Week 10: ‘Pawn’ – Jordan Woods-Robinson

Week 10: ‘Pawn’ – Jordan Woods-Robinson

Well, this is it.  We have reached the end of our epic journey and the Songs on Sunday Summer Session 2016 has reached its conclusion.  It has been fantastic.  We are so fortunate to have had talented artists from all over the world come together every week to create such incredible music and has been a pleasure to listen to, and be a part of, this wonderfully creative process.

However, nothing gives me more pleasure than to introduce our final song.  It is only fitting that we should go out the way we came in, at the start. The very start

Songs on Sunday started as the crazy challenge of one songwriter who needed an outlet for his creativity.  Jordan Woods-Robinson set himself the challenge of writing, recording and producing, a new song every week and succeed.  Fast forward several years, dozens of collaborators and a multitude of fantastic songs and here we are.

This track just ‘fits’ as the close to our session.  It is a moving response to a tragic event.  Nothing can follow.  I am not going to try and sum it up.  Listen.

Thank you for listening to our songs.

Dan Carter

At first, the Pulse nightclub shooting didn’t feel real. I live in Orlando but I was away that Saturday night at a wedding in Miami, so there was a level of disconnect I was afforded. But as I started to process the events over the next 24 hours and see other members in my community affected by the events, my grieving process took me through fear, anger, confusion, compassion, and disparity.

 

Unfortunately, the idea that a person may choose to kill another person in order to gain control of something or to raise awareness of an agenda has always been a part of being human. In humanity, war is a definite. But with the age of constant news coverage, immediate social media sharing, and individuals addicted to their devices, there is a new side effect that allows any would-be shooter the ability to be immediately plastered all over TVs and phones. The story of “Pawn” is a game in which people don’t need to know WHO they’re killing or even have a strong reason, just as long as they hear their name on TV and get to be King for a day.

 

The lyrics that start the song say “There is a pattern; it’s starting over again.” I wanted everything to be very familiar and allow the listener to enter into a trance-like state where they could feel safe to really listen and reflect. To tell this story, all instruments and vocals except for the main vocals are a series of 16-bar loops that build on one another to create the song. The amazing efforts of Colin Robinson (mixer) and David Traver, Julie Woods-Robinson, and Mike Maegalhaes really brought this song to life.

 

Lyrics:

There is a pattern
it’s starting over again
and once you see it,
that means you’ve come to the end.

 

Flip the board, I don’t want to play no more.
Flip the board, I don’t want to play

 

Another moment.
Another casualty.
Another heartbreak.
Another broken strategy.

 

Flip the board, I don’t want to play no more.
Flip the board, I don’t want to play no more.

 

And the worlds the same, it’s the game that’s changed.
For just trading a life, you get an hour of fame.
And you feel so small, but they know your name.
And for that blink of an eye, you can get to be king.

 

Another picture.
Another moment in time.
Another word that rips your heart out through the back of your spine.

 

Flip the board I don’t want to play no more.
Flip the board I don’t want to play

 

And it is glorified, analyzed, shared out to the masses
But mostly to our horror it’s personified by children

 

Flip the board I don’t want to play no more.
Flip the board I don’t want to play no more.

 

And the worlds the same, it’s the game that’s changed.
For just trading a life, you get an hour of fame.
And you feel so small, but they say and they say and they say your name.
And for the blink of an eye, you are finally king.

Main Vocals: Jordan Woods-Robinson
Backing Vocals: Jordan Woods-Robinson, Julie Woods-Robinson, Mike Maegalhaes
Acoustic Guitar: Jordan Woods-Robinson
Claps: Jordan Woods-Robinson
Synth: Jordan Woods-Robinson
Electric Guitars: David Traver
Percussion: Colin Robinson
Mixing: Colin Robinson


Songs On Sunday is a collaboration between songwriters, musicians, vocalists, and engineers to write, recording, and produce a new song each week. If you would like to help keep this project alive and well (and keep hearing great music from today’s emerging songwriters), please make a donation. Any amount is appreciated! – SOS

With thanks to Ryan Hoak for his support for this session.

Week 9: ‘200 OK’ – Chris Hall

Week 9: ‘200 OK’ – Chris Hall

The penultimate track for this year’s Summer Session is brought to you from the writing talent of Chris Hall.  Chris has been a collaborator for a while now, contributing horns to a number of tracks, but this is the first time he has written for the project.  This funked up jazzy tune is mixed by Rion Smith.  Check it!

 

During the day, I am a software engineer. Personally, software development shares a very close relation to the same creativity stream when playing music. Someway I wanted to tie my two worlds together and this song was born as the first in a series named after server response status codes as metaphors for each codes direct relation to life experiences.

Without getting too nerdy, a “200 OK” is a server response status code that means a request has succeeded. Before this message can be received a request must first be sent. When sending the request you sometimes don’t know if it will succeed or fail but you send it anyway, usually in the hopes for a positive result or a “200 OK.”

Like in life when putting yourself into a situation without fully knowing what will come of doing so, there are parts of this song that pull back from the groove and emulate the hesitation in the anticipation of putting yourself out there or “sending the request.” Since this song is about  the success of a request, all is good (200 OK) and the groove returns.

The ending is left open after the anticipation to intentionally leave the listener hanging on the anticipation for the response. Does it succeed? The only way to get a 200 OK is to send the request and find out!

Baritone/Tenor/Alto/Soprano Sax: Chris Hall

Keys: Chris Hall

Bass: Chris Hall

Drums: Colin Robinson

Mixed By: Rion Smith


Songs On Sunday is a collaboration between songwriters, musicians, vocalists, and engineers to write, recording, and produce a new song each week. If you would like to help keep this project alive and well (and keep hearing great music from today’s emerging songwriters), please make a donation. Any amount is appreciated! – SOS

With thanks to Ryan Hoak for his support for this session.

