Home      Artist Signup       Station Mash      Login        Songs       Feedback Factory       COMMUNITY      Add New Topic          
Bob Elliott
Views for this Topic: 2354
Topics

2/7/2022 3:20:42 PM
All My Albums Are Streaming on All the Music Sites Now (Thanks to My Son)

6/9/2021 8:51:56 PM
Morning in Your Eyes Tonight

4/12/2021 5:28:08 PM
I Think I Have Some Country Soul for You: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)"

3/28/2021 10:18:47 PM
Never Go Away

3/14/2021 6:25:29 PM
Even Your Tears

1/24/2021 10:26:53 PM
New Sound: Day By Day

9/11/2020 2:58:17 AM
In Answer to Your Question...

6/18/2020 1:55:47 PM
I Have a Song for You (Heard About You in the News)

5/24/2020 2:55:48 PM
Sacred Mound

5/14/2020 8:58:39 PM
How Are Things With Scott?

5/9/2020 9:58:09 PM
Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)

5/1/2020 6:48:15 PM
Mercy, Mercy Me (You Never Heard My New Sound Until You Heard My New Sound)

3/21/2020 5:02:14 PM
Watch How the Coronavirus Spread Across The United States

2/28/2020 9:24:08 PM
Flashlight

12/21/2019 4:57:38 PM
The Last Third of Elvis’ Christmas Album

12/11/2019 7:13:26 PM
We Three Kings

11/10/2019 9:58:02 PM
Last Song Release for 2019, Last Song of the Album "Wooden Soul," Our Most Classic?

11/1/2019 8:03:35 PM
It’s Great to Be a Contender

10/2/2019 7:21:41 PM
I Wrote This Soul Thing When I Was 24 (bonus Tom O'Brien back vox)

9/15/2019 4:42:33 PM
Favorite Solo Section on Something of Yours

8/18/2019 3:50:01 AM
"Tools" -First Song Off New Album "Wooden Soul" by The Pawns

6/24/2019 5:40:57 PM
I Love "The Supremes"

5/14/2019 5:50:28 PM
IYF Obstruction

4/10/2019 2:50:37 PM
To Me, the Central Album Has Been “ Talking Book”

3/24/2019 2:32:22 AM
Heard About You in the News

2/16/2019 2:14:02 AM
Many Interesting Ideas I Could Put In...

11/11/2018 3:34:38 PM
For Your Soul Consideration

9/21/2018 2:15:19 AM
My Favorite Bee Gees Song

8/4/2018 1:16:43 PM
Checking Vocal Level On Mix

7/19/2018 7:37:54 PM
I Would Vote for Donald Trump

7/14/2018 10:21:39 PM
When Nothing Else Works With Our Two Month Old Granddaughter ......

7/14/2018 10:14:49 PM
To Me No Jazz Piano is Even Close to Thelonious Monk

5/20/2018 1:47:34 PM
Unmastered Mix Posted for Mixing COmments

3/20/2018 8:11:42 PM
Good to Have You Back

3/10/2018 2:56:50 PM
Faces (rough early stage 3/10/18)

1/31/2018 4:26:06 PM
Every Day I Write Words to This Song

1/19/2018 12:08:04 PM
Tricky Thing About Picking ‘Julia’

1/8/2018 3:35:29 PM
About 50 Songs

1/7/2018 2:20:28 PM
Acoustic Guitars Sound and Play Better a Whole Step

9/26/2017 2:56:07 PM
Songs I'm Learning for My Upcoming Pumpkin Patch Gig

9/22/2017 6:01:08 PM
On Solos and Other Complexities

9/6/2017 7:19:47 PM
Our Last Album: "Tom O'Brien and the Pawns-The Long Awaited Return" is Now Streaming Everywhere

6/15/2017 10:56:17 AM
To Make Something Beautiful...

5/15/2017 6:06:36 PM
In Answer to Lesley

3/23/2017 7:17:35 PM
Haiku for My Lover

2/1/2017 11:23:49 AM
Equinox

2/1/2017 11:21:16 AM
Atomic Dog

1/9/2017 2:19:08 PM
Elements

1/9/2017 2:08:53 PM
The Music That Gets the Most of Your Attention

10/19/2016 10:10:34 AM
What Kind of Fool Am I?

