July 2010
7 posts
Loudon Wainwright III - The Picture
Yeah, I know Loudon’s kids Rufus & Martha are getting a lot of attention these days. I still like their Dad best, particularly this beautiful song here, “The Picture”. It’s simple, wistful and incredibly moving in its simplicity. Really, it’s a yardstick. If you can write something as humane as this, you really got something. Play it, Loudon. There are...
Jul 27th
8 tags
Songwriting 101
Hi guys, I’ve recently been approached by a German music mag about possibly writing a bi-monthly column on songwriting, maybe as a workshop kind of thing. Not sure yet whether this is actually going to happen but I thought about what kind of advice I could give, what kinds of things I could talk about. And I remembered one song I wrote in about ’98 – it appeared on my ’99 album The Devil & The...
Jul 26th
Write what you know - songs about my mother
Hey guys, two things you often hear about songwriting - or any kind of writing, really - is the advice to write what you know and the description of writing as therapy. When I was a young guy aspiring to be a songwriter this “write what you know”-business didn’t seem to hold much water for me. I loved all those Texas songs about bank robbers and outlaws, I also loved, say,...
Jul 18th
Dream fulfilled!
I write like Raymond Chandler I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Jul 15th
Albums available for download
Hi guys, the last two studio albums, The Things That Count and The Price Of Sin, can now be streamed and downloaded at http://markusrill.bandcamp.com There’s more to come! I like this new platform. See, my label isn’t super on top of things when it comes to download platforms. I’m embarrassed to admit that my albums aren’t even on itunes. Well, now they’re on...
Jul 15th
Way Down - demo
Hey guys, if you’ve read the tour diary you know that Annika Fehling and I experienced a fire alarm in our hotel in Hamburg and then wrote a song inspired by that experience. I dig this song and figured why not let you listen to the demo? Here it is, lyrics below. Listen! Way Down (Rill/Fehling) Way down at the end of the hall that’s where I’m gonna be with a big box of matches and...
Jul 5th
New video: Straighter Road live at Sommerwerft
Hi guys, I had a wonderful time playing the Sommerwerft festival in Frankfurt/M on June 19. A great listening audience, a cool venue and good sound - what more could anyone ask for? We shot a little bit of video but the only entire song we captured was “Straighter Road”. Hope you like the video. The Sommerwerft festival with live music & theater is on until July 3. Info at...
Jul 1st