Hey guys!
Hope your Summer is wrapping up beautifully! It's been a busy time 'round here (read an update here!) A few brief announcements to make on this fine September day...
Pleased to announce that my 2006 album, "Keep No Score" is NOW available on 1st edition double-vinyl! Orders are shipping out starting today! It's my first vinyl release ever and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out. (Stock is limited, first come first serve!) Grab your copy here!
Last month I played at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI... They were kind enough to invite me back this month! September 21st, I'll be performing another intimate, "evening with" type of evening (feat. a String Quartet!) at the Ladies Literary Club in Grand Rapids, MI for Calvin Students and for general public! Hope to see you!! Can't wait. Details here.
This is my final mention of this- I wanted to let you know one last time about that my charity: water birthday campaign. It's ending in just a couple days... I would be absolutely thrilled, honored and privileged for you to check it out, learn more and consider helping me reach my goal for this cause! Learn more/Donate here!
Thanks for reading! Hope to see you at one of the upcoming Fall Tour dates! Check out the dates here.
Much love, Ryan - Sleeping At Last
PS Here's a list of stuff i love right now...
1. Welch's Strawberry Fruit Snacks (mmm.. so good.)
2. Warby Parkers (just got my first pair of warby parker glasses.. they are such a rad co. for each pair of glasses purchased, they give away a pair to someone in need.)
3. iPhone 5 (oh it's time again for me to open up my wallet to apple with high hopes of beautiful gadgetry. mmm.)
4. Kiwis (the fuzzy fruit. yum.)
We are FINALLY pressing music on Vinyl! First up, my '06 album "Keep No Score" on double-LP!! We are taking pre-orders NOW. We expect to ship in just a few weeks! Orders are first come, first serve!
3 notes about charity: water... 1. Thank you SO much to everyone who donated to my birthday campaign so far! Overwhelmed by your kindness!! 2. Please watch this gorgeous, inspiring video that I had the privilege of being a small part of. 3. My charity: water campaign is STILL active, please consider helping me reach my goal to bring clean water to those without! Donate here.
NEW TOUR DATES
Firstly - Very excited for the headlining show (Aug. 18th) in Grand Rapids, MI feat. a string quartet!! It'll be an intimate "evening with" type of show and I can't wait! hope to see you.
1. Re:New Project (re:new project offers hope, employment & stability to refugees, through beautiful hand-sewn bags, & more! such a great thing! learn more & support here.)
2. Outwitters (an addictive iOS game that is a mix of chess and settlers of catan. awe-some.)
3. Audioengine A2 Speakers (amazing speakers... just got a pair for my home computer. love.)
4. These Pixar Miniamlist Posters (they're about to hang on my walls! so great.)
Hey guys!
Exactly 29 years ago today, I was born. Why on earth am I telling you about my birthday today? Because of charity: water. Let me explain...
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, and I am donating my birthday this year, in hopes of raising funds for this incredible cause.
Obviously I recognize the utter absurdity of me asking you for a birthday "gift" of any sort. And as a general rule of thumb I really don't like asking people for their money, but I truly believe in this organization and in the importance in making clean water available to those without, so...
I am writing to you about this campaign with these hopes:
1. To introduce you to the incredible work of charity: water. Learn more here.
and/or
2. To ask for your consideration in helping me reach my charity: water campaign goal to build a well for an entire community of people currently living without clean drinking water. Please Donate here.
Thank you so much for reading guys! You have been kind enough to listen to my songs and for that I cannot thank you enough! I feel so very privileged to be alive and to have the chance to write and play music, and it honestly blows my mind that you lend me your ears along the way.
Hello, hello!
An ultra quick note to let you know that my song "Turning Page" (iTunes, AmazonMP3) was featured on the TV show, "So You Think You Can Dance" last night (Wed. 7/11/2012)!!! It was choreographed by the lovely Sonya Tayeh, and danced to by contestants Tiffany & George (if you're a fan of the show, vote for 'em often - they did, and will keep doing a wonderful job!). In case you missed it, here's the clip:
“atlantic, the sea of atlas” is the 25th & 26th song in the yearbook series, as the opening 2 tracks of the “june” ep.
so although "atlantic," and "the sea of atlas" are technically 2 songs, they were written as one, broken into halves. the first half "atlantic," is an instrumental piece (continuing the instrumental ocean series that was started with "pacific") and "the sea of atlas" is the more lively, vocalized counterpart. so i'm going to write this blog post about both pieces. cool?
