What do U2, Derringer Discoveries, Dave and John Prine have in common?
I will answer you this riddle in my next Blog

Meanwhile, ready your engines for my next music release on 12 April 24. 
The song is called: 

“Collide”

Photo by cottonbro studio: 

Collide: by David Husted

My thoughts on the birth of Chords and Arrangement in the moment of conception

I completed a song I decided to call Collide today.  It grew out of a simple C chord strumming pattern in the verse and me mumble singing melodic phrasing until the line "Show me your piece of the world" appeared. Coming out of that C I play a simple Am G back to F  and then back to the home court C.  I heard the following

Save me all your raving lunatic
Slogans that placate our minds

Verse 2 was more of the same until new words emerged.  I still had zero idea where the story was really going.  It seemed to be teetering on the brink of two divergent storylines.

I then spent a lot of time trying to be too cute with complex chorus chord structures and began to see my concept of a song and the actual feel of the song were not converging. I tried again.  This is when I went back to my keyboard and I just quietly played a piano version of the verse and felt my way into a simple pre-chorus chord transition that hit with the emotion in the words I was humming. These words ended up morphing into this:

C D7 F Fm 

But we got to move fast
This Earth's still shining
But she's running out of gas

I think the Fm is what grabbed hold of me because of the turning of the F major into an F minor.  Close chords yet shifting the mood a bit. Radiohead does this perfectly in the song Creep going from C to Cm.

Now, the actual chorus chords did get a taste of the chordal complexity I was after but I was happy that this complexity arose more organically based on what I was singing vice just force fitting in more complex chords.

Here is the chord pattern I hit on

Am F#m7b5 C G7 
The F#m7b5 adds a subtle dissonance that I was after

It was the lyrics here that the storyline finally took a position and became about our escalating climate and social crisis but also about how one balances their own mental health against these stressors. Hence the image of the yin yang symbol emerged and took shape in some of my lyric lines.

When I hear No, know that Yes opens doorways
When I feel Sad, know that Happiness will rise
When I head East I think I might be meeting West
When Yin meets Yang and birth and death Collide

So there you have it.   But not totally.  What I did not tell you is that I spent several weekends building a totally other song that just simply had to be let go of.  I was basing it off a reference track called Alaska by Maggie Rodgers. My goal was to create that intimate drum and singing style similar to that song.  It was a disaster.  I gave up. This song has no similarity to that song because I started over but it did provide the spirit and enthusiasm to create.  Thank You Maggie.  This is part of music creation I am afraid.  Sometimes you just have to start over. 

Well,  I finally took an opportunity to jot down some of my thoughts right at the moment of song completion.  Thanks for sharing a moment with me

Dave

Greetings, the cover band I perform with called WildGood played at a fancy schmancy private party last week. What a blast. However, It went from a super fun weekend to a tough week. I found out I tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday and I have been doing my best to recover since. The smiling face is not smiling as I write this. I will spare you the four page holiday catch-up letter play by play like your Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Ebenezer sends BUT suffice it to say it has been a slog.

On a positive note; I do plan to release a new song next Friday 09 February 2024. It is called Three Bells Toll. The song is about time, destruction and transformation. This feels ominously apropos given my week. Here is a link to the Music Video which will premiere on the same date.

THREE BELLS TOLL

Thank You. Honestly, never take your life for granted. I am super appreciating a little more strength in my body, my family, the sounds of the birds outside and the feel of a fresh breeze on my face. 

Sincerely

Dave
davidhusted.com

Hello,

I hope all is well with you. Here are a few things going on in my world of music making:

I am now finalizing my next music creation. I expect to officially release the song on Friday, 9 February 2024. The vibe and lyrics of the song circle themes of time, destruction and transformation. Song development was influenced by a plug-in instrument I acquired that enables me to create rhythms and textures using both tabla drums and the sitar. This is not my typical music genre but I was very happy with the outcome. I am looking forward to sharing it with you.

Ed Bejzak co-produced a song with me called Even Fail that was released in late December and is still fresh. Ed created a video to accompany the audio. This video is presented here. Deep Bow of gratitude to Ed and to his video production team, including Lauren Bejzak and David DeFord. You have all put a bit more sparkle into a terrific song. Thank You. 

