FAWM2023

This is one of 15 songs I wrote for FAWM 2023. This is a rough demo, but there are only so many days left in February!

I  had the title in mind for awhile, because my Yoga teacher always tells me "nothing bad is happening" when, of course, things are getting gnarly. I started this as kind of a nonsense thing, a little like some REM or Beck songs, but it gradually started making a bit more sense. Hopefully a good mix. 

This was the first year I tried to write and record for FAWM, rather than just write, and I was still setting up the studio in the first half of February. So I'm recording songs I wrote, but don't really understand yet as a performer.... but some of it wasn't bad!

Nothing Bad Is Happening (demo)

The second of fifteen songs I wrote for FAWM 2023.  This one's just a little dark.
I've had a small bit of this in my notebook for awhile, the idea of a descent into cold, darkness, bad/evil behavior, with the changes understood and yet still accepted as fate or destiny.

Cold Creeps (demo)

So, my friend Caitlin (https://soundcloud.com/caitlin-sigler) wrote a song called "12 Words" -- with only 12 words... and a good one! I was inspired to minimalism, but I just need more words! I'm rarely one to use 5 words when 50 (or 500) will work much better... not much of a Twitter person. But I liked the idea of a minimalist song. This one's about one of my kayaks and various travels around Delaware, also without saying much of anything about those to keep it, you know, minimal. Not sure which kayak, but it would apply to either. I'm tempted to keep going here to ensure I have more words in the liner notes than in the actual song, but I've probably said enough.

I dubbed the style "alternative lounge" because I didn't have a better explanation after I had worked out the recording.

It Floats

This is the very, very first country song I've written... and oddly, I got two more in my FAWM 2023 haul. I guess that's what happens when you move to a place called "Ocean Farm". Anyway, as mentioned, this is from FAWM 2023.

I have no idea why I wrote a country song, but I just had this going around in my head, and had to write it down. But hey, with drinks and a truck, what other genre is even possible? The big question was banjo lessons? Or maybe a slide!

I got the answer... Peddle Steel, Acoustic, AND Fiddle, all worked out in the computer (shhh... don't tell).

I Just Had Three

I Just Had Three (demo)

This one actually came from a dream. I woke up with the chorus playing in my mind... I love when that happens. Saves my conscious mind the work. The only Denise I know is one of the three Amiga custom chips, but it seemed to work. This is one about #obsession and #denial.

This is as basic as it gets, me, a guitar, and the wonderful headcold I got for this last week of FAWM 2023!

Denise, Denise (demo)

So when I had written seven songs for FAWM 2023, it occurred to me that, hey, I actually made it halfway and it wasn't even February 28 yet!  So that got me inspired to write about writing songs, in the context of something like FAWM 2023, sure, but it's always a contest between you and yourself... and maybe that new thing on Netflix rather than being out in your he-shed at 2am recording your last track... which in fact I just finished at this very minute. It came out pretty folky... what do y'all think?

Halfway There (demo)

I was thinking one day, what if there really was a dark force behind what we hear and read, rather than just a miasma of chaotic individuals. So I thought of the chorus, and been working out the rest. This was my first FAWM 2023 submission (lyrics) and my very last (demo) before they lock the thing up! Sorry about the guitar sound... it was like 3:30AM!

FAWM2023

Dave Haynie