pt. 1 "Atlantic,"
about 44 seconds in, there's a piano bit that happens - that piano part is really the foundation of the entire piece (songs 1 & 2) and everything else was layered on top of that small piece of music. it's actually a piano idea that i wrote and demoed many many years ago. in those older versions it never quite fully developed. right around the time i was writing for the "june," ep i stumbled upon those old, failed demos of that piano idea and decided to see where i could take it now, after all these years. i had assumed that it would lead me down a similarly failed path as before, so i wasn't holding my breath that it would turn into much. just thought it might be fun to mess with. to my surprise, a few hours of playing around with it, i felt like i turned a key and uncovered all sorts of new directions and ideas for it. so not only did it end up working to revive this idea, but i felt like it needed to span over 2 tracks. it was a pleasant surprise to say the least. (usually, if an idea doesn't work, or come close to working after spending a TON of time on it, it's because the idea isn't great, or least isn't a right right. so, i was shocked that i hadn't found these directions many years back.)
after playing around with those new directions, i decided that i wanted to make the first half (song 1) a gentler, moodier instrumental, using the choruses bits (the piano part i mentioned above) as the nod to what's to come in song 2 (halve 2). after i wrote the final full arrangement (both halves), i finally had my foundation built and began to layer and layer and layer.
(sidenote: just like in the track "pacific" ... i tried to write all of the melodies mimicking waves and the movement of the ocean - melodies that sway a bit. enjoyed writing with that idea in my head.)
soon after, i reached out to my friend and incredible violinist, laura musten (who recorded strings for several yearbook songs!) and asked if she'd want to be a part of this song. i sent her some ideas and she sent me back these brilliant performances (layering her violins) and misc. parts and it was perfect. i put the string pieces together, shaping each of the string parts to the song structure and it all fit together like... bread and butter? or maybe like cinderella's slipper? like something that fit really well.-
while laura was recording her parts/ideas in nashville (using only garageband and a small usb mic!), i wrote a cello line that i asked my good pal, jeremy larson to record/perform. he was kind enough to get right to it and did a fantastic job as usual. (i expect nothing less of jeremy.. he's one of my favorite musicians!) - right around the same time, both jeremy and laura sent me the recorded string parts and i was so excited with how it all fit together. couldn't have hoped for better.
listen:
(never mind the creepy mannequin... just found this youtube link as an easy way to post the track! close your eyes!)
pt. 2 "The Sea of Atlas"
musically part 2, started to take shape with that banjo bit that starts it off. it directed the energy, which is exactly what i was hoping it would do. that banjo was purchased a few weeks before i wrote this, at a lovely music shop in seattle. it's a mini "gold tone" banjo and it's super fun to play. i was really pleased with how it turned out on recording - especially since this was the first song to feature it. you never know how an instrument will translate on recording. thankfully it fit right into the track.
the last musical bits that were added were drums, performed by aaron mortenson and bass by my good pal, dan perdue. i'd say this track has my favorite rythem section of "yearbook." love how the tones fit into the mix and love the energy and weight both bass and drums add to the overall picture.
the lyrics for this song came together fairly smoothly, if i'm remembering correctly. i wanted to write a song about want vs. need. the line that defines this most:
there’s a fine line, a fine line in between our progress and our instability. we can’t help ourselves but hunt for more. a design flaw? or the olive branch that proves the shore- the catalyst we’ve waited for.
so the song explores both paths, crossing the wires of want and need and seeing the positives and negatives of both, which greatly affect our faith, absence of faith and our general daily lives. in every area of my life, a theme has been surfacing over the last year... "balance." that word has become a bit of an accidental obsession for me... i hear it in every area of my life, whenever i'm thinking through ways to fix things. so in a way, this song marks the beginning of me noticing the importance of balance, in relation to faith, fear, want, need, age, etc. this song operates as a scale in a lot of ways - tipping back and fourth constantly as i hunt for balance.
(side note: for a while, i'm not at all sure why, i've wanted to try to fit in the word "connoisseur" in a song. seriously i don't know why. but i was pleased when i was able the find a home for it in this song... even managed to squeeze in "vocabularies"! in your face, 5-syllable word!):
"we once felt safe, like no cure was needed. our vocabularies had no room for “defeated,” but we grew up quick and became connoisseurs of it."
thanks for reading!
love, ryan
listen:
lyrics:
THE SEA OF ATLAS
through wires and waves, our voices carry.such careful words that we can barely speak out loud.we found an ocean when we needed land.we drowned in words when we needed a hand.so we plead for night, and the sun keeps on spilling light.
there’s a fine line, a fine line in betweenour progress and our instability.we can’t help ourselves but hunt for more.a design flaw? or the olive branch that proves the shore-the catalyst we’ve waited for.
we live and die under the thumb of fear,as though the finish line will merely disappearif we take one less step, even to catch our breath.
we once felt safe, like no cure was needed.our vocabularies had no room for “defeated,”but we grew up quick and became connoisseurs of it.
there’s a fine line, a fine line in betweenour progress and our instability.we can’t help ourselves but hunt for more.a design flaw? or the olive branch that proves the shore-the catalyst we’ve waited for.
