Message To My Girl (demo - recorded on iPhone)

Homage to the slow blues. Folks keep telling me I got a "mellow" voice. Maybe I haven't drunk enough whiskey or smoke enough tobacco to sing the blues but I can still do some smooth ones right? Keep it mellow, folks. Hope you enjoy chillin' to this little number. 

Keep It Mellow

An early demo of a song I wrote for my seven year old son. Like many kids he doesn't like to sleep in the dark so we have a complex bedtime routine and system of night lights to keep the monsters at bay. Sometimes I get frustrated at the time and effort involved, but then I remind myself that these are precious moments, and why would I want to be doing anything else with my time...? His window looks east and the sun comes up straight into his room (actual photo of sunrise)o I remind him that the night never lasts.

Sun Rising - Acoustic Version

This track was inspired by reading Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta by Robert Palmer (no, not that one). I was deeply moved by the struggle that forced young sharecroppers to skip out on unfair debt, at risk of prosecution, to seek better work conditions in the north - particularly Chicago. Anyone with musical skills, like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, found a ready and willing audience for their unique, emergent blues style of music, which gave them an alternative form of income to factory work - the usual fate for such migrants. 

This version of the song has no drums and a very simple baseline. A more rock version will probably appear on my next album due in the fall of 2015. 

For a fuller and more grandiose production check out Guiville on SoundCloud - he has sampled this on a track called 'Take me Higher' - check it out for the difference.

Cornfield Blues  - Acoustic Version

** Title Track from new album RISING TIDE BLUES due for release end Feb 2016 **

(Lyrics Below)

This is the title track from the my upcoming album.

The theme is Climate Change, but I wanted to write a melancholic and personal track to convey sadness rather than anger (check out Elemental for something a bit more pointed). 

The simple combination of piano, voice and strings gives this track a poignancy that contrasts with the fuller production on the rest of the album. 

Rising Tide Blues

I used to walk along the shoreline
The tide would come and go
There was a line in the sand between the sea and the land
I always knew where was high and low

But now I’m not so certain
There's water seeping in my shoes
There’s new information at hand, might have to take a new stand
I got the rising tide blues

In summer I would go swimming
Each winter there would be snow
What happened to spring and to fall, it just don’t makes no sense at all
Finding it harder to go with the flow
But now it ain’t so simple
I got so much to lose
Don’t feel so good about the future, no no
I got the rising tide blues

I used to wake each morning tell myself that things were fine 
Each day just like the other, got no sense of losing time
And though I’ve loved this coastline all my life, it makes me sad
If we lose we lose a city now and then well that’s too bad

Well I don't mind a little change, now and then
I read about it in the news
I hope it don’t happen too soon, don’t feel like changing my tune
Don’t give me no reason to sing the blues

My children tell me that I’m cynical
This ain't quite the future they would choose
Leave them a gift to last their lifetime, oh yeah
Give them the rising tide blues
Gives me the rising tide blue

Rising Tide Blues

** from new album RISING TIDE BLUES due for release by end Feb 16 **

(Lyrics Below)

Rock out to this one. 

Can't see eye to eye with your partner or someone at work, or the rest of the world? Perhaps this song is for you. We all need to chill out a bit people and start listening to each other.

I Can't Hear You

You take my name in vain
Try to make me think the same
You cuss and shout at me
It’s beneath my dignity

I can’t hear you ... when you shout above the crowd
I can’t hear you ... when you try to be so loud
I can’t hear you ... I’m deaf and blind to you
I can’t hear you ... there’s no way you're gonna get through

You got some things to say
Gotta find another way
You give me your attitude
No need to be so rude

I can’t hear you ...

We gotta turn things around
Gotta find some common ground
Open your heart to me
Maybe then I will see

I can’t hear you ...


I Can't Hear You

From the album RISING TIDE BLUES

This track is a follow-on to the track Elemental, Picking up the pace, the tight guitar loops and the African drum beats. I wanted to create a sense of accelerating chaos which is pretty much how I think about climate change. When I listen to this I imaging big storm clouds building over the savannah in one of those time lapse movies.

Dark Clouds

** from new album RISING TIDE BLUES due for release end Feb 2016 **

(Lyrics Below)

Every love affair has a beginning which stays as part of the narrative of "...how we met". 

Not all love affairs endure beyond the initial stage of infatuation - but some do survive the rocky transition to meaningful love. 

I hope this song captures some of that journey.

Only the Beginning
Words & Music by Teddy Garcia

Well the very first time you caught my eye
I could tell by the way that you didn’t smile - that you liked me
I ain't no kind of Romeo,  but I've playing the lead in a one-man show - until now.

It’s only the beginning, and it only gets better from here
This love will go on, baby, for years and years and years - You & I

Well you'd better think twice before taking me on
I've been flying solo, oh so long - and I like it
I do what I want each and every day
And I’m used to getting my own way  - up 'til now.

It’s only the beginning …

Many tried before to tame me
Many tried to pin me down
You’re the one that I’ve been waiting for
In a moment I was lifted off the ground

Time sure flies the years go by
We’re still tight, and I realise  - that I like it
Now, you and I got some history, yet still you’re quite a mystery - even now

It’s only the beginning …


Only The Beginning

** from new album RISING TIDE BLUES due for release end Feb 16 **

(Lyrics Below)

This is my first co-written song with a friend, Justin Peter from London. He gave me the basic chords and the hook line and I filled in the rest. 

This must have been the hardest song to write because it had someone else's musical DNA at the heart of it but with some perseverance I'm quite happy with the end result. 

