rock'n'rill
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Do You Remember Bobby Fischer?
I recently saw an immensely moving portrait of chess genius Bobby Fischer, his ascend to the world championship in the 1972 match with Boris Spassky and the decline of his mental health in the years after. It was so moving, I immediately wanted to write a song about this fascinating man and his journey.
I sat down and out came those four lines that are now the first verse of the song below.
Somehow, though, it seemed those four lines wanted to belong to a different kind of song than the one I had envisioned. Maybe I have written enough biography-type songs in the last few years (Sarah Stein, Natascha, Kid From Tupelo, Girl Of Many Secrets and a brand new one about Townes van Zandt).
So I followed the direction these words pointed me to. I wrote a few more verses than ended up in the song. Some characters, it turned out, didn’t belong into the song once it revealed what it wanted to be about.
It’s often a fine line between being too obscure in your song and being too obvious. I think the first time you listen to this song, it seems like little more than a list of names of famous people and kind of a trite middle part/bridge.
However, if I listen to it a few times in a row (and, yes, I’m embarrassed to admit I do that with my own songs), it seems to be just right. Very simple, surely, but just right.
I do have one hangup, though. I’m not sure I can keep the van Gogh verse. I think he really only became famous posthumously. Which means he doesn’t entirely fit the bill. Must research.
I hope you enjoy the song.
Do you remember Bobby Fischer?
He was the champion of the world
Do you remember Bobby Fischer?
a brilliant mind once upon a time
Do you remember Vincent van Gogh?
Sunflowers on the easel
Do you remember Vincent van Gogh?
one of a kind once upon a time
Do you still recall Bill Haley?
the first king of rock’n’roll
Do you still recall Bill Haley?
a comet so bright once upon a time
Fame and wealth they don’t mean nothing
I guess they only fade away
Me, I keep doing what I’m doing
and take it day by day, day after day
Do you remember Ernest Hemingway?
He was a man amongst men
Do you remember Ernest Hemingway?
so strong and alive once upon a time
Fame and wealth they don’t mean nothing
can’t take ‘em with you when you go
can’t all of us be lucky
I know, I know
Do you remember Bobby Fischer?
A brilliant mind once upon a time
The usual disclaimer: It’s just a home demo with the guitar & me. No fancy arrangement tricks, just the bare bones skeleton of a song.
Looking forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts on this.
Thanks for listening,
Markus
My favorite records of 2011
Seems to me like 2011 was an exceptionally fine year for new music. Lots of my favorite artists released a new album this year and then I also found some new artists, or ones that were new to me, at least.
I could’ve put together a real strong top ten list after the year’s first half – and that almost never happens to me. Usually, a lot of September/October releases make it into my year-end top ten, mostly on the basis of still sounding fresh to my ears.
Get this, two of my favorites released strong and enjoyable albums this year that didn’t even make the list, Robert Earl Keen and Joe Ely. Truth be told, they might’ve made the list had I put it together another day.
Here’s the countdown.
15. Foster & Lloyd – Already Tomorrow
Very glad those two are back together making joyful, intelligent music.
14. Amos Lee – Mission Bell
Album opener “El Camino” is a very strong contender for song of the year. A beautiful mellow album.
13. Greg Trooper – Upside Downtown
Greg is a soulful singer and great writer. My song of the year award (which is only a virtual handshake) goes to “They Call Me Hank”.
12. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
I’m very glad Gil & Dave are back. This is a strong return.
11. Hayes Carll – KMAG YOYO
Man, this is enjoyable. Clearly these songs are inspired by the type of venues Hayes & his band usually perform in. More Continental Club than Carnegie Hall.
10. Eliza Gilkyson – Roses At The End Of Time
A consistently strong writer with a wonderful atmospheric sound.
9. Deadman – Take Up Your Mat And Walk
A band I’d never heard of with a very soulful, well-written album. Sounds abolutely great in a The-Band-meets-van-Morrison-kind of way. Shouldn’t come as a surprise, after all they’re from Austin.
