Saturday, November 22, 2008

Nice to Be Wanted

"The doggone law. The consarned law. The lousy, frickin', nit-pickin', noveau-Prussian, freedom-crushin' . . . ." Nice to Be Wanted twangs the sad tale:



Like Sensible Khakis and Take Up the Flame, Nice to Be Wanted comes with a license allowing pretty free non-commercial use. Also like those songs, this one requires commercial licensees to tithe 10% to a good cause—here, the Institute for Justice.

We all owe IJ thanks for its Good Works. I owe IJ a special "thank you," for inspiring the lines in Nice to Be Wanted about the plight of the "charmin' lady down New Orleans' way." Alas, her tale rings all too true. May she—and may we all—win greater freedom to pursue our livelihoods. Go get 'em IJ! (The bit about "pumped his own gas" also draws from a real-world inspiration: just scroll down to Oregon Revised Statute § 480.330.)

I plan at least a few more of these videos, by the way. Subscribe to my channel to catch them all. My efforts remain pretty raw for now, granted; Nice to Be Wanted comes from only the second take of my first visit to a recording studio. Please share your suggestions about how I might improve. (You can skip, "Suck less," though. I'm already working on that, thanks.)


[Crossposted at Agoraphilia and Technology Liberation Front.]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

cool guitarist (not me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4

Tom W. Bell said...

Thanks, Anonymous, for directing me to that beautiful and inspiring guitar-playing. It opened my eyes to a number of techniques that I didn't know even existed. By way of reply, you might enjoy this display of raw speed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BynUZOJc8QI

Anonymous said...

Hi Tom. My two cents..maybe try recording without a camera on. Think it might get in the way of concentration on playing the song as cleanly as possible..not to mention adds to the stress and unease of being in the studio for the first time. Could also try just recording guitar and then vocal in different takes, but I have no idea what you are working with there..

mark

Tom W. Bell said...

Thanks, Mark, for your suggestions. Sorry it took me so long to notice your comment and reply. Anyhow, it turns out that you've pretty well described my next planned step. In fact, I head into the studio for a pure audio take, today!