Corey Balsamo

Singer-songwriter from New York. Just trying to figure it all out.

I don’t trust myself with loving you..

Today was a fun day. I was woken by a phone call from Ross, which, may I add, is unusual. He’s usually the one sleeping in. But today was a very different day. Today, Warped Tour came to Long Island. After hanging up, Ross was over in a matter of minutes. It almost felt like deja vu, in a funny way. Rewind to yesterday morning. I wake up a little past noon at Cody’s. I run around his house screaming, trying to wake up Ross, saying “Dude, c'mon, we gotta get to Warped Tour!” I get on the phone with Andy and very bluntly, but kindly, he says “Dude, Warped is tomorrow.” But, I digress. Ross and I jumped in the car this morning around 10 AM and picked up Pete, the drummer from my old band. Along the way, we scooped a few more friends. (Carpool, kids! In this economy, you’ll save gas and the environment!) Northern State was a breeze to drive on, but nearing the exit to Nassau Coliseum on the Meadowbrook Parkway, in traffic we sat. And sat. ……And sat. Eventually, Pete and the gang got out and walked along the highway to the Coliseum, leaving Ross and I to sit for another twenty minutes, inching off the ramp and into the parking lot.

The sun was at high noon by the time we parked the car. I am a very fair skinned person, so after the past couple days at the beach, hanging poolside and now this, my milky complexion had turned the reddest red. I could sit here and go on and on about bands, but if you’ve ever been to Warped Tour, you just know. There are so many stages. And some many tents. Just so much to do! Where to begin?! I first stopped off at the Rock For Health tent to see Kristina Grossman. She is an amazing person who does amazing things for bands. A beautiful Northeastern graduate in her early twenties who uses her organization to provide health coverage and many other medical necessities to musicians on the road. Great cause! I had the pleasure of meeting her at Jason Aron’s (Boys Like Girls, We The Kings) house last week after the Hey Monday / Stereo Skyline show and I wound up talking to her for quite a while about what she does. 

The rest of the day consisted of gallivanting in the hot, summer sun and seeing many bands such as 3OH!3, Streetlight Manifesto, Saosin, Attack Attack!, Anti-Flag, my Long Island homeboys Score 24 and Set In Color, and my personal favorite - A Day To Remember. It’s fun to get back into this music every now and then. I feel like I left this scene three years ago but I still have roots in this music and this festival. Granted, the genre of music I write does not suite the Warped Tour feel, but I still go every year. And I will continue to go back. Every year.

Bedtime. G'night.

Cor

The new song.

So, for about six months, I had this melody stuck in my head. Literally planted there. And for those six months, to my dismay, I had a horrible case of lyrical writer’s block. Even so, this melody stuck with me. For months and months, I tried to drain lyrics from my dry mind. I got so low and down on myself. I felt like a worthless songwriter. I was, more or less, forcing lyrics out. They had lack of substance and I knew this song needed to be something big and powerful, but most importantly genuine and heartfelt. The feel to this song was so epic. I could have played it in my head a million times and would have never gotten sick of it. It was just too good to pass up. I racked my brain for days asking myself, “What am I going to write this song about?” Then one day last week, it all just came to me.

Several months ago, I fell out of love and found myself dangling at the end of a very long and drawn out relationship that should have ended many months before it actually did. It hurts and it sucks to have to be in that certain position in your life where you cannot even be in the same public vicinity with one particular person that you were once so close to and loved so much because of something that is/was never just one person’s fault. Regardless if the dispute was just between friends or more than that. In my case, it was a romantic relationship. We were both young, immature, stupid and we both got hurt. There’s no doubt about that. Yet, this new song doesn’t necessarily have to do with my past relationship. It is more of a telling of the position I was at in my life during this time, not so long ago, when I felt as if I could never even begin to feel again for someone in that particular way. To my surprise, I met someone. We had a short fling for about a month and it is now over. That doesn’t tear me up inside, though. She is a great person and we had some fun times, without anyone getting hurt. We are still good friends and continue to keep it that way, with no complications. The decision was made to try and not complicate things in the first place, which would avoid risking anyone’s feelings in the event that things would go awry.

I did not write this song about a girl. I wrote this song about me. And for me. It is about my first experience/experiment with love after I felt my heart had been put in a blender and turned on the fastest, most violent spin-mode. I don’t say it in the actual lyrics, but to me this song is that hope that I needed to get back up and keep on keepin’ on. It is currently untitled and it’s going to stay that way until something hits me. I’m so proud to call it mine. 

Okay. I’m sick of typing. I’m really starting to enjoy this blogging stuff. :)

Cor

Here’s a sneak peak at some new promotional photos. View high resolution

Here’s a sneak peak at some new promotional photos.

You said, twenty degrees this Friday, but California’s burnin’..

It is a glorious, beautiful day here in New York and I want nothing more than to just lounge by my pool with Ross and some good friends - and that is exactly what I’m doing. Last night, I went to this party with a few good friends. My friend Mark a.k.a “Mar-cuss” had a mid-party performance. I’m never too swoon by new age rap, but he was phenomenal. Not the typical. Very pleasing. As for now, I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing. Amy, Julianna, Christiana, Ross and I are going to lounge by my pool. I live for days like this.

Cor

Just a thought. My birthday’s nowhere near soon. But can somebody buy me this hat?

Just a thought. My birthday’s nowhere near soon. But can somebody buy me this hat?

Even Western medicine, couldn’t save Danny Callahan..

It seems to me that the fight for the first line is always the hardest when it comes to writing these things. I never really gave blogging sites a second thought until I found my self reading through Jerry’s (everydayjerry.tumblr.com) posts a little while ago. I thought to myself, “Yeah, I can do that,” simply forgetting my lack of computer efficiency mixed with my low frustration level. Either way, this seems like a really cool way to reach out to people. I want to make it clear that after I graduated high school I became many things - including a free man, a beach bum, a registered Freshman at Purchase College - but most importantly a full time musician. I released my EP four months ago and since then, things have really taken off. For such young musicians, my band and I have had some great opportunities handed to us, many which we took and are currently excited to be following up on. We’ve opened up for some big names, played many shows (sometimes more than we could ask for), among many other things. My main point is that this blog is going to be directed towards my life now as a full-time musician. Not my personal life. I’ve recently quit my job and I’m ready to “carpe the diem”, as my friend Ross would say. Go big or go home! Do Work! ..And all that other stuff. So yeah, I’m no pro at blogging - yet. Hopefully I will be. The title is nothing mysterious. Just lyrics from the song I was listening to at the moment I started writing this. Mike’s coming over now to talk “band stuff”. T-shirts are going in TODAY!! I promise. I’ve been procrastinating on this too much. Tour starts in two weeks. Exciting times ahead, my friends, exciting times.

Cor

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