Let’s kick the weekend off with a jam! Pump this one up and sing it loud.
“Skyscrapers” is inspired by the #EckhartTolle book A New Earth, which I’ve read (to my newborn kids) or listened to at least five times. The music is inspired by #ManuChao, another favorite who really doesn’t release enough music these days.
I’m on all the instruments except for the killer bass by Chris Singleton. There’s also some cool backing vocals from Kerry Jones, Jeramy Lamanno, John Kell and Adair Cates.
Back to posting ‘Risky Biscuits’ songs. This one is a super jammer. A little bit reggae a lot rock. We recorded this live with an eight piece band in Wes McDonald’s studio (a fine musician and artist himself look him up https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/wes-mcdonald/id6432590).
Anyway, this song is a declaration of love with a little innuendo and a great great band!! John Kell, Chris Costigan and Gary Hartle’s saxes are on fire on this one and John Wayne Tuggle plays a tasty guitar solo. I had a broken hand and a ruptured radial nerve but I still managed to hold down the rhythm guitar. Incredible drummer Seth Hendershot and legendary bassist AJ Adams round it out! Thanks for listening!
We all need a little traction every now and then don’t we? This super jam catches a moment in time in my fabled Athens days with Parakeet Nelson / Phallic Phungus. An nine piece band live in the studio totally locked in with me barely playing guitar because of a broken wrist. Thanks for listening!
I saw an article from Spain where they talk about this song ( and even translate it ). I recorded it on November 14th for this blog last year and have gotten an outpouring of support from Spanish basketball fans. I’m a big Rubio fan, but I also like Gasol, Navarro and a few more up and coming players from there.
Whats’ really cool is that now that it’s gotten this much attention, maybe Ricky Rubio himself has listened to it. If so, holla at me Ricky. I’d love to come to a FC Barcelona game!!!!!
It’s snowing and the winds are gusting with gusto out there today. A great time to post a reggae song. Maybe that will warm things up psychologically for a minute. A strong thermal/psychological endurance would most definitely make your mama proud.
More and more I listen to early Bob Marley (before the British producers) and I also listen to Toots and the Maytals. That’s good stuff. In no way does that give me a reggae pedigree. I’ve listened to it for 20 years but I know you’ve got to live it to really live it. I’ve written a fair amount of reggae tunes over the years, probably the best of which is “U Don’t Believe my Traction” my ‘Risky Biscuits’ album. That still is one of our favorite tunes to play live.
“Skankin’ Ain’t Easy” is a little more laid back however. The only way skankin’ should be.
Day two of my two day vacation. It’s not so sweet knowing you’ve got to go home soon. But then again I have a lot of obligations, so it’s also bitter sweet (ie recording a song for everyday in 2010). Being creative, I tried to be totally in the moment, which was beach house vacation-style with my writing. If I’m not being topical to my situations I encounter occasionally, how will I ever look back on this year years from now and remember what I was doing.
It’s starting to get hot now. In the eighties. The recycling boat is starting to steam. It’s funny how many blogs I’ve done this year mention the weather. I guess that’s the common factor between me and every reader wherever they are. I probably also subconsciously want to look back at these in a few years and something like that might interest me.
“Frog Dreams” is a little thought experiment turned to song. Yet another song that seems to be about something that’s arguably not about anything. Thanks for listening anyway!
Our new friend Kathy got us thinking about the lives and culture that goes into making a glass of wine. All the history that goes into each glass is astounding. For some reason I started thinking about that this morning and applied it to a fisherman at sea. Probably because I have copy of The Old Man and the Sea in direct view in my studio.
Mix the old man and a little reggae and you get “The Life of a Fisherman”
I was a crazy youth. I did lots of super insane things but luckily I never got a legitimate bad reputation. I always managed to stay out of trouble and or getting caught.
This song’s about a reputation preceding a new romance. “Now you know my secret, I’m a bad bad man, but you’ve got to admit it, it’s the most fun you ever had”.
Welcome to Chris Cates.com. I'm an old school independent artist with lots of albums, songs, solar panels etc. This site tries to encapsulate what it is I've been doing since I played my first professional gig at 13. I post a song of the day occasionally from my somewhat excessive original song catalogue and I'm constantly recording new material when I'm not building solar farms, trying to play golf or tennis or taking care of my new twin girls.
Also available on Spotify, Tidal and all other online retailers.
Chris Cates .com 