That’s right, everyone- the new album from Jim Fusco, “The Easy Ways”, is being released on Saturday, September 20th, 2014 when Jim hosts his Album Release Party! If you’re in the Connecticut area, please join us for the celebration at Silver City Restaurant in Meriden, CT at 5:30 pm. Jim will perform the entire album live with a special mix of the disc that allows him to play and sing along with the backing track. It’s the best way to experience the album live!
Welcome everyone to the first new Jim Fusco Laptop Sessions cover song video for over a year and a half! I can’t believe it- doesn’t feel like that long ago AT ALL. The last cover video I did was “What Am I Doing Hanging ‘Round” by the Monkees on February 7th of 2013. Yikes.
As all fans of the music blog know, I’m releasing a new album called “The Easy Ways” in September! It’s been the spark I needed to get back into recording more Laptop Sessions cover song videos. I’ve compiled an incredible list of songs over the past 18 months and I can’t wait to get back into the full swing of it. I’ll even be re-recording some of my older videos. Yes, even I messed-up now and again, so I’m going to finally fix those mistakes and make the videos the best they can be. I went back and listened to over 220 cover song videos I’ve done in the past and only found 14 that need to be redone. That’s not so bad! I may do a few others that were poorly lit (or when I didn’t shave, was in my pajamas, etc.), as well.
Speaking of lighting, I’m still trying to perfect it, but I’ve got a new lighting kit to go along with my new video recording process. I’m now recording on my new iPad (should we change it to the “Tablet Sessions”?) with my trusty ZOOM H2 microphone. I”m also doing the video editing on the iPad. It’s so much faster and easier, but I’ve noticed a lot of features are lost on the watered-down mobile version. Thankfully I’ve found workarounds for the issues I’ve found so far. I hope there are updates to the app in the future that will allow me to enhance the colors in the video and normalize the audio better.
But these first few videos I’m doing came out pretty good and they took less than a quarter of the time it used to take me to record. And that’s the biggest part- I’ll do many more videos if they’re easy to create. That’s what was great about the Laptop Sessions in the first place: I could just open the laptop and hit record. But now, I’ve got to light it properly, have a nice background, and even comb my hair! I’ve noticed that people really like seeing a nicely lit frame with my electric guitars in the background and I think some of my older videos don’t get viewed much anymore because of their poor video quality.
So now, onto today’s video:
“Suspicious Minds” is a song by Elvis Presley that he debuted around the time of his big comeback special in 1968. I really need to see that video- I heard he really knocked it out of the park. Isn’t it so sad that the man was only in his early thirties and he already had to make a “comeback”? That’s show-business, I guess. Anyway, the song was a big hit for Elvis and it’s been a song I’ve known and loved for just about my whole life. It’s a fun one to sing, too, as it has some real passion in that slower middle section. I hope I did the song justice!
Stay tuned for an original song to come at you next Wednesday for my first Original Wednesday post for quite some time. I’ll be alternating original songs and cover songs until my new album comes out. In the meantime, you should be checking out http://jimfusco.com for previews of some of my new songs, plus the album cover artwork that will blow you away! See you all again next week and enjoy, “Suspicious Minds”, originally done by Elvis Presley!
Hello Laptop Sessions music video blog viewers! It’s been quite a while, but it’s officially time to get back to the music. And I start with a major release: that’s right, it’s the music video for the lead track off of my new album, “The Easy Ways”, entitled, “The Easy Way”!
The video features the actual track you’ll hear on the album, plus visuals of some of the guitars in my growing guitar collection. Those that have seen my videos are probably wondering why I chose my Seagull acoustic for this music video instead of my Martin. Well, I actually wrote the song when I first got the Seagull and wanted to feature it in the video for the song, too. “The Easy Way” is also the only track on the album that has the Seagull acoustic on it, so that’s a bit of Jim Fusco Trivia for you!
“The Easy Ways” (the plural is the album title) is an ambitious album of 16 tracks where all the songs run together. Various musical and thematic elements are intertwined throughout- the album is meant to be listened-to as a whole. That’s not to say there aren’t some catchy “single-worthy” songs (like this one) to grab your interest! I think I’ve finally achieved the good balance of serious, fun, happy, sad, fast, and slow over a full 55-minute album. I can’t wait to release it and blow some minds. 🙂
Okay, enough talk- let’s get to the music! Enjoy the music video for “The Easy Way”- I hope you’ll share it and comment on it.
And with the curveball out of left field, it’s Jim Fusco premiering a Fats Domino song! I have a list of about 20 songs that I’m ready to record, but my raging cold didn’t allow for that. You know, the best laid plans… But, I was listening to my new Genius Playlists in iTunes and this song came up. It was the Beach Boys version from 15 Big Ones that I’ve known for so many years. I mean, I heard the Fats Domino version on the local oldies station back when they actually played 50s music, but I knew all of the words because of the Beach Boys version.
I stayed true to the Fats Domino version for two reasons: 1, the Beach Boys version isn’t that great, and 2, it’s new bands weeks here on the best video blog on the internet and it only seemed fitting.
My current illness, which I’ve noticed is similar to most, allows me to feel much better as the day goes on. When I first wake up, I can barely talk and before I go to bed, you wouldn’t think I was sick at all. So, that’s why I recorded this video so late at night. My voice still won’t hold up for any higher-register songs (no comments from the peanut gallery as to my NORMAL ability to sing those parts), so this tune, even though I remembered it the day before, moved 20 slots up my list and onto New Bands Week.
Honestly, this video may rank as one of my favorites in the future. There’s a few Jim Fusco personal touches, including that C to Cmaj7 to C7 that I added during the middle 8. There’s also that crazy strum pattern I’m doing. Try to replicate it. I’m playing over a full six inch span over the sound hole. You’ll see the lower notes being played first, followed by the mids and highs. The video doesn’t rush, either. I did two full takes that were literally about a second apart from each other in length. The video seems to capture that orignal Fats Domino feel to it, and I’m proud of how the song came out. I think my voice, even though it wasn’t at its best, fit the song well.
It stinks that New Bands Week is over for me. I always look forward to doing new artists. You’ll be seeing PLENTY from me in the coming weeks, especially as my voice gets back to normal again and I don’t have coughing fits after a take. Enjoy today’s video and join me on the edge of my seat as we wait to view Chris and Jeff’s final entries into New Bands Week 2.0. Oh, and two last things: wasn’t Jeff’s original tune great yesterday? And second, I love Jeff’s new trademarked “Thumpin’ Thursday”, but today’s mellow number doesn’t really fit that bill. But then again, I won’t say what went on over on Blueberry Hill…
