The depth of the lyrics and the haunting melody really capture the feeling of being utterly lost.

These are just demos for a 2024 (and 2023) weekly songwriting group. Enjoy, and don't judge too harshly as none are finished songs or recordings. Thanks! Rick --  HogBranch.com RickWatsonATX.com

Rick Watson - New Song Demos for  2024 Songwriting Group

Into Seven

At This Distance (Utterly Lost) - music by Rick Watson & text by Carl Sagan

Demo only. Week ending 07/30 of 2023 Songwriting Group. (Prompt: Tuck)

(All sounds made with baritone guitar, voice, looper, effects pedals.)

"There are some hundred billion galaxies, each with, on the average, a hundred billion stars.... In the face of such overpowering numbers, what is the likelihood that only one ordinary star, the Sun, is accompanied by an inhabited planet? Why should we, tucked away in some forgotten corner of the Cosmos, be so fortunate? To me, it seems far more likely that the universe is brimming over with life. But we humans do not yet know. We are just beginning our explorations. From eight billion light-years away we are hard pressed to find even the cluster in which our Milky Way Galaxy is embedded, much less the Sun or the Earth. The only planet we are sure is inhabited is a tiny speck of rock and metal, shining feebly by reflected sunlight, and at this distance utterly lost."
Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980

At This Distance (Utterly Lost) - Rick Watson & Carl Sagan

Stoner Girl (Parts 1 & 2)

ATX Country and Jump Blues
Recorded live in Austin, Texas, at Banger's, January 2024.
Booking: tom_u@hotmail.com

Honky Tonk Girl - The Country Clubbers - Live in Austin - January 2024

CC Rider - The Country Clubbers - Live in Austin - January 2024

Sunday Morning Coming Down - The Country Clubbers - Live in Austin - January 2024

ATX Country and Jump Blues
Recorded live in Austin, Texas, at Banger's, January 2024.
Booking: karishaff@gmail.com; tom_u@hotmail.com

Help Me Make It Through The Night - The Country Clubbers - Live in Austin - January 2024

Crazy Arms - The Country Clubbers - Live in Austin - January 2024

What’s Going On (Inside My Brain)

Words & Music by Rick Watson			
© Hog Branch Publishing, March 1, 2024
DEMO ONLY.
2024 Austin Songwriter Group. Weekly Prompt: Goin' On

Lyrics

(Verse)
I didn’t mind
not knowing what’s going on
In your mind
Till you'd packed up to run
And now	I find
You’ve moved on far past the line
It’s one more sign
I never know what’s going on inside

(Chorus)
What’s going on inside my brain
I’m out of touch with everything

(Verse)
I can’t find
A train of thought to ride 
I'm in decline
I am crawling back inside 
My head it’s drained
I’ve strayed too close to the grave
It’s strange I find
I can’t recall my own damn name

(Chorus)
What’s going on inside my brain
I’m losing touch with everything

What's Going On (Inside my Brain)

What's Going On (Inside My Brain)

And Now I'm Grateful -- DEMO ONLY
Music & lyrics by Rick Watson
(c) 2024 Hog Branch Publishing 

Austin 2024 Songwriting Group. Prompt: Grateful

And Now I’m Grateful
Words & music by Rick Watson
© 2024 Hog Branch Publishing

Lyrics

I don’t know what was wrong with me
So full of hate & self-pity
Searched all around but all I’d see
Couldn’t fill the void inside of me

Now I’m grateful
Grateful I’m grateful

I wonder was I born that way
Or’d something happen to make me stray
Searched high & low & even prayed
Drank it all in but the pain still stayed

Now I’m grateful
Grateful I’m grateful

Strangers in a basement hall
Said come on back or even call
Day one now & one for all
Got on my knees & began to crawl

And now I’m grateful
Grateful I’m grateful

And Now I'm Grateful

New recording from Austin-based blues and groove band Supergrease

Coast to Coast

Coast To Coast - Supergrease

Words & music by Rick Watson, Hog Branch Publishing, March 2024. DEMO ONLY. (A revised take on a January 2024 songwriting group prompt -- new tempo and key.)

Lyrics

Lights out tonight
My heart’s pumping double
Full moon picks a fight
Each shadow spells trouble
The wind’s howling Run, boy
Though I only stumble
My love dreams beside me
I’ll soon burst that bubble
Lights out

Black clouds roll in
Horned owl is screeching
My face in the window
The highway beseeching
Screen door recoils
Ignition, I’m leaving
God’s voice in the static
But hate’s all he preaching
Lights out

Rest would come with just one swerve
Lights out for good on dead man’s curve
That peace costs more than you deserve
Or maybe baby I just lost my nerve
Lights out

Blue highway glows
It’s nothing I’m chasing
Despair is exhausting
Fatigue I’m embracing
The causeway – last exit
The rearview I’m gazing
The horizon’s a rose
The night it’s erasing
Lights out
I’m coming home
Lights out
I’m coming home
Lights out

Lights Out (I'm Coming Home)

A surf-inspired tune for this week's Austin Songwriter Group. DEMO ONLY. 

Kissing the Menace
Words & music by Rick Watson. (c)2024 Hog Branch Publishing.

Lyrics

Loving you is like living a death sentence --
captivating, nights of terror & heartache
yet thrilling & always intense.
Kissing you is like kissing the Menace.

Loving you is like trusting a witness --
emotional, uncertain, thrilling
but potentially filled with risk.
Kissing you is like kissing the Menace.

Kissing the Menace

First and Third
Music & lyrics by Rick Watson, (c)2024 Hog Branch Publishing. DEMO ONLY. Austin Songwriter Group prompt: The Window
Thanks for drums to Michael Bahan

lyrics

I’m searching down First Avenue
Can't help but wonder Is that you?
Picking gum off of her boot
	Glaring at some tourist too
You duck into the Pak Punjab
Toting your red laundry bag
	Sunset paints this canyon blue
	You walk on past, it wasn’t you

Sitting on our Third Street stoop
Wish you’d keep me in the loop
Past the church, that looks like you
Checkered scarf & slant bangs too
Wait, I see you waving now
I lift my hand, begin to smile
	The streetlamp coughs up his gray suit
	He takes your hand, it isn’t you

A siren wakes me just past 2
A shadow lies where I wait for you
	The bridge that took you frames the moon
	The East River will swallow soon
Get up,  unlatch the window grate
Stretch out onto the fire escape
	Glance down the block & scan for you
	So many windows reflecting gloom
        Come home, Pretty, and pretty soon
        Come fill up this empty room

First and Third

Pushing West (Bonus Tracks)

Wave Shape And Form

Testing the new "Gallows in the morning" effects pedal from Recovery Effects with bass guitar. Gallows is on the 'brazen' setting.  Some slide enhancements with humbucker guitar in track as well.

Ghost Whales

Hog Branch is home-base for Austin country soul songwriter, music, actor Rick Watson.  #GulfCoastSoulandBlues #FunkfromtheFarm #CountrySoulNoLimits

At This Distance (Utterly Lost) - Rick Watson & Carl Sagan

Hog Branch

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