Final thought regarding my craft of music making, I can write whatever I want, whenever I want and however I want. I write music that resonates with me in the moment of creation. It makes me happy and this is enough. I realize that I am fortunate to have the opportunity, financial means and time to create. I am very thankful for this and try not to take it for granted. I understand that many other talented artists do not have this access and these luxuries. I continue to be a seeker of musical gems existing and to be created. 

Thank You 
Dave
Davidhusted.com

Photo by Dr.Herumb Sharma: drums
Photo by cottonbro studio: cat on piano

Greetings, here is a new original song offering called Even Fail.

This song was created as a result of a musical collaboration between two long time friends; Ed Bejzak and David Husted. Enjoy the music and Thank You for listening. Your continued support is most appreciated!!

VR

Plastic Plant Music Productions

For those who want the inside scoop and other unsought after miscellaneous information about the song's creation read on. These may be valuable NFT collectable items once the song goes platinum. Any errors or mis-perceptions of the “facts” stated below are Dave's fault.

-A song called Daisies Through Concrete by the Eels was used as a reference track.

-Even Fail does have certain texture and vibe similarities to the Eel's song but quickly departed the pattern and became its own unique entity.

-They recorded and tracked Even Fail on Friday 17 NOV 23 over the course of just a few hours.  

-The actual mixing and mastering process took several more weekends past this event

-They prepped for this song over the course of several weekends prior to meeting up. 

-Lyrics germinated out of passed around Haikus and Word Ladders initially and much ad-libbing during game day. This process culminated in the following:

Lyrics
Even Fail
by Ed Bejzak and David Husted
V1
Wave sharpens
As it readies to pound
Under ocean canopy
Once again smooth
A tired refrain
Ch     
You can jump
I'll be there
I will be your safety net
You can jump
Even fail   
PreVs
V2
Crackle of fire and a
drizzle of rain 
cold and distant thunder
Now silence
Again and again and again
Ch2
You can jump
I'll be there
I will be your safety net
You can jump
Even fail    
V3
Falling, floating
Air rushes past
Sensation unfamiliar 
All stop 
Never and ever again 
Ch2
You can jump
I'll be there
I will be your safety net
You can jump
Even fail   
Outro
Even Fail
Even Fail
Even Fail

-Chord ideas germinated out of passed around Ableton Live DAW share files that came to be known as ZipLine1 through 6 rumored to be housed in a feathery cloud. All offline music collaboration notes were captured in a super-secret virtual manuscript journal called The Orange Notebook. This piece of musical history has been carefully preserved and archived in a vault deep within the Himalayan Mountains at an altitude of approximately 25,000 feet.

-The bass line introductory phrase became the backbone around which the song developed.

-The song does not have a traditional 4 to the floor timing but more of a waltzing meter. This did factor into the final reference track down-select process.

-Programmed kit drums were used, however,  Ed played a bit of Djembe rhythms in the verse. See if you can find them…fairly subtle.

-It was rumored that one of the music production team name ideas was: 

Plastic Plant Recordings

-One of Ed and Dave's first musical masterpieces was created in the late 80's on a cassette tape 4 track player in a dusty basement in which a green plastic plant was used to precariously hold the microphone. It is believed this may have improved the vocal sound quality.

-A few good craft beers may have influenced some of the creative decisions during Even Fail's song development process.

-There was a second reference song by The Blue Nile called "Stay"  at the ready in case we stretched for a second song. We did not.

-Ed is rumored to be conjuring up a music video to be released on a TBD date but this may only be a rumor.

-We nicknamed the final “to be released” version of our song the "vault version" and its actual wav file name is EvanFailTreeHouse.wav. This name may or may not have been informed by the picture below.

-All for now….peace out my friends and Thanks Again for sharing a moment with me.  The song was a blast to make and if you listen to Ed in the bridge section of the song you may get a taste of the joy captured in the moment of creation….."fa la la la la"

Greetings,  Here are a few things going on in Dave's world of music.

1. I am releasing a new single called The Kettle and the Flame on 15 September 2023 to all streaming services (This Friday!).
2. My latest album called Captured Fragments was released to the world several weeks ago and it is thriving. Check it out!
3. WildGood (the cover band I play in) is looking forward to rocking out with all of you at the Taphouse 1637 this Saturday, September 16th! Gig is 8 pm until 12 midnight.
4. Listen to this weeks TMR Countdown - September 2023. It has some great new music and if you listen all the way through you will get to hear my voice for about 20 seconds on the podcast. The first one who spots it on the podcast wins! I sound wonderful ; )

Have a fantastic weekend!