Week 8: ‘Ego’ – Laura Bowman

Week 8: ‘Ego’ – Laura Bowman

We are so glad to have Laura Bowman’s writing talent and beautiful voice. is behind this week’s song.  It’s a catchy tune with a sharp lyrical edge and some cool ‘found object’ percussion.  David Traver returns to the mixing chair to bring it all together.  Take a listen and share it!

This summer I went through a very trying time of my life… I had a terrible unexpected breakup and I was really struggling to deal with it. A friend of mine suggested that, to get over it, I should write something. She wanted me to write my feelings down, without editing myself, about how I truly felt. It was just supposed to be something I made and threw away.

But as the words came, music also followed, and I was left with a song that I feel could be relatable to a lot of people.

So I recorded the song and sent it out, gathering opinions. I got so many positive reactions that I decided to make this my contribution to this round of Songs on Sunday.

This is a song about a person who has sacrificed for someone else, only to become the victim of the other someone’s ego.

In the end, I am stronger and wiser for the experience, and I hope this song offers some commiseration to others who may be going through the same thing!

Vocals: Laura Bowman

Backing Vocals: Jordan Woods-Robinson

Acoustic Guitar: Laura Bowman

Lead Guitar: David Traver

Bass: David Traver

Keyboard: David Traver

Percussion: Colin Robinson

Mixed By: David Traver


Songs On Sunday is a collaboration between songwriters, musicians, vocalists, and engineers to write, recording, and produce a new song each week. If you would like to help keep this project alive and well (and keep hearing great music from today’s emerging songwriters), please make a donation. Any amount is appreciated! – SOS

With thanks to Ryan Hoak for his support for this session.

Week 7: ‘Long Ago’ – Dan Carter

Week 7: ‘Long Ago’ – Dan Carter

This week our track is brought to you by none other than ‘yours truly’.  I was lucky enough to get some incredible collaborators to contribute to this lilting country tune and with the help of mixer Adam Petty I am incredibly pleased with the result.  I think you will be too.  Please take a listen and share with your friends

I had the idea for a song in this kind of style for a while. I came up with some chords a few weeks before the deadline for Songs on Sunday but despite the fact that I knew the tone and subject of what I wanted lyrically I couldn’t come up with anything.  I eventually ended up writing the lyrics in about 20 mins as I was recording the demo the day that the song had to be submitted.

I am so please with how the track turned out.  I am very grateful to Chris Reiss for laying down a pedal steel part.  I have never had that on any of my tracks before and it helped to give the song exactly the sound I was going for.  I think I was most pleased with the contribution from Laura Bowman. I had an idea of the kind of backing vocals I wanted and she took that inspiration and made it completely made it her own.  In my opinion she really elevated the track.  As always, the SOS team really came through; Colin Robinson’s drums really underpin the whole thing and give it the laid back swagger that I wanted and Adam Petty brought the whole thing together to bring out the best in each of our sounds.

Vocals: Dan Carter

Backing Vocals: Laura Bowman

Guitar: Dan Carter

Pedal Steel: Chris Reiss

Bass: Colin Robinson

Drums: Colin Robinson

Mixed By: Adam Petty


Songs On Sunday is a collaboration between songwriters, musicians, vocalists, and engineers to write, recording, and produce a new song each week. If you would like to help keep this project alive and well (and keep hearing great music from today’s emerging songwriters), please make a donation. Any amount is appreciated! – SOS
With thanks to Ryan Hoak for his support for this session.

Week 6: ‘Some Day’ – Drew DeFour

Week 6: ‘Some Day’ – Drew DeFour

We are so pleased that Drew Defour was able to join us for this Summer’s session and lend us his talents by writing what I think will become a Songs on Sunday classic.  He song is a tightly woven rhythmic coming together of some very talented SOS collaborators.  Cory Maples had the job of pulling it all together and, in producing the final mix, he has done a stellar job of creating a cohesive sound from the many different voices and instruments that were offered up.

I wrote the song for my friend and musical collaborator Brad Phillips who has been through a lot this past year (his infant daughter fought cancer… and won!!!). The lyrics are meant to be a humble acceptance of the precarious nature of our existence.

 

Brad and I headlined an Ann Arbor festival together this summer and we talked about how he hasn’t released his own record yet. He’s written some great music, but he hasn’t put together an album that encompasses what he does when he plays live.

 

Anyhow, I wrote Some Day because I thought it would lend itself well to Brad’s brilliant Mandolin playing (although I didn’t have one handy so I wrote it on Ukulele, an engagement gift from my father-in-law).

 

He’s busy right now producing a record for Jeff Daniels and Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe so it might be a while before he’s able to record it… so I thought I’d put it through Songs On Sunday – and what a great decision! These guys are amazing. Thanks so much!

Vocals: Drew DeFour

Backing Vocals: Dan Carter

Guitar: David Traver

Piano: David Traver

Violin: Jordan Woods-Robinson

Bass: Colin Robinson

Drums: Colin Robinson

Ukelele: Drew DeFour

Bongos: Drew DeFour

Mixed By: Cory Maples


Songs On Sunday is a collaboration between songwriters, musicians, vocalists, and engineers to write, recording, and produce a new song each week. If you would like to help keep this project alive and well (and keep hearing great music from today’s emerging songwriters), please make a donation. Any amount is appreciated! – SOS

With thanks to Ryan Hoak for his support for this session.

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