8. Madison Violet – The Good In Goodbye
I met them when I opened for them a few months ago. Absolutely enchanting harmonies and songs you won’t forget.
7. John Hiatt – Dirty Jeans And Mudslide Hymns
John Hiatt never lets up. He keeps churning them out every 18 months or so and they’re always strong. This one features “Train To Birmingham”, a song I’ve loved since I first heard Kevin Welch’s version more than ten years ago.
6. Slaid Cleaves - Sorrow & Smoke, Live At The Horseshoe Lounge
Slaid is a true class act, always underrated. This live album shows him as a wonderful singer, very strong writer and cool, easy-going performer. This appeals to me on so many levels!
5. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
The first time I heard this I thought “nothing much is new in Tom Waits’s world.” It baffles me now how I could’ve come to this conclusion. Very very strong!
4. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Here We Rest
I may have listened to this album more than any other this year. Jason to me is the most interesting songwriter of the younger generation, unafraid to tackle heavier subjects. And then there’s his impeccable musicianship to boot. I’m sure he has many more great albums in him.
3. Robyn Ludwick – Out Of These Blues
Probably the most pleasant surprise all year. When Robyn’s debut came out, I was skeptical. I mean, how many great artists can there be in one family? But, boy, this album - produced by the great Gurf Morlix - sure proves that Robyn has some amazing stories to tell. This is the kind of top-to-bottom great album I’ve been waiting on from Lucinda for ten or more years.
2. Dave Alvin – Eleven Eleven
Before this, I’ve always liked Dave Alvin’s folkier, storytelling side better than his rowdy barroom-type stuff. But, man, this album is steeped in the blues and yet sounds absolutely fresh & fantastic. The stories are as compelling as always and this combination of bar room swagger and storytelling finesse makes it a truly great album!
1. Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive
It’s probably pretty obvious that few, if any, songwriters have influenced me more than Steve Earle. Still, his last few albums didn’t quite speak to me like some of his earlier work did. This one, however, is a return to form, both as a convincing singer and unequaled songwriter. And T-Bone Burnett created a beautiful musical bed for Earle’s strongest songs in years. This one contains a number of future classics!
What are your favorites?
Storm approaching - an unearthed gem
Hi guys,
I’ve been sick in bed the last couple days so I spent some time going through old demos I still had on my laptop. When I came across a song called “Storm Approaching”, the title didn’t ring a bell. Listening to it was a very pleasant surprise.
Seems to me it’s a real good solid song with some nice lines. It could’ve been a contender :-) So here it is:
Everybody’s afraid of the storm approaching
I’m trying to hitch a ride
but there’s no one out on this lonely road tonight
They’re all sleeping safe & sound
nestled in their babies’ arms
me, I’m ready for the coming of the storm
Let it come and blow all my sins & sorrows away
or let it blow them right up in my face
Everybody’s afraid of the storm approaching
staying out of the way of harm
I’m ready for the coming of the storm
It’s cold here by the highwayside
I can see the neon lure
but I pray that it won’t break my will no more
I recall the friends I failed
and the girl that I done wrong
and I hope that memory, too, shall fade before too long
Let the wind come and blow all my sins and sorrows away
or let it blow them right up in my face
Everybody’s afraid of the storm approaching
and the changes it might bring
I’m hoping it’s gonna wipe my slate clean
You may call it false bravado
call it anything you want
Everybody’s afraid of the storm approaching
staying out of the way of harm
I’m ready for the reckoning to come
This was recorded in October 2007 so this song was in the running for the Things That Count album. Why did it not make it onto that album?
I think after Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami I didn’t feel so good about recording a song that attributed cleansing power to a storm. There’s also a line in there about a “girl I done wrong” and I’m pretty sure I felt I had written more than enough about that particular topic at the time.
Hearing the song now, none of these issues strike me as taking away from the song.
