When The Lyrics Come First
When The Lyrics Come First
How do you write from lyrics? Here's a fun journey on how I co-wrote a song with Scrappy Jud Newcomb.
As always you can find my upcoming tour dates for the upcoming midwest US, southern Ontario, and more, with links to info and tickets at jeffplankenhorn.com/shows
To hear the “rough demo” and download the “solo acoustic” versions of the song described below, just join my patreon for new music from me every month and more content and livestreams at patreon.com/jeffplankenhorn
Today I'm at home in lovely (and very rainy) Campbell River on Vancouver Island. When you get this post, my wife Donyne, our dog Alice, and I will be checking into our airbnb in Yucca Valley today after 5 long travel days on the road. 2 of those days would have had me working in the Bay area (San Francisco, Davis, Pacifica, and down near Santa Cruz) for 2 radio shows, a house concert, and a solo acoustic gig at a bar.
I'm looking forward to continuing to write for my new album (and others) while we are there. I'm recording in April!!! If you are interested in donating to become an executive producer of the recording and get your name in the credits - message me here or wherever you can get me.
Since I'll be traveling I thought a good story about the joy of creating with friends, and the challenges of writing music at a distance.
Many of you who follow me here know I have written many a tune and played many a gig with the infamous Scrappy Jud Newcomb. To name a few over the years I've shared here you can listen to by scrolling back — Lift Me Up, Stride, Maybe It's Not Too Late, and so many more.
For years, Scrappy was kind of my hero in Austin: producer, sideman to the stars, and a great solo artist in his own right. His work with Ian McLagan and The Bump Band along gives him a place in the rock history book of Austin.
So when I started playing with The Resentments every Sunday night in Austin, I knew every week I'd get some schooling. Little did I know I would be learning just as much from all the other members: John Chipman, Miles Zuniga, and Bruce Hughes.
So, Scrappy and I write a lot. Basically I bug him when I have a new idea I think he is the one I need to help me. I may have just a riff. I may have just a title. We almost always take it to fruition. (side note—I do this with so many other artists and am very lucky to be able to co-write with such great writers!).
I'm home for almost the entire month of January (or had been home by the time you read this). Remote recording for other projects, teaching lessons, and writing songs for my new album. I'll be traveling to Nashville in April to record with Colin Linden producing. As of right now, Blue Corn Records will be releasing and distributing said album. (Blue Corn is Ruthie Foster's long-time indy label as well as many other notables).
Naturally I would be writing with as many new and standard favorite folks to write with. I had a hankering to try something very different with Scrappy. Send him some lyrics with no music at all.
These lyrics had been written to the poetic rhythm or "metric line" of a writer that we all know and love. A unique form that does not go ABAB or AABB for the rhyme scheme. It made use of a simple couplets before the last line in every verse. Here's how it looked when I sent it to Scrappy...
The rhythm of the other artist's verses made me want to write a song like that. With as unique a flavor on the page as it had when musically performed. "Somewhere between, the moon and the sea" would be sung differently: faster and with a different melodic rhythm than the other lines.
My message via text to Scrappy was essentially, "write some music or just put some chords to these lines as you hear it. I'm too close to the song I took it from and I don't want it to sound anything like that artist." Besides that, there was no way I would tell him who's song I borrowed the rhythm from. That would defeat the whole purpose."
The very first thing he came back with I loved. He sent me and acoustic demo made on a voice memo, singing the first verse with an acoustic guitar.
Here were the differences and things he brought to it.
1. He wanted us to write it about a character. Specifically that heroine we all know and love. That free-spirited woman we all can learn from. I wasn't sure if she was just going to be a character in one of the verses or not, but Scrappy really thought this was the way to go.
2. He doubled up on the couplet idea before the end of each verse.
3. He changed/edited a few of the words (and even one line) to add some imagery and to set up the story.
Beyond that, we got together on the phone and messaged back and forth for a week or so. I wrote the little major-to-minor guitar riff to be played between verses that eventually became tho outro as well. I mentioned after we had 3 verses co-written that we both really liked, that I thought there should be a chorus with very few words and some long tones, to balance out the very wordy verse. Another voice memo with the chorus chords and melody came into my inbox. Brilliant.
Eventually we came together on enough to make and acoustic demo, and for fun that very night we finished after my wife and dog were deep in slumber, I made a "I play all the instruments" very rough demo as well. That's the version attached to this post - not for download; it's just a little too rough. I also added below a fully acoustic me-and-my-guitar pass of the whole song, which I like better in a lot of ways.
This song does not really fit the album I plan to make in April - but man it was fun to write. If I ever do another album more like "Sleeping Dogs" I could hear this on it.
I had never tried sending "just some lyrics on a page" to anyone to begin writing a song. If I ever write something and someone else's song is playing over and over again in my head no matter how hard I try to change it, I'll send it to Scrappy - or maybe someone else...
Thank you as always for your continued support! It means the world to me and helps me navigate my still newish solo career.
See you this month all over California. Next month Oregon and Washington state gigs. Then on to Texas.
Plus a new duo acoustic album with Michael O'Connor!!! To be pre-released digitally with orders for the physical copies on Bandcamp February 3rd!