Dave
davidhusted.com

I have a brand new single scheduled for release on or around 15 SEP 23 if all goes well. 

 I almost put this song on my latest new album Captured Fragments but chose not to.  I held back because I learned that Soundcloud now has a distribution service similar to CdBaby . I have used CdBaby, as a loyal customer for all of my previous music releases and they have been great…no complaints. If they are great why switch? Good question. Call this a test experiment. The one benefit of Soundcloud Distribution is the “tease” of fan based royalty streams.  This enables an artist the potential for a bit more of the royalty pie on a per stream basis I think. Like I said, this is an experiment and we shall see.  

So far, and I will not get into details, Soundcloud has been a bit slow and clumsy, in my opinion, on the roll out of this. Soundcloud does not currently enable you to monetize your money. Distributing through them directly enables me to monetize through them. This is new. Soundcloud, by far, is the place I get the most activity mainly because it is a DIY artist friendly environment. I applaud them for this.  Well, enough said.  

Happy Labor Day to you!!

If you would like to hear the Kettle and the Flame now, let me know. I'd be happy to send it to you because YOU just tolerated this stream of consciousness wobble in time. You are a wise and good person.

Thank You

Dave

Photo by Jean van der Meulen: 

  Wow, I remember this classic album from David Husted called Captured Fragments!!! It was released way back in August of 2023.  That was a good year and that album was a big part of the reason why……it kicked ass!!  I wonder if that dude ever finally made it into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? He so deserves it bro.

I played it for this random music nerd wearing a Millennium Falcon shirt (see below) and he said it is the best music he has ever heard!!!!!! Judging from his response, I suggest you buckle up….YOU are about to enter music heaven!

Summary: David Husted's latest album called Captured Fragments is now available on all streaming platforms.  Queue Fireworks.

What is new with You? I hope all is well.

If you are feeling TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) today, here is the point of this particular Blog in one line.

I have a new album called Captured Fragments scheduled for release on 18 Aug 23.

Check it Out!!!!   You will enjoy. It will change your life.  Ok, maybe not, but listen to it anyway!!

For those that want to hear more…..READ ON!.  By the way, I'd love to hear how your day is going as well : )

How are you doing this fine weekend? It is too hot. I was planning to mow the lawn and now I am not. It is too hot. I did build two deck chairs today.  I did this inside my house and then carried the chairs outside. It is too hot.  I took the trash to the local dump. Yes, I do that and like that they have a good recycling process. It is too hot. I will tractor the grass later tonight because it is too hot. I will refill the bird feeder and I will say hello to the multitudes of bunnies on the lawn. I am now sipping a fine craft beer called Boulevard SIXTH Glass and listening to my latest fresh playlist and contemplating new original song creation options. I have too many choices. I am overwhelmed in a good way. The world is filled with such good music. I am honing in, honing in, honing in. I may go for a walk around the neighborhood pond soon and "ponder". It is too hot. Life is good. That last sentence originally defaulted to Love is good…..well……..Love is Good too….let's go with that.

And…….. I wish you a wonderful evening. I completed a brand new song called Empire last night. A song I have been crafting over the last several weekends. It will not be released for many moons but I may share it with YOU soon. I have a new album called Captured Fragments scheduled for release on 18 Aug 23 and that is the ultimate reason for this particular write-up.  I best put that intention at the top of this blog : ) as I may be the only person reading this far.

Thank You for sharing a moment within the exciting life of Dave. Deep Bow.

Sincerely

Dave
 

Extra, Extra, Read all about it!

New Album Release: 18 August 2023.  Yes!

“Dave's new album Captured Fragments is rumored to feature a nonet of beautifully arranged songs, each one showcasing his versatility as a songwriter and capturing a different aspect of his musical journey”.

Thank You
David Husted Music Productions
 

I remember the guitar rhythm borrowed heavily from a Stones pattern. See if you can guess which one when the song is released. Songwriting and production have enabled me to meet, interact and network with so many music loving folks whether it is through other music/social platforms, other bands, songwriters, good friends and/or family. I am very grateful for these connections and the opportunities they have opened up.