This was one of the last demos I recorded at my good friend Ben Wagner’s before I got my own little home demo setup.
How do you like it?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Markus
Coal Stays In The Ground
Hope you’ve all seen & read my last blog post about great Austin songsmith Bill Carter.
I’ve been playing the Lifelong Rhapsody CD all week and have started playing a couple of those tunes myself. Here’s my home demo of “The Coal Stays In The Ground”, the beautiful album closer. (As always, I’m not slavishly copying the original version. This is just my approximation of and my take on the song.)
There’s a beautiful little bit about songwriting on Bill’s website written by his wife and frequent co-writer Ruth Ellsworth that I wanted to share with you. Here it is:
“People often ask “how do you write a song”? The answer is that every song is conceived organically and uniquely. Some start with a groove, some with a lyric, some with just the desire to write a song. I truly think a lot of it is the way your mind is wired. As children we both made up little songs, parodies, or rhymes to entertain ourselves. As adults, we try to make our songs different, meaningful, funny or whatever the “song” itself dictates. The song writing was never a means to an end, it was always the reward in itself. We have been honored that others have found a connection to our music. It is a thrill to have somebody you have always admired record one of your songs, but it is also a thrill to have one of your songs connect with an individual in the audience. Our songs are like our children, we do the best we can and send them out into the world to find their places. We hope they have made you laugh, touched your hearts, moved you to action and made you dance till the wee wee hours.” Ruth Ellsworth Carter
Feedback on “Makin’ Trouble”
Here’s some feedback I got on the “Makin’ Trouble” EP which, by the way, you may still listen to and download by hitting the “buy” button on this here widget
or order by sending an email (if you want the physical CD) to markusrill@yahoo.com
Yesterday, Gary Ewer, a renowned expert and author on songwriting, posted this on Twitter (totally unprompted):
Gotta say that @markusrill’s new EP “Makin’ Trouble” is fine, fine work. Every song is great. (here’s the link to Gary’s tweet)
Musikansich, a fine (German) website posted this review giving the EP 16 out of 20 possible points. For an EP that must be about as good as it gets.
And here’s what some music lovers wrote me after receiving the EP:
It’s as great as I expected and it’s the only kind of trouble I like – Andy
Danke für das tolle Päckchen ! Die EP gefällt mir außerordentlich gut, ich mag zwar diese “Superlative” nicht so gerne, wie das beste, der beste usw usf, aber besonders schön finde ich ”Forgiven” und “Young Again” … Macht Lust auf mehr! – Thomas C.
The One That Got Away ist wunderschön – Volker
Der erste Eindruck ist überaus positiv. Stimmlich fast in Mellencamps Gefilden (gerade beim ersten und letzten Song), song- und soundtechnisch eh auf höchstem Niveau – Thomas L.
Du hast bei der EP alles richtig gemacht … es rockt & die Vocals klingen glaubwürdig. Toll. Auch Sound einfach super. Beide Daumen ganz nach oben!!! - Gerd
In case you don’t speak German - they’re all positive (what did you expect?).
See ya,
Markus
Home demo: The Edge Of Nothin’
my home recording setup. good enough for these simple demos.
Hey guys,
been on a songwriting roll lately. I got another new one and while it may not be the world’s smartest business decision, I still feel like sharing it with you.
Who knows if we’ll ever record it with the band and, if so, it can’t possibly see the light of day sooner than in a year and a half or so.
I’ve often admired James McMurtry for writing kickass songs from the perspective of totally unlikable characters. For the first time now I found a voice in that vein that I could use that would still ring true, at least that’s what it feels like today.
The character was inspired by a scene in this Larry Brown novel I’m currently reading, “The Rabbit Factory”.
