January ‘23: Cover Song
“(I’m a Dreamer) Aren’t We All?”
Public Release Date:
February 24, 2023
Music Credits:
Eduardo Torres (Percussion)
Artwork:
Ian Branch Design
Surprise!
Here’s an exciting thing I want to (try to) install for 2023: I’d like to record some nice-sounding covers rotating through the different projects and deliver them to you once a month. Additionally, I aim to set these for public distribution about a month later.
Sometime last year (I think? or was it the year before??) I was abusing myself with themed Friday livestreams where I would try to learn something on the fly or minimally/quickly prepare a new-to-me song request from a frequent viewer. One of these, which I dearly enjoyed starting to learn, but could never quite find the time to come back to, was this great song from 1929 called “(I’m a Dreamer) Aren’t We All?” which was thrown into the pot by my friend and yours, fellow Keyholder Aaron Arnold.
For this first 2023 cover offering, I knew I wanted to go back to this song, finally finish an arrangement, and give it a new life. I’m super happy with how it turned out.
While I don’t want to dig too much into all my plans and dreams for this year (there are many - shocker, I know), I knew I did want to generate a for-sure, sustainable monthly deliverable for you here at The Vault. The original conception for the monthly “Public Release Project” was a good idea, but after my miserable failure to get the first experiment shipped near the initial deadline, I realized I would have to revise the objective. (For now, the OBDR tracks from October are on hold until I can scrounge up a few hundred dollars for a software update which will allow me to finish the mix.)
For now, I will say that a monthly cover with at least a little bit of production on it (closer to the Alone tracks that have overdubs like “Shadowside Soirée,” “Morning Hymn,” and “Last Christmas,” for example), is just the right kind of goal… enough of a stretch that I probably wouldn’t do it without the deadline, but also a process that sounds fun and inspiring (and small), which should help me build my processes and skills for more ambitious projects. Releasing them to the public will serve other purposes but also ensure a higher quality deliverable for you (not to mention the much-needed practice for me of wrapping up something once it’s “good enough,” which is a major personal challenge).
I was this close to finally purchasing a bass guitar before recording this track (I’ve desperately wanted one for a while now to flesh out demos), but I managed to show some self-restraint… we’ll see how long that lasts! However, I think the alternating bass in the guitar left-hand fills the gap well enough for this first try.
I did start this process the first week of January, but the multi-tasking of handling gigs, and admin, and other urgent items protracted the whole endeavor. A top priority was to force myself to stick to predetermined time constraints for executing specific tasks on this project, since going down rabbit holes while recording and editing can be a VERY slippery slope. I did pretty well with one exception - I should have wrapped it up once all my stuff was done, but I couldn’t help but ask my husband to track some percussion ideas I had envisioned one morning before he headed off to work. I’m SO glad I pushed that one little boundary because it elevates the whole production from just me playing an old song solo to something that sounds a little more like a modern take on a traditional song. Something that has more of my stamp on it: just a slight edge, but more bouncy and fun.
Barring anything weird in the distribution review process, “Aren’t We All?” will be released to the public on all major streaming services on February 24, 2023 - but, of course, as a Keyholder, you get to listen to/download it a month early as thanks for your support!
I hope you’ll “save the date” for a special broadcast meetup Vault event this coming Tuesday, January 31. I don’t want to give away all the details yet, but I have a cool concept in mind for a monthly get-together, and for this one would include a first-ever (legit) live performance of this song. I haven’t set up the private meeting room in YouTube yet, but once I do, it will be available in your concerts menu tab. Don’t worry, I’ll send a reminder.
I had sincerely hoped to get a One Big Dark Room Twitch stream executed before the end of this month, but live gigs, scope creep on some important projects, and a scuffle between my dogs and a skunk got in the way. So: apologies for the missed stream, but our next OBDR live event is scheduled for February 8.
I’ll be around for Crooner Coffee Hour on Friday, January 27 via Facebook Live (11:30 ET as usual). Come through if you can!
Enjoy ❤️
Thank you so much for your support!
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