Cosmic Glue - Green Fingers, Mayflies and Not Dead Yet!

Cosmic Glue - the evolution of an album.

So here we are with acoustic guitar, click tracks, dubious cold-ridden guide vocals and complete drum tracks...and then the magic begins again.

Green Fingers has a good old Stax soul feel about it. A racy little song about horticulture (in a very double entendre kind of way) that sounds like a track we may well send to Sir Tom.

We built up the track with some great acoustic riffs from Mike and me, adding bass and electric runs an a killer cowbell beat. Well...it would have a been a cowbell, but someone had borrowed the darn thing. A quick root around the Skyhook kitchen uncovered a bottle of red wine with a killer sound. So that's what I used! And boy, does it work...

Mayflies is one of my 1971 tracks, re-recorded last week. The original recording still sounded current. That acoustic stomp that the folk bands are using now. So I stripped it back and did a close mike vocal with Alan Tee's drum kit kicking along. I've added a chant to the major key body of the song, but I think I'll strip it back again and let the delicacy of the lyrics shine through. This was written in Kasteel Groeneveld and en-route to the CBS studios in the spring of '71. I remember driving with Joop and Sandra past the lakes and marinas outside of Hilversum watching hundreds of flamingoes take flight... 

Mayflies is a love song. The song is about seizing the day. (and yes...that's us,  then...)

Not Dead Yet is brand spanking new. A life-affirming song if ever I heard one! It rocks like crazy, has hooks all over it and when Lily and Prof. Green came into our vintage store last week...it was the one I wanted them to hear... (but to the world at large, I run a vintage store and this other side is just that - another side...wrong place, wrong time) 

NDY is near completion - rock guitars all over it - but we need to do some clever mixing to get that now sound. But it sounds like a bit of an ear-worm. And it tells it like it is. 

Rufus (harmonica, flat cap) and me proving the point. 

Back into the studio next week for more layering, and then Oogoo Maia and Chris Egan will be in to add keyboards and sax. Everything is on track for end of March completion...

To hear some of my older material, click here: David on Reverbnation

Cosmic Glue - The Magic Begins...

February 23rd and I'm preparing for a couple of studio sessions starting on Monday. We'll be laying down some acoustic and electric guitar parts, plus bass and a whole slew of backing vocals.

To keep everything up to scratch, I've included some of my diary jottings.

...and here's the website... Cosmic Glue Web

 

January 24^th

Ran through tracks with Mike at the studio, listening to references from other songs online. We went though things from 5.30 to 8. Chris was there briefly as was Sarah.

A good positive start.

January 28^th

Booked in for first beat session – copying stem files and setting down the click-tracks.

12.00 to 17.00

constructed version of Change Of Heart with both songs.

Met Alan Tocknell at Costa with Mike at 17.20

He’s on board.

February 1^st

Contacted Wrathbone Trombonista and he’s happy to discuss playing.

February 6^th

Studio at 3. Laying down guide vocals and guitar for the new recordings. Ran through Change Of Heart and once again we saw huge potential in the track. An epic track of Baker Street scale.  Just Mike and I. We finished at around 9. Left halfway through Boy in the attic. My voice was shot and the energy had dropped. Mike had a long journey home.

February 9^th

Drum set up and run through

February 10^th

February 11^th

Laying down tracks for all songs apart from Vanessa & Posion Pen

Monday Feb 10^th

Lay down some more guide vocals including Change Of Heart, Fear Of Flying, Not Dead Yet.

Alan drumming on four tracks, we finished at 5

Tuesday Feb 11^th

In at 8, worked on another 7 tracks including the new songs. Used Rob Studios demos to record drums on Secret Lovers and Boy. An awesome session completed by 7ish. Used Rob Recordings for Green Fingers

Tuesday Feb 18th
All day session working on guitars, bass, percussion and vocals for 'Not Dead Yet'

Wednesday Feb 19th
More of the same. Tracks are shaping up. 

Wishing you A Good Old Fashioned Christmas...

The day is almost upon us. Christmas is here at last!

It has been an amazing roller coaster ride since the heady days of the long hot summer when we recorded A Good Old Fashioned Christmas at DB Studios in Stroud.

Since those days I have lived, breathed and grown a beard in the spirit of Christmas...helping the song along it's way.

So - for the final time this year (cos I'm back working on Cosmic Glue, my new album...) I present a wonderful crisp, clear and absolutely free version of A Good Old Fashioned Christmas...

I wish all of you, wherever you are, a happy good old fashioned Christmas.

Love and Peace - David

A Good Old Fashioned Christmas - One More Time!

David Ireland's BBC Radio Gloucestershire chat with Faye Hatcher

The year is drawing to a close and I'm reaching the climax of an extraordinary time.

We've had a tremendous response to 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' and hopefully we have raised awareness of The Big Issue Foundation, the charity we are supporting through the sales of the song.

Soon my magnificent beard will be history and I'll get back to the recording of 'Cosmic Glue', my forthcoming album due for a spring 2014 release.

On Saturday, Mike Cooling and I (he's my co-producer) dropped in to Faye Hatcher's Saturday Show at BBC Radio Gloucestershire for a quick chat and an unplugged version of the song.

Here's the podcast coupled with a few images from the October 16th video shoot in Stroud. Enjoy!

Check out my website here...

