10/24/2023 2:40:47 AM
How far do you want to go ?

10/9/2023 1:27:45 PM
First influences plus possible changes over time

9/26/2023 9:52:43 AM
What takes up most of your time, playing music or making it ?

9/20/2023 8:12:33 AM
Singers and genders ?

9/17/2023 1:03:17 PM
What is a song writer ?

9/8/2023 6:06:07 AM
Has anyone ever wrote a song about you ?

9/6/2023 2:09:20 PM
Are Internet forums dying ?

9/1/2023 5:56:50 AM
Speak To Me

8/28/2023 3:11:02 AM
IMP.... nothing like it!

10/9/2023 1:27:45 PM ---- Updated 10/19/2023 12:14:40 PM

First influences plus possible changes over time
It was Burt Bacharach's Clever Key Changes that influenced me. I was so reluctant to make obvious moves, I would listen and analyse Burt's songs to find the sweet spots.

No-one influenced my lyric writing, words that rhyme dictate how the story will go... but again I try not to use the most common rhymes :-

" Good authors who once knew better words
now only use 4 letter words"

Little did Cole Porter know (in 1934 - Anything goes) how true this would become for 21st Century lyricists smile

10/9/2023 7:03:52 PM

Johnny b good and La bamba. Rock and roll. My first band we always started with Cream Scottish guy Jack Bruce. Sunshine of your love. We lasted a whole 3 years as a residency every Saturday from when everyone was compis mentis till about supper time. There was a few original bands from that because anyone could have a shot. We had this one guy we played Jimi Hendrix Hey Joe he was from Glasgow he was an Albino. He had the first ever Fender Stratocaster that came into Scotland it was an Olympic white. Played in the Orchestra at Central theater in Glasgow. I have never seen an audience reaction like this ever when he played. The place West End in Peterhead. It was knocked down for a Council and Police building. Apparently music is not as important as Government business

10/9/2023 9:16:06 PM

Nice memories Paul.... and your last comment, if music were more important than petty politics then the world might be a better place

10/9/2023 11:54:53 PM

In the early early days I was influenced by Cannonball Adderly, Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine, Ronnie Laws and James Brown. Later I became obsessed with Parliament Funkadelic, Sly Stone and Herbie Hancock. I found my voice in Al Green and Luther Van dross. With time I became a devoted student of funkology and the Funk master himself, George Clinton. But, there is also a rock and roll edge to me due to my days of tripping on Jimi Hendrix music. As hard as I tried, I never really mastered the jimi experience. It was way over my head. So, I stuck with what I can do well. R&B, Funk, Pop, Soul, Gospel, Reggae and Jazz. But it all started when I joined a marching band at age 12 and learned how to play sax and trumpet on the fly.

10/10/2023 5:56:43 AM

Stoneman, I always like reading about all the experiences you've had, thank you.
I don't recognize many of those influencing musicians, I'm sure other IMPers do. Your repertoire of genres is very impressive.

10/10/2023 8:12:50 PM

Thank You Verity, the respect is mutual. I try to maintain a professional standard in whatever genre I attempt. But there are still some horizons I have yet to reach and I am in the recording lab working towards accomplishing them. Music is an ever expanding frontier and I keep discovering new and exciting ways to say and do the same things i have done for 60 years now. There is so much more to learn and discover. I love this exciting world of music. By the way, several of the musicians I mentioned were jazz artists from the 50's and 60's. I was very much enamored with jazz music from the Blue note label back in the day.

10/11/2023 2:29:34 AM

My piano playing was influenced by Elton, my guitar playing by Neil Young and David Gilmour, my singing by Jagger, Lennon. and my songwriting by the Beatles and Neil Young/

10/11/2023 3:22:34 AM

There are so many for me. The major ones were (and still are), Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Supertramp, most Australian mid 80s top 40, Dire Straits, Sting, the Police, Eagles, Little River Band, Genesis, Foreigner, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bjork, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Midnight Oil, Elton John, Wings, Cold Chisel, The Black Sorrows, Simon and Garfunkel,....

I could go on and on but I'll stop there. :)

10/11/2023 4:32:23 AM

Stoneman, you never seem that old to me. Father Time and Pulse Eternal, similar influences here I think ! I'm glad to see the pussy cat symbol is still there Dannii :)

10/11/2023 4:40:03 AM ---- Updated 10/11/2023 4:40:32 AM

Father Time, those are some of my favourites too. Dave Gilmour is still one of my alltime favourite guitarists.

