Where the sidewalk begins

As writers we dabble in the ink of our minds to smash new thoughts together, while maintaining enough familiarity not to lose the average heart and brain out there interested in listening to music. 

Some study the greats, William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Shel Silverstein. 

Shel Silverstein? you might wonder...Who is that? For those of you that recognize the picture above...you already know. For those that don't, Shel is a staple in the rhyming universe for me. A very creative chidrens writer and artist. Sometimes his view on the little things breaks up the big things for me.

In this weeks journey I was twisting and turning, listening and learning as I pulled out his book and had a look at the thoughts that caught me staring and sharing in the years before. My eyes sore as the clock wouldn't stop, page after page you could hear a pin drop as I focused on lines, every rhyme, every thought, every unstable moment, like it or not I was trapped on the hook from this interesting book and with Pat by my side this whole ride...well it took many hours just to put the book down. 

Thats Right! I just did that. Some of you rolling your eyes or dotting your T's. 

Assignment #3

She Is Holding on To Every One Of My Tomorrows

Verse:
Lay awake, and watch the day, creep in through the curtain
Theirs a certain light that hits her face that tears me up inside
Try and stay there quietly but its hard to sit there hurting
I Keep rehearsing what I'd say to her when there's nowhere left to hide

Chorus:
She is, Holding, on to every one of my tomorrows
She is, hoping, life will turn out just like in the novels
She is, She is.

We all grow at different speeds, mentally, physically, emotionally and socially. And right now, at this very moment, we stand on the edge of exploration. Innocent, curious, no fear of danger as we explore the untravelled paths before us. Sure new songs will be created, new friends will be made, realizations of our own abilities will come clearer but no matter what...all of us will change a little or allot every day and the application of the new information we get to consume every moment is truly amazing. 

For me...I look forward to finding out, not where the sidewalk ends...but where it begins.

Till next time.
North

To hear more from North Easton...check out
SEVEN DAY SONGS. (31 of them so far)
Check out his Band MY FAVOURITE TRAGEDY
Or visit his YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Stuck on the Stairs

Its funny the steps we take, in the world we wander. Each day another quest to make a memory...live out a dream...stand in the rooms we stand in...learning, watching, making something happen. There are many reasons people take the stairs in life. To grow, to explore, to reach new heights, to get in shape, stay in shape, realize how out of shape they are. Oh we take the stairs in so many different forms avoiding the escalators at times, the elevators, the easier way.

Week 2 is already an interesting set of steps that although I can see in my previous songs, I didn't plan them out so much. I think one of the greatest things about writing for me has always been...looking back at what you created and seeing new things YOU didn't even know you put there. There is a moment sometimes of greater power...a subconscious thought that just placed those words on the paper for me. For other writers...cue the grin...cause you know exactly what I am speaking of! Divine intervention? A message from another place? Most likely it is simply a collection of thoughts that formulate themselves while you sleep, work, play at something else. It truly makes me marvel at the depths of the human brain. But that is for another blog!!!

"Stuck on the stairs of this Two Story House. "
I can give you around 63,000 reasons why writing a song with this title didn't make allot of sense. I mean how many new Two Story House songs will there be? But my mind took on the challenge even while I slept. Despite the fact that I tried to feed it vast amounts of caffeine and sugar to spin it off in different directions...the damn thing tied me down and made me write a full song. I share it with you here...along with a few other random explosions of thought in my head.

The length of a line...the lift...the hold...the edge of your seat...the nail biting moments that pull us in and make us question...What is coming next?
I live for these moments in the movies I watch, the stories I read, the shows I see...and just like every other person on this planet...I put together an expected resolve that is truly satisfying when it lands in the lap of expectation.

Lets be completely honest here...there is something truly fascinating about unstable things. Human curiosity...like the scene of an accident...the fight that broke out in grammar school...the guy who stood up and proposed to his wife at the basketball game on the jumbo tron...We are drawn to the moments where we can find something new out, watch something shocking happen, be apart of an amazing moment. So leaving our listeners anticipating the next part of the song by changing the length of the lines...sure...that makes sense.

When I find myself in future decisions, trying to reach new levels, climb to new heights, touch the sky where i've never been...I for one will be taking the stairs to get there.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuck on the stairs of this two story house

Leave a comment.....Ask a question....Random thoughts

Visit North Eastons Website here and check out 30 other Seven Day songs he has written.

The quick brown box jumps over the lazy blog

Sometimes, just a little boost is all we need to reach something from the top shelf, change a lightbulb, dunk a basketball or see the world in a different light. My fingers normally dance across tired strings, or black and white keys while I mumble into the air in search of a moment that gives my musical side the fix it needs. Like a junkie I sit there for hours at times waiting for that moment...that buzz...that satisfaction that compels me to stay up till my eyes rebel and my thoughts turn cloudy. I love it!

 Oh I don't stand up at a typewriter like Hemingway or wander the streets with no destination in mind ala Dickens...but I have my habits, my ticks, my routine. Over the years this process for me has evolved, changed, developed into a structure...a ritual...a recurring method that has certainly delivered some songs that I am happy I have written. And then...

