Rock Songs » Darryl Gregory Music

FAWM Song #2

Acoustic/Groove/Folk, FAWM, New Songs, Rock Songs No Responses »

Feb 092011

So here is the second installment for this month. This song’s chord progression and part of the melody come from a song that I wrote years ago that never really made it out of the studio. It was called Blue Horizon and I tried to get it on the Swanky Hotel CD and then I even re-recorded it for the She CD but in both cases it just didn’t work out. But, I really liked the chords and the rhythmic feel.

So here we are 2011 and February. I searched my journals for some material to write about and found this entry about cutting out a piece of Blue Sky. For a person that has a life that is painful and difficult, just a little slice of blue sky can act as a window into heaven and hope.

Let me know what you think ~

Darryl

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My Blue Sky

Oh this world
Can tear me down
Oh this life
Pulls me to the ground
My wounds are raw
The salt’s poured in
My mouth is open
For a scream to begin

I lay
On a bed of nails
I cry
To the walls of this jail
There’s not much more they can do to me
I’ve confessed the truth, but it won’t set me free

So I’m looking for my blue sky
I’m making room in my soul
It’s been a long time coming
On the edge of this rock-n-roll
I found my blue sky
Hidden in your eye

It’s been here all the time
Stuck between the words and rhymes
I’ve been the fool
Who falls on his own knife
As I force the steel to pry
Away my blue sky

Oh this hand
Reaching out to touch you
Oh this heart
Bloodied and misused
I’m waiting for the secret sign
I’m waiting to take back what’s mine

I’ve found my blue sky
Holding my arms out wide
It’s been a long time coming
I’m struggling to decide
What to do with this blue sky
Hidden in your eye

“In Here” ~ an uptempo, fun, new song

Acoustic/Groove/Folk, New Songs, Rock Songs 2 Responses »

Mar 092010

Sometimes you just gotta write a fun song. You know — one of those songs that don’t make much sense or have a deep meaning. A song that has a good back beat or a groove and is fun to play and sing is always a good addition to any singer-songwriter’s set list.

This song was born out of the phrase: “The girls at the bar…”. I was thinking about the type of girl that comes into a bar after a day of work so she can flirt and dance and have some fun with her friends. But then also that same girl that is here night after night – gets a little dark if you think about it. These are the regulars, the ones who come in to escape the everyday grind and try to figure things out with their fellow drinkers/dancers.

And then there’s me. Where do I, the singer, fit in to all of this? I’m the guy in the corner or on a small stage singing to the lonely few. My little songs of desperation that are meant to lift the spirits of these people. Uh, right. They really just want some background sound to go along with the mood lighting. Then again, the regulars would know me (thank you Billy Joel) and they would glance up every once in a while to acknowledge a song they like.

All in all we would be in that place together sharing an experience. Trying to make sense of it night after night.

This is a first draft acoustic version. I intend to flesh it out with a band and some nifty guitar solos and a bass breakdown. But until then please let me know what you think!

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In Here

I’m sending this one out
To the girls at the bar
A simple song of love
Delivered straight from the heart
They hang out every night
Spending their hard earned wage
Laugh a little, dance a little
They never act their age
- But that’s OK – Yeah that’s alright

‘Cause in here we’re all just
Trying to forget the world outside
In here we’re all together
Trying to make sense of it all
Night after night

I’m sending this one out
To those lovers in the night
An easy backbeat groove
That makes it all feel right
They may not even know it
They may not even care
But it’s love that makes the world go ‘round
So pass some over here
- And turn it on – Yeah turn it up

Me? I’m playing to the lonely few
Playing songs of desperation
And this microphone smells like cigarettes and beer
I look out at the crowd
No one’s paying much attention
But the girls at the bar know that I’m here

I’m sending this one out
To the last ones through the door
15 minutes to closing time
And they’re asking for one more
Too early to go home
One more dance one more drink
The girls smile at me
‘Cause they know I’m gonna sing
- One more song – Nothing wrong

Drip 14 ~ a demo reel

Acoustic/Groove/Folk, Country Songs, New Songs, Rock Songs No Responses »

Aug 282009

I put together a reel of a few songs to demo my country-rock and country chops for a possible publisher. How to choose, how to choose? Well I decided to put it in a format that sounds a little like a set I would do live. Start out loud, get softer, get silly, get serious, rock out to end.

The first excerpt is a bit of music I did as a lead-in for a web-show: “Choose Your Words” , next is a bluegrass style song: “Where You’re Supposed to Be”, a country duet: “What About Love?”, a silly love song w/ukulele: “Fall in Love Again”, another country duet off of my CD: “I Can’t Wait for Love”, the bridge and solo section from a rocker: “My Revolution”, and to end it the last verse and outro from the title track of my CD: “She”.

There’s some variety and it shows a broad enough range I think. We’ll see. Let me know what you think.

Peace -

~DG~

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House Concert Video – 8-2-09 – Tallmadge, Ohio

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Aug 132009

Just to prove that I haven’t been slacking off totally this summer, here is a video from a house concert that I did in early August in Tallmadge, Ohio. What a great way to connect with people – in their own back yards! Everybody was listening (except the kids) and it was a beautiful day to play outside. I hope to come back!

Enjoy –
Darryl
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA4sK_EyELs[/youtube]

Drip 11 ~ teaching creativity to tweens

New Songs, Rock Songs No Responses »

May 012009

A colleague and I were sitting at a staff meeting at our school where we teach and as I listened to the negativity being tossed around something snapped in my brain and I turned to her and said – Let’s write a musical with the kids – and surprisingly she said – Yeah, let’s do something positive and fun -

We began our journey by soliciting poems from a general pool of students and then with a select group of student writers we wove those into a musical. My language arts colleague and I won an award from our school district that year for our initiative in working with kids and getting them to express themselves creatively. When we got the award (a small engraved cup) my son immediately took it and poured M&M’s into it and claimed it as his own.

So we’re at it again this year and this is what was dripping from my brain pan last week: how to arrange these rough songs that myself and three other 13 yr olds were hashing out. The kids came up with all of the lyrics with minor prompts from me, and the music evolved from us singing as we wrote lyrics. The melodies from these songs were all student driven, I just added the production and arrangement. The songs will be performed with a live band of 12 yr olds (and me) and these kids rock, so the live versions will sound pretty damned close to what you hear (minus me singing out of my key).

The story is called “In The Middle” and is about two sisters one of which is trying to fit in and still keep a relationship with her younger, nerdy sister (thus she’s “in the middle”. There’s also a side story about a transfer student from Ecuador (we have a large population of second language learners) who is being judged on his appearance and accent. All topics that middle school-ers are caught up in and have to deal with on a daily basis.

It’s amazing how creative kids are and if given the right environment how they can produce something as good as any adult. I loved talking about the creative process with the kids. We would often write something and get only so far with it and then I would say -Let’s put this to the side or even throw it out because it is not working- and they would get freaked out because they had worked on it so long and wanted to force it, but then they’d see a different way and we’d breeze on through. Sometimes we even came back to lyrics or ideas we has discarded because they worked elsewhere. Fun! The show goes up the first week of June, 2009. Let me know if you want tickets!!!

So here are some of the songs – again, I am singing for demo purposes.

Creatively -

~dg~

Music From “In The Middle” by students from Turn of River Middle School

“Waiting Song” – verse 2

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“Enrique’s Song”

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“Like I’m So Great”

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“Share The Stage”

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“In The Middle”

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