9/3/2016 3:58:10 PM
The Privilege of Playing 'People'

9/2/2016 9:49:18 PM
Interesting Thing About 'Angelique'

8/27/2016 4:34:47 PM
Tom O'Brien and The Pawns: The Long Awaited Return

5/22/2016 1:09:34 PM
Current State of Notebook

4/23/2016 6:23:06 AM
And I'll Know My Song Well Before I Start Singin

4/20/2016 4:34:38 PM
The Melodist is a Rare Bird

4/14/2016 4:28:25 PM
Six Musical Plans

4/6/2016 4:46:29 PM
Outside Reaction

4/3/2016 11:22:33 AM
Perfect Lyrics

3/30/2016 3:10:50 PM
To M

3/25/2016 5:01:38 PM
The Music That's Got Me Right Now

3/16/2016 2:52:45 PM
Hop on Pop's One by One

8/2/2015 10:11:29 AM
My Band is "The Pawns"

3/10/2014 3:44:32 PM
She Gave Me Pictures

2/9/2014 3:05:16 PM
Full Version of "When Louis Armstrong Speaks"

2/3/2014 8:01:37 PM
My Return to Music

9/14/2013 1:46:10 PM
I Liked This Song of Mine Okay at First...

5/24/2013 6:13:15 AM
But When I'm In My Best Mind...

5/5/2013 10:05:32 AM
This Only Took Me 5000 Hours

4/18/2013 4:51:42 PM
Back to Mono

4/16/2013 2:22:57 PM
Don't Forget, I Won a Golden Bunny Award

3/25/2013 4:08:25 PM
A Prob with IAC...

3/11/2013 4:33:07 PM
So Did I Mess Up My Sparse Song, or just Rightfully Develop It?

2/19/2013 3:39:25 PM
In the Wee Small Hours

1/11/2013 9:37:51 PM
Dinah Flo

12/13/2012 10:14:45 PM
Playing the Rules

11/29/2012 11:45:26 AM
IAC Gem Top to Bottom

10/29/2012 6:55:36 PM
Treble and Bass

10/28/2012 12:14:36 AM
Mixing Something So Beautiful Tonight, Here at Midnight

10/14/2012 4:17:35 PM
FInal Mix Up on 'Tuning of the Generations"

9/25/2012 11:32:36 AM
We're Staying Logged in Now

9/8/2012 11:24:56 PM
Got a New Sound for Ya

7/25/2012 9:40:39 AM
What Really Goes On With IAC Listens?

4/1/2012 12:04:57 AM
She Gave Me Pictures

2/28/2012 4:22:10 PM
The Dependents

2/25/2012 9:47:37 PM
Dreamtown

3/15/2011 6:07:55 PM
I'm Not Really Gone

12/5/2010 7:21:56 PM
A Brand New Song from The Bipolar Bears

12/1/2010 7:27:03 PM
Two New Mixes

9/5/2010 6:36:40 PM
Here is "Peach"

8/22/2010 1:14:20 AM
Here's a Video of Me Playing With My Friend's Band

7/6/2010 11:50:39 PM
Broken Wing

6/19/2010 9:48:32 AM
Hit the Top Forty

4/23/2010 8:19:14 PM
Here is the Polyrhythmic Strange Thing Tom O'Brien and I Are Writing...

3/12/2010 12:57:55 AM
Think I Have a Better Mix of "When Louis Armstrong Speaks"

3/1/2010 11:17:09 PM
Anyone Want to Play Outside Producer on This Remix of "Endless"?

2/26/2010 7:20:46 PM
I Think I Finished Mixing "Silver Hands"

2/19/2010 2:44:41 PM
'Silver Hands' Now Fantastically Overproduced (Wanna Be Armchair Critics?)

1/6/2010 4:54:56 PM
"Stupendose and Ridicular" Has Become Even More Stupendous, Even More Ridiculous...