Week 1

{enter Mr. Pattison} [lights up]

There is an area near home where several new houses have just been built. Each one unique in its own way. Red brick, grey siding, paved driveway, cobblestone walk, huge front door with steps, small entranceway with pillars. Inside, I imagine some of these homes have big foyer type entrances. Others have a winding staircase that climbs up to a second floor. Finished basement with a games room, or a bar, maybe a kick ass home theater set-up. But, they are all just houses. They all have bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms, laundry rooms and hallways. And every single one of them was built with a detailed set of plans out of the mind of someone trying to make it fit into a mould but being uniquely different in some kind of way. 

After hearing Pat (and i can call him Pat, cause we are such good friends) walk me through the first phase of this course...I had a laugh. I have been building houses for years, just grabbing a hammer, some nails and a pile of wood and going with my gut. Try and see what I can create. I know I'm probably not the only one to sit back after he explained the boxes and say to myself..."Uh...why didn't I think of that before? That just makes sense!"

-The Science Fair-

I think what I loved best about the science fair in school...wasn't my own table (Capillary Action 101) but having a walk around the gymnasium floor and getting a chance to see in the minds of my classmates. Some of them, so extraordinary in their experiments. Detailed explanations, graphs, things that plug in, things that explode. This part was certainly the highlight of these events and Writing songs is no different. All of us songwriters taking part in this adventure are not only anxious to see where this journey takes us, but where will it take everyone else as well? 

The truth of the matter for me and my Capillary Action Experiment is quite metaphoric to the bulk of projects in my life. I didn't plan ahead and take weeks to write my hypothesis, or design some elaborate Rube Goldberg Machine . I waited till the night before the fair...panicked...and came up with something. Procrastination maybe? Delayed Gratification perhaps? Laziness...probably? 

And if I think back to some of the other accomplishments in my life...there are certainly a large number that kept me up the night before without sleep. But as Pat has tasked us on a new approach...I have managed to find a little time each day to not only reflect on my assignment, but plan it out before I picked up the hammer and the nails.

-So North...what song title did you choose and why?-

At the beginning of the week, after reading the titles to choose from, I did what any confident songwriter would do...chose my own! I thought of each box and how my idea would grow throughout and yet stay connected. My mind and my fingers sat down in the same room, talked into the night, worked together and by tuesday...I was ready to submit.

But then the question came back to me again. Why did I start this course? If I took the same roads, ordered the same food, watched the same movie over and over again...where would the new experience come from? So I dove back in on Wednesday night to the Two Story House title. I knew this would be one that some writers would pick and others would avoid like the plague simply because Pat had already given his take on it. And so the challenge began. Make it work. Put your own spin and write a story. Something that will bring out the emotion you search for when you write. Love? Pain? Anger? Bliss? 

I started getting really excited as the idea started to bloom. The clock was on vacation as I thought out each box in vivid detail. It wasn't easy at first, but when the common thread between my ideas hit me...I felt that adrenaline rush, that moment where you finally find your keys, those brand new shoes that make you run faster and jump higher. I once again found the reason why I love to write songs. 

Thats all for me this week as I have a bunch of my children, huddled up on a couch right now waiting for me so we can finish our "Bourne" marathon.

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment. Ask a question.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SOME OF MY TUNES

-Coming Soon-

My Take on the Two Story House 

(recorded version as I also promised myself a finished song each week of this course.)

Week 2 and the new doors that open - Friday

Have a great March Break everyone!

Songwriters Association Of Canada CHALLENGE 2013

A number of years ago, i sat at a round table in a room with more than 200 songwriters. All of us on the edge of our seats, heads tilted, pens drawn like swords as we listened closely. I watched his feet, runners I believe, as he weaved in between tables speaking to the anxious room. I remember thinking…who is this guy? What does he know about songwriting that I don’t? 

And by the 30 minute mark of hearing him speak…it was pretty clear…he knew everything I didn’t. The inflated balloon in my head began to shrink quickly…and i couldn’t stop smiling.

I guess you could say that my first experience with Pat Pattison was a little unpredictable. I listened closely, opened my mind, laughed at his spontaneity, marvelled at the way he took lyrics that we all shouted out and created a song right there in front of us that not only made sense, but had a pretty cool hook. 

In these days leading up to Challenge 2013…I am excited to not only dive in deeper into the mind of this man, but embark upon a journey into honing my own craft that much further.

I have written over 600 songs to date. Happy songs, sad songs, story songs, pop songs, celtic, folk, rock, blues, christmas and many other that I cannot pin point stylistically. I recently challenged myself to write/record and put together a video on Youtube once a week called Seven Day Songs…and as a music teacher/band coach, devoted father of 6 and a passionate creator…I am positive that this experience will lead me to understand the writing process that much better.

Collaboration in any walk of life leads to new invention, and every great work that I have ever seen, heard or touched has come through that very process.

I look forward to meeting all of the songwriters who are taking part in this course. Listening and sharing thoughts that will take my songwriting craft to the next level.

LISTEN TO SOME OF NORTHS SONGS