Jeffries Tube Rendezvous

 I had some fun with this one!

Some backstory: in August of 2022 I had a surgery (for large acoustic neuroma). The surgery was successful and my facial nerve preserved. While I lost hearing in my left ear I'm still able to record (and frankly music has never sounded better!) but obviously I'm not so concerned with a stereo mix as much! 

For a time (maybe a couple months?) I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to play more horn(s) again. My recovery was physically very hard. Lots of pain in my head, neck and back. I wanted to return to swimming and biking but those would have to come in time. I did not lose my balance but I remain the klutz I've always been! As for playing trumpet, I couldn't play anything at a few weeks post-op. The left side of my lips had lost some sensation. The mouthpiece felt asymmetric and very odd. Still, I persisted and did lots of facial exercises.

In time I could play low notes up to middle C. Months later, after lots of PT, acupuncture, and exercise, my embouchure finally came back. It was a joy to finally be able to play, although I was straining for a long time to get to the top of the staff. Now I'm playing just about at the level I think I was at pre-surgery, albeit my range and endurance are still continuing to improve.

Bottom line: it feels great to be playing, singing, writing, and producing music again and I'm looking forward to lots more to come!

This song is a personal celebration for me - it's just me checking in with a bit of humor, an interesting chord progression and melody, I'm playing synths and ukulele (!), and playing what I think to be some solid flugelhorn lines!

Quietly - new album from Rob Birdwell

June 1, 2021 - My album "Quietly" is now available on Bandcamp.

https://robbirdwell.bandcamp.com/album/quietly

Quietly should be available on all major streaming platforms later this month, with a limited number of CDs available sometime in July, 2021.

There are additional track notes and audio clips available on my home page:

https://www.birdwellmusic.com/music/quietly/

Thataway

This is a melodious and jazzy modern shuffle written for a young, developing ensemble. This chart is well-suited for middle school jazz bands and/or a high school group.

The score and parts for Thataway are available on Sheet Music Plus!

Scored for Trumpets 1, 2, 3, Flute, Clarinet, Alto Sax 1 & 2, Tenor Sax 1 & 2, Baritone Sax, Trombones 1 & 2, Piano, Bass, Drums, Guitar.

The shuffle feel gives this tune a sophisticated and modern sound.  Once your players get to know the interplay of the lines they will dig in and have a great time.

The chart can open up for solos (as many as you need or want: trumpet, alto, tenor, piano, guitar) - while there's no "written" solos (chord changes only), players can listen to the recorded solo to get some ideas for an approach to soloing over the chord changes, which move along pretty easy.

I Believe In Dog

"I Believe In Dog" is a symphonic work scored for full orchestra - the music is underscore for my poem/narration, "I Believe In Dog" - the score and parts/poem are now available on Sheet Music Plus! https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/i-believe-in-dog-digital-sheet-music/21322551?ac=1

Bella

Bella was a loving member of our family for almost 16 years.  She lived a long and happy life. She was by my side in my studio for many music scoring projects - kept me company and made sure I took lots of breaks to get outside and enjoy the outdoors!  All dogs (and cats) deserve loving homes.  It's my hope that "I Believe In Dog" can be performed and used to raise awareness and resources for organizations that foster and care for dogs and cats in order to find them homes.

Bella with "Dead Cow" - she'd shake that stuffed thing but never broke DC after over a decade!

Score excerpt from "I Believe In Dog" for Full Orchestra and Poem Reader/Narrator

Halie Loren in Bandon Oregon

Pictured from left to right are: Rob Birdwell, Matt Treder, Sean Peterson, Halie Loren, and Larry Smith.

Had the great honor to join Halie Loren and band for a performance at the Sprague Community Theater in Bandon, Oregon on June 7, 2019. Incredible audience and such a nice venue. The band this night was:

• Halie Loren - vocals, piano, ukulele 
• Matt Treder - piano, rhodes, vocals
• Sean Peterson - bass
• John Raden - drums, percussion
• Rob Birdwell - trumpet, flugelhorn

The first time I had the privilege to record some trumpet/flugelhorn solos in the studio with Halie I was thrilled and even a bit nervous as I didn't know what to expect or how she worked. I'd heard her previous work so I knew the quality of the performances and production were of the highest standard. Some studio sessions are better than others for sure.  Most of my experiences in the studio have been fun and enjoyable but there have been a couple that were absolute train wrecks for a variety of reasons.  Fortunately, every recording session with Halie and band have been the best of the best! 

