Songs with Nadia

A Little Tune (acoustic guitar instrumental)

Fripping About (Guitar instrumental)

If Wishes Were Fishes (Guitar Instrumental)

Base image for cover art by Yoksel Zok on Unsplash

With Friends Like These Who Needs Anemones (Instrumental)

Base photo for cover by Kunj Parekh on Unsplash

There Once Was

A Cup Of Tea

Continuing the tea related song themes, here is another with my old friend and former bandmate Gareth. Gareth sings main vocal.

Cover art base photo by Dominik Martin on Unsplash

Lemon & Ginger Tea (with Gareth)

Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1354 – c. 1415)was the last Welsh Prince of Wales.

Two ukuleles, three guitars, a bass and a drum track

Owain Glyndŵr (Instrumental)

A little fun and twiddling in a particular style.
I am joined for a little vocalisation in the second part by my friend Nadia Selvaggi https://soundcloud.com/nadiaselvaggi . I have grossly underused her talent here, she was only acting on orders : )

(A)musing (incl The Sids Of Knightonia)

This time with the lovely sax of Mr Böhme! Thanks Georg : ) https://soundcloud.com/georg-boehme

Wah Wah Blues (with Georg)

Peace

Photograph for cover art by Darius Cotoi on Unsplash

The Snow Fairy (Instrumental)

Ambiguous

*Original Version: https://soundcloud.com/nadiaselvaggi/not-my-neighborhood-by-garddwr-porffor-nadia-selvaggi-with-the-windscale-blues-experiment
The Rant: Cono Corvino & Nadia Selvaggio
Instrumental & Mix by Garddwr Porffor: 
@garddwrporffor
Lyrics, Vocals, Production by Nadia Selvaggi
*New Sax Solos by Nigel Manning of The Windscale Blues Experiment: 
@windscaleblues
'Two Boys Smoking' (1975) by Photographer Peter Bellamy:
pswbportaiture.blogspot.com/
www.peterbellamyphoto.com/
More on Peter Bellamy:
medium.com/@Brownstoner/in-197…photos-a3bbe85c0246
New York Street Noise by Pixabay

Not My Neighborhood
by Nadia Selvaggi

This, this, this is not my neighborhood!
Where is Williamsburg, Brooklyn --
my crime-ridden, filthy, spray-painted 'hood?

Where is Eastern District High School?
Where is that old school cool?
Where is all the red brick?
Where are all the addicts itchin' for a fix?

I don't know this place at all
I don't smell my Grandma's moth or meat balls
Corporate greed, thy will be done,
as it is in Manhattan and the City of London

Mr. Global's mercenaries killed our low rent,
our culture, and our authenticity
Damn the L train gentrifiers!
Damn the cold glass and bitter steal!

Bamonte's, Fortunato Brothers, Nunzio and Sons,
survived New York's perpetual reinvention
Tell me craft beer drinking, Hipster trust fund --
where is my 11211?

Not My Neighborhood, Extended by Garddwr Porffor & Nadia Selvaggi (w The Windscale Blues Experiment)

I wrote the lyric for this song after a family blackberrying expedition a few years ago. My old friend Gareth and I put some chords to it and recorded it. Lizzy Taypen said that she liked it a lot, so I took the opportunity to rope her in to sing with us. I mixed her vocal in and produced another version. https://soundcloud.com/garddwrporffor/blackberrying-harmonies-with-lizzie-mix-2
I listened to it again and thought that Lizzies vocal was very special and that I had missed the best version. So I mixed a version with only Lizzie singing and a more gentle support track. I thought that it was beautiful, it is the track  here.
Her page https://soundcloud.com/taylor-pentland

Blackberrying

When the sun light falls in a steeply slanted angle
And the colours of the world fade to muted reds and golds
The living soil still holds it’s warmth and waning sweetness
As another summer gently slips from our aging fingers hold
We can still find simple joy in the things we did as children
Finding fruit among the bushes along the margins of our roads
with our adult children now
as we enjoy this timeless pleasure
Of finding fruits just hanging ripe and ready in the hedgerow
And taking them back home with us like edible treasure hoards

Folk don’t seem to bother now, to take the time to pick them
Still they grow and glow like jewels amongst natures topiary
A present from an old imagined ancient world of wonder
As sweet fruit drops into our hands from the realm of the fairyies
We stretch to reach the fullest ones, beyond reach in the branches
the nettles tingle our arms and legs if we fail to be wary
Then we carry home our bounty, taking great care not to spill them
and turn them into memories that we had very nearly lost
a refreshment for our hearts from our purple blackberries

Blackberrying feat Lizzie Taypen

I recorded this in about 1 hour last evening and it has run through my head ever since. If you find it very annoying I apologise : )

Two For The Price Of One - Instrumental

One stratocaster, a little reverb and very few notes

Close Your Eyes - Instrumental

Another song with the amazing Nadia Selvaggi https://soundcloud.com/nadiaselvaggi
We have a lot of fun with these songs and we hope you enjoy them too : )
Instrumental Composition, Bass, Guitar, Keyboard & Mix by Garddwr Porffor
Lyrics, Vocal Composition by Nadia Selvaggi

Coney Island Day
by Nadia Selvaggi

Let's get away!
The city's heat is driving us insane
The Grand Street hydrant has run dry
The air conditioner doesn't run on high
The Q train's only half an hour away

Ah, Coney Island day!

