Song Talk with Morry Campbell

Songs in the woods...and maybe bears too!

If you're up for a mini-Woodstock experience with a lot of talented indie-musicians in a pristine, beautiful setting, check out Out in the Woods, the first annual LGTB Music festival at Easton Mountain. (August 13 and 14th, Easton Mountain, near Greenwich, NY, events starting at noon on the 13th. Check the website for details). I'm going to be there, along with some of my best buds and fellow musicians: Dan Manjovi, Roger Kuhn, Terry Christopher, Norine Braun, John Small, and Susan Souza, to name a few. Should be a great event. Easton Mountain is one of the most beautiful places east of the Mississippi, and coming from a Montana boy who grew up in the Rockies, that's saying something. I hit the stage at 5:45 on Saturday.

If you want to contribute to a great cause, you can support the festival with a little cash infusion, and you get some cool prizes if you donate. More bootie the more you contribute. Check it out here. Hope to see you under the open skies in the mountains.

Back to the music

...which is why I started this blog in the first place. So here's a little progress report. I'm recording some new music, and the first one is finished. Or nearly finished. Or at least there's a good "rough mix." So very soon, I'll be posting it. It's a tribute to my dad, so it's a little on the sappy side, but hey, it's my dad.

The Goddess Annie Lennox Speaks On Reclaiming Feminism

Yeah, it may date me, but I think Annie Lennox is still one of the most amazing voices in popular music (hence my designation of "goddess"). And she's also an activist for women's issues. Below is a post that Ms. Lennox penned and is posted on Huffington Post. It's a sobering read. And deserving of attention.

Annie's words start below. Clicking the link will take you to the original article.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It shocks, disappoints and angers me that in a world where man has traveled to the moon and where we can connect to people anywhere on earth instantly online, men and women are still not equal.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Tea Party: The Video

Okay, so a good friend of mine suggested I put the Tea Party mini-dance number to a video, so here it is. Thanks to Mr. Keith Olbermann for the quote and the vocal. So, without further ado, Here's the Tea Party Ramble, with vocals by yours truly, and Keith Olbermann. NOTE: If you're sympathetic to the Tea Party and their goings-on, you may want to skip this one...

A tribute to Keith Olbermann--and a musical tidbit

I don't know about you, but I'm saddened by the loss of Keith Olbermann from the airwaves. Whatever your political leanings, you must admit that Keith was a force to be reckoned with, an important counter voice to the behemoth that is the Right Wing Media machine. We had Keith, they have Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Beck - basically anything on Fox "News." So yes, Keith was sometimes "over the top," but I think he probably felt he had to be to counter all the "over-the-topness"  happening on the other side. And I notice none of the Right's most over-the-toppers have been let go by Fox. They seem to like that kind of rhetoric over there.

Anyway, I've been working on some vocoder stuff (a kind of synthesizer that uses a vocal to color the sound), and I decided I would use something Keith said in his last show to use in a vocoder song. The phrase that jumped out at me was this: "Get your dirty government hands off my government-issued Medicare."  Keith started a segment with these words, to point out the cognitive dissonance between what the Tea Partiers were saying about the healthcare bill (government-run healthcare is bad), with what they were saying about the government-run healthcare program we know as "Medicare." (Keep your dirty government hands off my Medicare!)

So I lifted that phrase from the show and ran it through the vocoder, added a beat, wrote a little verse, and voila! A little mini-dance hit. And my songwriting comrades liked it so much, I'll be developing it into a full-length dance song. I hope you enjoy it too.

This is in honor of Keith Olbermann. Keith, we will miss you terribly. You were an outspoken ally in a world that has gone slightly mad. Keep the faith, thanks for the vocal, and I hope to see you back on the air somewhere soon.

Click here to listen to the Tea Party Rumble.

Click here for a great article comparing Keith with Fox News commentators.

Have a Roger Kuhn Christmas!

Every year around Christmas time I find myself wondering what new Christmas music is going to come out so I don't have to listen to the same old songs over and over again. Luckily for you and me, my good friend Roger Kuhn has finished his own holiday CD, Every Year Around Xmas Time. Full disclosure, I recorded and/or produced or co-produced four of the 7 cuts on the CD. But setting that aside, Roger has written 7 original Christmas/Holiday songs, and every one of them is an enjoyable listen.

 Roger's take on the holidays is at once rooted deeply in tradition of what has come before him (Under the Mistletoe, Xmas Joys), while at the same time pushing the boundaries of what we expect to hear on a holiday album (December, Oh What a World).

My favorite cut on the CD changes as I listen, but my favorite cut right now is the deeply moving Oh What A World, which chronicles the story of a homeless gay boy beaten to death on Christmas Eve (sadly based on true events).

