This is my latest work-for-hire: a Christmas song. This is the 4th version. The first 3 were rejected :-o

We're A Christmas Family Revised Vocal Mix 4

11_2_Gilreath

The guitar solo from my song "Taken So Long"

Taken So Long Solo

An excerpt from my voice-over project for an audio-production class.

Radio Voice-Over Project Excerpt

Hot Night Excerpt

This is an excerpt of the last song I wrote, back in 2017. It was released on iTunes, and it proved to be one of the most popular songs I had ever written. 
Lyrically, it's about developing feelings for someone who's unavailable and/or in love with someone else. Imagine being madly in love with someone, wanting to tell them how you feel, but knowing that doing so could hurt whatever bond you two share together if they don't feel the same way. This song conveys the internal struggle and the torture of having to keep those feelings to yourself in order to stay on good terms with them.

The Hardest Part of Wanting You

Wanting You With Me (Unplugged Excerpt)

I recorded this cover of Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do For Love" in the summer of 2017, as a demo to try to get some live gigs, locally. I recorded the guitar and vocals live in real time, then I went back and added the bass and percussion parts.

Covers 2017

That One Bobby Caldwell Song Everybody Knows

Around May 25, 2015, I started working on a cover of Chicago's "Hard Habit to Break" from Chicago 17. Due to having a short attention span, and being distracted by some unmentionable drama, I never finished it.

I got the idea to do it after I saw a video interview with Jason Scheff on how to get that classic "Chicago" 80's vocal sound, so I figured I'd try that technique to see if I could replicate the sound.

A Cover Of That Song From Chicago 17

Seven days after Prince passed away on April 21, 2016, I started working on a cover of "When Doves Cry", partially to honor his legacy, and to mourn his passing. Rather than do a straight-up copy of the song, I opted to come up with a hard-rock arrangement of the tune. The end result sounded like 1978-era Van Halen instrumentally and 1984-era Chicago, vocally. I wanted to license it and put it out as a commercial single, but a friend of mine who was a hard-core Prince fan didn't like it, so I never finished it.

Hard Rock Cover Of A Prince Tune

"Well, I once was so strong
I held my world in my hands
But I had been marked for death
By the face of a friend

I was misunderstood
I was made a target again
By a smile on a face
of a poisonous snake

But I’ve had just enough
And it’s Taken so long"

I started writing this song back in 1999. It didn't come together all at once. I didn't start on the lyrics until 2015.  It is a very personal song to me, musically and lyrically. Musically and lyrically, it's a song about betrayal of the worst kind: being betrayed by the ones closest to you, the ones you trust, and even the ones you love. The song isn't about any one person, but rather, everyone who ever acted against me when I trusted them the most.

Mazin Ex Machina Demos

Taken So Long (2nd Verse & Solo)

This is probably one of the most "metal" songs I've written, or rather, co-written. I wrote, produced, and performed all of the music in June 2015. The lyrics were contributed by a lady I met in my local town. She knew I wrote and produced music, and she asked if I could turn one of her poems into a song, so I did. I was concerned she wouldn't like what I did, but she fell in love with the song, and tried for years to get me to perform it live in the area. I never did lol.

Joseph Hero 1

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