Hello Yawl!
(Painting by Ani Curnock) (Lyrics for new song) (Garden Design)
Reader! It is with a most heavy and burdened soul that I wandered into the dark, thankless night! To think of all my indulgences and errors of judgement! All of those cravings! All of those temptations! They had me reeling in a sprightly swoon! And....all of that butter.....May I now seek absolution for my sins......
Confessional Booth Time: I've been watching TOO MUCH Paula Deen recently! All matters of butter aside, I want to first start this post by announcing a gig at Caffe Vivaldi on September 1st, 2011 at 8:30! I am pretty excited to be playing at this venue- it has a nice sound system, and really nice intimate, refined atmosphere for some acoustic singer-songwriter sets. The room really caters to my (stripped-down) set and I really plan to entertain. And....to keep things fresh and lively.
I plan to have some songs for your listening pleasure. Recently, I've been trying to whip up some new songs for everyone- namely those titles "In the Floodlights," "Never Spoke to Me," and "If I Had Her." There are many more in the works, but I really feel like some of my new songs will round out my repetoire and make for a more satisfying show. I always feel that new songs can feel more emotionally relevant, and are a better reflection of who I am at the moment. There are those older songs that I feel so mystified by- I can't even recall how I wrote them! But in terms of the recent ones, I've been tweaking things line by line, and editing and creating intuiting a shape and form the the songs, edit by edit, draft by draft:
(If you look closely, I even practiced my signature....)
....I can create a whole world in my head for each song, so often it takes time for a song to gain a shape or form. When I writing I try to capture the atmosphere, the weather, the setting, the back story, and the character of each song. It can be an obsession of mine as all of these things congeal. Some typical questions I ask myself: What lines and details will be most evocative and powerful in the most economic way? What details are needed in the story? Which lyrics and verses are not?
I've also gotten some couple of nice write ups. One write-up was from Ron Cuellar, who runs his wonderful blog Heroes of Indie Music (and who features some really interesting and talented artists). I also mysteriously got a mention in The Aquarian Weekly from writer Roz Smith! ....I'll let the articles give me the kudos rather than let myself tOOt my own horn! (*SCOFF!*):
The Aquarian Weekly Write-Up:
http://www.theaquarian.com/2011/06/19/eric-contractor-clear-as-day/
Heroes of Indie Music Write-Up:
http://castleqwayr.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/eric-contractor-night-escape/
Thanks to these writers for their insight on my work and the time they spent on their articles. They're complimentary and don't go over the top (which is perfectly fine). And there should be a couple more write-ups brewing.....So for now....that shall conclude this piece. New songs, write-ups,shows, and I promise there won't be melted butter on the seats at the gig at Caffe Vivaldi. I've noticed that some very respectable, talented artists have been offering cookies at their shows. Which is fine, I ain't knockin' it. I just hope people don't always expect musicians to provide baked goods now! With this expectation, I can imagine some band frantically mixing cookie dough while practicing, with eggs flying all over the amps and guitars, and yokes landing in someone's face. Frankly, if I were to try that bag it wouldn't turn out well- I could imagine chocolate all over my guitar and all over my pants. I can't promise baked goods this time, just know my show promises to be.....delicious.
-Eric Contractor (Forever)