First of all, Halie was running the console and doing the recording engineering herself, along with her long-time musical director/pianist extraordinaire, Matt Treder.  Both of them knew what they wanted but also kept things loose and in the moment - it's jazz after all!

Check out Halie's latest album, From the Wild Sky, which features her original material. As with all her recordings, this one is carefully crafted and features her exquisite songwriting and performances.

Scores and Parts for Rob Birdwell's Original Tunes

Been busy working on new music, gigging and enjoying life! I'm in the process of migrating my scores/parts for my original and public domain works to Sheet Music Plus!

The Sheet Music Plus service is a good fit for me, will save me time (more time for music!), and will hopefully expose my composing/arranging work (and even some of my songs!) to a much wider audience!

St. James Infirmary Blues is one of my arrangements now on Sheet Music Plus - it's a public domain song so I can make it available!  Enjoy the amazing Katie Smith's fabulous performance as well as that of everyone in the Corvallis-OSU Symphony!

I have several other derived work "arrangements" - making those available is much more complex.  There are some incredible publishers and rights organizations out there - but getting licensing for an orchestral arrangement is expensive folks - the best offers I've had offer a 12.5% markup price if I'm selling - that's actually good, but I have yet to sign any paper work for that deal.  The WORST are the offers (and I won't dignify them with even mentioning names) for an "arranger license" of around $400 or more!  That wouldn't even include any costs for the score or parts.  I've had to turn down MULTIPLE requests from some GREAT orchestras because I simply don't have the rights.

So yea, I get it.  Intellectual property, and all that jazz.  It's important.  I've been threatened with infringement fees in the past, but hopefully never again.  The "arranger license" fees will pretty much mean there's no way any of my 3 to 5 minute arrangements of other authors' songs will ever be heard in a public venue again!  Well, not unless something changes or there's some sort of reasonable solution that has an economy of scale suitable for the small-town arranger and local orchestra.

I do like the 12.5% markup idea.  Wouldn't it be great to write an arrangement of a cool tune, make the score/parts available for $50 bucks and send $6.25 of any sales to the publisher/rights holder?  Ah, if only it were that simple!

I'm going to stick to writing/composing ORIGINAL music/songs/lyrics!  The pay may not be great but wow is it satisfying!

I've got some projects in the works that I'm excited about - these things always take time so check back soon!

Meanwhile, keep playing it pretty!

RB

Letter to the US Electoral College Electors

The following is my letter/email the the United States Electoral College Electors via http://www.asktheelectors.org/ - I'm posting it here because a number of Electors' email accounts are simply being inundated and may never be received.  I may also append Electors' replies as a matter of record - some of them appear to be respectful, while not particularly promising.  Still, it's our right to speak out.  I personally believe that the pending election of Donald Trump to the office of President of the United States is a grave concern and worthy of employing all legal and proper methods for resisting before it can even begin.  -RB

* * *

President-elect Trump has demonstrated during the entire course of his campaign, throughout the debates, and throughout these brief post-election weeks that he is every bit the emotionally unstable, intellectually vacuous, racist, misogynistic, and textbook demagogue we've witnessed all along. It's naive to think he has any capacity to "change" or "rise to the job" of President of the United States.  Politicians of all parties - Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, et al. - agree that a President Trump will be nothing short of a nightmare for our great nation.


President-elect Trump has no real interest in the people of this country.  This is demonstrated time and time again with his crass interactions with a free press, his disparaging statements towards women, the disabled, people of color, and his utter lack of humility. 


As a demagogue, Donald Trump acts solely for his own self-interests.  His plans to devastate our environment and natural resources, his unpredictable, mean-spirited and reactionary character, his propensity to promote ersatz subordinates to the highest levels of leadership - those and many more character flaws and patterns - all raise dire concerns for our nation’s welfare and are a recipe for an unprecedented political, economic, social, and environmental horror that must be wholly rejected before it can begin.


