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VOCAL SONGWRITER SHOWCASE

May 16, 2011

Pete Seeger once sang “When these hands can strum no longer, pass the old guitar to a young one stronger.”

That was certainly not evident at the most recent Songwriter Showcase held at O’Toole’s Pub. None of the three performers appeared ready to vacate their status as masters of workers in song.

Bill Kaffenberger, originally from Northern Virginia commenced the evening’s festivities with  Maybe by Then, influenced by Gene Clark of the Byrds which plaintively stated “ She’ll know, she was meant for me.”

This was followed with a wistful tribute to his Dad, simply titled Dad.

The minor key She’s so Real was next with the frank admission “ Love that’s deeper than the deep blue sea.

The Byrds influence continued through Lonesome Rider and the closer What am I doing here, where the subject seems to be caught between interia and isolation.

Sitting on my hands and lamenting, No one listens to an outsider like me and the killer Beauty came from deep within his pain.

Bill’s songs come from his love of Philadelphia Soul and the aforementioned Byrds .  The songs seem to spring forth in chains of images. An excellent guitarist and singer to boot.

Next the  veteran and ever-growing Steve Nuckolls, one of the premier ballad writers on the scene today eased into his set with the beautiful open tuning piece Whole World Turning, performed on his vintage Martin D-35, featuring Gary Shaver on the flute. You know you’ve arrived when Gary sits in with you.

The open tunings continued with The Earth had been painted blue. A tender rememberance of the victims of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001.  The song seems to travel through the steps of grief- I thought the earth had been painted red describing anger at the news, to I thought the earth had been painted white harkening back to the Martyrs bathed in light which was colored with a sad flute solo by Mr. Shaver. The song ended with I heard the world singing with one voice.

Anguish with a flickering flame of hope.

Trying to get you home seems to recall the sweetness of young love and stealing away for innocent intimacy.

Changing lanes, he debuted a new song which recalls the joys of the early days of learning the guitar as a youth. Nothing in this world I’d rather do, then spending Saturday morning sitting in with Emmy Lou.

Amen to that brother!

Steve then moved through his “glass is half full song,” My Prayer of thanks. He ended his set with Something about your love which if there were any justice in the world would be a chart topping hit.

Recalled for an encore he placed a giant exclamation point on  an absolutely stunning set with his  much loved Simynye ( spelling ?) loosely meaning ‘We are one.” about his travels in Africa.  In this writer’s opinion, one of the finest songs to ever emerge from VOCAL.

Steve himself just keeps getting better and better. One knack I hope he never loses.

The head liner, Darryl Ellyson emerged in a bright multicolored shirt and ‘60’s style fedora. Mr. Ellyson is a top notch performer with a wide array of influences. He sang so many great songs and space does not permit us to expound upon all, so we’ll provide a few of the many highlights.

The sweet soul of Daryl’s powerful singing voice was manifested immediately on the opener Love Refugees, a classic, beautiful love song.

Darryl then moved through You are the only one ( the strummin life is hard)  and I RememberYou, before the exuberant Down on the Point which describes the satisfaction and joys of fishing.

This was followed by the upbeat country of Rainy Days Ahead accompanied by fast guitar licks, and That’s just the way ( love goes) which harkens back to the style of Conway Twitty. This song allowed Darryl to demonstrate his wide vocal range.

What’s Gone Wrong which seemed to come blazing out of a film noir night with its minor key mood was followed by the imaginative News Man Blues.

He concluded with Blue Light District with its ‘50’s New Orleans feel and finally Done With You where the singer is resigned to Love has finally been defeated.

Hearing Darryl Ellyson is always a treat with his powerful vocals and guitar accompaniment that is just right.

Give a listen to this month’s VOCAL podcast featuring Darryl Ellyson

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Coming up on May 16, 2011

• The VOCAL Songwriters Showcase at O’Toole’s.
• Bill Kaffenberger
• Steve Nuckolls
• Headliner: Darryl Ellyson
• 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
• Click here for directions

See you there!

Give a listen to this month’s VOCAL podcast featuring Matt Manion

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Coming up on April 18, 2011

• The VOCAL Songwriters Showcase at O’Toole’s.
• James Lester
• Headliner: Matt Manion
• 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
• Click here for directions

See you there!

