A collaborative song recorded at Marcel's "Country Road Studio" while visiting.

I Don't Know What I Don't Know

I really wanted to compose something quite different than my usual stuff, and this is it!  I have been listening to my cousin, Marc Arseneault a fair bit lately and it is without a doubt, his influence on me is showing!  Marc is an excellent composer, musician and a true musical brother!

THE LAST THING I'D DO

Collaboration between 2 almost brother, Marc & Carl, this song was composed and recorded in OneRedHen Studio.  The project was on our "to do list" for a few years, after a 40+ year hiatus. A lot of fun, a lot of memories, a keepsake forever.

SAME RIDE

I had a marvellous opportunity a week ago to collaborate with my good friend Marcel Gauthier and compose this beautiful song.  Marcel is a master at his craft, a wordsmith and a recording technician as he managed to make me sound better than I actually am!!  It was so much fun to create something out of nothing, our creative juices were definitely flowing!!  This track also features my new Gibson Jackson Browne along with my Muth mandolin.

Butterflies And Sweet Red Wine

This is a composition of mine that I originally wrote many, many years ago, and had almost forgotten about.  Simple recording using my new Blueridge guitar along with my Muth mando.

CELTIC MORNING RAIN

I picked up a vintage (circa 1950's) Harmony banjo for next to nothing and decided I wanted to record something, anything, so I made this all up in 5 minutes. It was only meant to be a test.  Anyway, I kept it just because it was the first day of my new (old) banjo!

APPALACHIAN SNOW (instrumental Banjo)

Composed and recorded by Marc Arsenault and Carl Arseneault in OneRedHen Studio Aug 11, 2023

It Looks Like Rain (Quicksand)

I literally wrote this song while sitting in the studio.  I used my new 1968 Gibson J-45 that I purchased last week and wanted to hear how it would sound finger picked.  Added the resonator for that haunting sound and some mando to round it out.  That was it!

The Longest Night

This is what happens when you decide to record something just so you can do a mic and level check!  Yup, this short song is an impromptu creation because I wanted to set up the studio for recording tomorrow.  But... I just decided to keep this spontaneous creation instead.

MEMORY LANE

You will have to excuse the stray notes, this was a very (a couple of hours) quick recording to capture the essence of the song. The intent was not to have it perfect, just to have the feeling of the song. Has a lot of instruments, perhaps a remix might be able to fix some of those "stray notes"!!  Or we just call it jazz!!

The Oyster And The Pearl

Here is an old song that was written and performed by a group called Spirit. I think it dates back to 1974.  I had a hand written copy I made when I was in high school, loved the song then, really fitting now!

MELLOW MORNING

Here is a song I composed yesterday, the first attempt was recorded using my cell phone, then decided to record it in my studio.  So this is the 2nd version, added some piano, mando and thickened the vocal in places.  Other than that, pretty basic. 

It's A Stormy Morning

I've been retired for over six years yet I still dream about work!! You never can get it out of your system I guess!!  So, one morning, after one of those all night dreams (or nightmare might be a better word), I decided to write a song about it.  I guess if you can't beat it, join it!!!! 

An Inside Job (What A Mess)

This a remix version of a song I composed and released last week. Better sound quality, better mix and tracks cleaned up.

Inside Job (remix)

This is a song I wrote last week, decided I would try and record it, but more so, I tried different techniques in the recording process.  Certainly not perfect, the verses need work, the tempo is too slow and I have to tighten up the vocals a lot.  In other words, this is just a demo, a huge work in progress and I know I can do a whole lot better!

And So It Begins

This is a complete remake of a song I wrote/recorded last week called "And So It Begins".  There were a fair number of things I didn't like about that composition, so I changed the lyrics, the tempo, the key, well pretty much everything,  This is a much stripped down version of that song.

Thrives In The Cold

I composed this song this morning on whim.....I had a few catchy lines, jotted them down, picked up my resonator guitar, and BAM!  There you are!!  So, I rushed downed stairs to my home studio, recorded it as fast as I could before I would forget how it goes.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun writing and recording it!

I GUESS

This is a song I composed about 12 years ago, always loved the lyrics (although I did a bit of tweaking) but never could have the courage to sing it. So, I dusted it off, drank a shot of courage, and here you are!

Walls Are Coming Down

I wrote this song about 15 years ago after attending the funeral of one of my best friends who passed away suddenly.  I have played in many, many times publicly over the years, thought it was time to give it a decent recording.  Kept it pretty simple, a couple of guitars, bass guitar and hint of banjo for good measure!  
Life is fragile, we are all "living on the edge of time" so take a moment to reflect on how wonderful it really is.  It can all be taken away in heartbeat!

Living On The Edge

After here this classic Donovan song done by the Irish Descendants, I was inspired to try my hand at recording it.  It has been close to a year since I did any recording, so my mixing skills are a bit rusty!

Catch The Wind

This is the first complete song I have written in almost a year.  Many reasons why, life has a way of getting in the way you might say!  But, here I am again!  This particular reflective song took awhile to write and even longer to compose the music.  Recording was the easy part, all tracks done an mixed in one afternoon.  But there was a lot of practice and changes to get it to that point.  
This is a song about my "old hometown".  I know across Canada and pretty much everywhere, home towns have declined as the kids moved away for work and the population got older.  This is one such town.

How I Long To Hear That Sound

Here is song that I always liked, so I thought I would give it a try.  I also want to dedicate it to my Aunt Bernie who truly is "Tougher Than The Rest" with her spirit and truly is an inspiration for me!!  If I could be 1/10th of 1% as tough and positive, I would be a lucky man!!!

TOUGHER THAN THE REST

I woke up with this tune in my head this morning, picked up the mandolin and banged out a few bars.  Next was the guitar and tried some vocals and this is the end result.  With some practice and some vocal help, it might be an OK tune.

Crossing Muddy Waters

Studio version of Rock and Roll Girls --- needs to be remixed, has plenty of timing issues, but sound quality is much better.

Rock And Roll Girls (studio Mix)

Recorded using my J-45 & Larrivee LV-03RE, on a whim because I had the song stuck in my head,  One take, rough, meant to be a working copy.  Also a lot experimenting with vocal harmony.

Stumblin'In

The other day, I was playing Streets of London and for some reason "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" popped into my head.  I thought perhaps they would make a perfect medley -- and they do.  Recorded and arranged in a very simple manner, just a few tracks including the bass guitar and banjo.  I think simplicity is paramount for making this one work.  The guitar is my Larrivee LV-03RE which is a super balance monster of a recording guitar!

Streets Of London Don't Think Twice  Medley

This is an old Buddy Holly tune which was remade by Marty Stuart and Steve Earle --- and now there is my version.  Recorded using the Gretsch, the J-45 and with a lot of help from the TC Helicon Voicelive Play unit!!

Crying Waiting Hoping

Just an amateur hack who loves the art of composing songs.  It had always been a passion of mine to create something from nothing, give it life and say “yeah, I did that”! Music has always been my life, unfortunately, not my livelihood!

NewStrings

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