On behalf of all that is truly great about America, our democracy, our freedom, our precious environment, our national security, our children and future generations to come, our well-being and standing with the rest of the countries that we share this planet with, and for peace on this Earth - on behalf of all these and more - I and many, many others of all races, genders, political, social, economic, and religious beliefs implore you to cast a vote for a candidate other than Donald Trump.  It is a moral imperative that Donald Trump never be allowed to take the oath of President.

Thank you for your time and consideration, I appreciate and respect the role you serve in our electoral process.

Sincerely,


​Rob Birdwell​

Musings on Energy Investments

If you were looking to make energy investments in your community/region, where would you want your money to go?


1 mile of oil pipeline: $5 million*
Maintenance costs: high
Environmental costs: major
Benefit to Humanity: short term at best, but at great risk to environment/climate

1 megawatt solar farm: $2.5 million (~5 acres)
Maintenance costs: low to moderate
Environmental costs: minor (debatable of course!)
Benefit to Humanity: a positive/renewable source of power for ~160 homes

1.5 megawatt wind turbine: $2 million
Maintenance costs: low to moderate
Environmental costs: minor (debatable of course!)
Benefit to Humanity: a positive/renewable source of power for power for ~400 homes

All of us alive today were born into a world of massive fossil fuel use, a primarily monolithic energy belief system, with deeply entrenched infrastructure and politics. We're all simultaneously beneficiaries and victims of fossil fuels.

Yet knowing what we know about climate change, the toxic effect of fossil fuels on our environment, impact on indigenous peoples and their lands so often appropriated for pathways for infrastructure, and the impact on the health of human and animal life, shouldn't we demand of our governments, corporations, and financial institutions to offer up better energy choices for all generations and particularly the generations to come?

• https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/energy/assets/pdfs/energy-camp-presentations/Students%20project%20presentation_Wind%20Energy_Bohr%20group.pdf
• http://www.culturechange.org/wind.htm
• http://www.seia.org/about/solar-energy/solar-faq/how-many-homes-can-be-powered-1-megawatt-solar-energy
• Various google searches on Solar, Wind, and Oil Pipelines.
• *The cost of a mile of oil pipeline referenced here is an estimate - one source equated it to approximately the same as the cost of a 1-mile stretch of two-lane highway. Assuming, the published cost of the Dakota Access Pipeline is around $3.7 billion and it was planned to be about 1170 miles, that would be roughly $3.16 million dollars per mile. But this source in 2014 estimates closer to $5 million per mile as there are clearly a myriad of aggregate costs involved. Seldom does anyone build just a mile of oil pipeline.
• Perhaps the most interesting part of all this is a that in the city of Bruges in Belgium a brewer has built a Beer Pipeline: http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/19/news/beer-pipeline-bruges-belgium/ at great benefit to humanity! :)

Corvallis-OSU Symphony Final Frontier Concert 2016

I have the honor, once again, to be part of another great Corvallis-OSU Symphony concert on Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 3pm at LaSells Stewart Center.  For more information and tickets, visit the Corvallis-OSU Symphony web site.

I'll be guest-conducting the following works:

Star Wars Medley - music by John Williams
Flying Theme from E.T. - music by John Williams 
Star Trek Through The Years - music by Alexander Courage, Jerry Goldsmith, et al.
Space Oddity - words and music by David Bowie, arranged by Rob Birdwell; featured vocalist: Marc Callahan
A Brave and Startling Truth - poem by Maya Angelou, music by Rob Birdwell; featured poetry reader: Shelley Moon

Other works to be performed and conducted by Corvallis-OSU Symphony music director Marlan Carlson include:

• Tomasi: Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra featuring Nathan Boal on saxophone
• Richard Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathustra

Am I excited?  Way beyond that!  There's a tremendous amount of talent on and off stage - professional musicians, teachers, extraordinary students, and pro-level community players comprise this orchestra.  A hard working symphony board and masterful music direction by Marlan Carlson make this, like so many other concerts, a one-of-a-kind event.

It's an honor to be able to "play" (as conducting is my instrument for this gig) with such talented musicians.  As usual, I'm humbled but soaking in the experience and always learning new things.  The 30 minutes or so that I'll spend on the stand during the performance imploring musical expression out of the orchestra for my selections - and flowing along a good deal of the way too - won't compare to the hours/days/nights of preparation, dreaming, scoring, communicating, persuading, doubting, and hoping.  That's true with just about everything though - probably why I like watching those "making of" documentaries of films or music as much (if not more) than the finished product.  