12/6/2009 3:10:12 PM
So Here is an Acoustic Only Version of "First Contact"

11/19/2009 9:18:32 PM
On Covers

11/9/2009 9:05:42 PM
The Absolutes Are a Cool Young Band Here at IAC

11/3/2009 7:42:56 PM
Sympathy for the Devil

11/3/2009 1:44:12 PM
It Keeps Saying the Song Uploaded, but Then it's Not There

11/1/2009 12:48:23 PM
Need Help With Problem Between Zoom H2 and MacBook Pro

11/1/2009 12:29:51 PM
Two Things That Restored My Faith in Art Last Night

9/17/2009 12:38:20 AM
The Unicorns

9/16/2009 1:03:20 AM
Something Obvious About the Beatles That Sets Them Apart From Most Everyone...

9/16/2009 12:50:31 AM
Portrait of the Artist and the Day Job

9/16/2009 12:38:57 AM
"Spirit" Was an Underrated Band

9/12/2009 7:23:25 AM
Writing On Piano...

9/10/2009 1:52:05 AM
We Should Be Able to Edit Our Thread Titles When We Use the Wrong "Your"

9/10/2009 1:50:31 AM
Music You're Not Ready to Hear

8/16/2009 1:09:57 AM
This Just in From Mom

8/15/2009 11:47:36 PM
A Simple Imperative That Would Take My Solo Shows Higher

8/4/2009 5:01:33 PM
The Zoom H2 Field Recorder is a Revolution for Me

7/1/2009 9:29:53 PM
Six Sixty-Six

6/9/2009 10:51:39 PM
Best Singer I Ever HEard

6/5/2009 10:12:57 PM
The Song You Need to Sing

6/5/2009 9:12:13 PM
After Decades of Playing, I May Have Begun to Understand Strumming

5/29/2009 9:54:57 PM
Alternative Retro and Psychedelic

5/28/2009 9:38:04 PM
It's the Writing, Stupid

5/26/2009 3:51:39 AM
So Here Is Something I Am Writing Lyrics First

5/15/2009 9:09:01 PM
I Think Maybe My Favorite Way to Write a Song Nowdays...

5/14/2009 1:43:28 AM
Do My Hands Look Like Fish?

5/13/2009 2:01:34 AM
Skype and the Modern Songwriter

5/7/2009 10:45:30 PM
I'm Honored to Have Received My First Award Here

5/1/2009 4:41:38 AM
Two Songs Recorded by Tom O'Brien and I

4/27/2009 5:03:54 AM
What I Like Best of All Those Songs On the Front Page New and Hot

4/27/2009 12:05:24 AM
The Stones

4/26/2009 11:53:41 PM
The Pablos

4/19/2009 5:18:36 AM
Tom O'Brien is a Best Friend and A Musical Wonder...

4/16/2009 9:39:14 PM
Am I Messing This Song Up With This Remix?

4/10/2009 5:37:31 PM
My Daughter Wants Me to Leave This Rough Recording as Is...Any Opinions?

4/7/2009 12:40:55 AM
That Pete Townsend Quote Sure is Stupid

3/29/2009 10:11:57 PM
So Here's the Strange New Recording

3/27/2009 7:52:16 PM
Each Track is a High Wire Act

3/25/2009 7:49:32 PM
Talk to Me About Changing Tones by Turning Down the Pick-ups

3/23/2009 8:08:45 PM
The Song I'm Working on Is Getting So Weird...

3/20/2009 11:05:58 PM
I Was Almost in the Hitline...

3/20/2009 10:28:03 PM
I Am Free...

3/18/2009 7:36:28 PM
Life Is but a Dream...

3/7/2009 1:49:53 AM
Bottom of the Big Fifty

3/4/2009 11:56:00 PM
She Said, "It's Perfect"

2/25/2009 2:16:54 AM
I Think I'd Like a Way to Have My Music Freely Downloadable

2/23/2009 2:38:16 AM
Always Searching for What Makes it So Real

2/17/2009 8:01:30 PM
Got Thurston Moore's "Trees Outside the Academy"

2/16/2009 11:02:15 AM
A Theory About Drum Machines etc.

2/10/2009 8:41:09 PM
Layers of Time (2)

2/8/2009 12:52:00 PM
IAC is So Cool

2/7/2009 11:42:46 PM
These Are Tracks I'm Gonna Try to Get Some Friends to Play On...

