This is a cool number that Chris and Eddy had been sitting on for about a year or so I believe.  They sent it to me and I really liked it.  I added some wacky percussion noises and the lead guitar throughout.  Then Chris put in some vocals.  was great working together with them.  It's called No Rush

eddyoffline - bass guitar
C.G. Maness - composition, acoustic guitar, vocals, lyrics
TexMex Shaman - lead guitar, wacky percussion and mix


Lyrics:
I don’t know where we went wrong.
Did we ever get off?
As the train moves along,
I’ll sing my railway song.
There’s no time to rush,
Should we get out and push?
No hungry mouths to hush.
I’m done hiding in the woods.
No rush, take your time.
There’s underdogs on the mainline.
No need to heed the signs.
We roll slow on this grind.
No rush, I’ll say it again.
You river rats that cooled my hand.
A blank stare and a grifter's grin.
“You’re just bluffing” said the drifter's friend.

No Rush - w/ eddyoffline and C.G. Maness

Solace in the Apocalypse

Lyrics:
Everybody breathe, and be easy.
Everybody breathe, and no cheating.
Everybody Breathe
Don't take it lightly,
Don't take it at all.
Don't even mind me,
Baby on Board.

Everybody Breathe

Cast of Characters:

Cgmaness – @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – bass,  acoustic guitar, drums, and composition
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–  mix, production, and mastering
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – mandolin and lap steel

This song began as an idea that Chris came up with on his acoustic guitar, and shared with Josh. Josh, loving everything that Chris writes, jumped at the opportunity to work on it. 
  Josh first added the melodic lap steel you hear throughout. Then, in the same session, came up with and recorded the mandolin track. He believes Rick Rubin's mantra, when it's flowing, keep it going. This song was the first of about half a dozen that Chris shared with the Eclectic Collective back at the beginning of summer. So, it sat dormant for about five months, until Chris revived it by adding the impressive rhythm section of bass and drums to complete it. Chirs is always a multi talented part of the team. 
  When it was all in the can, we asked Stephen to mix it for us, because his mixes are always so pro sounding. He also mastered it for us, too. 
  This is the fist song that Chris and Josh have recorded as a duo in almost a year. However, they love recording together and feel this is a great way to start the New Year with some magical music. We all hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Dance of the Tryptophans (with Josh Clary, produced by Texmex Shaman & cgmaness)

Rosewood & Main

Recycled Visions (One Last Look)

