Tag Archives: live

“Halfway There” (Original song by Jim Fusco) – The Open Mic Sessions

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By Jim Fusco:

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.

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Bob Dylan SET LIST – 11/27/2010 at the MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, CT

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Click HERE for the Weekend Review!

SET LIST:

1. “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking”
2. “Lay, Lady, Lay”
3. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”
4. “Tangled Up in Blue”
5. “Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee”
6. “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”
7. “High Water (For Charley Patton)
8. “Visions of Johanna”
9. “Summer Days”
10. “Love Sick”
11. “Highway 61 Revisited”
12. “Workingman’s Blues #2”
13. “Thunder on the Mountain”
14. “Ballad of a Thin Man”

15. “Jolene”
16. “Like a Rolling Stone”

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

More from the Weekend Review

“Waitress” by Live – Cover Version

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By Jeff:

Welcome to your super special Saturday edition of The Laptop Sessions!  Tonight I bring you a song from the 90’s – and just in time for my return from vacation!

This song is somehow appropriate.  The song is “Waitress” from the band Live, and it is from their album “Throwing Copper”.  I have covered a song from this album previously (Lightning Crashes) and I do have a few more songs on my list to cover from this band.  The album is a terrific one and it is unique in it’s song selection.  You get quite a few types of songs on it such as the fast and angry “White, Discussion”, the commercially appealing “I Alone”, and one of the best song titles of all time “Sh*t Towne”.

This one I decided to post this time because we just came back from vacation and I have to lodge a complaint.  We stayed at a wonderful resort for 4 nights and had terrific food in the main dining room of this hotel.  We were told multiple times that tip is included in the price we pay.  I even went ahead and asked “how much of a tip do the waiter and busboy each get?”, and for our calculations, the waiter gets $32 and the busboy $16, for $48 total.  Now look, my wife and I very restaurant friendly people.  We don’t have too many special requests, and we smile an awful lot when we are eating (especially here – holy crap the food was delicious), so i’d say that this is a sufficient tip for both.  So why is it that when we eat our last meal and we thank our waiter and busboy we get a disappointed look?  Come on, seriously.  The tip that these people get PER MEAL to the people they serve is easily in the $300+ range.  And w/ two meals per day, they’re raking in a really solid amount.  Me deciding not to give you an extra $10 or $20 is not the end of the world.  We were told tip is included.  If there’s  a problem, tell the hotel to not include tip if you really enjoy receiving it directly from the customer.

Ok, as I said the song is about what seems like a very seedy waitress, but the singer decides to implore they give her a tip anyway.  I did omit one of the main curse words in the song, but the song isn’t the same without the other one.  If you’re really turned off my bad words, pretend i’m talking about a female dog ok?

So I hope you enjoy this song.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

More Laptop Sessions covers

The Best of the Bob Dylan Covers – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

With some sources placing Bob Dylan as the #2 most covered artist (behind the Beatles, of course), there are some excellent performances of his songs.

Predominantly, though, there are hundreds and hundreds of inferior versions of his work, ranging from mediocre all the way down to openly offensive.

As a Dylan fan now for over a decade, I have accumulated quite a number of covers.  Folk?  I have it.  Bluesgrass?  Regrettably, yes.  Gospel?  You betcha!  Reggae?  For reals.

Suffice it to say, there’s some utter crap.

I’ve been thinking for weeks now about putting together a playlist of my favorite Dylan covers.  Finally, after coming across a Jimi Hendrix recording of “Tears of Rage” on iTunes today, I sorted through the archives and pieced together eighteen of my favorite recordings.  For those who don’t know me, you should understand that I’m often the guy who will remind you that, “This song was actually written by…” or ask you, “Have you ever heard the original?”  So, for me to say I love these songs means that they’ve truly made the cut for me.

And I hope you’ll enjoy them as well!

The artists are as wide ranging as George Harrison and Beck.  They go back as far as the sixties, with a sampling of classics by the original masters of the Dylan cover the Byrds, and are as recent as the Dead Weather, that super-ish-group co-fronted by Jack White.  In the case of the former, I love the Dylan versions about as much as Roger McGuinn and company’s, but in the case of the latter, a forgettable Street Legal track was revived and successfully reimagined.

There are some that you absolutely must listen to the originals – “Simple Twist of Fate” for one, and “Born in Time” for another (that is, if you find the Bootleg Series version).  There are some that are, frankly, better as covers – I’m thinking of “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” here.

So, go explore.  Visit Amazon and iTunes.  Expand your Dylan horizons.  And, most of all, remember why Bob Dylan was, is, and forever shall be the freakin’ man.

1)  “Mr. Tambourine Man” – The Byrds

2)  “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” – Beck

3)  “All Along the Watchtower” – Jimi Hendrix

4)  “If Not for You” – George Harrison

5)  “Mama You’ve Been on My Mind / A Fraction of Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie” – Jack Johnson

6)  “Masters of War” – Pearl Jam

7)  “New Pony” – The Dead Weather

8)  “Simple Twist of Fate” – Jeff Tweedy

9)  “My Back Pages” – The Byrds

10)  “Absolutely Sweet Marie” – George Harrison

11)  “Tears of Rage” – Jimi Hendrix

12)  “I Shall Be Released” – The Band

13)  “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” – Eric Clapton

14)  “Mississippi” – Sheryl Crow

15)  “John Wesley Harding” – Wilco

16)  “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” – The Byrds

17)  “Born in Time” – Eric Clapton

18)  “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” – Warren Zevon

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

More Laptop Sessions covers