2/2/2009 6:32:45 PM
Listening to IAC Stations While doing the Bills

1/31/2009 12:31:32 PM
Did I Lose Anything When I Mixed This Tune?

1/31/2009 11:21:00 AM
Well, I Don't Know Anything About What Happened w/ Ray and Anjuli

1/30/2009 11:17:18 PM
I'm Living Like a Slave Trying to Save What I Already Gave,,,

1/30/2009 8:19:25 PM
These Things I Heard...

1/29/2009 3:13:32 PM
How Do People Get on the Hitline?

1/27/2009 9:01:54 PM
I Don't Believe in God, but...

1/23/2009 9:37:38 PM
Trips Me Out to Hear Hugh Interview Steve Ison

1/23/2009 1:21:16 PM
Layers of Time

1/19/2009 10:45:07 AM
OatP and Friends Station

1/18/2009 8:24:51 PM
I Recorded the First and Only Time I Ever Played This New Song...

12/20/2008 11:22:39 AM
Do You Think We May Have Some Copyright Issues Here?

12/20/2008 9:36:39 AM
Flametop Fred is My Favorite Internet Presence

12/16/2008 5:49:59 PM
Even Your Tears Flow to the Sea...

12/14/2008 6:19:27 PM
The Hard Mirror of Recording

12/11/2008 9:02:43 PM
Artist

12/11/2008 8:15:47 PM
Here's an Outtake My Nephew Swears is My Best Song

11/28/2008 7:45:46 AM
Which Are the Best Written Songs at IAC?

11/19/2008 4:34:39 PM
If You Like to Hear Writing Tapes

11/12/2008 5:20:44 PM
Someone Needs to Tell the Featured Artist Her Songs Aren't Playing Today

11/12/2008 5:15:56 PM
Is There Something New in the System Here?

11/12/2008 3:20:55 PM
A Few Songs I Love to Cover at Solo Acoustic Shows

11/6/2008 8:01:20 PM
To the One That Asked for the Lyrics to "My Girl Sings"

11/6/2008 5:49:11 PM
I Never Really Wanted to Be a Solo Artist

11/4/2008 3:15:26 PM
Boy, Do I Agree With the Carole King Quote Up Today

11/3/2008 8:09:41 PM
Kinda Weird to be Likely on the Verge of Major History

11/3/2008 7:38:57 PM
Check Out This IAC Song: "No More Black Times"

11/2/2008 4:14:09 PM
Spruced Up My Page

10/30/2008 4:15:15 PM
Bon Iver, "For Emma Forever Ago"

10/27/2008 7:08:12 PM
I Often Wonder if My Out-Takes Are My Hits

10/27/2008 3:20:52 PM
McCartney, Red Rose Speedway and Band on the Run

10/26/2008 10:01:20 AM
The Strange and the Accessible

10/22/2008 1:05:03 PM
Anyone Want to Comment on Mix of First Song Done for Next Album?

7/21/2008 11:38:51 AM
On the Early Bob Dylan's Picking Abilities

6/19/2008 9:35:26 AM
"Teenager of the Year" is...

6/10/2008 1:12:39 PM
I Think I KNow the Real Reason Dylan Left the Folk Movement

6/10/2008 1:06:05 PM
Uber-Nail

5/23/2008 2:50:40 PM
Crack-a-Jack-Crow Writes Cool Paragraphs for the Songs on the Stations

5/22/2008 3:00:41 PM
Getting Ready to Bloom

5/16/2008 2:43:14 PM
Tightening up the Gut While Singing

5/16/2008 1:02:13 PM
Is It Wrong to Ask Who is Doing All This Listening?

5/9/2008 7:57:30 PM
What I Really Want to Do

4/15/2008 11:33:35 AM
Brian Wilson's "Smile" is So Brilliant...

4/11/2008 4:57:31 PM
Pip and Merry's Song "Liberty"

4/7/2008 6:04:29 PM
On the Road Ahead

4/4/2008 6:01:50 PM
Let's Give Gibson Some Love Now

4/4/2008 5:49:24 PM
If It's Important to YOOOUUUU, Then It's Important to MEEEEEEEE!

