I'm a songwriter, short story writer, essayist, musician, husband, both a cat and a dog person, and these writings will be a fun mixed up jumble of all of me. Thanks for popping by.
Eastwood Road is an instrumental piece I wrote a billion years ago when the dinosaurs were still roaming the land.
I had an opportunity to buy a house and had just applied for a loan. While waiting and being nervous I wrote this tune as a sort of positive energy work toward getting the loan.
It worked I got the loan and have been in the house for almost ten years now.
The guitar I'm using is a mid to late 1940's Regal wooden bodied resonator guitar with a spider bridge. If that means exactly nothing to you here's a link where you can see and read all about this very guitar having a neck reset. LINK
This song can be purchased on iTunes, and heard on Spotify and so can all of my published work.
Thanks so much for your time.
Wishing you and your family all the best.
Trevor Marty
Here is a song I wrote in a rush so that I could keep up with the prompts. I was in a rush because here is the list of things happening in February.
I've also been commissioned to help with a theme for an animated short for a friend of mine,
had to prepare for two gigs one big and one not so big but cool none the less,
rehearse for Irish stuff happening in March,
oh and lets not forget shoveling out of the 'Snow Apocalypse' which has happened in Minnesota this year,
and last but not least taxes
I'm only trying to be clear about it because I believe we need to show all of the stuff. In this situation the song isn't the best, and it needs work. I will do that work as I progress with it and the year, but for the moment this is what I did and what I get.
Here are the lyrics.
Song Prompt: Blossom Tentative name: A Book By It’s Cover
Verse 1
Blossom she was a think tank she was a working type of gal she got/kept her hands dirty but her mind clean she was a country kind of gal. grew up on rainy days, clean air, and country roads grew up on hot summers and cold winter winds she grew up long and slow.
Chorus (she learned ya) don’t judge a book by it’s cover don’t call a flower a weed cause you never know what you got in hand that weed might be a friend in deed/ you never know what you need
Verse 2
one day she went to the city to see what it said hit the road for thirteen hours got out and looked ahead she met all kinds of people blue, black, and red she met hims, and hers, and thems in-between and they all got together and shared bread.
Chorus
Bridge
So take your skin off put your guns down and come on lets join the show let the band play on lets sing the song let the rainbow go out of control cause ain’t no one going to save us but us its our one day out in the sun come on right now sing our song …..(lets join the show)
This weeks prompt was Stir and I must admit this one was harder. Partly because it just didn't flow and partly because life was in the way.
We’re Cooking Key: A Writing Prompt: Stir Standard Timing
Open the Wine Stir up the sauce grandma’s got a spoon in her hand The kids get lost
We’re cooking. Yes, we’re cooking. Baked apple pie Blues on the hi fi We’re cooking
Winters here it’s cold in the snow going to make some love (tonight) cause it’s 20 below
Chorus Bridge You’ll need ten cups of apples pealed and cored one cup of sugar don’t spill it on the floor You’ll need a teaspoon of cinnamon four tablespoons of flour half cup of water shouldn’t take half an hour.
You get a cup of quick oats another cup of flour cup of brown sugar quarter teaspoon baking powder. We’re going to melt all that butter a whole half a cup cause our hearts are only happy when we’re filling something up
Hello Gang-
Here is another in this series; as I've said before, these are just a weeks worth of work and then I record on video the tunes. I know they need work and they are works in progress.
This one I wrote over the period of like two days. Once I got the first one out and recorded I didn't feel so backed up. You see I felt behind because I joined the group while I was on vacation. If you don't know what I'm talking about well here is a link to last weeks edition in which I explain. LINK Alternately, I can and will just mention a smallish bit here. I joined a songwriting group which gives a prompt every week for us to write about. It doesn't have to be an epic song or anything just something you were inspired to write from the prompt. This weeks prompt was, 'Cab'.
Song Prompt 2: Cab T.A.Marty Am, C, G, F Title: Old Cab
This is a tale of an old wagoneer he was a cowboy, a traveler, a lover (of beer) he’d hitch up his two horses and climb to the chair ride off to nowhere cause it’s better than here.
They called him ‘Old Cab’ and they said it quite clear they were proud of this old man and it was said like a prayer. In the year of 18 hundred and 65 he saved the whole damn town ya he kept them alive.
It rained in the day and it rained in the night it rained that whole (damn) month till the river went wild. It burst through the damns, and it tore up the rocks sent them all tumbling to the town down below
Now Old Cab saw it happen cause he was out on a drunk been chased out of town cause he was dirty and stunk? he jumped up on his pony yes he mounted the nag and he raced that old water through the forests and crags.