Marlan Carlson and I were chatting in his office in early December 2015 about the possibility and logistics of adding David Bowie's Space Oddity to the program, preferably with an operatic baritone singer. To my delight he said he knew just the singer.  I followed him from his office as he speedily lead the way to the studio of Marc Callahan.  Marlan asked Marc of his availability, introduced me, and then I mentioned the Bowie song; Marc took maybe 20 seconds to stew this idea around before he said, "why not?" and just like that a new arrangement, song, and performer were slated for the concert! It's been a joy getting to know Marc and his exceptional vocal talents.  I can't wait for him to unleash that thunderous voice of his on this song - it is musically and emotionally fitting that a wondrous voice and talent such as his will be performing it.  Coming in the shadow of David Bowie's recent passing makes it all the more poignant.  I'd been scoring the arrangement of Space Oddity and completely immersed in all things Bowie for several weeks when I heard the sad news.  The gift of Bowie's Blackstar album and the stories from his collaborators shed light on his relentless artistry despite what he was facing.  Can't get much more final frontier than that.

There are always pleasant surprises and happy accidents when putting together any music, program, show or concert - getting to know poet, author, and storyteller Shelley Moon is certainly one, and Maya Angelou's poem "A Brave and Startling Truth" is another.  The concept of the "final frontier" theme is clear in every line of Dr. Angelou's poem - written in 1995 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations - and Shelley Moon's reading of it will be a gift for all as she lends her artistic voice and life experience to every word, phrase, and meaning in the poem.  As Maya Angelou so eloquently states, "We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world " - that's final frontier stuff all the way.

Shelley Moon's reading of "A Brave and Startling Truth" will be underscored by my original music inspired by Maya Angelou's words and message.  It's an experiment and there's always risk in this sort of thing but I'm grateful for this collaboration and opportunity. 

And finally, don't even get me started on the Theremin and all that I learned about that instrument and its inventor over these past couple months!  More on that later - hopefully much more!

Rob Birdwell

Rob Birdwell - Music Playlist from CD Releases

Thanks for listening! More songs and music to come!

The Art of The Rant

I don't understand
this world we're livin' in
how a billionaire blowhard
would ever think best to be
the President of all America 
    boom for the business
    bust for the soul
    I wanna let it all go...
                     -Rob Birdwell (from the song "Let It All Go")



Maybe the best rant is the one we keep to ourselves.  The world is awash with relentless pontifications and tirades.  Why add to the noise?

Well, why not?  Besides, the medium of song tends to soften the blow.

My song "Let It All Go" came about somewhat indirectly when I read someone else's rather nasty little rant - none of which had anything to do with my life or anything I cared much about.  But the comments made me pause to consider, imagine, and eventually provided more than enough fodder for this little song.  Recorded almost as fast as it was written, I filmed my live vocal take and then added some trumpet for this demo...or mon petit divaguer, if you will - enjoy!

Wayward Dog - a score for Jazz Band and String Orchestra

I wrote Wayward Dog as a way to combine a jazz band and string orchestra.  Although scored for younger players, this chart will work particularly well for more advanced groups too.

The Score and Parts for Wayward Dog are now available on Sheet Music Plus

Directors: this chart is a great way to bring your jazz band and string orchestra together!

Are you performing Wayward Dog? Please let me know - I'd love to hear/see the performance!

Kanye West and Aiming for the Bushes

Kanye West is a man of many talents and resources for sure.  However, his seemingly boundless confidence does, at times (especially like this), remind me of the scene in the 2010 film The Other Guys.  Two actors (who are only in the film's first few minutes) played by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, portray detectives with boundless confidence on the dangerous and mean streets.  Nothing can go wrong for them; they have the admiration (and envy) of their peers; they are impervious (or so it would seem) to all perils of their profession.  Yet that fateful day arrives when they simply over-estimate their abilities and miss the mark - by a long shot.

Kanye West Sings Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen at Glastonbury

Okay, so maybe Kanye was aiming for the bushes on this one.  I get the strange sense that he landed just fine.

MuseScore 2.0 Preferred over Finale

I've been a Finale user for many years - and I will be for many more to come.  However, it probably won't be my go-to music notation software for new projects.  I'm pretty much using MuseScore 2.0 for every new project these days - it does just about everything extraordinarily well, is reliable, feature rich and fits nicely with my own workflow and preferences.