3/30/2008 9:23:58 PM
One Week at the Coast and Here's Some Creativity

3/17/2008 3:30:04 PM
Three Strings and a Key

3/14/2008 8:34:59 AM
Thank You IAC, It's No Small Deal to Me...

3/9/2008 4:16:22 PM
It's Mind Boggling to Me That "The Velvet Underground Album"is a 1969 Release

3/1/2008 5:41:14 PM
Music is Enough for a Lifetime, but...

2/29/2008 11:47:26 AM
Gonna Get Hijacked by the Velvet Underground Now

2/25/2008 6:33:24 PM
One of the Biggest Hinderances to the Home Recordist...

2/23/2008 7:44:39 AM
I Don't Want to be Carted Off to the "Crazed Fan Department", but...

2/14/2008 9:05:36 PM
I Like "Hop on Pop"

2/11/2008 11:51:15 AM
There Are Times When I'm Glad to Be a Nobody in the Music Business

2/8/2008 7:59:00 AM
Hope It's Not Against Protocol to Say My Album "Simple Machines" is Now Selling at CD Baby

1/30/2008 3:04:20 PM
Hammer On, Pull Off

1/29/2008 11:52:41 AM
How Many of You Like Public Enemy's "Don't Believe the Hype?"

1/28/2008 10:36:10 PM
How Do I Get My Page to Look Like Steve Ison's?

1/27/2008 7:10:31 PM
When You Think You Made a Beautiful Album



IndieMusicPeople.com

IAC Prime Member

   

Bob Elliott

5/28/2009 9:38:04 PM

It's the Writing, Stupid
There are a lot of different things we do to be recording musicians:

We write it, we learn to play it well, we record this track, that track, the next track,...we mix it...

It's all important. If you also do gigs, add to that stuff learning tunes, practicing tunes, getting gigs....

So you have all these things to do within whatever time you have for music, and you decide how much you do of each.`

Right now I'm tied up with making a demo I can use to score more gigs, and it seems to be a lot of work for me to get takes of me just playing and singing solo....takes that are strong enough all through.

And that is holding up recording tracks for a bunch of songs I have written that I want to record.

But what do you suppose happens when you are supposed to be working on the demo? Well, your mind doesn't want to work so much, so it starts to offer you up something else to get off the work. What my mind does is offer me new fresh songs. I work on this demo for awhile and pretty soon my head sidetracks to some completely new tune. Good stuff.

Then I'm not working on any of the songs I planned to record or any of the demo I planned to record or anything at all I thought I was going to do, instead I'm just adding to the pile of songs I plan to someday record.

But it seems like the writing gets better and better, and then it begins to come clear to me: there may be nothing better I can do with my music time than write as long as better and better stuff is willing to come to me.

But it almost seems like if I follow that rule I'll mostly only write because it's pretty uncommon that I couldn't write something if I allow myself to drift into writng.

But then it occured to me, what's wrong with that? Maybe that truly is the ultimate thing I can do for my music if the flow is there: write. Write and record these little one voice one guitar versions and move on. In some ways those versions are the better ones anyway, and in reality, that's all I can bring to the stage, so maybe it's better to just keep turning out songs with the simple recordings as long as they keep coming.

It sidetracks every plan I have for my music time, but maybe my plans miss the more important thing that will ultimately take me where I'm trying to go fastest:

Write. Write and write.

There is no equipment I own or riff I can master that will advance me more musically than the writing of a song better than the ones before. Nothing trumps the writing of a better song.

That's how it looks today. Tomorrow I'll be on some other train of thought, I suppose.


Add Comment

The Man With No Band

5/28/2009 9:45:17 PM


We are just receptors ... we don't create a thing
Some of us become messengers ... some just ride the train

All the pictures are just negatives ... flashbacks in our brains
Everything was written ... long before we came

Sam Cat


Add Comment

Jeff Allen Myers

5/28/2009 9:51:31 PM ---- Updated 5/28/2009 9:53:21 PM


It's great that the muse is with you and you find periods where songs are flowing...
By all means, write them down...record them so they are not forgotten. Never turn your back on a new song, some day they might not find their way to your door.

That said, I think you need to find focus and complete what you are doing, or change the songs that are in your recording project. It seems they are not holding your attention for some reason.

