Moondog Wily
In Tune Wit Da Moon!
Music is my religion! I have known this since I was a young child, and I feel the same today!! I started playing clarinet when I was six. After a month or so, my teacher took me aside and asked if I would be interested in staying after school 3 days a week for an hour or so to learn some other instruments. I reluctantly agreed (reluctant because I wanted to be with my friends playing outside)! Over the next two years (before she left the school), she taught me to play piano, harp, auto-harp and xylophone. In regular music class of course, we were all learning to play the famous recorder (clarinet light)! It was an incredible gift that she gave to me and I am forever grateful for her commitment to advancing my recognized passion for music.
I never chose a career in music because even as a child, I could see there was something "wrong" with that industry. Hearing on the news about the payola scams, the fight that Zappa had with Warner Bros over artist writes and compensation, the great unrecognized artists, the purity of what I wanted from music and what I might create cemented the idea in my head that choosing it for a career would end in misery for me.
Over the next many decades, I have written over 1,500 songs (and wrote one of my top 5 EVER was written in June '22 to be released later this year). When I say "wrote a song", I am not claiming that I have completed a musical score and produced it, what I am saying is lyrically I wrote these (I have done only a few instrumentals and never "wrote" them out). 95% of them (other 5%, can't quite recall how they worked, but they had melodies in my head when written), I can sing (horribly), so the music for them is in my head. I have only completed about 100 of those songs into finalized musical pieces and have released about 50 of those independently.
I existed for decades with guitars in the closet, never taking the time to really learn them. I continued to write down the songs that come into my head (which is a daily occurrence even now, wrote one yesterday, wrote one today) and these days, have the technology to capture those melodies and phrasings that come along with that stream of consciousness, so the days of not remembering the melodies are pretty much gone. This laziness and avoidance of my musical skill is nothing but my own fault, but when I released my first song on Oct 31, 2014, my soul had a huge sigh of relief and I felt more at peace in my existence. Since then, I released two albums and about 25 singles under 4 different artist names/genres. First album (released Jan 28, 2015) was sent to about 400 independent and college radio stations across the country. Of the stations that report back on plays (which are very few), 6 of the 13 songs on that album got airplay on 15 different radio stations in 10 states! I could not have been happier to see that I was not crazy in thinking this music was pretty good.
Then came 2021 and my first PRS (WL HBII)! Largely as a result of that purchase, I played approximately 1500 hours last year (more than the rest of my guitar hours in my life) and am now, in my opinion, ready to start performing my music as well as the music of others. In all the time I was releasing music over the last 8 years, it was always "learn the part, record it, release it, move on to next big hit"! Could not play a single one of my songs live. After getting that PRS and two more, I shook my head and said "time to perform", so that is what I have been working on for the past 18 months or so. Last year, for the first time, I took the stage a few times in my tiny community for short stints (3-4 songs) and was offered a gig! I was not "ready" in my head and told him I would get back to him. That was October of 2021. Last year I was also invited to play live on a local radio station and did so twice (although the engineer slaughtered the mix both times I was on)! Then 2022 happened and my world has been turned upside down with medical BS (not looking for a pity party, just part of the story)! I am doing better, but still have quite a bit of work ahead and I am going for it! Music is about the only thing going right in my life at the moment!
The most important part for me in the music I create is me staying true to what I want to do, and so far I am on track! If you have made it this far, thanks for reading my blather! Here are a few links (my favorites) to works released throughout the past 8 years, all feedback (good, bad, ugly) appreciated ;~))
Da' Mutta' Funka's
Funk Monster
Luna Funk
Who Got Funk
Corner Of Funk & Boogie
King Kawhileiwhilei
PakAloloha
Moondog Wily
Giddy Up With A Whiskey Cup
Cold Day In Summer
Howlin' At The Moon
Yesterdays & Tomorrows
My fourth artist will not be listed here due to the political nature of it's content and the rules of this forum which I agree with and try to be fully compliant with ;~()
To sum it up, I am in this for me and fulfilling my goals to create what floats into my head! If others like it, that is great!! If not, not a problem, I will continue to create!!! I have also been having a BLAST over the past 18 months, learning others songs and giving them my own twist, sooooo much fun!!!! My "Spill The Wine" is a really neato version IMO ;~))
Thanks for starting this thread Les! I have been encouraging forum members to post their music in the Studio & Stage section since I joined in Feb '21, and hopefully this thread you have created will spur us being able to hear more of what the members are creating with PRSi (and other) instruments!