Stroud Community TV Supporting David Ireland's 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' Charity Single

A Good Old Fashioned Christmas (Charity single)

Posted on 18. Dec, 2013 by philip in Charity, Featured, Music

inShare

Stroud’s David Ireland with Stroud’s Skyhook Studios raising money for The Big Issue – go on download the track, share, Facebook, tweet etc….they write:

Fundraising single for The Big Issue Foundation 
Download here – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/goo… 
or here – http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidireland2
or here – http://www.skyhookstudios.com/a-good-…
Singer/Songwriter: David Ireland
Video: Zebrafish Media
Director: Guy Davies

“Nearly 100 people a week turn to the Big Issue for an opportunity to help themselves at a time of utter personal crisis. The Big Issue Foundation is small but national charity. We work with some of the most disadvantaged and excluded individuals in the land; people who have lost more than it is comfortable to imagine, their homes, their families and their sense of themselves in the world. We urgently need to offer more support and hope for the future.”

“Our mission is to connect vendors with the vital support and personal solutions that enable them to rebuild their lives; to find their own paths as they journey away from homelessness.” The Big Issue Foundation

You can help by downloading this track, sharing with your friends, posting on your facebook page and tweeting. Go on…make a difference

A Good Old Fashioned Christmas, created by musician David Ireland, was inspired by the Big Issue’s philosophy that everyone of us can make a small difference and so, together, contribute to real, significant and lasting change.

David Ireland and Skyhook Studios are donating 20 per cent of all sales and royalties from the single to the charity and hopes that it can also demonstrate how little it takes to change a life. For example, just £20 can support efforts to help a vendor end rough sleeping, and £15 can provide access to training and employment.

“We are absolutely delighted that the first record we’re producing is for such a wonderful cause,” says Chris Aylmer, owner of Skyhook Studios. “We hope it will go some way to make a difference to the work The Big Issue Foundation is doing in the UK.”

“The Big Issue works with some of the most disadvantaged people in the UK – nearly 100 people a week turn to them at a time of personal crisis,” adds David Ireland. “They are completely reliant on donors and fundraising to help these people rebuild their lives. It could be any of us out there. I am especially moved by their drive to raise awareness of the issue in schools, as so many people who are homeless say they first ran away as a child, and more and more people end up rough sleeping when they are still in their teens. If we can’t take a moment to think about that one fact at Christmas then the whole season means very little.”

More about Skyhook at: http://www.skyhookstudios.com/

More about David Ireland at: http://www.reverbnation.com/davidireland

See also David Ireland and Cosmic Glue on Stroud Community TV: http://stroudcommunity.tv/boy-in-the-attic-cosmic-glue-recording-session/

Stroud musician releases charity Christmas single to raise money for the homeless: the press is on our side...

Stroud musician releases charity Christmas single to raise money for the homeless

12:20pm Friday 13th December 2013 in NewsBy Chris Warne, SNJ reporter for Stonehouse and Chalford. Twitter @ChrisWarneSNJ

Stroud musician David Ireland has recorded a charity Christmas single

A STROUD musician is dreaming of a Christmas number one after releasing a charity single in aid of The Big Issue Foundation.

With the help of Bath Road-based Skyhook Studios, David Ireland has written and recorded A Good Old Fashioned Christmas to raise money for the homeless charity.

The festive jingle was inspired by the Big Issue’s philosophy that anyone can make a difference and is available from both Amazon and iTunes.

Skyhook Studios, which opened last month, has pledged to donate 20 per cent of all sales and royalties from the track to the charity.

“I am very grateful to David Ireland and Skyhook Studios for using their talents to help generate funds for our work,” said The Big Issue Foundation’s chief executive Stephen Robertson.

“They are also helping to spread the Big Issue message and educate the wider public which is invaluable.”

A music video, produced and directed by Skyhook, to accompany the Christmas single can be viewed on Youtube and already has over 3,500 hits.

The video, which was filmed in Stroud, features shots of the town centre and Mr Ireland singing in the snow.

Ads by Google

• Heat Pumps: Stunning Deal

  Pay £6499 For 9kW Heat Pump & Get £2661 pa For 7 Years. Get Info.
  ecovisionsystems.co.uk/HeatPumps

• Honda Civic

  £199/Month With 0% APR PCP. 5 Years Servicing For Just £499.
  honda.co.uk/Civic

"The Big Issue works with some of the most disadvantaged people in the UK - nearly 100 people a week turn to them at a time of personal crisis,” said Mr Ireland.

“If we can't take a moment to think about that one fact at Christmas then the whole season means very little."

Let's Get 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' to Number One!

The Campaign Starts Here!

Let's Get 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' to Number One!

To join the campaign, just click the link above.

David Ireland's Single 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' in support of The Big Issue Foundation has spawned a tongue-in-cheek campaign in the UK. Against such Goliaths as The X Factor, David's small gesture needs a mighty powerful push - so let's go!

David's single, 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' was recorded on the hottest day of the summer at DB Studios in Stroud in the heart of The Cotswolds. It was always the intention that the song would support a charity and David was clear in his wish to raise both funds and awareness for The Big Issue Foundation - the UK's foremost charity helping homeless people to help themselves.

'The Big Issue Foundation (http://www.bigissue.org.uk/) are doing an amazing job of giving a hand up not a hand out to vulnerable, homeless people. Dignifying people with the opportunity to work their way out of hardship takes understanding of the reasons why people become homeless in the first place.'

Help us to raise funds and awareness by downloading the song (less than one dollar!) and pushing 'A Good Old Fashioned Christmas' ever closer to that Number One! Thank you!