Verity, it wouldn't be me without the pussycat symbol!
=^••^=

10/11/2023 7:45:31 AM ---- Updated 10/11/2023 7:48:02 AM

I suppose I could be all cool and list some of my favorite rock stars from back in the day. But I gotta be honest. There was always music playing in my house, and my earliest influences were show tunes, movie soundtracks, and comedy records.

That's why I write stuff like this!

https://indiemusicpeople.com/songs.aspx?SongID=119004&ArtistID=154879

10/11/2023 10:37:02 AM

Larree! There's a name I'm thrilled to see still here! I've just come back here after being assimilated by Faceborg for too long. You might remember me under my old SuperPuss band name.
I'm going to come back and check out your song in your post above after I've had some sleep. Hope you're doing well.

10/12/2023 7:26:00 AM

SUPERPUSS! Welcome home!

10/13/2023 4:13:23 PM ---- Updated 10/13/2023 4:38:49 PM

My songwriting was musically influenced by the Beatles and lyrically influenced by Bob Dylan. Guitar wise I was influenced by Robbie Robertson of the Band and the organ playing of Garth Hudson also of the Band. I worship the rhythm guitar playing of Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. And I’ve always loved all of George Harrison’s rhythm and lead playing especially on his solo work. All of these influences are the ingredients I love to cook with.

10/14/2023 1:17:54 AM

Thanks so much for the welcome back Larree! :)
Your Good Neighbour track very much reminds me of Doug Anthony Allstars. 8-)

10/16/2023 2:21:30 AM ---- Updated 10/19/2023 12:27:49 AM

When I was learning to play and write, I fancied myself a Cat Stevens, partly because of my sister's boyfriend who taught me some stuff, and played a lot of Cat Stevens. He also had long hair and a beard, so I thought that was cool. I wanted to have that wondering, spiritual lyricism of Cat Stevens. Of course, my early attempts at writing were pseudo-intellectual teenage boy lyrics like Kansas or Jethro Tull would write. They sounded very poetic, but I hadn't yet lived. You can't write a love song until you've had your heart broken.

I was also highly influenced in my acoustic guitar playing by James Taylor. For some reason, I could do what he could do. And the Beatles influence on my songwriting is too huge to quantify.

Tom O'Brien

10/16/2023 8:28:43 AM

I've been around music since I can remember because of my parents. In junior high, you were either a Beatles fan or a Beach Boys fan. I chose John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, etc. When my buddies were listening to mainstream rock, I was trying to play like Robin Trower, Alvin Lee, Al Di Meola, etc. (I'm still trying to play like those guys).

When I write, I try to make lyrics meaningful and thought provoking. The music is meant to keep your attention. I write in several genres, but now I'm doing what I like which is Jazz/Fusion to keep me challenged.

D.

10/16/2023 2:54:55 PM

All of you have got me thinking more about songwriting now. Because I started playing with (not playing, but playing with) guitars when I was about 5 and all I wanted to do was make a noise. And when I was a little older, all I wanted to do was play the James Bond Theme someday. So by the time I was a young teenager, I was all about lead guitar - not songwriting. And from about 13 on I was jamming just about every weekend. And eventually got into some cover bands; I played lead in a Cream cover band (I don't know who allowed that to happen, lol), and at 16 I auditioned for an original band and got the spot. The stories I could tell about those years. No one gave us shit, and we were poor as fuck, but damn did we have a good thing going. Check out the page with the demo we made. August Roads. Anyway, we were a hardcore bunch of partiers. And I was the kid in the band. The other guys were in their early 20s, so I had to lie a lot, lol. But back to songwriting - The other guitar player and our singer/songwriter, was a raging alcoholic. I mean a 40-ounce Schlitz Malt Liquor for breakfast kind of raging alcoholic. He was like, "Fuck the coffee. That's for later." So, without getting into the dirt, we eventually broke up. So as I pondered what the hell was next after that experience, I almost had to become a songwriter. And I didn't have to force it. It just naturally happened.




.

10/16/2023 2:57:18 PM

So when I think about it now, my biggest songwriting influence was Greg Barber, my bandmate in August Roads.

10/17/2023 1:45:24 PM

Thank you Verity for such kind words. That's there hub for the totalitarianism i am sure they would love to implement. It,s like creeping death camera here camera there. It,s all for our safety didn't work out so good for the Germans or Russians. Fascists and Communists love Health and safety. It,s there foot in the door.

