Welcome again to the Open Mic Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!
Today, I bring you the title track to my 2009 album, “Halfway There”. This is a very special video for me, as this original song live video was selected as one of the top three Instagram videos in the Sam Ash music store open mic video contest! From there, it went on to win the national Open Mic video contest title! I was given a $100 gift card to Sam Ash and I’m so glad an original song of mine got that kind of recognition. It was even featured on Sam Ash’s homepage once it won!
“Halfway There” was a concept I had for an album. Basically, I was growing up and had to come to terms with getting a job, getting married, and potentially giving up some of the lofty goals I had for myself in previous years. So, a lot of that album has to do with that sentiment.
But, you know something? I realized along the way that I’m pretty happy where things ended up. I realized that I didn’t really want to spend all of my days and nights trying to get gigs, living in perpetual poverty, and holding down some menial job until I hit it big. Now that I have a normal “day job”, it’s given me the flexibility to have a nice home and to get some of the guitars that I’ve always wanted. And, from everything I’ve heard and read, fame isn’t really all it’s cracked-up to be. I hope to make a name for myself with these Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music videos online (and maybe get recognized for it someday), but that’s something I can do in my free time. Problem is, like everyone else that’s married and has a house, I don’t have much free time!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I’ve been able to do on my little free time lately. Going to these open mic nights has brought me out of my comfort zone, but its also ignited my love for playing music again. I’ve met some interesting people, too. Stay tuned for more, as I continue to dig into my catalog of original songs and play at open mics around the state.
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
We’re looking for more Guest Sessions submissions! So, sit down, pull up your acoustic guitar and camera, post the video on YouTube, and CLICK HERE!
It’s finally Friday and it’s time to add yet another guest to this, the Guest Sessions project, hosted at the best cover song and new music video blog on the web — the Laptop Sessions!
For tonight’s video, we are happy to bring you only the second Green Day cover that’s been released on the blog. Tonight’s guest comes to you from Bournemouth, UK. Isn’t that the beauty of the Internet? Mike White, our “Guest” performer, can record a video in the UK and I can post it on this music video blog while sitting in bed in Connecticut, United States. We’ve become so used to this web that it’s not all that amazing to most of us, particularly the younger generation (myself included). I take it for granted sometimes, but every so often I step back and consider how amazing this really is…
Tonight’s selection is “Church on Sunday,” the third track on Green Day’s Warning: album. Warning: was released in 2000 and rose to both gold status and number 4 on the Billboard charts. Even still, this was the least impressive showing the band had ever had, since their debut album Dookie. What makes material from Warning: ideal for the Laptop Sessions, though, is the fact that this album incorporates acoustic elements more than any previous Green Day release.
The band went on to release their new album, 21st Century Breakdown, in May 2009. Supposedly, it has been strongly influenced by the work of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and the Beatles, and is “more power pop than punk.” Interesting… (I hope…)
So, without further ado, Mike White’s energetic performance speaks for itself!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
This tune I wrote two February’s ago while sitting on a bench in West Haven, CT (Savin Rock). My favorite restaurant Jimmies is there, and I went between classes alone to just look at the water and see the sun shine out on it. I wondered why just seeing the sea could make me think and feel so strongly of one person in particular, especially since I never went there with them (or anywhere, for that matter)… Yet love has a way of touching the entire outside world, and every subject is another shell that was never left unturned.
I remember the cool air, but occasional warm breeze- and girls from a high school track team jogging by as I stared at a blank spot on the bench in which I sat… which I found remarkable, because every square inch besides this one void was covered in “Tom love Erica” and “Joe-hearts-Sandy”, etc… And i was so excited that if I wanted to, I could join the immortal bench carvers, haha… and lo and behold?..
a tropical song was born… and it inspired me to buy my ocean blue Dean Key Largo acoustic/electric because it feels like Im holding that water in my hands… hope you enjoy this interesting, complex song as much as my mother does when she hears me practice it!
Just a note… my favorite lines – “But who will save me?..When Im all alone, and my heart could choke…I got a tunnel of love, but my swan-boat’s broke….Maybe it just needs a song, a new piece of oak- to get me to you…And I dont know if it’s the cold or the fact I miss you so- that is makin’ my lips turn blue… But there’s still strength enough for I adore you”… =)
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Hello and welcome to another week of new material from the best acoustic cover song music video blog in the universe! We’re glad you’ve chosen to stop by and we hope you’ll read the posts, watch our music videos, and leave us some comments and requests.