I never chose a career in music because even as a child, I could see there was something "wrong" with that industry. Hearing on the news about the payola scams, the fight that Zappa had with Warner Bros over artist writes and compensation, the great unrecognized artists, the purity of what I wanted from music and what I might create cemented the idea in my head that choosing it for a career would end in misery for me.
Over the next many decades, I have written over 1,500 songs (and wrote one of my top 5 EVER was written in June '22 to be released later this year). When I say "wrote a song", I am not claiming that I have completed a musical score and produced it, what I am saying is lyrically I wrote these (I have done only a few instrumentals and never "wrote" them out). 95% of them (other 5%, can't quite recall how they worked, but they had melodies in my head when written), I can sing (horribly), so the music for them is in my head. I have only completed about 100 of those songs into finalized musical pieces and have released about 50 of those independently.
I existed for decades with guitars in the closet, never taking the time to really learn them. I continued to write down the songs that come into my head (which is a daily occurrence even now, wrote one yesterday, wrote one today) and these days, have the technology to capture those melodies and phrasings that come along with that stream of consciousness, so the days of not remembering the melodies are pretty much gone. This laziness and avoidance of my musical skill is nothing but my own fault, but when I released my first song on Oct 31, 2014, my soul had a huge sigh of relief and I felt more at peace in my existence. Since then, I released two albums and about 25 singles under 4 different artist names/genres. First album (released Jan 28, 2015) was sent to about 400 independent and college radio stations across the country. Of the stations that report back on plays (which are very few), 6 of the 13 songs on that album got airplay on 15 different radio stations in 10 states! I could not have been happier to see that I was not crazy in thinking this music was pretty good.
Then came 2021 and my first PRS (WL HBII)! Largely as a result of that purchase, I played approximately 1500 hours last year (more than the rest of my guitar hours in my life) and am now, in my opinion, ready to start performing my music as well as the music of others. In all the time I was releasing music over the last 8 years, it was always "learn the part, record it, release it, move on to next big hit"! Could not play a single one of my songs live. After getting that PRS and two more, I shook my head and said "time to perform", so that is what I have been working on for the past 18 months or so. Last year, for the first time, I took the stage a few times in my tiny community for short stints (3-4 songs) and was offered a gig! I was not "ready" in my head and told him I would get back to him. That was October of 2021. Last year I was also invited to play live on a local radio station and did so twice (although the engineer slaughtered the mix both times I was on)! Then 2022 happened and my world has been turned upside down with medical BS (not looking for a pity party, just part of the story)! I am doing better, but still have quite a bit of work ahead and I am going for it! Music is about the only thing going right in my life at the moment!
The most important part for me in the music I create is me staying true to what I want to do, and so far I am on track! If you have made it this far, thanks for reading my blather! Here are a few links (my favorites) to works released throughout the past 8 years, all feedback (good, bad, ugly) appreciated ;~))
Da' Mutta' Funka's
Funk Monster
Luna Funk
Who Got Funk
Corner Of Funk & Boogie
King Kawhileiwhilei
PakAloloha
Moondog Wily
Giddy Up With A Whiskey Cup
Cold Day In Summer
Howlin' At The Moon
Yesterdays & Tomorrows
My fourth artist will not be listed here due to the political nature of it's content and the rules of this forum which I agree with and try to be fully compliant with ;~()
To sum it up, I am in this for me and fulfilling my goals to create what floats into my head! If others like it, that is great!! If not, not a problem, I will continue to create!!! I have also been having a BLAST over the past 18 months, learning others songs and giving them my own twist, sooooo much fun!!!! My "Spill The Wine" is a really neato version IMO ;~))
Thanks for starting this thread Les! I have been encouraging forum members to post their music in the Studio & Stage section since I joined in Feb '21, and hopefully this thread you have created will spur us being able to hear more of what the members are creating with PRSi (and other) instruments!
