July Friends

Outer Space

Just a little ditty about potential travels to Mars...
Lyric Video :
https://youtu.be/0QXekcjejeY?si=sz3qXMLLrZqDAnn5

Hope On A Starship

I suspect that the worst place on earth is better than the best place on Mars.

One Way Ticket to Mars

Recorded in Modesto, Ca. Featuring Gibson 335 Electric Guitar solo. Alto Saxophone solo. Steinway Brothers Acoustic Piano Rhythm. Gibson L5 Electric Guitar Rhythm. Fender Electric Bass. Roland Synthesizer Bass. Drums full kit. Percussion, Cow Bell, Ago go Bells, Tambourine, 22" Zildjan Ride & Crash Cymbal. Congas, Bongos.

Cannery Row

Dashing Out

Dedicated to 29 years old police officer Rouven Laur who lost his life today in Mannheim being stabbed down by an islamistic attacker while trying to save the life of another victim of this terror attack. Rest in peace, may you be never forgotten.
written in 1994

Pulseless (2024)

Cast of characters:
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ—piano, synth, lead vocals, lyrics, seed idea 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–electric and acoustic guitar, slide guitar intro 
mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark – backing vocals, organ, vst sax, mix, and production
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – four-string fretless bass
Composition--The Eclectic Collective

  This song began as an idea JJ came up with during one of his Saturday night creative sessions, fleshed out on the piano, drums, and bass. I was first on this by coming up with a new bass line to go with it, but Ken was also an integral part of that process, as always, too, adding his perfectly suited drums to it. Once we had the rhythm section down, Stephen added his electric guitar, which adds a great howling at the moon esthetic to it, and his acoustic guitar as a foundational element. He also added the cool slide guitar you hear in the intro. 
  At this point, JJ decided it needed some vocals, too. So, he wrote up some lyrics and sang them, giving his typically light, gentle voice some rough swagger. Mark then came along and added the rich backing vocals you hear in there. He also added the sax solo and the organ, too He also was able to correct some timing issues we were having, by using his able hand in the DAW. Then, of course as every good song needs a good mix, Mark did the honors for us with this one, too.
  This is a true Eclectic Collective song, and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.   Also, in case you were wondering where Josh and Tez have been, they've both just returned from vacations in North Carolina and Ireland, but are excited to be back making music with the team.
Original lyrics by JJ Terrell:
That fog around the mountain

is getting set to rise

pulling these wheels on down the road lord

is pulling my heart right out


If you really love someone now

wouldn't you want it to be a hundred to none?

instead of traveling around with a scorecard by your side


ooooh oh yeah

gonna set you free


ooooh, oh yeah

gonna leave you be
that fog around the mountain
it's like a dream
my heart, it has soon forgotten
a rolling stone like me

saxophone
looking down that dusty road
sun's beatin' down

pulling these wheels on down the road lord
has got me down
until I see you again. 




That Dusty Road (Eclectic Collective)

Cast of characters: 

Quanah Stewart --vocals, lyrics
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–electric guitar, synths, arrangement, composition, mix, and production 
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – four-string fretless bass
 
This song began with Stephen and his friend and bandmate, Quanah Stewart who also sings this version, and who wrote the lyrics. They were in a band together for about 7 years in the early 2000s. When the band broke up, they went many years without playing together. Until, in 2018 Stephen started his TexMex shaman project and this was one of the first songs he wrote.  Quanah had moved to Austin in the meantime but on a visit back to Dallas, Stephen asked him to come over and add the vocal track you hear on the song.  
 
Fast forward to 2024 and Stephen wanted to remix this along with a few other older tunes. He asked his good friends and teammates Ken and me if we'd like to help, and of course, we were super enthusiastic.  This is what Stephen had to say about the finished product. "Their parts blew me away.  Beyond what I expected and it made it a whole new song.  Very grateful to them both for their time and talent." As are Ken and I very grateful to Stephen for sharing his awesome rocker with us.  
  The title comes from trying to think of the stupidest song title Stephen could come up with, on a bet. And it’s close. 
  Of course, Stephen did the honors of mixing and producing it. Ken and Josh had a lot of fun brining this song back to life with him, whose creativity and skill are unparalleled. We all hope you (and Quanah) enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it. 
Original Lyrics by Quanah Stewart:
1212 still like to dance still like to sing deep cover elevator parking lot bring yeah THEY don't know about IT THEY aint seen we squeakin tweakin but were bufferin th stream yeah favorite stories favorite songs hey check th timeline might be gettin mighty long now my mind expanded my mind IS blown my head exploded but I dont know what it shown yeah (unknowable silence) NOW ITS some bullshit we went through who knew th
CHASMS came & got you 2 still sayin fuck you still stayin high still makin me believe that Bon Scott never died rye whens the punchline when
IS IT near nobody laughin said that no one shed o tear NOW so whats th story what th eff we gonna have to make IT with what little we got left yeah yeah

Tallywhacker OMG! (with Stephen and Ken of Eclectic Collective, and sung by Qhanah Stewart)

Album Summer Of The Seasonal Optimist 2024 
...with a little help from my friends...