Here it is:
The Edge Of Nothin’ by markusrill
And here’s the lyric:
I stepped hard on the brake
spilled the beer in my lap
must’ve been a black cat crossing my path
or somethin’ just like that
I know just what she’s gonna say
when I get home tonight
“boy, ain’t you got any sense
you don’t need another DUI”
Livin’ on the edge of nothin’
running hard and out of luck
livin’ on the edge of nothin’
and nothin’ ain’t enough
I been out driving around
lookin’ for a job
the only thing that I found
was just a little bit of pot
A man needs to be free
our little girl needs some new shoes
Baby used to be so cool
these days she’s got a real short fuse
Livin’ on the edge of nothin’
running hard and out of luck
livin’ on the edge of nothin’
and nothin’ ain’t enough
Maybe I can borrow some money
buy a pack of smokes
pick up a carton of milk
and make my way back home
Livin’ on the edge of nothin’
running hard and out of luck
livin’ on the edge of nothin’
and nothin’ ain’t enough
Hope you like the tune.
What do you think is the better, more intriguing title “The Edge Of Nothing” or “Nothing Ain’t Enough”?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Markus
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 Open Road – that I learned a lot from. Not that I’d want to talk about my own songs all the time and it’s not like this particular song is mindblowingly amazing but I did learn a few crucial things while writing it. So maybe it would be interesting to share them.
The song started with an opening line that just fell out of my mouth (straight from the subconscious, one may assume):
Sally holds a grudge against the world
but the she ain’t to blame for all the anger and the hurt
Oh, gee, why does she hold a grudge, what’s with the hurt & anger? It’s not like I knew. But I got an idea and the next two lines explained a little something.
She’s got a baby boy and she’s still in her teens
Charlie senior split and has never since been seen
I liked the information, I thought it gave us a sense of Sally and her grudge and the reasons for it BUT it was very heavy-handed. The information is dished out in a much too literal way and the part about Charlie struck me as very uncomfortable English.
I think I went on with the song but I know that these lines bothered me for a long long time. There’s a lot of information in those lines and it took me ages to come up with a better way of providing this information.
Here’s what I came up with to replace these awkward lines:
Things ain’t been the same since Charlie split
and she dropped out of school to take care of the kid
And I must say, I still think that’s ten times better. It’s much more conversational and it has a cumulative effect: her boyfriend split (big deal), she dropped out of school (hm, not good), AND she’s got a baby? (Wow)
See what I mean? It tells you the exact same things that the original lines told you but in a much more interesting way. I love that the kid is almost an afterthought. Obviously, it’s the main thing but it sort of just gets mentioned on the side. And Sally’s age is just there between the lines (“dropped out of school”) but doesn’t get hammered home.
Raymond Chandler does that a lot (not that I’m comparing myself to him). He will often convey crucial information just as an afterthought. Like he’ll describe a conversation between two adversaries over many pages and just end with something like “I left him with his mouth open and a bullet from my .38 in his cranium” (I made that up but … you see what I mean, I hope). He won’t use the words “dead”, “murder”, “killing” or anything.
Chandler’s fabulous that way and I think it’s a wonderful way of writing. So, what I learned might seem obvious - “if you can, convey information in an artful, poetic, conversational manner – it’s much more interesting than just iterating facts” – but you would be surprised how difficult it is to convey the worth of that little nugget of wisdom. I have quite a few German friends who often ask me to check their lyrics for “mistakes”. It’s not as simple as that. The original two lines weren’t wrong, strictly speaking. But they simply weren’t good lines. How do you get a good line? Well, it sure takes a lot of thinking.
Mary Gauthier once said in an interview that she sometimes spends weeks agonizing over the right word or turn of phrase. And her songs show that it’s worth it.
This would be enough for a magazine column, I suppose but I learned another trick during the writing of this song. And, yes, I’ll share.
