Welcome to Original Wednesday! It’s Jeff today giving you an original song for our Wednesday edition. It’s our favorite day of the week here.
Today I bring you yet another video from my 2008 album “Greenlight”. The song is the last track of the album and is called “Easy”. Jim was so kind to enlighten me that on Greenlight, I have two songs that are also Barenaked Ladies songs. I think i’ll have to see if they are coverable songs and do them for kicks.
Of the songs I wrote for Greenlight, this was the first one I wrote in 2007, which was 2 years after another song on the album (“$500). It set off a nice set of songwriting for me – probably the best of my life. This song got written in two parts – 1st verse while I was in the old apartment, 2nd verse while in our new condo. It was also the song that convinced Jim that I should consider recording a new album (which happened thankfully – that was a lot of fun).
I only have a few more Original Wednesdays left in the year, and I will be providing you with three all new songs – I PROMISE! And yes, if I can get some more solid songs together, another album in the future is certainly a possibility.
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!
Welcome to this week’s edition of Original Wednesday! Today, I bring you “Gonna Be There,” a song from MoU’s latest release, Homestead’s Revenge, that Jim and I cowrote. As a special treat, Jim is also playing here and does a great rendition of his guitar solo. But, you really have to listen to the real version to fully appreciate it… and you can do that by going to http://jimfusco.com/albums.html !
Stay tuned for another all-new post from Jeff tomorrow, as “session-a-day” rolls on at https://guitarbucketlist.com !
And welcome one, welcome all to my Laptop Session for this very special Original Wednesday here at your source for the best acoustic cover and original song music videos available on the internet today! (That’s a mouthful…)
You may be wondering, why is this day so special?
Well, for one, this is the birthday of Laptop Sessions series creator Jim Fusco. On behalf of the other contributors and the loyal viewers of this blog, I’d like to wish him a very happy 25th birthday! Only a quarter century in, and he’s accumulated quite a back catalog of music, writing, and side projects. If you haven’t already, you should head on over to jimfusco.com.
Take it from me: the best gift you can get Jim this year is to spend a measely $10 on his brand new album Halfway There. Go ahead, check out the album in streaming audio at his official website, or use the search function at the top of this page to listen to Laptop Sessions of many of the Halfway There tracks, read a full review (another one from Jeff coming soon…), and see the beautiful, custom artwork he used for the cover.
Okay, that’s enough plugging for one post.
Tonight’s session is based on a song that I never recorded for an album. “Keep On Going” is an early track, as you will most likely be able to tell! Although the words are straightforward and the chord progression is simple, I’ve always liked this little tune. I originally wrote this song as a direct statement to my best friend (Jim, if you haven’t made the connection yet), assuring him after a rough week that things really will turn out all right, even though people — particularly high school aged people — can be cruel. I hope he’s seen that to be true, as he’s moved on to college, made many lifelong friends, and become engaged to Becky Daly. For all you former Pine Loft faithfuls: yes, this is indeed the same Becky Daly of Chris, Jim, and Becky fame!
I still sing “Keep On Going” when I feel stressed out or begin to think something — a relationship, a professional endeavor, etc. — won’t work out. I hope you like it.
As a final note, stepping back into the present, I just started listening to the new Bob Dylan album, Together Through Life. In case you’re questioning my devotion, there’s only one reason why I didn’t start listening yesterday: I pre-ordered the album on Amazon.com and didn’t spring for any more than Free Super Saver Shipping. So, I’m cheap. What do you want??? 🙂
Did I mention I’m loving the album? As I type, it’s blaring through my room and probably throughout the condo complex. I may even get a letter in the mail from the condo association condemning me for noise pollution or disturbing the peace or some other such nonsense, but it will be worth it! I spent the day at school today wearing the Best Buy exclusive Together Through Life t-shirt that Mike so graciously passed along to me from his purchase of the album (thanks again, Fusc!!). I made certain to wear a white button down shirt today and a narrow tie, so as to have the Dylan t-shirt show through. Thanks to at least one inquisitive student in each class I taught, I got to talk about the new album at least once every 82 minutes today!
I’ll save my commentary on Together Through Life for the review that will most certainly come, but allow me to share a couple comments. First, this is not what I was expecting after Love & Theft and Modern Times. Then again, that’s pretty much what Dylan himself suggested, so I’m not really surprised. My favorite line thus far is the chorus to track three: “Hell is my wife’s home town.” As if there’s any question as to whether Dylan’s dry sense of humor is still intact, just listen for his chuckling — yes, his chuckling — in the outro of that song. Finally, although it’s a slow album to start, just wait for “Jolene” and “Shake Shake Mama” to really get your foot tapping.
And, with that taste of this new Dylan album, I’ll emphatically suggest you need to buy both Halfway There and Together Through Life and be on my merry way.
I’ve had this song recorded for awhile now, it was actually the first song I ever wrote on guitar (and it was completely by accident!) I was waiting for Mr. Jim Fusco (who’s great new album “Halfway There” is available now for purchase!…you’re welcome, Fusc!) to get off the phone my sophomore year of high school so I can Dial up (for those of you who don’t know what that is, we used to have to dial up to go online and connect to a blazing 24.4 kbs on an old modem) and go on Instant Messenger. AOL was the place to be at night in high school, and my brother took up our only phone line.
Impatiently waiting, I picked up my unplugged electric guitar I had received two years earlier (on Jim’s 16th birthday, actually). My father can’t turn down a good deal, so he excitedly asked me if I wanted a guitar, too, and drove us to the JCPenny outlet store that morning before the party so I could have one as well =) I never learned how to play it in those two years, but Jim had started to get the basics and knew all the chords.
I recall seeing him play a G (which, to a non-guitar player, looks like this cool, difficult chord). So I pick it up, throw my fingers on it, get it completely wrong, but as soon as I strummed it, I LOVED the chord. It sounded like a harp. And an entire melody and lyrics hit me all at once, as I struggled the better part of the night to figure out how the strings worked and BS some chords to fit this new tune.
Needless to say, I never made it on instant messenger that night. I became a guitar player =) And it still goes down as one of my favorite songs, and I thank Jim for three things- 1. Vocals on the original recording 2. driving me home in the camaro everyday so I’d stare at the passenger-side side-view mirror that said “Objects are Closer Than They Appear” (listen for a variation in the song!) and 3. Talking on the phone too long. =) enjoy!