Here are my top 10 reasons why I now prefer MuseScore 2.0 over Finale:

1. Note entry - MuseScore 2.0's features in this department rival even Finale's Speedy Entry feature, something I never thought would be possible.  
2. Navigator - the ability to navigate quickly to any part of the score.  The Page and Continuous view modes directly correlate with Finale's approach but the Navigator (bird's-eye view) greatly enhances both of these views.
3. Slurs and hairpin dynamics - these are just two examples of common input shortcuts made simple.  Pressing "S" will slur any selected notes; hairpin dynamics are input using the < and > keys.  Pretty intuitive!
4. Chords Symbols - I love MuseScore 2.0's ability quickly enter chord symbols just the way I want!  No, chord symbols don't play back as they do in Finale - but that was never a desired feature and one I often had to scramble around figuring out how to turn that feature off.
5. Metronome - I know this is a simple thing, but I love this feature.  I no longer have to compose a drum part as my click (although drum and percussion entry in MuseScore 2.0 is very powerful).
6. Page and Score Layout - I've gotten pretty good at page layout with Finale although much of that learning was the product of a great deal of time and experimentation.  MuseScore 2.0's layout features (with the "Breaks and Spacers" and the vertical & horizontal frames) are easy to use and work pretty much as I'd expect.  
7. Inspector tool - very useful for selecting a group of notes and changing their attributes en masse.  At first it seems like an "Advanced" tool but once explored you'll be clicking F8 to get at these features - for example, making notes invisible, making a group of notes smaller, etc.  All very easy with this tool.
8. Looping Measure(s) - the ability to select one or more measures and loop them in playback!  That's really useful for practicing lines with the score!  Used in conjunction with the metronome and this is a double cool feature with many practical uses!
9. Playback - the score playback in MuseScore 2.0 is actually quite wonderful.  The ability to control the mix and pan are especially intuitive.  Do I miss Finale's Garritan Orchestra playback?  Maybe a bit.  But it really is about notation first.  We're writing music for a player to see and bring to life.  The playback must be good, but not at the expense of bogging down the system. Besides, people who need super high resolution playback simply have no imagination! ;)
10. Open Source - I love the fact that this software has a huge community and support network.  It's a true marvel, creating such a feature-rich tool for creating musical scores and lead sheets given the wide range of musical styles and preferences within the world of music notation.  The barrier to entry is incredibly high, but MuseScore 2.0 clears the bar and then some.  And because it's open source, the anticipation and support for new features will hopefully continue long after this MuseScore 2.0 honeymoon is over!
11. Repeat Last Selection ("R" shortcut) - I know I said "Top 10" but my list of favorites would be incomplete if I didn't mention the "R" feature - which is to say the "Repeat" feature whereby you simple select any measure or note group within a measure and press the R key - those selected notes notes and/or measure items will be repeated to the next beat or measure.  This is extremely powerful and reduces millions of key strokes!  

I love many, many other aspects of MuseScore 2.0 - from the ability to import a variety of formats, including MIDI and MusicXML, to being able to export a score's playback to MP3, WAV or other audio format, to being able to use MuseScore 2.0 on Windows, Linux or Mac.  The list of favorites goes on.

However, there are many features I still greatly appreciate about Finale - most all of the same things I like about MuseScore 2.0, but these features are particularly powerful in Finale and are either missing, lacking, or unknown to me in MuseScore 2.0:

1. Note Mover Tool (ability to move/merge/replace select notes from one staff to another) - yes, I can copy notes many different ways in MuseScore 2.0, but when it comes to fine-grained note movement I believe MuseScore 2.0 could improve on this lack of functionality.  Finale's "Note Mover" tool would be a nice feature to have in MuseScore 2.0.
2. Exploding Notes - although MuseScore 2.0 does indeed have a very useful "Explode" note feature, it's limited to the staff directly below the one you are exploding too.  Finale has more fine-grained control over this feature.  I wish MuseScore 2.0 would allow me to explode notes from different voices as Finale does.  Still, I can work with MuseScore 2.0's explode note implementation - works good enough for what I most commonly need. 
3. Copy/Paste only certain items (via filter) - Finale's features in this department are powerful.  While MuseScore 2.0 rivals many of them, I miss being able to (easily) copy only articulations, slurs, et al.,  from one melody to another un-detailed..  Maybe this feature exists in MuseScore 2.0 - but as of this writing it's not obvious to me how to do this.  

