Ethan Waldman

25 Jun 2011

The Tenacious D of Twitter: @wesignyourtweets

It's great when musicians come up with a creative outlet for their talents. "Dude, you should totally write a psychadelic folk pop concept album that re-tells Herman Hess's Siddartha". What I love even more, is when musicians come up with a creative outlet for their talents that they actually can tackle. Kevyn Smith and Jeremy Johnson, otherwise known as @wesingyourtweets have done just that.

Here's how it works. Whenever they feel like it, they choose a batch of tweets that they like and set them to music. There's definitely a formula here combining two acoustic guitars with tight harmony. Think Tenacious D meets Crosby Stills Nash and Young. They've even created their own lingo. You can check out their website at: http://wesingyourtweets.posterous.com

Here's one of my favorites:

13 Feb 2011

Music Across the Years

It always amazes me how music can connect people and families across generations. Last night was no exception. I performed as part of a songwriters circle with Justin Levinson and Mike Clifford at Higher Ground. Each musician played one song at a time while the others watched on stage. We all played well and were well received, even joining forces for the last song, a cover of Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones.

When I played my song, Phantom Compositions, I told a little more of a story then usual. "It's a song that was inspired by a dream about my Uncle", I explained. "He died when I was just one, so I don't remember him. But he was a talented pianist and actually played keyboards on Billy Idol's Rebel Yell and toured extensively with Robert Palmer in the early 80's."

Later in the set, while Justin was playing, I looked down and saw that his phone had lit up with a text message from his father: "Ask Ethan if his uncle's name was Jack". The rest of the set, my head was spinning, excited to talk to someone who knew my uncle.

It turns out, Justin's father had played in a band, The Photons(?), with Jack for almost two years. They were very close to a record deal with Columbia when the guitar player broke things up. He didn't socialize with Jack much outside of the band, but said he was a talented pianist, and a great guy to work with.

So, here I am 30 years later and 400 miles away in Burlington, VT, on stage with the son of a guy who played music with my uncle. It's a small world.

A couple of years ago I discovered that there was a bunch of concert footage from one of Robert Palmer's European tours that had Jack in it. Here's Robert Palmer performing Johnny & Mary. Look for a shot of Jack right around 0:59.

25 Jan 2011

Amazing Songwriting is Amazing

Here's a quick post to pay homage to one of my favorite artists, who also happens to be a big influence for me when it comes to musical style and songwriting.

The Decemberists new Album, The King is Dead is absolutely fantastic. They have left the prog-rock-ishness of The Crane Wife and The Hazards of Love behind, and left us with 10 songs. Americana meets the Decemberists. My favorite track on the album has to be the last one. Dear Avery is haunting and wistful, and is best enjoyed when you decide to start the whole album over again after it's finished.

6 Jan 2011

In The Studio!

(download)

Here's a little Christmas Surprise- I'm working with friend and neighbor Sam Johnson in a slick little recording studio in the South Burlington Arts District.

I tracked a new tune last night, tentatively called "Get This Going". We're also planning to tackle "Phantom Compositions", an older tune of mine that's never found its home in a recording.

As always, make sure to sign up to receive free mp3's of these new songs when they're available.

Until next time..

29 Dec 2010

In The Studio, New Recordings on the Way.

Here's a little Christmas Surprise- I'm working with friend and neighbor Sam Johnson in a slick little recording studio in the South Burlington Arts District.

I tracked a new tune last night, tentatively called "Get This Going". We're also planning to tackle "Phantom Compositions", an older tune of mine that's never found its home in a recording.

Make sure to sign up to receive free mp3's of these new songs when they're available. Or you could pay for them in the iTunes store... Your choice.

Until next time..

(download)

19 Dec 2010

Week 7: List Building Animal. #msi9w3

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It appears that life has gotten in my way once again and distracted me from finishing the Music Success in Nine Weeks Challenge blog posts in time. However, this doesn't mean that I'm giving up!

What got in the way?

My first tour in a long time. Though it was more of a "mini" tour, 4 nights in a row was the best I could manage juggling a full-time job.
Family, family, family. Visitors, visiting, going, coming, seeing, saying goodbye. You know the drill.

Week 7 is all about building the email list. At my last show of the tour I did the free CD/email raffle with great success! Before the gig, I printed up some business card sized pieces of paper that just said "Name" and "Email" on them, along with a big mason jar. One of the cafe employees offered to pass the jar around with the slips of paper and I had near 100% participation! This is WAY more effective then anything else I've ever done at a live show to get emails. If you other musicians haven't given this a try, I'd highly recommend it!

Meghan Morrison and I also did a "list swap" of sorts, by mentioning each other in our newsletters. Of course, my newsletter was kind of vanilla and her's was a choose your own adventure mini-novella. Thanks for suggesting it Meghan!