Here’s verse 1 & 2 of the song plus the choruses:
Sally holds a grudge against the world
But she ain’t to blame for all the anger and the hurt
Things ain’t been the same since Charlie split
And she dropped out of school to take care of the kid
Life ain’t always fair and now she knows
She’s been crying but she hopes it doesn’t show
Sally’s stuck in Rainville,
yeah, she’s stuck in Rainville
And this ain’t what she needs, you can tell her what you will
But Sally’s stuck in Rainville
This town, it don’t do nothing but make her sad
Home of all the highschool sweethearts that she ever had
They all seem to look down on her now
And they all remind her of her Charlie-boy somehow
Life is cold and hard and that ain’t right
She’s got no-one to hold onto in the night
She’s gotta get out of Rainville
Gotta get out of Rainville
For this ain’t what she wants, by now she’s had her fill
She’s gotta get out of Rainville
So, yeah, the song is called “Rainville”. I thought it was an original idea at the time. I was young.
But, anyway, there I was and I had no clue what would happen next. Looks like Sally’s gonna leave ol’ Rainville for greener pastures, la-dee-da. Very predictable at this point, isn’t it? How to make this interesting and less predictable without changing the entire thrust of the song?
Here’s where I had the second not-so-bad idea during the writing of this song (I so wish there’d been more): I switched the focus from Sally to ol’ Charlie.
The third verse and last chorus:
Charlie, he’s been drifting along
He’s had lotsa time to think about his doggone life and think about his son
And he remembers what it feels like to not have a Daddy’s hand to hold on to
And he figures that maybe Sally’s missing him too
So now he’s going back but Sally’s gone
She packed up all her things and she moved on
She’s gotten out of Rainville
Gotten out of Rainville
Where the wind is blowing cold and Charlie feels a chill
For now he’s stuck in Rainville
I admit that’s a mouthful to squeeze into those lines in the 3rd verse but the general idea to look at Charlie at this point is not a bad one. You thought the song was gonna run on this very foreseeable track – Sally’s a tough Mama now, Charlie’s an a*hole – and then you learn something new.
This is something I’ve done in a number of songs, change the point of view in the third verse or reveal a little something in the final verse that’ll shed a different light on everything that come before (cf: Trouble With The Law, The Price You Pay For Sin).
I once read a book on songwriting with this piece of advice that seems so obvious but doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.
“Every line (or at least every verse) needs to move the song forward.
Ergo: There needs to be a reason for every line/every verse. If it only repeats what’s been said before, it’s not necessary to the song.”
Even though this is my paraphrase (possibly my interpretation), this is one of the most useful things I’ve ever learned from one of those songwriting books (I never bought one but I sure spent a lot of time at Book People in Austin reading them).
If you keep this advice in mind, it’s funny how often you encounter songs in which the second verse is only a paraphrase of the first with not one new idea or concept.
Side note: The only one I know who’ll get away with that is Dylan. And that’s because he not only has two or three verses but often six, seven or eight. I mean, look at “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”, the verses are not that different from each other. I asked my friend Doug Hoekstra how Dylan gets away with it and he had a great answer. “It’s like he looks at the subject matter from every possible angle, twisting and turning his topic this way and that way and describing it and by the end you get a full picture.” I think Doug’s right about that. But, please folks, remember this is Bob Dylan we’re talking about. It can’t be done by mere mortals.
As for my song “Rainville” – I learned a lot from writing it, I’ve learned some more in the meantime. From today’s perspective the “Rainville” metaphor isn’t as original or powerful as I thought back then, the second verse is plenty “meh” but the song’s main problem is its melodic weakness in the chorus. It has this nice little guitar intro, a pleasant enough verse, pre-chorus and then the chorus lets the listener down, melodically. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.
Maybe you’ll enjoy it anyway. Here’s a version I recorded in my kitchen this morning. I stumbled over a line in the last chorus, please bear with me.
Rainville by markusrill
I hope this post gave you something to chew on. Obviously, for a magazine column, I’d not ramble on as long and I’d not be using my own songs as examples all the time. But, hey, this is my blog, what else am I gonna use over here?
Would love to hear from you!