Summer Of The Seasonal Optimist

Copyright 2024 Joe Stroffolino

The universe is big, it makes you feel small.   
So many stars you can’t count them all

The signals came from outer space
Signs of an alien intelligence
We reacted with joy and mounted a mission
To investigate their presence

The messages were old and somewhat primitive
But surely by now they’d matured
We rejoiced that we were no longer alone
In the cold sterile universe

We packed our ships and traveled there
On a mission of friendship and peace
But all we found was the empty shell 
Of a world that lost its lease

A desert world no sign of life, craters scar the land
All evidence has been swept away by the cruel and shifting sand
I wonder what happened, they really screwed up
I’m glad I wasn’t there when their world blew up
I’m sure it wasn’t pretty, I’m sure it wasn’t fun.
I wonder if they even realized what they’d done

The air is cold, the sky is harsh, no trees to shade the sun
For those survived the initial blast, there was no place left to run

We realized that we were still alone in the cold sterile universe
Not enough love and too much hate, they ended up in a sorry state

A desert world no sign of life, craters scar the land
All evidence has been swept away by the cruel and shifting sand
I wonder what happened, they really screwed up
I’m glad I wasn’t there when their world blew up
I’m sure it wasn’t pretty, I’m sure it wasn’t fun.
I wonder if they even realized what they’d done

We traveled home, again alone, with news of their demise
And once again, there was no one left to see that old sunrise

The Signals Came From Outer Space

This song was written in 2007 and is another of my space videos with a ghostly twist. I wrote it as a kind of Halloween ghost in space thing. Charlie sang it very well and I tried to play a very melodic Bass on it, like Chris Squire from Yes. This is a favorite of my wife, she really loves it and I like it a lot as well. I made the video just before I left for vacation about 3 weeks ago. The video turned out really good and I threw in plenty of space eye-candy for everyone to enjoy. Watch the video for the full irony of it all! It's a twisted irony to be a ghost in the machine! This is my #2 video for Halloween 2024 and not very creepy at all. Basically it'a about an astronaut that misses the earth, his wife, his kids, and is stranded on another planet where he dies but his ghost is still floating around lost forever in space, kind of a revamped Space Oddity from David Bowie! Thanks for listening and have a Happy Halloween everybody!😱😱😱

VIDEO - https://youtu.be/ee7wRFbt844

“GHOST IN THE MACHINE”

SUN-SWEPT, LOST AMID THE CLOUDS,     
FLOATING, A FACE AMONG THE CROWD,     
YOUR SHORELINE BECKONS THROUGH THE MIST,     
I CAN HEAR IT CALLING ME,
          
DRIFTING, SHIFTING LIKE THE SANDS,     
TIME IS, SLIPPING THROUGH MY HANDS,     
DREAMS OF BATHING IN YOUR KISS,     
FOREVER HAUNTING ME,
              
A GHOST IN THE MACHINE,          
A GHOST IN THE MACHINE,          
A TWISTED IRONY,            
JUST A GHOST IN THE MACHINE, 
         
SILENCE, I MISS YOUR VOICE TODAY,     
LONELY, A MILLION MILES AWAY,     
COOL WATER SATISFIES MY THIRST,     
GREEN FIELDS WHISPERING TO ME,

DARKNESS, NO DAY TO CHASE THE NIGHT,     
HEAVEN, A DIM TWINKLING BLUE LIGHT,     
A CHILD WITHOUT GOOD MOTHER EARTH,     
A DISTANT MEMORY,

A GHOST IN THE MACHINE,          
A GHOST IN THE MACHINE,          
A TWISTED IRONY,            
JUST A GHOST IN THE MACHINE!    

BY JIM VALDES © 2007

GHOST IN THE MACHINE

"GHOST IN THE MACHINE" [Video - https://youtu.be/ee7wRFbt844]

A Very Important Question ~~
Lyric Video :
https://youtu.be/oZEhkRr11po?si=yxviwZR-67UThEkU

CAN I BRING MY PIANO TO MARS

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious).  
I do not use AI to create my songs. 
Recently I have had the urge to pick up my guitars (Taylor 114ce and Fender Squire) and I have been trying to use more guitar in my songs.  
My go to .vst plug ins are  EZkeys 2, EZ Bass and  EZ drummer 3) and my DAW is Logic Pro 11. 
I welcome your comments and enjoy listening to all the great music on SoundCloud. 
All songs are originals and copyrighted.