This is a short clip from a song I’ve been working on called “Virginia”. It’s just a demo so spare me on the quality of the recording (& the fake drums). I should be wrapping up this song in the next few weeks. It’s still got some kinks. It’s different in the sense that it is one of the more poppy songs I’ve written with a big, deep meaning behind it. I’m just mixin’ and matchin’.
I am officially home from the first leg of my first tour ever. It didn’t feel long, because it wasn’t long. Yet, everyone is asking questions like I’ve been gone for years and I’m just supposing that shows that they care where the hell I’ve been. Which is great! :)
I missed home. I missed everyone. I find it hard now to say that all I need in this life are my music and my best friends. Aside from not having my family on the road, I noticed I was lacking so much and having some homesick thoughts deep inside. Being on the road helped me realize how much I do love Long Island, no matter how much I’ve bashed it in the past. I missed my bed and my hot bedroom with no AC. But at the same time, I miss open highways and the hotel soirees with my band.
I’m ready to start looking forward to the future. I feel that I’ve been walking on very uneven, uncertain ground lately as a songwriter. Almost like a balance beam or shattered ice across an arctic tundra. I think that it is my mind telling me not that I am unbalanced but more that I am afraid to slip and fall. That is weird, since the last song I wrote was “Don’t Let Me Fall”. I’m going to stop treating my approaching lifestyle as a college student like a curse. Lots of successful and famous people attended college, especially the one I’m going to. I leave in about 18 days but I’m going to keep my head up. I’ve got my best friend as one of my roommates and I really shouldn’t complain about that.
Although I’m looking to the future, I’m going to try and not worry about it too much. I’ve decided that I’m going to live my life in the “now”, day by day. Not the past. Not the future. I’m going to stop worrying about college holding me back in the future and worrying about life ahead on the road as a musician. I’m going to turn the focus off writing about the past. There are some painful and happy memories back there. Right now, they need to stay back there. I’m saving ‘em for another time. “September” was all about my past. “Right now” is about “Corey - now”. I kind of want to be ambiguous about my writing. Not vague, but no specific theme or focus on what I’m writing about collectively. Just write.
Dan Young from This Providence texted me tonight. He wants to hear the “September” EP. I hope he likes it! At the very least, I hope he’ll critique it and give me some good feedback. He is a brilliant songwriter!
So, that’s where I am now in my life. On this day. August 10th, 2009 @ 9:56 PM. I’m going to leave you with a quote from Dan’s blog that I read tonight which I am totally identifying myself with currently.
“It’s good to anticipate things, but not to the point where you neglect to appreciate the here and now.” - Dan Young
Cor
We are on the road to Pennsylvania. But where to begin? On Thursday morning, I woke up anticipating these next few days. My neighbor, Bill, kindly agreed to let my band and I use his 1999 Chevy AstroVan for tour. It has well over 250,000 miles on it, a passenger seat window that doesn’t roll down, a door that doesn’t open, a dented sliding door that needs some extra lovin’ shoulder push to open, no right side view mirror, a cracked windshield, a radio that doesn’t technically work, a broken fuel gauge and hardly enough room for five 18 year old guys to cram guitars, amps, drums, merch, two cases of Arnold Palmer and themselves into. I brought Ross along to sell our merchandise at the venues. Our first stop was Cafe Arabica in Hackensack, NJ. The show was so-so. But the night was incredible. We had the chance to meet up with some old friends we had made in June when we played with Ryan Cabrera in Allentown, PA. Joey D’anna and Jon Gambino were the two guys who we met there. They wound up coming back to the hotel room 20 minutes from the venue in Wayne, NJ. We sang and laughed and played guitar ‘til 4 A.M. The guys and I planned on making a 9 A.M. ETD so we could make it up to our next show at Knapp’s Underground in Bennington, VT with time to kill. I knew before I opened my eyes this morning that we had missed that early morning goal when I heard Mike Romano roll over in bed and say, “Well, so much for leaving at 9.” It was almost 11. We rushed around, crammed into the van again and started the 225+ mile trek to Bennington. I had been driving this whole tour thus far. The miles went fast. Ross was my co-pilot. We got up there at about 3:30. Immediately, Ross and I saw what others may see as a dusty used book store as a treasure chest filled with hours of fun possibilities only sent from the heavens above. Bennington is a small town. Essentially, everything the town offered was located on Main St. - from the venue to where we ate lunch to where the hotels we were