Luckily USA copied Scottish Common law in parts and you have your constitution. Which were written way before any democracy nonsense. Democracies are a convenience for the benefit of the people. Scottish common law was formulated to reign in the despotism of the feudal Kings and there ilk. The first settlers in the USA knew that only to well. The people of both nations have the power to dissolve any notion of power these so called democracies have. And do something new it,s called progress. Or do we chase our tails for ever more hoping things get better

10/18/2023 1:49:36 PM ---- Updated 10/18/2023 1:51:31 PM

Hey Stoneman... An old high school friend just got back from Cincinnati and hanging with Bootsy Collins of Funkadelic and James Brown. The bass and voice are still on it, and the guy looks 35! Absolutely amazing he is still going strong. My friend signed him to a management contract.

10/19/2023 9:46:19 AM

Seger and Dylan. Saw Uncle Bob in the early 80's. So much power and Soul.


Bruce

10/19/2023 12:11:31 PM

I've really enjoyed reading all the posts in this thread but I wanted to add a little extra question !

* Considering your first influences have you moved away from your original style, genre etc. Do you try to change according to trends, new equipment and maybe limiting skills with age or whatever ? *

10/19/2023 4:41:36 PM

I don't change with trends, but I try to keep up - even if the only thing I do to keep up is watch the Grammys every year. And these days I am more into choral singing than anything else. I sing in a choir and we do really really really old music, lol.

10/19/2023 9:27:31 PM

Yeah, Bootsy is another one of my heroes. He's still killing that bass!

10/20/2023 12:35:13 AM

Love Bootsy! Sometimes I wonder how a Jimi Hendrix Bootsy jam would have sounded.

10/20/2023 12:47:32 PM ---- Updated 10/20/2023 12:49:41 PM

I’ve never been one to follow trends. I’m always either behind the times or ahead of them. I’ve certainly gone through temporary phases where I’ve experimented with various sound landscapes but in general I always return to a hybrid of all my past and present influences. But regardless of my inspirations, the core of my sound is original and I always know when something I write sounds too much like a particular song by someone else and I change it. I pay homage to the gods but I can’t be them. I borrow but I never steal! Over the years my tastes are mostly the same but over the last few years the percentage of aggressive rock that I write has diminished while the percentage of Americana songs has increased. Lyrically and musically, I’m trying to move listeners in a more emotional and intellectual way. I’m reaching for the universal meanings of life by sharing what is personal in all of us and I’m attempting to marry the words and music together to make you either cry, think, smile, dance or all of the above. A good lyric plus a good beat plus a good melody equals happiness!

10/21/2023 12:37:45 PM

I wish there was a feature on IMP that let readers add a "like" or "thumbs up" or even just a "smile" because so many posts deserve to be rewarded. Sometimes you just want to give people recognition without making a whole new post.

10/22/2023 12:29:05 AM

Well, you know, one of Jimi's first breaks came when he was hired to play with "The Isley Brothers". They were originally a hard rock band before they moved over to the funk R&B scene. I would imagine that the influence he had on Ernie Isley would be similar to what a Boots/Hendrix pairing would have sounded like.

10/24/2023 1:51:28 AM

In reality, I haven't played my original style in many years. I started out playing jazz as a horn player. Now? I am not even sure that I have a style or genre. I write and produce so many. I suppose most would say that I am a funkster as I have won more awards in the funk genre than any other. . However, in my own perspective that would be an insult to all the Reggae, Pop, Rock, R&B, EDM and Hip-Hop music that I do and have won awards in. I started this journey as a saxophone player in the Nicheren Shoshu marching band in L.A.. From there I did jazz, accapella doo wop, Rock, Reggae, Soul, Black gospel, Latin gospel, rock gospel, metal, EDM, Hip-Hop and occasionally country and Blues. My approach to music has always been an "open door" and I have always believed that there is nothing in music that i cannot do if I really put my heart into it. So, I guess I continue to be a big question mark in regards to style and genre. The fact remains that I am a bit of all that shit and possibly even more. I actually wrote an opera once. I can't say that it is any good but I did it still the same. When you're the man of stone, the sky is the limit.

10/24/2023 9:11:30 AM

Good for you Stoneman, no genre is safe from you :) Not many people can stretch themselves that far... but why not, that's what I say. I think I could write a good Musical but I'd never have the patience. Recently I like writing Kid's songs and parodies, mostly because they're short and usually easy and fun.

        �2015-16 IndieMusicPeople.com      All Rights Reserved