Feel the cool breeze in the sky,
a hundred feet up on high
The Wonder Wheel and Cyclone
are guaranteed to electrify

Where umbrellas dot the shoreline,
the sun burns under rainbow skies,
and kites swirl like ribbons in the sky,
just like my spirit does today

Let's take a holiday!

At Surf & Stillwell down the boardwalk,
we'll eat a Famous Nathan's hotdog,
play a game of volleyball,
ride in a bumper car and stay late,
and watch the fireworks display

We'll stroll down Riegelmann Boardwalk,
and take the rides at Luna Park,
eat candy apples and popcorn,
Totonno's pizza coal fired
on a mid summer day

We'll take a little holiday,
west of Ocean Parkway
Feel our troubles fade away
in Brooklyn's little hideaway

Ah, Coney Island Day!

Coney Island Day with Nadia Selvaggi

Some familiar ideas in a different context

Hey You

Instrumental Composition, bass, guitar, mix by Garddwr Porffor: https://soundcloud.com/garddwrporffor
Vocals, Vocal Composition, Lyrics by Nadia Selvaggi

Player by Garddwr Porffor & Nadia Selvaggi

Peace Message

Hiraeth

Some fun in an 80's style with vocal pyrotechnics from Nadia. Sometimes there has to be more than 1 mix : )
Original mix here https://soundcloud.com/nadiaselvaggi/player-by-garddwr-porffor-nadia-selvaggi

Instrumental composition, bass, guitar, keyboards, drum track and mix by Garddwr Porffor
Vocals, vocal composition, lyrics by Nadia Selvaggi

More of Nadia's amazing vocals here https://soundcloud.com/nadiaselvaggi

Player (with Nadia Selvaggi - Alternative Mix)

A Pirates Life

There I was just standing, with my finger in my mouth
Hoping for the best, although my luck had just gone South
The 'boy stood on the burning deck' had nothing against me
It was quite a poor decision, to pursue a life at sea
The Captain came down very hard, he was not an easy man
 ' What type of ruffian pollutes the earth with such a scurvy plan' 
It was not me, who did this thing,  my clement Captain bold 
I did not shoot that man and this is definitely not my gold

I could have been so far away, so far away from here
The thought of it now fills my heart and starts a manly tear
My sweetheart she encouraged me to 'live an honest life'
But I knew for sure that I'd gone wrong when they called me Jack the Knife
 

'Lets keelhaul him',
'we'll hang him high',
'make him walk the plank'
None of which appealed to me at all, if I'm being frank
A pirates life seemed full of fun, at least it did to me
I didn't do it, I've been framed, I'm a good man honestly

A Pirate's Life

My keyboard skills are basic but, with a DAW and overdubbing, one hand can sound like two and composition is possible.....

Una Manu

I recently sliced some skin from a finger with a potato peeler whilst preparing some vegetables. My son, Andrew, thought my misfortune was very funny. So I naturally wrote a song about it and challenged him to sing it in repayment. Here it is ....

Potato Peeler Blues

Woke up this morning, feeling mighty blue, 
Grabbed my peeler, thought I knew what to do. 
But that slippery onion, it had other plans, 
Took a slice of my finger, now I'm a hurtin' man.

Oh, I'm bleeding, bleeding like a river flow, 
Lost the end of my finger, oh it hurts me so. 
But I'll keep on peeling, through the pain and strife, 
'Cause when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade with a knife.

Doctor stitched me up, said I'll be alright, 
But every time I look, it's a frightful sight. 
Won't be playing no guitar, won't be snapping my strings, 
Just a man in the kitchen, with a wound that stings.

Now every time I see that peeler, 
I'll think twice, 
About the cost of haste, about paying the price. 
But life's a funny thing, full of twists and turns, 
Gotta roll with the punches, gotta let the fire burn.

So here's to healing, to scars that tell a tale, 
About a man and his peeler, and how he didn't bail. 
I'll sing this blues, with a finger less whole, 
But I'll keep on grooving, 'cause that's just how I roll.

Potato Peeler Blues (feat Andrew)

An important year for democracy! 
Some fun with my new analogue synth, my old P bass and Strat.
Lots of work in this one. Some stolen ideas and some new ones....

Democracy

A song in an older style with the brilliant Nadia : )
Instrumental composition, guitar, bass by Garddwr Porffor: @garddwrporffor
Vocals, Vocal Composition, Lyrics: Nadia Selvaggi

More of Nadia's beautiful singing and music https://soundcloud.com/nadiaselvaggi

The Order Of Things (with Nadia Selvaggi)

Urgency

Base photo for cover art by Paul-berthelon-bravo on unsplash

Anywhere

Valley's Boy

I'm just a Valley's boy at the heart
Wind me up and I'll play my part
Son of a couple who couldn't get a start
Always loved the underdog
Never felt a part

The dirty shanty lives of the working class
The Rhondda Fawr and the Rhondda Fach
Washing the working souls down the fractured hills
Into the River Taff the Rhondda's running still

Sandstone pavements and rusted steel
Cold wet wind on my down at heel
Pick your future boy, forget your dreams
Mining our lives like those deep coal seams

Valley's Boy

Sweet Guitar

Harp E Blues

Dreaming

All music, songs and lyrics are original, unless noted.
Collaborations welcome, if you think you can add something to any of my songs, want to sing them, etc, please drop me a note
I advise playing on a good Hi-Fi or at least good headphones, otherwise you will miss all the good stuff going on in the lower frequencies. You don't want to only hear half of the music : )

Garddwr Porffor

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