planning on checking out. After a hearty hoagie lunch at the local brewery, Ross and I ventured over to that used bookstore. Inside, we split up for a good hour, panning rows of dusty shelves and cranking our necks so we could read the vertical titles. I wound up leaving with a copy of selected pieces by Earnest Hemingway. The show wound up being fun and we made some new friends. Our set sounded tight. But the small town lifestyle was not cutting it for us. We decided not to stay in Bennington and we hit the road by 11:30 P.M., but not before we had a run in with a local police officer. One thing you ought to know about Bennington is that they LOVE moose. There were moose statues EVERYWHERE in Bennington. On our way out, the band and I hopped on top of one and posed while Ross snapped a picture. A local police officer pulled up, got out of his car and kindly said, “Can’t have you sittin’ on the moose, boys.” We apologized and he clarified that he didn’t think we were any trouble once he saw that it was just a photo op. He also proceeded to point out that I was far too clean cut looking to be any real trouble. Thanks, officer. So, we packed into the van and began heading to Albany. The streets of downtown Albany were desolate by 1 A.M. with the exception of a few bars. We didn’t spend much time in Albany at all. By 1:30, we all agreed that it was best to begin driving straight through the night to Bloomsburg, PA, where we’ll be playing in about 16 hours. Ross took over driving. I’m sitting co-pilot. Mike Curley’s feet smell. Everyone’s quiet or sleeping. It’s now 3:30 and we’re about to hit the PA border. I love music. I love my band. I love my best bud. I love life on the road.
Cor
Current song: “Vultures” by John Mayer
Tomorrow, I embark on probably the longest, most adventurous consecutive days of my life thus far. Tomorrow, I will have my guitar(s), equipment, clothes, best friend Ross and, most importantly, my band packed into a van and we will be hitting the open road on my first OFFICIAL tour. I couldn’t be happier. My band is the most important aspect to me as a songwriter. I would literally be crap without them. I love them all collectively and individually. I want to also take this time to express my gratitude to my friends and family for their unwavering support. Tonight, I looked out in the crowd and saw a familiar face - my mother. Every show, she’s there. Front and center. Singing and bobbing along to the songs of mine she is oh, so familiar with. She loves it. And she’s proud of me. And I love her. She is the greatest mom, ever. I’m sorry if you’re reading this and disagree, but - seriously - yo mama just don’t compare! She won’t be able to come on the road with us. I’m a big boy now and big boys don’t cry - or bring their mom on tour. But all kidding aside, all I could think of was, “Damn, I’m gonna miss that on the road.” She honestly deserves like a holiday or a cuddle for being so freakin’ supportive. On a more solemn note, my grandfather is in the hospital. I won’t go into detail about anything but, I ask you to please keep him in your thoughts.
On a more happy note, tomorrow we will be in Hackensack, NJ. The first official night of tour. Tonight was the tour kick off show here at the Vibe Lounge. I’m gonna miss you, Long Island, but it’s time for me to spread my wings and fly away for a bit. I’ll be back.
Cor
Sometime around 3:30 AM, I started working on a new song. It was so pleasantly unexpected. I love the feeling when a new song idea hits me and I find myself scrambling around for paper and a writing implement. This song is fitting together, at least lyrically, like puzzle pieces. I feel like I’m not going to know exactly what it’s all about ‘til I paste in the last sentence of the final draft and step back to observe it. That’s when I’ll get it. It’s like my mind is on ghostwriter. I didn’t begin writing this song from the first line, like I normally would. I started with little tidbit lines that were catchy. Pretty much the hook line(s) of the song were written down first. It’s exciting. But I took a break from it because I noticed I was forcing out lines again and I wanna wait it out for the next good line to come to me. I would rather wait two years for that next line rather then force out a line that is devoid of substance just to fill the empty space in the lyrical structure. That’s the thing about being a writer, a poet, a songwriter, etc. you have to be brutally honest with yourself and say, “C'mon, man, you can think of a better line than that..” It is so easy to just scribble anything down but it is the true and honest verse that will give your writing that sparkle that you can identify yourself with to make you the author.
Today is August 4th, 2009: Officially one of my last days home for the summer. Tomorrow, my band and I have a going away show before we leave for tour. The days following tomorrow will consist of playing shows in NJ, VT, PA & CT. I’m really excited to play in different cities and see what the road has in store for me. This is all I’ve ever wanted.
Cor