. In suites of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, the bourrée often appears as one of the optional movements.   Bourrée: French folk dance fr

childed

childed

The Celtic Baroque roots of 'Stairway to Heaven'

Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) knew how to combine traditional Irish music with Italian Baroque that was the preferred choice of the high society at that time. The repetition of short motifs as well as the particular way of building tension reveal O'Carolan's knowledge of the leading styles in the Baroque era. His experiments with harp music influenced a whole new genre, as it were: the Celtic Classics.   The Celtic Baroque roots of 'Stairway to Heaven'    

childed

childed

Emotion and Words

I wanted to share with you this song I wrote a couple months ago with the many changes that this year has given me in life.   It's a reminder to everyone listening and to myself that 'feeling' an emotion is not the same as *associating* it to names, faces, places, situation and words. While recording this, I was interrupted by a kid in the parking lot who seemed to be amused by the singing. lol I felt like it was an appropriate surprise so I kept the take.      

Mahesh

Mahesh

NGD very unexpected result

Today didn’t go as expected. As it was a nice day, I decided to visit Guitar Village. They had a used Peerless Martin Taylor archtop that I was anxious to try. I did, and also a similar spec Eastman too. They were very nice but neither insisted on being taken home.   Then I tried the nicest looking PRS Core Custom 24, Blue Quilt with ebony board. I had admired this on the website before. Finally there was one CE24 which I certainly would have bought had the finish been to my liking

Rudi

Rudi

Relaunch of SONAR as Cakewalk by BandLab

BandLab Technologies today announced the relaunch of Cakewalk SONAR as “Cakewalk by BandLab”. Cakewalk by BandLab is free-to-download, for all BandLab users.     Cakewalk has been a top developer of innovative music products for more than 30 years.   Cakewalk users include Grammy®-winning and Emmy®-winning producers, sound designers, composers, and recording engineers. Cakewalk products have been used to create professional audio for the music industry, television

john

john

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