For a more dense rhythm section I needed agility on bass line so this time, instead of the double bass, I chose to use my old dear electric bass, an old Cort that's been with me since high school. I haven’t played it for a long time, it’s been fun, I think I will do it again soon.
About the picture: actually the place of the photo is not a station or an airport, it is part of a photographic work I made some years ago on the concept of non-place like the big malls. But a non-place is also, some way, an all-places, every places from which to leave or arrive...
The real truth is that I've always liked this photo, for the perspective plane and because it's full of lines with variety of lights and shadows... In short, I couldn't wait to find an excuse to use it :)

Have a nice trip!

Arrivals and departures

OnTheEdgeOfTheWorld

Hey have you heard
That time is running out
And there leaves no doubt

To arms to arms
Man the stations heed the call
One and all

Enough with all the debate
The time’s for action
Before it’s too…

Oh can you see
We’re all standing on the edge
On the edge of the world

Solo

When the embers 
Of your dreams 
Lie smouldering 
At your feet 

Then will you see 
We’re all standing on the edge 
On the edge of the world 

Solo

Enough with all the debate
The time’s for action
Before it’s too…

Hey have you heard
That time is running out
And there leaves no doubt

When the embers 
Of your dreams 
Lie smouldering 
At your feet 

Then will you see
We’re all standing on the edge
On the edge of the world

On the edge of the world

OnTheEdgeOfTheWorld

℗ © Copyright 2024 Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning
Photography: 
Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
SONG NOTES AND LYRICS: 
It's nice to be recording again with a view to completing my 5th Solo album over the next few months. I decided to go with just guitar and vocals for this song, which I think best reflects the lyrics. For those interested in how I record my acoustic guitar, I have used a slightly different technique for this song, using a blend of stereo small diaphragm microphones, together with Direct Input from my Taylor electro-acoustic guitar, played through a mixer into my audio interface. Hope you like it.

LYRICS:
I watch the dawn approaching 
The earth beneath my feet 
Spins in all it’s silence 
To the sound ….. of my heart beat

And over the horizon
These colours fill the skies 
I breathe in this morning air
Thankful for my eyes 

For I am but a fellow traveller
As we circle round the sun
For all this life we ever know 
We travel all as one

I watch the dusk approaching
The earth beneath my feet 
Spins into the moonlight 
To the sound ….of my heart beat

And I gaze up in wonder 
Beyond these starlit skies 
I breathe in this cool night air
Thankful for my eyes 

For I am but a fellow traveller
As we circle round the sun
For all this life we ever know 
We travel all as one

The Sound of My Heart Beat

The Sound Of My Heart Beat

℗ © Copyright 2024 Ian Stokes. All Rights Reserved
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Logic.
Guitar played: Taylor 714CE in standard tuning (capo 3rd fret)
Photography:
Thanks go to Nigel and Libby Hume at Hume Photography.
SONG NOTES AND LYRICS:
Let the rain come down 
Take this river to the sea
Let the rain come down
Take this river to the sea
Way out here
Just the rain and the river and me

Let the rain come down 
The things this old river has seen 
Let the rain come down 
The things this old river has seen
Way out here
It’s just the rain and the river me

From the top of this hill 
How this river flows
Doing what a river does 
What a river knows 
Let the rain come down 
Take the river where the river goes 

Let the rain come down 
What will be will be 
Let the rain come down 
What will be will be 
Way out here
Just the rain and the river and me

The Rain and The River and Me

I hope isn't an Omen....

J'espère que ce n'est pas un présage...

Scarlet Dawn

Song I wrote about overcoming pain and trials and choosing to find joy and meaning even in the hardest times.

"Weeping may endure for a night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning"-Psalm 30:5

Music/Lyrics/Vocals/Instrumentals by Layna Claunch
                     
Rain shedding torrents all around
As the waves come crushing down
While in the ocean’s roar                                  
Hear all melodies surround and the   
Symphonies astound 
From sorrow you can soar 

Time for Joy            
Time for Sorrow
Time for Joy                         
Beauty through the pain
Dancing in the rain

Light as it sparkles on the sea
In your actions you are free
So choose who you will be
Time quickly fleeting on the breeze
Find your purpose choose to see
How joy will come to be
       
Time for Joy           
Time for Sorrow
Time for Joy
Purpose in the pain
Dancing in the rain
 
You know it’s gonna hurt, but it’s time to wake up now
This time you know for certain now is all that we’re allowed
Don’t let your moment pass away in time
Find the mountains only you can climb

Know, that each moment is a gift
Learn to value what is real
No matter how you feel
You can decide the life you live
Meaning in the gifts you give
Loving what is true brings joy to be

Time for Joy            
Time for Sorrow
Time for Joy
Beauty through the pain
Dancing in the rain
Dancing in the rain