Following My Muse

I've been in love with music for a long, long time.  I enjoy learning about it, listening to it, writing it, and of course performing it.

I love the friendships, laughter and deep kinship I experience with fellow musicians.

Music can serve as a refuge (the word "escape" sounds a bit negative, though it may very well be).

Music opens up many conversations and causes me to think about the natural world in different ways - there are so many mysteries and things still unknown.  Perhaps music and all that goes into it (and from it) is helping to contribute to human kind's understanding and perspectives.

There's a responsibility being a musician - one must be prepared, show up on time of course, and play the gig in front of them.  In any creative endeavor, there's a mix of emotions: excitement, anticipation, and a fair share of disappointment - all of which test our will to continue creating.  But continue to create, we must.

Most of my favorite musicians and artists are what you might call "elders" - they are men and women who have been around.  In the youth-centric media market it's easy to lose sight of the fact that there remains a wealth of deep wisdom and artistry in the work of these elders - those who have lived through success, failure, re-invention, and are still pushing boundaries and creating and performing.  Yes, I keep an eye and ear open to the new trend, the new thing, the new "it" - but with all that is new we must also devote our attentions, at least equally, to those who have traveled and those who continue their creative travels.

So here I am - after all these songs and years, finally making my first music video - a real do-it-yer-selfer for sure.  But I did it - and I'm not boasting, just sayin'.  Part of the muse we all follow requires that we be vulnerable; that we share a part of ourselves and our work.

In his poem Bluebird, Charles Bukowski - a prolific poet and author who explored many wonderfully dark aspects of the human condition - seems to speak of himself; that sweet part of him that, if revealed, might blow his cover.  Pretty cool way of doing just that!  Night after night - following his muse.  And thank goodness for that.

Following the muse - it's a choice.  To follow her may be folly, but to ignore her would be ignorant.

To follow one's muse is to pay homage to all we are; to all we were; to all we are to be; to all we have learned; to all we have loved; to all we have dreamed; to all who have believed in us; to all who would deny us but no longer can - because we followed our muse;  to times past and times still to come - when, if we're fortunate, the muse will still beckon.

Rob Birdwell

Musings and Gigs for Fall 2014

Fall is fast approaching - here's a quick list of some of the gigs I have coming up:

• September 27 - Private gig with LMNO - see you if you're in on this!
• September 30 - Early Bird Jazz Band at Linus Pauling Middle School will start up our early morning sessions!  I direct this before-school program and it's a lot of fun!
• October 17 - The Svens at Imagine Coffee! 7:30pm
• October 18 - Creighton Lindsay Band plays 2 Towns Cider @  2pm
• October 24 - Sideways Portal Sandbox plays The Magic Barrel @ Whiteside Theater

And more coming soon - check my calendar for the latest.

And what will I be musically busy with this Fall?

• Practicing lots of course!  I enjoy performing but it all starts with preparation!
• Writing new tunes - got lots of them brewing and I'm excited about the next batches!
• Teaching an online Jazz History course at OSU - this always inspires me as I learn lots too!

I'm definitely missing not conducting another Halloween with Harry concert with the OSU Symphony..  We had three great seasons of Harry & the music of John Williams and they were all very magical - a great run...but alas, not this season.

More Music Videos for Blue Macabre?

My plan was (and remains) to find new or compelling ways to share my music.  I've dabbled with making a few fairly humble videos so far.  I "orchestrated" my own pseudo "framework" so that I could easily script out lyric videos.  Both Swimming Upstream and Nobody's Business leverage this framework.  I can use this framework to do some simple animations/motion, lighting and display the lyrics in time with the music.  Used in combination with traditional video editing tools, there are some neat things that can be done.  I'd like to take a slightly bigger step this fall and produce a more "real" music video for my song, My Muse.  Again, I'll keep you posted.  And if you would like to help me produce it, don't hesitate to contact me! 

