Album Spotlight: Year We Made Gifts EP

Click on the album cover to listen at BandCamp.

In 2013, in my first couple of years of trying out songwriting, Molly and I had the idea that rather than buy Christmas gifts, we would make Christmas gifts. Perhaps you've done something similar before. It can either be a wonderful catalyst for creativity, or it can be a last-minute scramble to put anything together. (Remember that episode of Friends where Monica and Chandler attempt to make each other gifts?)

For me, it was a little bit of both. So I decided that I would put this newfound hobby to work and write a song for everyone in my family. I would record them myself and make my first EP. This was my first attempt at everything, so it's definitely rough. I experimented with GarageBand loops a lot here. Some of the songs came quick, others were a bit of a slog. But I thought I'd take you through the list, and even if it's hard to listen to, maybe the sentiment will shine through.

1. Lovely: This is one of the first songs I wrote for Molly. The word just seems to sum her up pretty well. Everything about her is just lovely. We have this little exchange that we often say to one another when one of us says, "I love you." The question is, "Do you?" It's a bit of extra security and reinforcement. This was also an attempt to experiment with form and instead of focusing on rhyming, I focused on structuring the verses similarly with similar words. There's a part of me that loves this song, but I think it could use some further work some day.
   

2. Tai's Song: With all apologies to my oldest, this is a terrible song. I was scrambling to get this done, and ended up with something that is so basic and also a little creepy ("Sometimes I stare when you're unaware...?" Ugh!) I made the chords especially easy, because I wanted Tai to play piano on it. I tricked him into playing on this without telling him what it was. Luckily, he was a good sport about it. To date, this is the only time we've ever played on a song together.
   

3. When Bronwyn Prays Compline: When my kids were little, we would often pray the Office of Compline before bed. I quite prided myself on teaching them how to lead it themselves. So when I found I could rhyme Bronwyn's name with Compline (kinda), I thought I was being quite clever. I loved taking the words from the Book of Common Prayer and adapting them into this song. The Pre-chorus is actually a quote from my mother-in-law who was relating to feeling invisible to her kids when they were growing up. I think that must be how God feels with us too, always trying to get our attention. But then a little girl starts praying these ancient words, and it all connects.
   

4. The Ballad of Liam Becket: Ok, here's the "single" from this project, and the only one that has endured the test of time. It's funny to listen to this version, then the one on Incomplete Dreams. I don't have a favorite child, but this is by far my favorite song I've written about one of them. There are so many stories hidden in this song, many of which came from a daily "Liam Quote of the Day" I would post on social media when he was little. He was always just coming up with funny shit to say. Some day, I'll do a post just on all the little Easter eggs in here.
   

5. Grey's My Favorite Color: This line comes from Counting Crows' Mr. Jones about a gray guitar, but I found it fit with him too. After Grey was born, we took him for a doctor's check-up and a guy in the waiting room asked what his name was. When we said "Grey," the man wrinkled his nose and said, "Boy, you must have been having a bad day when you named him." Not the kind of thing you want to hear. But for us it was quite the opposite. Grey isn't a bad color for me. It actually is one of my favorites, being dynamic and even paradoxical. I think Grey typifies in his personality what I love about the color.

So there you have it. My first official recording. The cover is of clothespin super-hero action figures that Molly helped the kids make to give to me. I thought that actually turned out really nice as a cover. Feel free to go over to Bandcamp and listen to it or download it for a few bucks.