VOCAL Showcase March 21, 2011

There was a large crowd initially gathered at O’Toole’s on this warm first full day of Spring night, primed to enjoy this month’s VOCAL Showcase. The line-up had to be altered slightly as one player couldn’t make the event. Filling in for her. was John Ellis, who besides performing, runs the sound board and MC’s the event. though not simultaneously. John opened the night with a couple of his guitar instrumentals which displayed his composing skills and deft finger picking. Both featured elongated musical runs. He then segued into “In My Place” a song about relationships, and ended his short set with “The Stranger” one of his set pieces. After a short intermission, the next performer, Mike Shifflett, took the stage. Mike is new to VOCAL, which always makes for an interesting set, having never seen or heard him play before. Accompanying Mike on guitar was Greg Sullivan. First up was a “Why Do They Call It Love” which Mike sang and beat out the rhythm on his box seat. This was followed by “Heartaches Take Time” more relationship agony, and followed by “Down Home” an uptempo take on country life featuring chicken on sunday and blackberry pie. Mike closed out his set, again, very short, with a cover rendition of “Wichita Lineman”.nicely done, but obviously not an original song. During the break the audience sang Happy Birthday to Reza, Norm Nortledorf’s son-in-law. The featured performer of the evening was Larry Cody, who is a longtime VOCAL member and well regarded songwriter and guitar player. Given lots of time to fill, Larry proceeded through a repertoire of ten songs both old and new. Like some of the previously performed songs, many were relationship oriented. Playing electric guitar and using pre-recorded tracks he kicked off his set with a good old rock and roll type song “I Do It Cause I LIke It’ and moved into “Without a Doubt”. Calling up Doug Patrick to assist on guitar, Larry did rendition of Doug’s song “Full Time Love”, which was well received by the audience. They proeeded to perform two more songs together, “Now I Know” and “Winter’s On The Way”. Gary Shaver then came up to help out on the next three songs, playing sax. HIghlight of that collaboration was “Involuntary Celibacy” a cute novelty song. Going solo for the last two numbers of his set, Larry did one of his newer tunes “What I Thought You Said” about communication problems between partners and then closed out with and oldie “North In November” about a lover’s flight from Louisiana to the northern climes, a very touching and moving piece, that received a rousing response from the dedicated audience members. All in all, an entertaining and diverse night of musical artistry.

Give a listen to this month’s VOCAL podcast featuring Larry Cody

[display_podcast]

Coming up on March 21, 2011

• The VOCAL Songwriters Showcase at O’Toole’s.
• Melanie Howdershell
• Mike Shiflett w/Greg Sullivan
• Headliner: Larry Cody
• 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
• Click here for directions

See you there!

I read this writer’s book awhile back and found his analysis of what is required today to get on radio an interesting take on modern music. How quick to get to the hook etc and other “Tricks” of manipulation. This is a blog entry he sent me. /Glen
THE FUTUREHIT 2010 REPORT
January 7, 2011 – 1:22 am
2010 has finally wrapped up, which means it’s time to analyze the common threads of the biggest hits of the year. At the mid-year point, I looked at the Top 50. This time, I extended the analysis to the Top 100. Collectively, these 100 songs accounted for 187 million downloads and well over $200 million in revenue. These 100 titles also account for approximately 36% of all new music track sales. This means over one in three new music downloads come from these songs. Many elements that have been brewing for the last few years that are detailed in Futurehit.DNA really started to show their ability to bring success this year. Here are some of the shared traits:

THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF SONG INTROS IS 7.58 SECONDS
This is slightly less than the figure we analyzed at the midyear point. But that figure was for the Top 50. This figure is the Top 100. If we compare the Top 50, the intro length actually decreased from 7.76 seconds to 6.46 seconds, a 20% decrease. Furthermore, the Top 25 intro length decreased even more, going from 6.6 seconds to 5 seconds, a 33% decrease. This is just in 6 months! The short intros are really driving the sales. Want even more evidence?

-Of the Top 25 selling songs, only 4 have intros of 10 seconds or longer
-8 of the Top 25 and 14 of the Top 50 songs have NO INTRO WHATSOEVER

What does this mean? Of the top 50 songs, more songs have no intros than songs with intros of 10 seconds or more. Remember, shorter intros have gotten more successful just in the last 6 months.

THE AVERAGE SONG LENGTH IS 3 MINUTES 50 SECONDS
This is slightly longer than the mid-year point, once again pointing to owning listening experiences with longer songs. I would venture to guess that this figure will continue to slowly creep up in the coming years, but not grow dramatically. It’s tough to both shorten the intro and elongate the song credibly. The fact that both are occurring, however, does suggest that this is a trend that will be continuing over the next few years.

