With friends like these

I have a dear dear friend. His name is RJ. Every 3 months or so he hands me a cd that is labeled "Dave's Dead Songs" These are tunes that I recorded and have basically never played live. Essentially recorded and left there. On the disc. Dead.
They were demos. Ryan Keller recorded them.

I have a funny relationship with these songs for some reason. They were kind of this...midpoint. I thought at the time I was really maturing as a writer. I feel like the material was getting better but, I was not a very good editor. You'll have this.
At the same time the tunes really reflect a very creative time when I wrote a lot. Absurd amounts. I was coming up with crazy ideas. I thought I was digging deep. Hearing it back I was just listening to lots of Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind and Bob Dylan. Hey he can have a song with 7 verses why can't I?

Really what it is is that at this time in life everyone had something going on and it was always crazy. And how would we handle it? And is it going to get better? Odd.
There was some sort of dramatic presence in the air and it was easy to grab a hold of. I can't say I miss it. I don't miss writing about a friend and his broken-hearted loneliness. I don't miss writing about feeling like I'm a failure. I don't miss the hangovers. :)

I do miss the closeness though. People are good at staying in touch but, that doesn't always mean they/we are close.

There is a tune called Mary Reese,about a man walking in on his woman - post suicide. Ryan has this accordion line that is really just chilling. And there are points where things fall in line so perfectly. We didn't know what we were doing and anything could work. Not the case any more. I'd say that Ryan has become an almost meticulous arranger but, with an ear that's exceptional.
There is another one that is actually a bit about some things Ryan - same Ryan - was going through and it could become something, needs some editing though.

Ultimately I hear these songs and I am so grateful. It always comes back to the support. Wonderful pals who want to hear, want to create, want to sing along. I love all the creative partners I've had. It's such a blessing.

I look forward to singing with the prettiest one Wed night at the Tin Angel!!