Here is a fact that many songwriters overlook, or at least do not think about. We are all in love with our most recent song or creation...... I guess it is human nature.

Here is another sobering fact that is true for many of us....

We have already written our best tune.....

Personally I think I have just scratched the surface, but I could be wrong. For many songwriters their best has already been acheived....no matter how many new songs are written. I would say this is true of Paul McCartney......

I am not passing judgement on your writing Bob, I am just speaking to the overall picture.

Good luck with your songs.... The old, the new, the Brand new, and those yet to be conceived....

Regards,

Jeff


Add Comment

Bob Elliott

5/28/2009 10:42:52 PM


"That said, I think you need to find focus and complete what you are doing, or change the songs that are in your recording project. It seems they are not holding your attention for some reason."

It's not that they don't hold my attention. I love the songs. I just don't want to get involved in recording them until I get that demo done, because I want to score some more gigs.

Yet then I don't even get the demo done either since my songwriting side would rather hijack me with a new song than work.

Which then adds to the pile of songs I want to fully record after I get that demo done.

Which doesn't seem like it's gonna happen because my head offers up a new song rather than work on the demo.

But then I realized new songs trump it all anyway.

I think

Maybe.


Add Comment

Bob Elliott

5/28/2009 10:52:50 PM


"Never turn your back on a new song,"

See, and that may be the ultimate point. Yet as far as I can tell, I so far could always go ahead and write another song.

I started thinking maybe I should just go ahead and do that until it slows down.

I mean, I really love to record and overdub....love that stuff, but we only have so much music time, and my theory behind this post is that maybe writing trumps all other things. Can take you to the higher levels in ways nothing else musical can.


I gotta say though, that I don't belive this full time. Sometimes I swear by woodshedding.


Add Comment

Bob Elliott

5/28/2009 10:57:02 PM


As for if I've already written my best song...when I think that is happened I will fold into myself in depression.

Sam says we don't write the songs, they come to us.

I don't know. I do know you gotta get some parts of yourself out of the way.


Add Comment

The Man With No Band

5/28/2009 11:00:15 PM


I totally understand where you are coming from Bob ...

I just cannot stop writing long enough to record ... I wish I had a built in recorder ... but then again it would make a massive pile to go through at a later date ...

There's no way I've written my best song to date ... I write at least two or three a week ... and mounds of other writing on top of that ... and some of that writing makes it into songs at a later date ...

My main problem is that I'm just not very good at the recording process and I love writing to much to push it aside long enough to learn proper recording technics ...

I really don't think I can push it aside ... it controls me ...

That's the down side of working by oneself ... not having that diversity to call upon ...


Add Comment

Bob Elliott

5/28/2009 11:02:41 PM


Anyway, it's mostly just rationalizing because I really need to finish up a demo so I can play to more people.

I think I told this story wrongly. I just wanted to talk about writing.

I wanted to talk about how it is the great leveler. You can't buy the equipment for it. A pawn is as likely as a king to have the power on any given day.


Add Comment

Jeff Allen Myers

5/28/2009 11:39:08 PM ---- Updated 5/28/2009 11:40:32 PM


"As for if I've already written my best song...when I think that is happened I will fold into myself in depression."

Aww you see, that will never happen because we are all convinced our latest creations are our best. :)

I am sure McCartney does not think his best songs are behind him, but I am certain they are.He keeps going forward and keeps writing quality songs... "Best" is a relative term. It does not mean current material is not good and not worthy. There are diminishing returns in just about every activity or profession, It stands to reason this would apply to songwriting.

For some the peak has not occured, and can occur later in the songwriting career. Either through new inspiration, practice, competence, or dedication. For some, they cannot match the energy of their youth, and the perfect storm they have come through. Again, it is all relative...it is not a negative to say your best song has been written...after all it is "your song" and you wrote it. If you are currently putting out excellent material, to have a song that still tops it is something to be proud of.

It is a blessing to have a catalog of songs, emphasis should not be placed on when they were written. A song written twenty years ago can be just as special as the one you just completed....


Add Comment
 

        �2015-16 IndieMusicPeople.com      All Rights Reserved