Lyrics:
I fell down a rabbit hole,
while looking for someone with soul,
but no luck. 
I'm here stuck holding a rabbit's foot.
Well, good luck.
Well, good luck.
Well, good luck.
I fell down into a well,
a voice said, "welcome to hell."
But the word is law,
He began to crawl, 
clutching a human foot.
Well, good luck
Well, good luck.
~~~~~~~~
I fell down a rabbit hole,
while looking for someone with soul,
but no luck. 
I'm here stuck holding a rabbit's foot.
Well, good luck.................

Good Luck

Cast of Characters:
Cgmaness – @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – acoustic guitar, drums, lyrics, vocals, and composition
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ and piano
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – four string fretless bass
This song started all the way back in October, when Chris came up with lyrics and a vocal melody to go over his acoustic guitar composition. He also added the drum beat that carries it along, and contrasts Josh's bass part, which he added next. JJ came along shortly after and added his twinkling piano and ambiance thickening organ. 
  We had all these parts down, but for some reason this sat on the shelf for a few months. Finally we decided to dust it off. Chris mixed it for us expertly, as always, and we decided to put a ribbon on it. 
 This is an example of Chris's brilliant songwriting, shared with a couple of other musicians who are mutual admirers of his work. This is also a trio within the Eclectic Collective family, as we sometimes do side projects with different iterations of the group. We all hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.  
  
Original lyrics by cgmaness:

Let the night tuck you under,
When you feel you can't go on.
When you want to be happy,
I will be what you want...
And, it's you that makes me happy.
When I'm down on my bad sign.
Washing out all the tie-dye from the blue sky.

Let The Night (Eclectic Collective)

Caught Up

Foregone Little Ego

Denial

I'm okay with being wrong,
I just didn't want to hurt anyone. No No
I'm just a man caught up in his own head.
I'd rather be somewhere over the rainbow instead.
I'm okay with shedding tears in front of you,
it's the least of all my fears.
I'm just a man, no I don't have a plan.
Open arms, open hands, I hope you understand.
I won't announce it again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't mind being wrong,
may I never forget this here.
Yet I don't want to sink your boat.
I only want to be somewhere in you.
In your heart and in my hand.
I don't mind if you try, just to slight.
I'm only a man.
May my eyes stay open.
Never to seal again.

Just Caught Up

Lyrics:
I was caught in a loop, caught in a loop, in a loop, a loop I say.
Bottom fell out, fell through, but you knew.
To laugh at these things.
Given to strain my eyes,
for they are great size.
If only to rise in the flame, 
Glazed over Ice.
Scales on your eyes.
No more sun or sea or sky.
Friends like these, 
making enemies.
Startled by daylight.
The Breeze blows louder than, 
the monolith was ever meant to be.
As it was vital to see, 
Etched in stone.
Indecipherable, the soul, the utterances.
Did you know,
the names you were told.
Bastardized, full control.
No one wants to hear,
Everyone likes their comfort zone.
It's etched in stone,
It’s a monolith.
While the engines lift,
and the idols lit,
in the dead mind.
Callused rage,
the traps engaged.
Dispatch with you,
Go away Go away.
Traps engaged.
Oh fox and wolves and animals.
Traps engaged.
Go away, Go away!
Thank You Good Sir,
We’ll be on our way.
~~~~~~~
May I say to you,
Do not go.
Do not go that way,
Down the path.
The trail leads to certain doom.
May I say to you,
Don’t go down that path.
The trail leads to certain doom.
May I say to you.
~~~~~~~~
I've been long...
I’ve been lost…
I've been lost...
I've been long,
Down the path.
Do not go down that way.
Don’t go that way.
I've been lost,
been broken.
I'm still saying,
there's still mercy...
I’ve been lost before….
I’ve been lost.
Don't go that way.

The Path of Great Folly

I'm a lifelong, multi-instrumentalist musician who records prolifically and joyfully. You'll hear me play guitar, bass (regular four string, and four and five string fretless), mandolin, banjo, keys (piano, organ, synth), lap slide, sitar, and sing on my recordings here. I've been in a few dozen bands in my life, playing everything from bluegrass, jazz, rock, jam band, reggae, funk, afrobeat, Middle Eastern, traditional Irish, singer/songwriter, pop/covers, to experimental/avant garde. 
  Since I found SoundCloud a couple years ago, I've found many talented, creative people with whom to create music. However, last summer ('23) I formed a band called The Eclectic Collective with some of my favorite musicians I've met through here. It started as a loose collective of musicians and coalesced into a core group of musicians who find other musicians with whom we'd like to make music, then run their songs through our process, and in effect add a full band. That core of The Eclectic Collective includes Tez (Llanpsych), J.J. Terrel, Ken (K2 and the Three), Stephen (Texmex Shaman), Chris (cgmaness), and Mark (mistermark). A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. 
  The magic of music is amplified exponentially by each person adding to it. So, we really try to add our sorcery all kinds of music from all kinds of artists. Sometimes, we keep it within the group, but a lot of what we do is collaboration with other artists. Therefore these days, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other artists on the side.
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song or lyrics and you really want to add bigger instrumentation or a band and good production to it. 
  A small sampling of the artists whom I consider primary influences, and whom you will hear coming through my fingers include Phish, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, The Grateful Dead, The Meditations, Michigan and Smiley, Lee Perry, Dillinger, Django Reinhardt, Impossible Recording Machine, The Allman Bros Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Bela Fleck, Les Claypool, Sam Bush, David Grissman, John Prine, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, MMW, Moe., Morphine, Ween, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Victor Wooten,  Cannonball Adderly, Thelonious Monk, Flea, Parliament Funkadelic,  Frank Zappa, Prince Paul, Pete Rock, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Carol Kaye, Tame Impala, Mumford and Sons, Japanese Breakfast, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Sean Lennon, and Billy Strings, but of course there are many more. I also really like and am influenced by traditional Iranian, Palestinian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Mauritian, Somalian, Egyptian, West African, and Syrian music. I welcome anyone who plays non-western music to contact me for a collaboration, too.
 I'm overjoyed to have found my community on SoundCloud. This is a truly unique forum where everyone is sincerely trying to build each other up. The profoundly supportive and positive SoundCloud community has really opened up an exciting new world of collaboration for me. That is the main reason I'm in the Cloud, actually, to connect with other musicians and make music that I enjoy listening to, and hopefully others do, as well. I am ALWAYS looking to collaborate with interesting musicians, mostly though BandLab, which is where I record almost exclusively. It's a solid, free digital audio workstation hub where you can share recordings, even if it's not where you make your recordings.
  Everything I do is live instrumental, not programmed, and using no computer beyond my phone. That's not to say that I would be opposed to using that kind of tool, it's just not my preferred medium with which to paint. If you like my music, please share it. If you want to collaborate, my BandLab handle is @bingo_pajama. Feel free to contact me at cornbreadband@hotmail.com, as well, even if you aren't on BandLab.
  Here's a link to music I've recorded live with a group of musicians here in Pittsburgh called The Northumberland Street Ramblers.
Check out The Northumberland Street Ramblers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/fU4Me

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New tracks tagged #CGManess