I'm singling out one song in a whole collection of terrific songs. You can download Roger's Holiday album through iTunes by clicking on this link.

Also contributing to the musical and production talent on the CD are James Erickson (December), Robert Urban (Every Year Around Xmas Time, Under the Mistletoe, Xmas Joys), and my good friend and masterful musician Dan Manjovi (I Heard There Was A Star).

Video: Good (Good video)?

And now, drum roll please:  rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh!  Here's my very first posting to YouTube. This is an excerpt from Terry Christopher's now annual (for the last three years) United For the Ride Concert, benefitting the NYC LGBT Center's Braking the Cycle Event, the annual fund-raising bike ride from Boston to New York City. We raised a lot of cash that night, and it was a great concert, as I hope this little bootleg video testifies. Many thanks to Terry for filming the event, and for the magical, mystical Barry Childs for operating the camera for us. And it's still possible to donate to the cause. All proceeds go to HIV and AIDS services for the NYC LGBT Center. Click here to donate to this very worthy cause.

Gig: Rye, NY Playland

The Westchester Pride Coalition is holding its first ever Gay Pride event, and I've been asked to be a part of it. There's actually a great lineup of indie musicians performing all day long.  I'm up at 5:15PM sharp. The event itself begins at 1:30 and goes until 7:00PM. Come up, ride the rollercoaster, take in the splendor that is Rye Playland Amusement Park, and enjoy some great indie music. Directions are here. 

If you want to ride the rides all day, tickets are $25. If you just want to hang, check out the vendors, take part in the health fair, and enjoy the entertainment, tickets are $5. ($3 for Westchester residents).

James Taylor: Songwriting God

I was in the gym yesterday, and James Taylor's Greatest Hits came up. I had just put it on the iPod, and I hadn't listened to it for years. I'd forgotten just how good those songs are. I loved them when I was younger too, but now it seems that I've kind of grown into those songs and that music. James Taylor is one of the true masters of the American song, a musical and American icon.

Benefit Concert, Saturday, July 24, 6:45PM

We're doing it again. United for the Ride, masterminded by Mr. Terry Christopher, is up for it's 3rd annual fundraiser concert.  It's for a good cause, and you'll hear some great music.  What else could you want?

Here's the deets:

3rd Annual United for the Ride Benefit Concert
Saturday, July 24, 6:45PM
The Triad Theatre
158 West 72nd Street (at Broadway)
Free Cover, 2 drink minimum
Donations are for a good cause, and much appreciated.

Get out of town! (gig in Poughkeepsie)

NOTE: First time, got the gig time wrong. It's corrected below. Festivities begin at 7:00PM, NOT 7:30 PM

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hey, New Yorkers! Get out of town! Take a break from the hustle and bustle, and come  up and enjoy a relaxing couple of sets of songs with me in nearby beautiful Poughkeepsie!

Morry Campbell
Saturday, April 24, 2010
7:00-9:00PM
@Caffe Bocca
14 Mount Carmel Place
Poughkeepsie, NY  12601
(854) 483-7300

Going to be playing some old songs, and a lot of new ones, and some covers, including covers of songs by Fleetwood Mac, Annie Lennox, Neil Young, James Taylor, and maybe one or two old standards too. Yeah, the train ride is $28, but the coffee, tea and desserts at Caffe Bocca are some of the best upstate New York has to offer, and hey, everyone needs some time away from the Big City, no matter how much we all love it.

xo,
M

Friday Happy Hour with Carene!

Here's a great way to kick off the weekend: Carene Lydia is doing 2 sets of eclectic songs at the Vandam Diner, and I'm playing guitar for her. Here's the deets:

Carene Lydia
with yours truly on guitar
Friday, Feb 5, 2010
6:00-8:00PM
Vandam Diner
12 Vandam Street  (C or E to Spring Street)
 

Come on down and hear this lady sing the blues!

Happy 2010

Here's to a great new year, and a fresh decade, for everyone. One song down for 2010 already, and another one coming. How's your songwriting coming along?

World AIDS Day Concert

Hey kids,

This past weekend, my good friend Terry Christopher and I went up to contribute our talents to Newburgh, NY's World AIDS day event, organized by Markus Payne. Terry videotaped the event, and here is his (our) rendition of the song, Wade in the Water. Hope you enjoy it.

xo,

M

Amy Clarke at the Bitter End, NYC

My good friend and extremely talented musician/singer/songwriter Amy Clarke is in town for the weekend, and she's performing at The Bitter End on Monday at 7:30PM. I'll be sitting in and adding some guitar to her song From Here. It' promises to be a very good show.  $10 + 2-drink minimum, the proceeds of which are split between an Environmental non-profit called Amazon Conservation Team, and the Artist.

You can't see much in New York City anymore for less than $20. Come down and support live music AND the Environment at the same time.