BALLADS DO NOT SELL
At the halfway point, only one ballad was in the Top 50 selling songs. At the end of the year, that had changed to none. The highest charting ballad was at #59 (“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry). In fact, only 5 songs in the Top 100 had a BPM of less than 70. A few of those songs are ones I wouldn’t call a ballad (Wacak Flocka Flame’s “No Hands”, anyone?) But that being said, a few titles at 70 BPM or above are borderline ballads (Jay-Z’s “Young Foever”), and then others kinda feel like ballads, though they are faster than a ballad tempo (Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me”). Even though the exact number of Top 100 songs that are ballads can be debated, you’d just be arguing between a small number and a real small number. Bottom line, they don’t sell.
So what tempos are selling?

120-135 BPM – 35%
85-99 BPM – 27%
70-84 BPM – 17%
100-119 BPM – 12%
Less than 70 – 5%
More than 135 BPM – 4%

In my book, I discuss the return of the “walking beat” and discuss how “Staying Alive” personifies that, as seen in the opening of Saturday Night Fever. Well, that song’s BPM (103) neatly matches up with the average BPM of the Top 100 selling songs (103.8). However, as you can see above, there are very few songs in that exact range. Instead, energetic club songs appear to be the strong drivers of sales. I still feel that, as streaming takes over as a primary method of consumption, that slower songs will make a comeback. That is not happening now, and it appears that it won’t be at least thru next year.

FORGET LOVE, JUST LEMME TAKE YOU HOME
The #1 subject matter in the Top 100 selling songs were variations of “I want to take you back to my place so we can have sex” songs, accounting for 21% of the top titles. This is possibly indicative of the times, with dating thru social networking on the rise, easier access to sexual material and sexual connections, as well as a need to find escapist pleasure in trying economic times. While this topic is not new to pop music, it certainly felt like it had a spike this year.
The more traditional subject matter along the same line is the “I love you” song, which was the 2nd most popular at 17%. These songs just edged out the “Out Of Love” songs, which accounted for 16% of the titles. However, the “In Love” songs on average sold 20% more than the “Out Of Love” songs, again suggesting people wanting positive, fun messaging.
A common theme people picked up in pop music is “Partying”. While possibly more prevalent than in recent years, this was only the 3rd most popular subject at 16% of the titles. However, of all the main themes in pop, party tunes on average sold the most (over 2 Million per song). They also tended to be a theme more likely to occur in multiple songs by the same artist (specifically Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas, and Trey Songz). Also, I can confirm that indeed the word “club” is used more often in a party song than the word “party” or “dance”. Though, somehow, two party hits (Far East Movement’s “Like A G6″ and Ke$ha’s “Take It Off) managed to be big hits without mentioning any of those words.

RELEASE MORE SONGS MORE OFTEN
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Releasing more singles more often will yield you better success. 15 months ago, Ke$ha was just being released and nobody was sure who she was. In 2010, she has 5 of the Top 50 selling songs and sold more tracks than any other artist. Why? Because she released that many singles in that timeframe. Katy Perry, Rihanna, B.O.B. and Bruno Mars each have 3 of the Top 50 selling songs (Mr. Mars was on one of the B.O.B. sellers), reflective of the consistent single release pattern. The rapidfire succession of songs keeps the singer in the public consciousness and sales seem to grow of older songs the sooner new ones get in the marketplace.

THE AVERAGE AGE OF A TOP SELLING SINGER IS 27
Yes, you read that right. The press story is that the top pop songs, especially in the digital track realm, is dominated by the real young. This is often emphasized by pointing to Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, and others. The truth is, averaged out across all tracks, the average age is actually 27. The #2 selling song of the year is sung by the 41-year old frontman of Train, Pat Monahan. So how old do you have to be nowadays?

19-24 – 38%
25-34 – 33%
35 and up – 22%
18 and under – 6%

Yes, the prime age as shown here is 19-24 years old, certainly saying the signing of young pop stars is justified. So to be clear, I’m not saying that this is not a key element of success nowadays. I’m just pointing out that, when the image of pop is so young, seeing 55% of the songs recorded by those 25 years old or greater means this is not solely a young persons’ game. Does a person in their early twenties have an advantage? Yes, but when the #1 selling album of the year is by a 38 year old (Eminem) and the #2 selling download is by a 41 year old (Train), experience still counts.
FYI, for those who are astute enough to catch it, the numbers above do indeed add up to 99%. I was unable to verify the age of Neon Trees to include them in the research. However, if the information I found is any indication, this is likely because they are trying to appear younger than they actually are. Their figures would likely just increase the 25-34 year old figure and raise the average age slightly, but it’s unlikely they would lower it.