I have a soft place in my heart for new music from relatively unknown artists (I wonder why?).  I tend to like/lean toward the “indie” rock genre more than others but really I like them all if the music is creative and well produced. There are so many talented artists and songwriters out there (published and unpublished). The music industry tends to funnel only the smallest 1% of good music to us but, rest assured, if you look more carefully there are many more gold nuggets out there. Deep Bow to those music forums and platforms that continue to help discover them. Panning for the gold never gets old for me.

Thank You for your support. I appreciate. 
thx....Dave

I have recently been enjoying a podcast called This Jungian Life. I am not a rabid listener but the episodes I do hit I find interesting enough to stay tuned in. Three good friends, who are Jungian analysts, talk about the world and its many issues as seen through the lens of Carl Jung. I am sure this is not for everyone but it hits the spot for me. They also breakdown a dream of the day at the end of the show which is always entertaining.

Why do I bring this up? Well, my song lyrics often tend toward a sort of introspective explorative flavoring. My soon to be released song called Pilgrim is no exception. In addition to the word Pilgrim, the words Shaman, Crone and Buddha turn up which seem to conjure up archetypes that resonate with me. Figures that embody strength, resilience and wisdom. I reference winding roads and tides in the song that perhaps point to how we move towards or against life's gifts, challenges and hidden truths with grace and authenticity. I have said this often before, I never really know what my lyrics are about, but this description feels right for me today so I am going with it.

My premiere team of graphic designers just completed the cover art for Pilgrim and it is provided in this blog photo.  I take part of the chorus section to the very limits of my vocal range which is not very wide. Looking back, it always seems there is some pain and beauty going on at the same time. The reflections do not often provide pointers to specific content. I have no problem with this. 

Part 7 of 7:

Then I combined my word ladder brainstorms in crazy ways  

Lead Antique Lamp
Frown Pillow   
Inspire Ladder   
Shout Books
Order Baseball Glove/Mit 
Fly Trees   
Impose Vacuum Cleaner   
Politic Coffee Cup  
Command Globe   
Fail or Win Notebook  

I stared at these phrases and began mumble singing to the song again and looping it relentlessly.  I settled on these phrases that actually landed in the song.

verse 1: 

We play politics over coffee cups  
Commanding globes of dominoes  
Ordering that glove to fit  
Climbing ladders with our parlor tricks 

It didn't make tons of sense but who says everything's gotta make tons of sense.

and this my friends is a small taste of how this particular song was created and the creation process is almost never exactly the same from song to song.  I think that is why I love it so much.

The Dude Abides

Dave

If you want to circle back to Part 1 of this Song Creation Blog go here: Part 1

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Greetings, 

I have a new song release today.  It is called Take That Hill.  What's this one about Dave?  Here is a snippet of the lyrics:

We play politics over coffee cups. Commanding globes of dominoes. Ordering that glove to fit. Climbing ladders with our parlor tricks. 

This song is in the indie-electronic domain but has a certain jazz vibe with the bass. It has a not easily defined yet original flow and feel. It speaks to our societal and work related anxieties; always asking us to do a bit more, move a bit faster. We will Take That Hill the first time and maybe even the second..... but after that it's time to consider other options.

I provide a more detailed peek into my lyric creation process for this song in my Blog. I divided it up into seven smaller and separate Blog chunks. Start at the Part 1 Blog here: Take That Hill: A Song Creation Story in Seven Parts: Part 1

Oh….and here is where you can go listen to the song. Enjoy.   I now present: Take That Hill.

Have a Fantastic Weekend 

Dave

Part 6 of 7:

Here were my specific Word Ladder  - Verbs and Nouns

Admiral Verbs  
Lead
Frown 
Inspire   
Shout  
Order
Fly   
Impose   
Politic   
Command 
Fail or Win   

Nouns of things in my field of view right now   
Trees   
Notebook   
Ladder  
Coffee Cup   
Globe   
Antique Lamp   
Vacuum Cleaner   
Baseball Glove/Mit   
Pillow   
Books   

Jump to Part 7 here.

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Part 5 of 7:

 Word Ladder  - Verbs and Nouns 

Come up with ten verbs that are associated with, anything you want and then write them down on a page. Then write down ten nouns of a totally un-related other subject

I chose Admiral for my verb search and items in my field of vision for my noun search:  My verbs didn't all have to do with Admiral stuff necessarily but they came to my mind quickly. See next Blog for specifics on my word choices.

Jump to Part 6 of 7 here.

