A couple nights ago I made my second appearance on CJSF (the radio station for Simon Fraser University) on a show called Melodies In Mind.

I love being around good musicians.  It feeds my creative soul.  I got to share the airwaves with two bands: Tough Lovers (a brand new indie band full of young energetic musicians) and Brighter Lights Thicker Glasses (a collaboration of white-haired gentlemen playing various styles of music with  an assortment of instruments: snare drum, cello, guitar, harp-guitar, and some other sort of stringed instrument).  I had just as much fun listening to music as doing my own performance.

We each had a 20 minute feature of interview and performance and then did a song circle (see videos below).  The show will do a repeat airing on Monday, March 29th 9am-10am on CJSF 90.1 FM

Please click on the links below to hear my feature (this is different stuff from the videos below):

Jeff on CJSF Part 1

Jeff on CJSF Part 2

Jeff on CJSF Part 3

Jeff on CJSF Part 4

Debbie and I walked into the Denman movie theatre, glad to be out of the Vancouver rain and looking forward to the treat we were about to watch. It was a quaint theatre. There was only one employee. He had to run from the ticket booth to the popcorn machine in order to serve the different customers. There was funny colourful carpet and cheap decorations in the stairwell and foyer, but the theatre itself was quite nice. It had comfortable seats with plenty of leg room. The screen and sound was sufficient. But what really stood out to me was the film itself.

A movie about guitars and guitar players is obviously something that would intrigue me since I am a guitar player myself, but “It Might Get Loud” far exceeded my expectations. It is a documentary about three guitar players: Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White, who got together for a conversation and jam session. The film takes you through their own stories and interweaves the meeting of these three innovators in an inspiring narrative. There were too many good moments to describe, but one highlight was watching Jack White listen to his favourite song on vinyl: an old soulful singer belting out some blues, singing accapella accompanied only by his own clapping. I’m pretty confident I will buy this film when it comes out on DVD. If you have the chance to watch this, it is a must-see.

I had heard that U2 concerts were spiritual events - almost like church worship services - but I hadn’t experienced it for myself until tonight. And what I had heard was correct. There were moments of pure communal unity and joy. I think specifically of the moment that the band left the stage and the whole crowd erupted into a cheer for an encore. The sound of our un-amplified voices and clapping hands matched the volume of the rock band at full blast. It’s like how I image a triumphant entry into the afterlife would sound.

There’s something that U2 has that few other bands or artists have. It more than the music. Their concerts and their songs are so full of life. They point towards hope and a promise of something better.

This is inspiring to me as an artist.

I feel like I’ve written enough sad songs. I’ve poured out my broken heart and intended to connect with people who are hurting. But I myself am now healing and feeling really good. It is time for hope.

Writing songs is one of my favorite things to do.  Over the course of a few days this past week I wrote two songs as well as took my first stab at composition.

Writing the composition was quite the adventure.  I didn’t even start working on it until midnight.  I “finished” at about 4:30AM… and then tweaked a few things for a couple hours the next day.  Inspiration just happened to strike at midnight and I couldn’t sleep until I had my ideas out.  It’s interesting how much late night energy I can get when working on something creative (juxtapose this to the fact that I can rarely stay awake to see a whole movie, and it really is quite impressive).  The composition is written for piano, violin, and cello - mostly focusing on the piano, with the stings just filling out the sound.  It is a fairly short instrumental experimental classical piece that depicts a day in the life of a spider.  I wrote it on a cheap version of the Finale notation software called NotePad.  The program allows me to hear what I’ve written on MIDI playback (it basically sounds like crappy keyboard versions of sampled instruments).  I enjoy listening to “Spiders”, but it’s probably not that good of a composition (it is only my first attempt).  I hope to one day record it though.

The other two songs that I wrote were pretty good though.  They’re both upbeat and fun to play.

I normally don’t do this, but I’m going to show you the lyrics (I usually prefer to have people hear the lyrics rather than read them, but “what the hey!”):

Beyond My Control (a song about the uncertainties of life after death)

I don’t want to die, but one day when I do, I think that I’ll be fine
I’m confident I’ll get through
But still I seem so scared, and oh so unprepared
For a new creation beyond imagination

So much is unknown and it don’t make me comfortable
So much is at stake and I just have to wait
So much is so strange; it’s so easy to complicate
Beyond my control, it’s beyond my control

There’s little information about the transformation
Into that second body, while the other one is rotting
So where do I go? And what is my soul?
How long is forever? How many meet together?

So much is unknown and it don’t make me comfortable
So much is at stake and I just have to wait
So much is so strange; it’s so easy to complicate
Beyond my control, it’s beyond my control

Better Man (a song about life change)

I was a broken man - a heartless beast
Among the damned and amid the least
You were beautiful
There was something new that I had to have that was inside of you
A quick and sudden change;
There’s really something strange about this

You’re a miracle. You’re the reason why I’m a better man.
You clear my mind
You’re innocent. I was so corrupt, but it balanced out.
You lifted me from the rut
I’m on the level ground. I’m never going down there again

And all you ever did was nothing else but live,
And teach me to forgive myself

I’m curious to know what you think.  Feel free to critique or completely tear me apart.  You can bluntly tell me which lines suck.  All is fair…  But if you want to say something nice, I like that too.