Markus
What goes on the road … part 1
Heya guys,
woohee, Annika Fehling and I covered a lot of ground in the last two weeks. We played 10 dates in 11 days, wrote some new songs, sold lots of CDs, survived a fire alarm in our hotel, and came home safe, sound & weary. Along the way, I also lost & found my voice.
Day 1
Wednesday, May 26: Mojo Songwriter Night at Café Mojo, Osnabrück
Annika came into Munich on the plane around 10 am on Wednesday morning. I knew that would mean a pretty grueling drive up to Osnabrück. Turned out Annika had left her notebook (the analog kind) with lots of important information and song ideas on the plane. The Lufthansa folks went to get it but it took a good long while and we got started around noon.
I needed to stop in Würzburg along the way because I had to drop off posters at the venue we’d be playing at a week later. I’d been hoping to get there shortly after noon. Thanks to our late start and pretty heavy traffic along the way, we left Würzburg after 4 pm, still 400 kilometers from Osnabrück. By now it started to look pretty iffy we were going to be there on time.
We rolled in right around showtime and unfortunately, out of four performers, I was chosen to go on first. Man, I’d been sitting in the car all day driving like a madman, I had not had time to think about which songs to do or anything else. I played three songs but didn’t sound particularly engaging or convincing even to myself, I guess.
Annika did fine, as did TS Brooks from Berlin and my good friend Camille Bloom from Seattle who I shared some gigs with last year. It was great to see Camille again and meet her partner Gaelen.
The second three-song set was a little more fun, Camille joined me spontaneously on „Straighter Road“, Annika did on „Your Own Private Rainbow“. But, really, three songs really isn’t enough time to create an arc in your set or get to know the audience. And with three other artists waiting in the wings I guess I also felt a little rushed to get through my set and didn’t take a whole lot of time to talk between songs. Oh well.
The best part of the gig was meeting and hanging with host Heinz Rebellius, David from the Mojo (and his wonderful soup), Camille & Gaelen after the gig. We also had a great breakfast the next morning with Camille & Gaelen before Annika and I took some time to brush up some of the duets and songs we played on our last tour in November. We were in no great rush on Friday cause we only had an hour to go to Restrup.
left to right: Gaelen, me, Camille, Annika
Day 2
Thursday, May 27: Lift, Restrup
It felt good rolling into Restrup and seeing our posters.
The venue is a beautiful old building. We met Heinz again who was going to open in his duo with very talented songwriter Tina von Garrel as „TvG & the Heinz“. I had suggested to them beforehand to end the evening with a couple of jam numbers – we ran through „The Weight“ and CCR’s „Long As I Can See The Light“ backstage before the gig.
Unfortunately, soundcheck was delayed because there was some problem with the venue p.a. A local soundman came to the rescue with his own board. Everything sounded goood but he was kind of particular about how he wanted things done. Anyway, soundcheck was ok, TvG & the Henry sounded mighty fine in their opening set and then it was my turn to go on.
Halfway into the first verse it turned out my guitar was no longer in the mix – no signal. These things happen. Clench your teeth, get through the song and then figure it out – that’s the way to go. Not with Mr Soundman, however. He appeared on stage in the middle of verse 2 gesturing with cables and whatnot. I tried to tell him politely that I was planning to finish the song first.
We figured it out and on I went with a new DI. Not a major problem but in the back of my head I got the notion that the audience had picked up on my irritation with Mr Sound and didn’t appreciate me giving one of their own a hard time. I have no idea if this was all just in my mind. I found the audience a little reserved at first but they and I both warmed to each other along the way.
In my mind I guess I mostly played for Bob Tijuana, quarter-legendary frontman of the semi-legendary band „Cliff Barnes & The Fear Of Winning“. I saw them twice in my teens, the first time I ever listened to anything countrified. Bob and I have been in touch over myspace and Twitter for two years or so but we had never met face to face. It’s quite a different feeling playing when you know there’s someone out there who understands your lyrics. Bob was complimentary about my set which felt very good.