Let me begin my post tonight by explaining the new background. Although I think I will eventually establish the living room as my backdrop — better lighting, better acoustics — I wanted Laptop Sessions regulars to see that my “wall 0′ CD’s” has been rebuilt in the condo. I just recorded this video, so there wasn’t any natural light to speak of. Thus, the image is a bit yellowed. Additionally, I spent the weekend working on installing surge protectors, organizing my bookshelf, maximizing space in the closet, etc., so there aren’t any posters. The walls look pretty plain, but I promise there will be a more complete backdrop soon. I have a cool Beatles poster that came free if you bought two or more Beatles remasters at Newbury Comics, and I’ve been itching to put that up. And, of course, there are the Bob Dylan posters that have been with me since I lived with my parents, so it will be nice to get those up soon, as well.
Until then, let’s just focus on the music…
I’ve wanted to record this song since I heard it in the closing credits of Up in the Air a month ago. I had planned to record it right away, but Spoon’s new album, an Elvis Costello phase, and the aborted Locksley new release all intervened. I had considered milking the Who publicity for a session and I was looking for a fitting Jimi Hendrix song for today, but I just couldn’t put this one off any longer.
If you haven’t heard of Kevin Renick, well, that’s kind of the point. Apparently, he wrote “Up in the Air” a couple years before he heard that director Jason Reitman was working on a film adaptation of the book. The version you hear in the film is the original recording Renick handed to Reitman after he heard Reitman speak. The cassette recording begins, “Hi, Jason. My name is Kevin Renick, and I’ve written a song called ‘Up in the Air.’ I wanted you to hear it. It goes like this…”
What follows is a home recording that is simple and wonderfully suited for the film. Of course, it was literally no work to translate this into a Laptop Session as, for all intents and purposes, it already is. When I read more about Renick tonight, I became even more excited about posting this session. He is not signed to a record label. He has never released an album before. Being unemployed himself, he sings his song with conviction, and it was relaxing to learn, play, and record.
The lyrics, like the song, are deceptively simple. There are some great lines here — “When people ask me what I’m doing with my life, I say, ‘It’s up in the air’” and “I’m hearing from friends; it’s that tired, old advice again: ‘You just cannot keep floating all around; oh, you got to get your feet back on the ground.’”
I can’t understate how well this song encapsulated the feel of the film and of the other excellent music chosen for the soundtrack. The Up in the Air soundtrack includes one of my favorite Elliott Smith songs, “Angel in the Snow” (from the New Moon posthumous release), a couple of cool Graham Nash songs (one with Crosby and Stills, one solo demo), and Dan Auerbach’s “Goin’ Home” (from Keep It Hid, my pick for the #10 best rock album of 2009).
So, that’s the story behind “Up in the Air.” Once I’ve finished posting this session, I’m off to grade some senior papers before dinner, and then I have two things I’m looking very much forward to. The first is watching — and yes, your nerd-o-meters are about to go crazy — Star Trek: Voyager with Nicole. I haven’t watched Voyager for YEARS, not since I watched from the sixth season or so on with my mother. Every week, we’d meet and watch that show until it went off the air. And I loved it! But I never thought to go back, so that’s been my recent television indulgence.
In music-related “news,” the second activity I’m looking forward to tonight is finally being able to relax and read the booklet to the posthumous Jimi Hendrix collection First Rays of the New Rising Sun. I unfortunately had to return a Christmas present, and although I put it off for weeks, I finally exchanged it last Friday for this Hendrix CD. I’ve been mildly interested in it for a few years, but I wasn’t sure what it would be like. I’m generally of the opinion that the overall consistency and quality of Hendrix’s albums started at near-perfection with Are You Experienced? (1967) and declined from there, particularly on Electric Ladyland (1968). That’s not to say that he didn’t make some tremendous, outstanding music after his debut album — “Wait Until Tomorrow,” “Castles Made of Sand,” “Bold as Love,” “Crosstown Traffic,” and his cover of “All Along the Watchtower” — but the second and third albums themselves just weren’t as tight or compelling as the first.
Let me tell you: it’s a SHAME that Hendrix never finished First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Even as a 17 track collection compiled “under the direct supervision of the Hendrix family,” this disc is easily the best, most dynamic work he released after Are You Experienced? Given the time, Hendrix may very well have topped even that. Anyone who owns the greatest hits collection Experience Hendrix already knows the rocking “Freedom,” the jaw-droppingly beautiful “Angel,” and “Dolly Dagger.” If you like those tracks, you should check this out as well, especially for great work like “Night Bird Flying,” “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun),” and “In From the Storm.” Great stuff indeed.
Well, that about does it for me this week. Of course, you should hurry back every day of this week for fun new material — you can bank on another full Laptop Session, a three-part “Yes, No, Maybe So, Retro” series, a Guest Session of a great Buddy Holly song, and an all-new Weekend Review. Don’t miss any of these great music-related posts — you’re only going to find them here…
See you next session!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