The theme that emerged was one of time passing but some things staying the same while others evolve. 

That will mean different things to different people, but for me it's about gaining wisdom but hopefully staying young at heart.

Nothing’s Changed
Words & Music by Teddy Garcia & Justin Peter

Time will steal your youth, and hide it in the past
Memories start to fade, they’re not meant to last
After all these years, despite the tears
I’m still laughing at the rain

Nothing's changed, I’m still crazy

There’s comfort in the wisdom, from the things you’ve learned
Nothing comes so easy, it must all be earned
But I’m here right now, made it through somehow
I’m still smiling through the pain

Nothing's changed, I’m still crazy

How long will it take 'til I come to my senses
When will I break down
When will I lower my defences - I’m waiting

Wake up every day with a brand new way to see things anew
You're not living if you only ever have one point of view

What a lonely cross to bear
When your needle points nowhere

Nothing's changed, I’m still crazy


Nothing's Changed

** From new album RISING TIDE BLUES due for release by end of Feb 2016 **

I was playing with a band that wanted to do some old funk tunes but I wasn't in love with the songs they chose so I wrote a funk song myself. 

It wasn't a genre that I was familiar with but I had a lot of fun with it. 

The basic structure is pretty simple but getting on the beat has taken a whole year of practice. You don't think about funk - you feel it. It's a gas when you get into it.

Put A Rhythm On It

You lay down a line and it’s feeling fine
But if it don’t got swing ... don’t mean a thing

Gotta put a rhythm on it
The groove gotta feel just right 
But it’s the rhythm that makes it, outta sight!

When it’s late at night, and the feeling’s right 
Well, if you wanna move ... gotta get in the groove

You gotta a put a rhythm on it
The groove gotta feel just right
But it’s the rhythm that makes it ... feel so tight

At the break of day, got nothing left to say
When the words are gone … oh man, well the groove goes on

You gotta a put a rhythm on it
The groove gotta feel just right 
It’s the rhythm that makes it ... outta sight


Put A Rhythm On It

** from new album RISING TIDE BLUES due for release end Feb 2016 **

(Lyrics Below)

I wanted to finish my album with a long slow rock song with lots of epic sections building and fading in the style of 'Riders on the Storm' by The Doors or 'Sister' by Lenny Kravitz. The theme is a well worn blues theme of 'moving on'. 

Also since the title song of the album is Rising Tide Blues I thought it would be nice to leave on the tide at the end of the album. Hopefully it feels like the end of the journey when you listen to the whole album in one go.

Leaving on the High Tide

Gotta be movin’ on
Babe, I gotta I’m moving on
Gotta leave while the weathers fine 
Leaving with the next tide

I hear the rolling thunder
I hear the sound of distant thunder
I know a storm is coming
Leaving on the high tide … leaving on the high tide

Don’t ask me to stay
Babe, please don’t ask me to stay
Must be gone by break of day
Leaving with the next ride

There’s smoke on the horizon
I see smoke rings on the horizon
Gotta know what’s burning down
I’m leaving on the next tide … I’m leaving on the high tide

I don’t know where I’m going … you don’t know where I’ve been
I don’t want to hurt you but I gotta leave … I’m leaving on the high tide
 
I’m never satisfied
You know I’m never satisfied
Got nowhere to call my home
I’ll call you from the next town

Now, baby you can follow
Yeah, baby you can follow me
Don’t know if I’ll be there for you
I always catch the last ride … I’m leaving on the next tide


Leaving On The High Tide

My 7 year old son choosing his moment for deep philosophical questions.

Rehearsal and kids don't mix

So proud of my daughter. 

She came into a rehearsal sessions and said she wanted to write a song, so I started to riff and this came out - one take - totally improvised. I had no idea she had such talent tucked away.

She is now getting singing lessons and getting better (& louder) every day. Can't wait to see her musicality develop.

Charlie is a Border Collie cross with one blue eye and one brown. Everything she says about him in the song is true.

Black & White - Improv. by my daughter about her beloved dog, Charlie

No Return Lyrics

We kissed and loved, then fought, then loved again
As lovers tend to do,
And words were said and tears were shed,
For some of what was said was true.


And being said, and being true
They hurt like mortal wounds.
Nothing could return those words, unsaid
To their unsullied womb.


A “sorry” quickly followed, heartfelt,
Said with true remorse.
Apologies accepted, but words that cut so deep
Leave broken shards as they complete their course.


More ‘sorries’ followed quickly, then another 
Each successive one more true,
But a thousand heartfelt sorrows can’t replace 
One sincere “thank you”.

No Return (demo) ft. Ross Ogden

Been out of the studio for a while due to personal loss. Just starting to be able to let it out now. 

No Reason No Rhyme

Where is my lover where did she go?
Why did she leave me? I’ll never know
But I miss her now
Miss her all the time
Hope she’s happy now
No reason or rhyme

Where is your mother, what has she done?
One moment she’s with you, the next thing she’s gone
Guess you’ll wonder now
Wonder all the time
Is she happy now?
No reason no rhyme

Where is the daughter, you carried inside?
The natural order has been defied
So you cry for her
Cry all the time
Know she's happy now
No reason no rhyme

Where is your sister, taken too soon?
Remember her laughter, how she lit the room
You remember her, remember her smile
She is happy now
No reason no rhyme

Where are you lover, gone from my side
No-one could reach you, God knows I tried
But I miss you now
Miss you all the time
Hope you're happy now …

No Reason No Rhyme (Demo)

Blues with a touch of Soul, or maybe the other way around. Both my albums are on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play etc. Take a listen.

TeddyGarcia

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