I joined Annika in her set to play harmonica and the part of David Olney in their beautiful co-written duet „I Know Better“.
And then we played a few songs together, asked Heinz & Tina to join us on stage, and after that, I think, we did a couple more encores. All felt right with the world at the end of the set.
I sold a good number of CDs after the show and received some very nice personal & heartfelt feedback. Also, and this is not to be underestimated when you’re traveling on a budget, we made good money that night.
Day 3
Friday, May 28, Hometown Soul Café, Göttingen
a breakfast concert for resonator guitar & ukulele
We had a great breakfast in the morning, were serenaded by our hosts with ukulele & resonator guitar and then decided to make use of the beautiful location to take some pictures & shoot some video (which I will post soon as I get around to editing it). We also worked some more on possible duets.
picture in scenic Restrup in front of Annika’s favorite blue door
I learned the male parts in Annika’s songs „I Know Better“ and „Ice Cream Heart“, Annika sang with me on Where Do We Go From Here?“.
We also did our co-writes „Your Own Private Rainbow“ and „Not Too Late To Dream“ (written on the last day of our last tour) and some covers: „Angel From Montgomery“ (John Prine), „If I Needed You“ (Townes van Zandt), „Long As I Can See The Light“ (CCR).
On our way to Göttingen we had to once again stop at the Mojo in Osnabrück to pick up stuff Annika had left behind (her camera among other things). I was hoping this would not become a regular occurrence.
It was a long five-hour-plus drive to Göttingen – with the stop in Osnabrück we were underway for 7 hours or so.
We played two sets at the Hometown Soul Café to a medium-sized appreciative crowd. I’ll say it was a little bit of an odd gig. We did ok but we never really took off (if that makes any sense). Part of the reason may be that the layout of the room is such that people come in between the stage and the audience. Another part may be that Annika and I were a little tired from the traveling.
Anyway, we enjoyed playing for our host Jeff & some folks who had seen us there in November. We enjoyed catching up with songwriter Naomi Sommers who we had an in-the-round with last time around. This time, Naomi was very pregnant and had also just recently gigged there with Camille Bloom (small world). And, lastly, I immensely enjoyed catching up with my friend Sandy, the keyboard and accordion player of my very first band way back when who is now working at a bookstore in Göttingen.
Day 4
Saturday, May 29, house concert in Aachen
And another loooong day driving cross-country. Actually, we didn’t have super-bad drives on this trip but if it’s four or five hours every day, it can seem awfully long. Anyway, I was very much looking forward to the house concert and to meeting Uwe. He emailed me about a house concert quite a while ago after having seen me at another house concert – but it took us awhile to find a suitable date. Actually, three or four weeks before the gig he called me up saying he had a very hard time getting reservations since two major festivals were going on at the same evening not too far away: Pink Pop and Naked Song with David Olney, Caroline Herring and others both only half an hour away over the border in the Netherlands.
Uwe’s house is so close to the border that our cell phones switched to a Dutch provider as we were approaching.
At any rate, Uwe’s concerns were unnecessary. We had a crowd of about 25, I think. Not huge but not embarrassingly small at a house concert.
I think maybe this was the first night we really gelled. We had a really good time, the audience enjoyed it and so did we. It was particularly nice to see some audience members sing along to some of my songs!
Since Annika has a great, brand-new record out she mostly stuck to the strongest songs on Fireflies. It was not that easy for me to choose which songs to do. The new album is recorded but not yet released – so I usually did a mix of brand-new stuff, some from The Things That Count and some rediscovered older ones as well. I’ve worked up a new version of Eye For An Eye from the 2nd album „The Devil & The Open Road“ that I threw in every now and then. I also played the new version of „Nowhere Begins“ quite a bit.
It was also great to be staying at a place with a wireless internet connection. May sound trivial but it’s life’s little pleasures that count when you’re on the road.
