5 Star Commended Entry in the 2021 UK Songwriting Contest.

Written after an early spring morning breakfast by the local river surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature. I had plans to record more instruments but decided the simplicity of just the acoustic guitar & vocals sounded just right and suited the mood of the song.

Going to the riverside, in the early morning,
Find a place to sit down, stretch and do some yawning,
Sitting by the riverside, watching life go by, life go by,

Birds are looking busy, gathering different grasses,
Busy building nests in amongst the hidden branches,
Sitting by the riverside, watching life go by, life go by,

The peaceful waters flow, so slow, downstream,
Laying down I know, I can go into a daydream,

The ducks are tipping forwards, I guess they're going fishing,
I can't see what they're catching, that's something that I'm missing,
Sitting by the riverside, watching life go on, life go on,

There's no one else here, to see the fish a-jumping,
Just the sounds of nature and gentle waters rumbling,
Sitting by the riverside, watching life go on, life go on,

The peaceful waters flow, so slow, downstream,
Laying down I know, I can go into a daydream,

Going to the riverside, in the early morning,
Find a place to sit down, stretch and do some yawning,
Sitting by the riverside, watching life go by, life go by,
Sitting by the riverside, watching life go by, life go by,

The Riverside Song

Unwritten Story

The second album by BarrelHaus. 

Marc Challans: vocals, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, recording, mixing & mastering.

Ian Mitchell: vocals, guitars & bass.

Tracks 1,3,5,7 & 9 by Marc Challans.
Tracks 2, 4, 6 & 8 by Ian Mitchell.

Special thanks to Grace & Alice.

Down With His Ship

JIM ANDERS _Bombe

Another song that started as a loop I made one night last year. It was originally a little faster and used all clean guitar sounds.

The name came from the fact that I was listening to a lot of indie rock/folk at the time and noticed that most of the lyrics of the songs are kinda depressing.

The EP is the Reface CP rhodes tone, playing octaves. I was trying to use it to capture that sound of certain indie bands that have a male and female singer.

Why Is It Always Sad Shit

Not quite my usual but I liked this little tune :)

Long Days & Sleepless Nights

There often is no rational reason for the level of hate and extent of death and destruction for most of our self inflicted tragedies. I think if we ask ourselves the simple question that the spider asked me and if we are true to our own selves and not blinded by paranoia/false leaders. then this can stop

lyrics
I woke up in the morning and went to the kitchen like I always do
to get some coffee and some bread to toast
to my fright and surprise
crawling on the floor before my eyes
A big black spider..hairy and awful
heading to the web he had made the night before

without thinking much,I walked over and picked up my foot
to bring down on his head and end his life for good
but to my surprise and shock,the spider turned and looked at me
and said.."Why?? ...is this something your God would do?"

I held my foot in the air,,I didn't know what to do
First I was shocked that a spider was talking to me at all
but mostly, I couldn't answer his question
I couldn't think of a reason and mostly I knew God would not approve of killing something for any reason

So I stepped aside,got my coffee
the spider went to his web for his breakfast
and we both had a great day

so before you raise your fist in anger again
before you hurl another horrible racial slur
before you burn someone,throw a rock or kill someone
be sure you answer the spider's question first

and if you can';t
then don't..do it

the spider's question

My first country single written together with Henri Piccini.  Music arranged by Frank Michels 🇺🇸

You And I

Surroundet

Faded Legacies

One Before Four (work in progress)

Catoon is an Indie Rock duo from Birmingham, AL featuring instrumentals by Andrew Acker and vocals by Laura Pollard. Featuring a blend of Indie/Alternative Rock, Folk, and Dream Pop (with a dash of Post Rock and Shoegaze), Catoon aims to convey deep emotion to their listeners while leaving room for interpretation. 

Started in 2023 as a project by Andrew to simply record instrumental music he had been composing since childhood, the ideas began to take on a different shape after a larger-than-expected reception. Lyrics were written, microphones were procured, and vocals were incorporated. 

Andrew's influences include Herbie Hancock, Béla Fleck, Chick Corea, Billy Powell, and Jack Antonoff. Laura's vocal influences include Jenny Lewis, Stevie Nix, Adrianne Lenker, and Jewel.