Rob Birdwell and his Ridiculous One-Man Band

Okay, so this isn't really even really a thing yet.  But something I've been dabbling with for a while.  I've got a lot of tunes (old, new and in-the-making) that would be fun to perform live.  And I doubt I'd be completely solo - would like to mix it up with some special guests/friends, stories, readings and of course, original songs.  I'm aiming for something mid-November...we'll see as to the when and where...I need a bit of time to re-learn how to play/perform my own songs!

Oh - did I mention I have a new CD of original songs out?

Blue Macabre is released and available just about everywhere!  I will almost always have CDs and/or download cards with me at gigs...just ask and we'll begin the negotiation.  I warn you, I'm a complete sucker and you'll likely get the best of me.

This time of year always feels like such a transition - a new beginning with every season.  Much to look forward to.  Much to be grateful for.  

Here's to a happy and safe autumn to you all!

Download Song - My Muse from Blue Macabre

Download the complete track to "My Muse" here. 

My Muse is the 3rd track from my forthcoming CD release, Blue Macabre.  It features me playing on everything: lead and backing vocals, keys & synths, flugelhorn and percussion.  A moody minor groove, the song is about losing and finding one's creative muse:

my muse is hard to find
can hardly call her mine
where she goes I never know
playful as the breeze
she walks away with ease
to love her is to let her go...

• Download the complete high-resolution audio track MP3 to My Muse for free here.

• Or if you simple want to listen to an excerpt, you can also catch that here.

"My Muse" words and music © 2014 Rob Birdwell / BirdwellMusic.com - all rights reserved.

Blue Macabre - new songs by Rob Birdwell releasing on 9/1/2014

I'll be releasing a new CD on September 1, 2014 (on CDBaby). This is exactly the album I wanted to make - new and original songs that I love to sing; songs with horns (just about every track features my horn work either on trumpet, flugelhorn, tenor sax and for the first time even a little trombone); the songs all have deep meaning for me and I'm glad to finally be sharing them in this collection.

It's a "solo" CD release for me but it was not a completely lonewolf production.  Some dear friends offered up their extraordinary talents and I am grateful for their fantastic contributions: Creighton Lindsay (guitar), Nick Rivard (guitar), Dave Storrs (percussion/drums) and Dave Leslie (piano).  Additional thanks go out to Jed Irvine and Dave Storrs for their suggestions for mixing and mastering.

blue macabre

1. how many times
2. swimming upstream
3. my muse
4. nobody’s business
5. long way to go
6. harry and the mannequin
7. where u at
8. them bones
9. beautiful moments
10. love the most
11. swimming upstream (unplugged mix)

Credits

Rob Birdwell: lead and backing vocals, piano & synths, trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet, tenor sax, trombone, bass, drums, melodica, percussion

Creighton Lindsay plays guitar on Swimming Upstream
Nick Rivard plays guitar on Nobody’s Business
Dave Storrs plays drums and percussion on Them Bones
Dave Leslie plays piano on Beautiful Moments

All songs written, arranged, mixed, and produced by Rob Birdwell

Copyright © Rob Birdwell

Swimming Upstream

It's always interesting when a song I wrote shares the same title with some other tune, book or movie.  My song "Swimming Upstream" shares the same title as this movie of the same name - well, since I love swimming (and swimming-related stories) looks like I'll need to watch this film!

And last night while watching the Tony Awards (and dang if I don't wish I could somehow see every single one of the musicals and plays they honored), I witnessed a fantastic song and dance production of the classic number, 'Tain't Nobody's Business" (a song written in 1920 by Porter Grainger and Everett Robbins and adapted for the Woody Allen musical, Bullets Over Broadway) which shares a similar enough title to my own tune, "Nobody's Business", that I have to admit I was relieved to hear I hadn't subconsciously ripped off any aspect of that tune.

Still, with the authorship of our respective tunes nearly 100 years apart, it was interesting that the sentiments were similar (starting with the title and diverging from there), even though the lyric, style and approach of our respective tunes were completely different.  I'll post more on my song Nobody's Business another day; but for now, here's my song, Swimming Upstream which shouldn't be confused with the Geoffrey Rush movie Swimming Upstream - but, hey, 'tain't nobody's business if you do! ;)

Beautiful Moments

A new recording and video featuring Dave Leslie on piano and myself, Rob Birdwell, on vocals.  Recorded "live" at Dave's studio near Portland, Oregon - enjoy!