Hey folks – hope your week is going well – I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the studio these past few days, putting the finishing touches on a couple of the tunes and taking them over to Jeff Saltzman’s place for some mixing. He’s doing some mixing on a song called “Susan Be” (which is up on the blog as well), and one of our favorites of the new songs called “Celia’s Garden“.
The lyrics are based on the paintings of Childe Hassam, a 19th Century impressionist painter from Boston, who spent his summers in Maine at Celia Thaxter’s Garden…(in fact, the song opens with a playful reference to the “poppies on the Isle of Shoals“). I had such a great experience writing the “Ballad of Winslow Homer“, based on Homer’s paintings, that I wanted to try it again with a song based on Hassam’s work. There’s so much imagery and texture, even in the titles of the paintings – it was a ton of fun to write and even more fun to play, and I hope it comes through in the song – it’s definitely one of our favorites. Click below to listen (or download) and let us know if you like it -
The Dimes – Celias Garden (DEMO)
Have a great rest of the week and we’ll see you guys soon -
Johnny
We’re all impatiently waiting for Saturday night in The Dimes’ camp this week – yep, this Saturday, November 1st, we’re releasing a brand new disc called the “New England EP” at the Doug Fir Lounge here in Portland. “New England” is a glimpse of what’s to come (and here’s a glimpse of the album cover) as we’re spending most of our autumn and wintry days in the studio finishing our next full length record.
We’re joined at the show Saturday night by our good friends Derby and the incomparable Matt Sheehy – the show starts at 9pm and Los Dimes will be taking the stage shortly thereafter – this is one you don’t wanna miss. We’re all very excited about this EP and the next record, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the release of the “New England EP” than here with our good friends at the Doug Fir.
And, as a little Halloween bonus, here’s a link to hear a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” we did a few months back with our friend Jasmine Ash (of Portland’s own fantastic foursome “Oh Darling“). I grew up on Buddy Holly and thought it’d be fun to try one of his tunes…
You can play or download it – it’s posted over towards the right…
I hope you’re all having a good week and we’ll see you Saturday night!
Johnny
p.s. – if you like the album cover art and want to see more art like it, check out more of Doug Blair’s work at his site, Two by Toons…
I’m finally posting a new demo! This one’s called “Winslow Homer” because the lyrics of the song are inspired by titles of Homer’s paintings. If you know his work, I’m sure you’ll pick up on several familiar phrases throughout the song. But even if you don’t know his work, there’s a strong sense of calming imagery that I think Winslow Homer himself would appreciate. And there’s a story there too – a tale of two friends walking through the countryside, far away from the loud buzz of the world. It’s one of my favorites I’ve written to date – great for a rainy day…and it’s raining today in Portland…
Hope you guys enjoy – just click the link below to stream it -
http://www.thedimes.com/music/Winslow_Homer.m3u
Johnny