Day 5
Sunday, May 30, scheduled photo shoot
This promised to be another very long day since I had scheduled a photo shoot on our only off-day. A great professional photographer had approached me about a shoot a few weeks before and this seemed like a good day cause we’d sort of be in the vicinity on our way up to Hamburg.
Along the way I called the photographer to let him know around what time we’d get in and he called right back cancelling our date due to a family emergency that had occurred earlier that day. He had to rush to the hospital to be with his Dad and had not brought my phone number. Well, ok. To tell the truth, my hair had been cut way too short the day before I left so I was not too sad about the cancellation. I don’t want to be on the cover of my next CD with a 12-year-old-boy’s haircut.
So we found ourselves a hotel in Hamburg and made our way. Another loong ride. Fortunately, about two hours from Hamburg we started talking about a song of Annika’s that I had suggested some lyric changes to on our last tour in November. We went back & forth, pretty much finishing the song by the time we rolled into Hamburg around 8 pm.
We had contemplated seeing a concert that night at Music Star in Norderstedt but by now we were pretty tired and figured a stroll into a nearby restaurant would be enough excitement for the night. We got more than we bargained for.
Back at the hotel we were getting ready for bed (same room, bunk beds, it’s a low-budget kinda tour) when some alarm went off very loudly.
Annika came out of the bathroom super-excited and ran out of the room, leaving guitars and everything behind. I had been in a couple of fire alarms in these budget motels before so I made sure that at least I had some shoes and the combination to the room before I followed suit.
three fire trucks in front of our hotel in Hamburg
Big fire trucks, police, hotel guests standing on the street, a major hullabaloo but no smoke or fire visible or detectable. Turns out this was as good a time as any to write a song.
Earlier when we made our way to our room, Annika had been chanting in a Tom Waits-like voice „way down at the end of the hall“ – now we used this as a starting off point for a song.
„Way down at the end of the hall/ that’s where I’m gonna be/ with a big box of matches and a can of gasoline/ you better not be messin’ with me“.
Coming up in part two:
What happened in the fire? How did we rock Hamburg & Berlin? How did I play some gigs without a voice? The triumphant finale. All will be revealed soon.
Part two of Townes van Zandt week
Hiya folks,
since I said we’re calling this Townes van Zandt week here at rock’n’rill, I figure I owe you another song.
“If I Needed You” is undoubtedly one of Townes’s prettiest songs and it’s been covered a bunch of times. My friend Rachel Harrington (www.rachelharrington.net), however, had this cool idea to combine “If I Needed You” with “Fort Worth Blues”, Steve Earle’s ode to his mentor. This is 90 percent her arrangement.
She sacrificed the verse about Townes’s parrots Lupe & Lil for the Ft. Worth part cause she didn’t like the parrot verse all that much.
I got to sing the Steve Earle part and play some harmonica and guitar.
This duet went on a little record of mine entitled The Hobo Companion. As the title suggests, it’s a companion piece to Hobo Dream which was released in early 2004. (Both CDs are available through my website www.markusrill.net)
Anyway, I hope you like this duet. Do leave a comment, guys.
Thanks for listening,
Markus
Two Girls - my home recording
Hi guys,
there’s been quite a bit of interest in my last post about meeting Townes van Zandt and I discussed him & his music with some folks on Twitter (with Rosanne Cash among others, can you believe it? - I love Twitter). All this has lead me to playing some of his songs again, relearning them, rearranging them.
It’s not like I can add anything spectacular to his perfect songs - but I can try to play them in a way that suits my style.
Anyway, here’s a home demo of Two Girls. Nuthin’ fancy but I hope you like it.
I may even upload another one or two of his songs this week. Let’s call it Townes van Zandt week here at rocknrill :-)
Stay tuned,
Markus
rock'n'rill
Rock'n'roll-folk-country-Americana songwriter Markus Rill blogs about his latest exploits, upcoming shows, backstage shenanigans and more.
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