Music that will change your mind.
Beanstalks – would you climb up?
This will be the first song on the developing album, Marbles Considered Lost. I wrote the introduction and first verse way back in July 2019, but then got side-tracked by life and the song sat ‘on the shelf’ almost two years.
Enjoy.Peace.Jason.Don.
The Side of Science – Hanging out in laboratories. Counting backwards for the practice…
Enjoy.Peace.Jason.Don.
A Number of Concerns – Cryptic and obtuse with little excuse; very concerning. The riddle was hanging there, right in front of your eyes. Very concerning indeed.
This song is the first to feature my new guitar, the Rickenbacker 360. It had been a very long-standing dream of mine to own a Rick’. And then it finally came true in early 2020, just before the pandemic. It was love at first sight.
Marbles Considered Lost (song) – Oddly enough, this song was born out of a desire to have a title track, which was one of a short list of goals I had set for this album. None of the prior six albums had a title track. The album name, Marbles Considered Lost, had been chosen to poke fun at myself. Highlighting how crazy it is that I’ve been writing and recording these songs for almost thirty years now; in my spare time and on my own dime, and for no particular purpose. This song plays out as a stream-of-consciousness lament over the burden of compulsive work. It ends, however, with a powerful declaration of love for the end product of all that work; a justification of the effort expended.
Enjoy. Peace. Jason. Don.
Elevate – Like everyone, I’ve been dealing with stress and anxiety. It had begun to affect me; I was acting differently, which was concerning. So I decided to write down a list of words and phrases that would give me strength, and remind me of who I am, and what is important to me. The words became part-mantra / part-affirmation / part-value statement / part-pep rally. I took those words and turned them into the lyrics for this RAUCOUS-JUMP-AROUND-THE-LIVING ROOM-POSITIVITY BOMB of a song!!! Be safe. Enjoy.Peace.Jason.Don
Come And Be With Me — The idea for this sad, slow-tempo song began when I came up with the lyric scrap: cinder block boys and blown glass girls. I fell in love with the implied contradictions; implied incompatibilities. The song was built up from there and was written rather quickly. However, getting the final recording to sound just right was another story. Don and I labored over the engineering and mixing for several months. Simple proved to be difficult. All the effort was worth it; the recording sounds fantastic. Enjoy. Peace.Jason.
Originally written in 1996 for the album Gyroscope. This song has always been a favorite because of the playful nature of the lyrics, and the driving groove. The 1996 version was recorded using a sequenced sample of my Ibanez bass, The Purple Master. The bass line was written and recorded using that sample; I never actually learned how to play the line. I just thought I’d figure it out later. Never would I have guessed that it would take 23 years before I finally sat down and learned the part!
Enjoy. Peace. Jason
Until the very last minute, this song had been titled “Boris Would Understand” because of its origins as an homage to Boris Blank and Yello, who have been a fundamental part of my musical ecosystem for most of my life. When it came time to publish, however, I conceded that this song really needed to be named “I Have Said Words“, as it is the primary lyric. It stung a bit to give up the original title. The song is a nonsensical, Alice-In-Wonderland-type journey through strange electronica environments. Currently, I’m planning for it to be the last track on Marbles Considered Lost. So cool.
Enjoy.Peace.Jason.
I had a great time collaborating with Don Weigand on Cabin In The Woods. What a blast. The cabin referenced in the song was actually located a short distance behind my childhood home. Don and I began writing songs in that home. Here is an actual photo taken by Don of my shoes hanging down through the roof while I sit on the chimney top in the winter (circa 1987) . Enjoy.Peace.Jason.
