Tune: “When We Were Young” by Brian Chartrand, copyright 2010 FLYING LESSONS MUSIC ASCAP

Type: home demo

Instrumentation/Band: me on acoustic guitar and vocals

For the longest time, I was a standard guitar tuning type of guy (EADGBE).  If you hang out with Rich Price long enough, you start to realize that there are some really cool tunings out there that really open up the possibility of chord voicings and melodic structures…this particular tuning (DGDGBD) Rich mentioned to me a while ago and I started writing tunes with it right away.

This song was inspired by a couple things.  I wrote this tune as I was beginning to reconnect with old friends and girlfriends on Facebook and I was once again confronted with some of the juvenile, immature decisions of my youth. In short, you remember what an asshole you were to some people in High School and you wonder why.  And I started to wonder in what ways old friends had changed, if they had at all, and how and if I had changed since then.

And then I began to wonder if other people have similar experiences as they resurrect old relations and consider their past.  I would assume most people have some actions that they regret and chalk up to the ignorance of youth.  I began to wonder if, say, George W. Bush would agree.  This was around the time my own personal dissatisfaction with his administration was at an all time high and I imagined him reconnecting with friends on Facebook or at a high school reunion and saying something like “Hey!  I’m George.  Do you remember me?  We dated.  Anyway, did you know I just started a war? So, how are you?”  I envisioned his classmate looking through an old yearbook, stumbling on George’s awkward school picture and laughing about the time he stole George’s lunch money…you know, stupid kid’s stuff.  Then you realize, nobody’s perfect.  I was far from a bully in school, but I still did all the dumb stuff immature kids do.  I made mistakes, was dishonest, destructive, and was sometimes a real asshole.  George might ask for forgiveness of his peers just as I do in this song.  That might be the only similarity between he and I, but it would still be something we share.

This tune is about being young and stupid, regret, the healing of time, and acceptance and forgiveness.

When We Were Young

Lyrics:

Hey, Do you remember me?  I’m the one who broke your heart way back when we were young, but we’re older now.

Do you remember me? Where have the years gone, you look the same.

Hey, would you be proud of me if I said I’d start a war against all other wars being fought both near and far?

Hey would you be proud of me?  Would you tell your friends ‘Oh, I knew him well, when we were young.”

Time passes slow and people grow apart.  But I want you to know that you were always a part of me, yes, you were always there.

Hey would you forgive me for all the bad things that i’ve done?  For all the horrible, terrible lies I told when we were young.

Oh could you forgive me?  The things I said I didn’t mean.  I was just young.

Time passes slow and people grow apart.  But I want you to know that you were always a part of me, yes, you were always there.

Said you were always a part of me, yes, you were always there.

Tune: “Don’t Change” by INXS

Type: home recording

Band/Instrumentation: Me on guitars & vocals. Margaret Thatcher: English Horns. Yo Yo Ma: Violin (yes, violin). Jethro Tull: Flute.

The idea to do a an all 80′s record has been in my head for a while.  Now that I have the necessary recording gear at my house, I am going to finally get started.

I heard this tune at the end of “500 days of Summer” and thought it essential to add an INXS tune to the record.  I don’t remember this album at all really, but one cannot deny the affect INXS had on popular music.

This particular tune really intrigued me because its not one of their later super hits and its a melancholy pop tune.  So much so, that it almost passes for a Smiths tune…another band I hope to cover on the record.

There are a couple hooks in this tune as I see it:  the opening guitar lick and the chorus.  I made sure to include them, relatively unaltered, in my version.  I did the recording with just guitar and vocals though, and was unsatisfied.  If I was going to release it into the world, I had to make an attempt to make it more my own.  As a result, I added these weird melodies I was hearing in my head in the form of english horns, string section, and flute.  I love that part of the process.  That’s when you can really do anything you are hearing.  Once the canvas is laid out, you get to add colors and textures beyond the palate of guitars and vocals.  There is no denying the fact that these extra sounds are midi…I don’t even know an english horn player.  If I had the money, I would have hired an orchestra… but I don’t, so I won’t.  This little midi-keyboard works just fine.  I embrace today’s technologies.

I decided to leave the beginning of the third verse just acoustic and vocals to bring the listener back to zero, so to speak.  Hope you dig it.

Don’t Change by INXS

Tune: “On My Own” by Brian Chartrand, copyright 2010 FLYING LESSONS MUSIC ASCAP

Type: home recording

Band/instruments: me on acoustic guitars, vocals, glockenspiel, flute.

This is a fairly autobiographical tune (except the whole “demons” part….thats what i call poetic license) written a year or so ago.  Unlike most tunes, I can’t find its entry in my writing journal, which makes me think this tune came out hot and quick.  Scratched onto a napkin or on a loose leaf of paper somewhere.  It was debuted during my 2009 European tour.  There is only one live recording of it, the soon to be released “Brian Chartrand & Clint Bierman: Live in Hamburg 2009.”  Very exciting.

The subject matter is fairly clear…Boy meets girl.  Girl wants more than boy can give.  Boy wants out.  What can I say, it happens sometimes.  And its usually not pretty.

Lyrics:

She thinks she sees something in me.  She thinks that I might be the one.  But I got some demons in me.  I got whiskey, gin, and rum.  I got whiskey, gin, and rum.