I may be doing further analysis in the coming weeks, potentially looking at genre specific findings. Do you have anything you’re curious about with the top selling songs of 2010? Leave a comment and I may answer it in the followup report.

VOCAL Showcase JJanuary 17, 2011.

It was a soggy night in Rivah City, all the cats and kittens were gathered at a southside eatery, O’Toole’s, to dig the sounds of Richard White and Pam McCarthy. No ears were left hungry or unsated.
“Father” White, in semi-hippie garb, began his set with a solo acoustic version of “Amazing Grace” which, did in fact, amaze the assembled masses. Joining him for the rest of the set were Ron, and Gabin, who contributed their groovy brand of drum licks throughout the rest of White’s performance. Next up was “The Smiling Raven,” an instrumental, ably supported by Gabin’s african rhythms. As this was Martin Luther King day, Richard contributed “It’s a Wonderful Life”, a solemn song, that seemed apropos for the occasion. Continuing along through “Wind in the Pines’ and “Into the Bliss”, White sequed into a bluesy mood, firing up a traditional take on the blues with a Louisiana flavored tune bolstered by Ron strumming along on his zydeco necktie (!). The last song in the set, another blues tune “Hell to Pay” filled the room with some rocking licks that amped the audience into a spontaneous round of the claps. The short set (8 songs) was followed by a brief respite in order to allow the next artisté, Pam McCarthy, to set up her gear.

Pam McCarthy is a lady of tall stature with a big voice that probably needs no amplification. However; amped or not, she definitely set the room aglow with her 12 string folk oriented tunes. Much of her material is taken from real life experience and interaction with friends and relatives, citing such influences as her mother and grandmother for song ideas. There is a bittersweet tone to her musing about romance and relationships that connects with the listener, a lot of which can be gleaned by the titles of her songs. From the opening strains of “Not a Tear Left” through “One More Try”, “Finally Gone”, “Over You” to the closer “Let Me Be”. Standout of the evening were “Set You Free” a Julie London type sultry ballad and “Long Time Since You’re Gone” a vey melodic, singable tune.
Overall, some great material which pleased the receptive group of fellow music lovers.

VOCAL  Showcase #232  Nov. 15, 2010

Drizzly skies couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm  at O’Toole’s pub, this Monday night, as the assembled crowd was treated to a series of musical performances by three fine musicians.
First up, was VOCAL member Steve Effinger, who kicked off his country/pop set with a song about New Orleans, “Vieu Carré”, then continued on with a couple of tunes about love. “Sing my Song to Jesus”  a P&W tune, was followed by “Full Time With a Part Time Wage” a humorous look at life’s conditions. Accompanying Steve thoughout his set, was Chip Butterworth on the mandolin, which added an extra depth to the material Steve presented.
After a brief intermission, Darryl Ellyson took the over the mike and launched into his set of guitar-driven blues tinged material. There’s no question he delves into the arena of heartbreak and lovelorn sentiment, as evidenced by his opening song “Teardrops” which took the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride. His big voice immediately captured the attention of the crowd as he led them through a couple more bluesy songs. Next up was a new creation “Love Refugees” which detailed the relationship between two spurned lovers who find each other. Closing out his set was “Cause My Heart To Bleed” an upbeat, rousing song that drew the audience in to the performance. Darryl plays his music around many Richmond area venues, so be sure to look for his name in your local listings.
The featured performer of the evening, was the well known composer and pianist Steve Bassett. His one hour set consisted of fifteen songs, many of which came with an anecdote about how it came to be created. “Sing Loud” was the opener and it got the audience immediately involved in Bassett’s jazzy, R&B oriented vocal and playing style. “Election Day” was based on a true story of his experience at a voting site, and had humorous overtones. Inspiration for the next songs came from a mens room graffiti, a request from the Chamber of Commerce to write a song about Richmond and a bumper sticker (“Save The Bay”). “Trust Me” was a gospel tinged tune that was designed not to offend anybody, and “Start with My Heart” was a song written by request to effect a reconciliation among various ethic and racial groups. A plea to “Clean Up Your Own House” was written to make us consider thinking first about our own short-comings before criticizing others. All through the set, Bassett backed himself with prerecorded tracks that enhanced the impact of his material.  No performance would be complete without his, perhaps, most well known song, “Sweet Virginia Breeze” (co-written with Robbin Thompson) and Steve did not disappoint. He closed his set with an upbeat version that had the audience clapping along.
Once again, VOCAL provided the audience with a fine selection of, and a wide variety of music to satisfy all tastes.