Wonderful book about what brings lasting joy and purpose:
https://a.co/d/4pTsYYz

Time for Joy

https://youtu.be/dLLddlqKIHc?si=wT5hmEY_W3Fp5ZvI 

This is my attempt at performing this song in a single take with just me and my guitar (Taylor 114 ce)
Also to compare and contrast, here’s a  link to a more polished full band version of this song that I recorded with the help of the Eclectic Collective 
https://soundcloud.com/josh-clary-1/ai-sucks-the-eclectic?si=67d29d363d2a419dacbf860fa471165e&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Many thanks to SoundCloud musician Michele Ansani  https://on.soundcloud.com/A24Cig19AVNqQmCk8 who's lyrics inspired me to write this song and collaborated with me to help bring this song to life.
***
Lyrics
When I was thirteen I picked up my first guitar
it was my mother's, it only had one nylon string 
I tried to play it like a rock star
I learned to play the Coca-Cola jingle
So I could teach the world to sing
When I was fourteen, I put on six new strings
I learned to play Beatles, I learned a Bob Dylan song
I sounded out of tune but I tried to carry on
At fifteen I wrote my first original tune 
So bad it sounded like it might have been written by a baboon
When I was sixteen, I got a new guitar for my birthday
The metal strings sawed through my fingers but I continued to play
And as the calluses formed and every day I learned a brand new chord
I was obsessed with that guitar and I never grew bored.
I wrote songs every day and most of them were a mess
But I believed that through hard work, I could achieve success
Malcom Gladwell wrote a book that said it takes ten thousand hours
To become and expert at your craft
And now all it takes is two commands and an enter
And in two minutes you have ten versions of the same damn new song,
You just have to choose the type
folk, rock, rap, pop, metal, jazz, trap or blues.
You don't even need to write the lyrics, 
your push a few buttons let the AI choose.
And people will think your songs are great 
even though you didn’t write or play a single note.
When I was 20, I did my first concert, it was time
it occurred in a village square
there were four cats all friends of mine
I was still using the plectrum and sometimes I got the chords wrong
at thirty I finally wrote what I thought was a decent song
It had a very well thought out structure and a catchy vibe and beat 
It was overly verbose but when I played it people tapped their feet
In my forties I stopped wasting my time
Work was more fun I was doing just fine
I had a steady paycheck that could feed me 
And the record companies didn’t need me
In my fifties once again my musical juices started flowing
I bought the necessary equipment I was eager to get going
I recorded all my strumming and saved it onto my PC
The internet and technology were advancing rapidly
I took those special songs I’d written of which I was most proud
Posted them Instagram, You Tube, Tik Tok and SoundCloud
I asked myself if a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around
Does it make a sound?
But now all it takes is two commands and an enter
And in two minutes you have ten versions of the same damn new song,
You just have to choose the type
folk, rock, rap, pop, metal, jazz, trap or blues.
You don't even need to write the lyrics, 
your push a few buttons let the AI choose.
And people will like your songs even though you didn’t write or play a single note.

AI Sucks Acoustic Live Version

Some years ago I had posted this piece, some of you might remember it.... and to my surprise just recently Benjamin Rößler (YurOb) has let me listen to what he had done with it....
I hope you will like listening to it as much as I do….

To listen to more of his music
https://soundcloud.com/yur0b

A video link to my original piece….
https://youtu.be/c1u-mhzvoZU?feature=shared

Les Hirondelles by Elisabeth Dicker and YuRob

LES PASSANTS DE LA PLUIE 

Tu rentres à l'aube ébouriffé comme un soleil 
A la lune, ta plume saigne de tout ses maux 
Tu rases les ruelles, les murs et les poubelles 
Découpent ta vie en lambeaux 

Trop vrai pour porter un costard dans leur parade 
Epingler un sourire au col de leur boutade 
Et dans les "places to be" jouer à qui ment le mieux 
Trop intact pour être comme eux 

Il faudrait faire semblant, jouer à être vivant 
Continuer d'être morne jusqu'à la fin des temps 
Mais mieux vaut être libre et se sentir en vie 
Que marcher dans le gris des passants de la pluie 

Dedans c'est le foutoir d' une chambre insalubre 
Alors tu prends ton paredessus usé de solitude 
Dehors le froid du nord mord déjà les passants 
Mais toi, ta liberté n'a pas de prise au vent 


Il faudrait faire semblant, jouer à être vivant 
Continuer d'être norme jusqu'à la fin des temps 
Mais mieux vaut être libre et se sentir en vie 
Que marcher dans les pas des passants de la pluie 

Si pour être soi-même il fallait renoncer 
Au confort, aux écrans, à la facilité 
Mieux vaut être Poète à poil devant la vie 
Qu' être clown à la fête des passants de la pluie
                                                             dlb2025

LES PASSANTS DE LA PLUIE

I wrote this piece a couple of years ago, and just came across it....
i hope you will like to listen to it....

Art picture is by Artem-sapegin on Unsplash

Il était une fois....

Trailing Behind - A Christian McIntosh

A one man band.  Self taught in the expression of several instruments, but upbringing in vocals. 

Fulfillment came when I began this journey in self taught piano, guitar and other instruments. 

Music for me is that I enjoy every moment when I record, so it can be appreciated later by listening and learning. 

Music is to enhance the day. 

Instruments include: piano, keyboard, electric guitar, handmade guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, harmonica. 

You should enjoy what you do and if others do as well, it’s a bonus.

Trailing Behind - A Christian McIntosh

A Christian McIntosh

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