Sometimes the truth is pretty plain.  Sometimes the truth is pretty plain.  Maybe I’m the one to blame.  Can’t help but feel ashamed.

Now I’m on my own.  Yes, I’m on my own.  Maybe I’m the one to blame, but now I’m on my own.  On my own.

‘Cuz where there’s smoke there is fire.  You can see this for miles.

Someday she will understand.  Someday she should understand.  This stone cold hearted man.  Got a punching bag soul filled with sand.

Now I’m on my own.  Yes, I’m on my own.  Someday she should understand, but now I’m on my own.  On my own.

On My Own

Title: “The Drummer” or “Gone Cold” or “Our Loves Gone Cold” or “Myself to Blame” by Brian Chartrand, copyright 2010 FLYING LESSONS MUSIC ASCAP

Band: Vocals and guitars by Brian Chartrand

Recorded: Home studio DEMO

I started writing this tune on November 1st while I was back in Massachusetts for some shows.  The guitar lick in the verse was the first thing to come.  The melody quickly followed.  The tune was 95% done by November 3rd.  In fact, I think I played it the night of the 2nd.

I love being in MA during Autumn.  It is my favorite time of year; no humidity or mosquitos, and no snow yet.  Plus the colors.  I think it was just being back in that environment that inspired the first line….”The waning days of Autumn.  The leaves have turned gold.  And we watch the pumpkins catch the frost and mold.”  That set the mood of the song for sure.  The choruses came quickly after a couple passes.

The last bit of development happened at a house concert in New Jersey with The Sweet Remains.  Rich, who cherishes an opportunity to play a new song even if its half baked (or worse), said “You should put that hook right up front.  You never do that…”

I am still not sure what the title of the song is going to be.  The line that mentioned a “drummer” is no longer in the song, so it doesn’t really make sense to call it The Drummer anymore, but I am still kind of into it.  That night in Jersey we asked the crowd to decide…currently “Gone Cold” is winning.  I think I am more partial to “Our Love’s Gone Cold” but whatever.

This recording is my first recording using my new home recording gear.  Very excited to record lots more demos and post them here.

The Drummer

Lyrics:

Cuz our loves gone cold.  I wish it weren’t so.  Cuz I’ve got myself to blame.

The waning days of Autumn.  The leaves have turned gold.  And we watch the pumpkins catch the frost and mold.

Cuz our loves gone cold.  I wish it weren’t so.  Cuz I’ve got myself to blame.

You say I neglect you.  You say I never tried.  So you packed your things in the car and you put the car in drive.

Cuz our loves gone cold.  I wish it weren’t so.  Cuz I’ve got myself to blame.

Have you made up your mind?  Can we try this all again in the Spring time or Summer?  You might change your mind some by then.

Cuz our loves gone cold.  I wish it weren’t so.  Cuz I’ve got myself to blame.

Tune: “Souls” written by Tak Yamashita and Brian Chartrand, performed by my old band, Flying Lessons

Type: Recorded live at Theodores’ in Springfield, MA in April 2003

Band: Me (vocals and acoustic guitar), Tak Yamashita (electric guitar), Rob Chateauneuf (drums), John Tomaszewski (bass), Keith Karlson (keys)

“Dude!  We’re getting the band back together!!”

"Its all ball bearings now a days..."

While back on the East Coast in November, I reassembled Tak Yamashita and Rob Chateauneuf of my old band, Flying Lessons, for an acoustic gig at Theodores’ in Springfield.  Theodores’ is a great blues and bbq joint were we used to play.  It was a lot of fun to dust off some of our old tunes and play music again together.  The last gig Flying Lessons performed was in 2003, so maybe there was less “dusting” and more “sandblasting.”  Some tunes came back rather quickly actually.  I had forgotten how many Flying Lessons songs I brought with me AZ back in October 2003.  Tunes like “Three Lessons” “Another Lover” “Genuine Leather” “Heartbreak in 6,” which have become staples of my current band, Ten Dollar Outfit, originated with Flying Lessons.  Flying Lessons was around for 3 or 4 years.  We played mainly around New England, with frequent trips down to NYC.  We were a “groove rock” band, whatever that means.  I think we might have been voted Best Groove Rock band by the Valley Advocate back in the day.  I was also voted Best Male Vocalist…so I got that going for me….which is nice.  Flying Lessons was fun for me because I had a chance to rock out a little bit.  It was during a time when my song writing was developing from rambling jams to actual songs.  ”Souls” is a good example of that development.  At this point, I forget what inspired the lyrics.  At THAT point, I was more concerned with the overall vibe of the tune (and length of guitar solo) than strong lyrical content.  It appeared on an EP we put out in 2002, I think.

I remember someone reviewed the EP that “Souls” was on.  And while the review wasn’t bad, per se, it was…uninspiring.  I remember the last line being something like “overall the EP is good.  I just don’t like that style of music.”  Well, thanks for your insight and objective opinion.

This particular performance was special because we had our good friend Keith Karlson (of Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers fame) on keys.

The latin inspired outro was a later development to the song…it kind of came to me in a dream.

Anyway, every once in a while, a walk down memory lane is in order.  Hope you enjoy this tune.

Souls