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Part 4 of 7:

The next day I threw out most of the words I had sung but kept the general melody flow.  I then used two techniques suggested by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco fame in his book How to Write one Song to help inspire lyric writing.  My next Blog will deep dive one of his techniques. By the way, I used two techniques. I will only go into detail on one but the second is essentially pilfering words out of randomly scanned books and then squishing them into phrases. Back to the first technique…..drum roll…..see next Blog ; )

Jump to Part 5 of 7 here.

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Part 3 of 7:

I semi-mastered the song at this point and walked away with an instrumental plus vox sample song that I thought I was satisfied enough with to call it complete.  However,  it still lacked something.  As I listened to the demo on my car ride back from DC to my house one night (I live about one and a half hours away) I started to mumble sing potential vocal tracks over the demo. I heard the essence of verse and melody lines at that time.

Jump to Part 4 of 7 here.

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Part 2 of 7

A key feature of this song was the learning and experimenting I did real time with several new Ableton Live 11 features that take advantage of free Max for Live devices that enable cool random and probabilistic sequencing of sound.  Several of the devices I learned about and/or used in the song can be found here if you are curious.  This and the addition of several Native Kontakt effect sounds (one whale like and another like a resonating scrape across the strings of a baby grand on fire) really added extra sheen and color to the building arrangement.

Jump to Part 3 of 7 here.

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Part 1 of 7: 
Certain songs I create by dissecting a reference track and then incorporating instrument sounds to emulate a feel and vibe of a certain song style/genre. I then paint this vibe into my own unique creation.  At other times I start from scratch and just play in the space of my Ableton Session and my own brain space in the moment.  That was the case with this song. This creation approach can often create music way outside the box and I at times hesitate to publish as I am often also outside my comfort zone.  I am becoming braver as I age.

For this song, I began at first with the drums.  I experimented with rhythms in the Ableton library and just played. I was lost for several hours.  I emerged and then turned my attention to traditional piano grand midi sounds and threw down a simple chord pattern I liked.  I laid down a very cool sounding upright Kurzweil bass pattern down that became the castle the song started to take shape around.  Adding some self-made samples at this point gave the song a kinda-sorta lyric potential direction. 

Jump to Part 2 of 7 here.

This song has a 21 APR 23 scheduled release date to all streaming services.  Please pre-save it today and plan to give it a listen then. Your support means a bunch to me. Thank You!

Honing in on my next song release and I am not sure it is ready for prime time yet but going for it anyway.  It will be called Take That Hill.  It is about…….well…not totally sure what it is about….let me ponder that for a bit. Hope to release it in the next three weeks or so.  

thx

Dave

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov: 

I have a new song release on the way. It is called Drawbridge. Here is the Youtube link to the video which will premiere on 10 MAR 23 at high noon.

You will also be able to find the song on any of your favorite streaming platforms on that date. 

Finally, If you have not checked out Derringer Discoveries February Top 25 podcast specifically when they make reference to song #14 on the list (hint: think MOONBEAM BLUE!) then you are really missing out on that "things that make life sparkle" feeling. Also rumor is out that their next podcast will feature songs from the late/great John Prine. I plan to check that out and recommend you do too. 

Thanks Again and keep on creating and sharing your art. It makes the world a better place.

Yours Truly

Dave
 

My new song Moonbeam Blue was released today.  That feels good.  Please find it on any of your favorite streaming platforms and give it a spin.  Here's to you for listening, streaming, sharing, playlisting and/or liking it. I really appreciate that!.

Dave

Photo by ELEVATE:

Friends,

I completed my lyric video today. I used a site called Rotor Video to accomplish this. I do not always do this. Sometimes I use my Mac iMovie software and build the video content on my own. However, Rotor Video is easier and makes the life of a music creator less complicated. Rotor Videos is a video creation site that allows artists to upload a song, select videos from their library or upload their own clips, and choose an editing style for their video. It works perfectly for artists aiming to create videos at an affordable rate.

Building the lyric video content for Moonbeam Blue was so much fun today. I am never quite sure what will come out on the other side of my creation process but I was very happy with what emerged this time around. The video captures the mood I was after and synchs with the vibe of the song in a perfect way (in my humble opinion).

I can't wait for its official release on 13 January 2023 and hope that you are there to join me.

I appreciate that you spent a moment with me and I hope you have a very Happy New Year!

Cheers

Dave