He warned the whole town yes he said it quite clear the water was coming the water was near no one believed him no one cared he was just a drunk and a lier get out of here.
Old Cab didn’t give up he continued to fight went down to the mining office to steal the dynamite back up the mountain he went fast and lite to blow off the top and block the waters spite
now back in the town there was drinking and dance nobody knew of the water they didn’t have a chance they’d kicked out old cab they’d sent him away now he’s up on the mountain trying to save the day
then came the rumble of the thunder and rain then came the explosion and the rocks down again/tumbling down the town had been saved the water passed them by saved by a drunk a man/person they passed by. Old Cab
Thanks for popping by and I wish you a dear and beautiful day.
Trevor
Hello everyone-
It's been to long. What have you been up to?
I've begun a challenge which I found on a FB group which I was invited to join. It's a songwriting group. Every week someone gives a new songwriting prompt and everyone in the group writes something which has been inspired from the prompt. Then they do a little video. It doesn't have to be anything super produced. It's just an exercise to keep our creativity flowing well.
This weeks song writing prompt was Sour; as a matter of fact, it was the first one.
Every week that I am doing it I will try and post that song here, but y'all have to realize that it's not going to be the best song ever. These are just a weeks worth of working on it.
Here is the first week's.
Two Tone Toxic Terry
T.A.Marty
Key: A blues
Songwriting Prompt: Sour
Verse I
Two tone toxic Terry
was a whole lot of something
and little bit scary.
He’d gamble and rob
steal your breath
Mess with him and
you’ll be close to death.
Mean as a hornet & ugly too
but I know his secret and
I’ll tell it to you.
Chorus
Now I’ve soured milk and honey
got a little bit of coffee and even less money
I’ve seen eagles fly and the country get crummy
Seen people die and some think it’s funny.
Verse II
He wasn’t always mean and sour
He was born in the middle of a flower
Him mama smelled of Jasmine
His Pa smelled of Rose
played outside all day
till the bank came to foreclose
Threw them all out
out in the cold
then and their he vowed not to be controlled.
Chorus
Bridge
He took to fighting and calling names
Got so good should have been an Olympic game
Take from the rich give to the poor
wanted from coast to coast for his delusions of grandeur.
Well, hello everyone. This blog has been a long time coming and is a promise that I’ve been reluctant to keep with myself. You’ll understand in a little bit. Today’s date (the date I’m writing this) is the first of June and when you’re reading it I don’t know. It will be published on the fourth though. Which is important because that Friday it will be my Taylors twelve birthday. I am the original owner of this guitar. It was born on June 8th, 2006 and was the twelfth guitar made that day. Which makes this year a sort of golden birthday, because it was the twelfth guitar made that day and it’s twelve years old this year. The only way I know this is because there’s a website which decodes the serial number on the guitar.
We have flown in planes together, driven in cars, trucks, SUV’s, hybrids, and even paddle wheel river boats. I’ve played gigs from Nova Scotia to Texas with her. Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada, have all played host to us. I even played for a few years with it on a paddle wheel river boat going up the Mississippi through a lock’n’dam and back down again.
This blog begins this way because I did make a promise to myself. One that I’m reluctant to follow through with now. Here it is. I found a different guitar. I had been looking for a wider necked guitar so I could do finger-style better. I have been a big fan of that for some time now and the thinner neck of the Taylor made my fingers cluster together more. The new guitar was pretty expensive by normal standards, but for a guitar of it’s caliber it was a deal. I bought it, but the only way I could rationalize another guitar was if I sold one or two others. The Taylor is one of them the other will come in time.
What follows are some photos of the guitar, it’s case, and some of the small nicks which have happened in our journey together.
We will start with the case. It has one nick in it as you can see in the photo, but the rest is fine. It’s quite solid. The handle is strong and so are the latches. It has good strong latches I might add.
There are a couple of small nicks on the back which you will see here. You can also see the beauty of that wood which is just starting to come into its own at 12 years old. When you watch the video you’ll hear the thick full sounding beauty of this dreadnought.
On the front near the top you’ll see one or two minor pick accidents. Again these things speak to the fullness of this guitars life experiences the shows, the road, the history. It has had more experiences in it’s twelve years then many other guitars which sit on a wall in a house their whole life.
The guitar I ended up getting is a Martin 000EC. It’s an Eric Clapton signature model. It’s the signature model he played in the eighties for his ‘Unplugged’ MTV special. Now don’t go thinking it’s that same guitar because it’s not it’s just a signature Martin like that. Uffda, wouldn’t that be cool though? So it’s time to say goodbye to my beloved Taylor. I hardly ever play her anymore and I think a guitar is way way more than a piece of furniture to stand on a wall. It needs to be played.
I hope whomever gets her plays her well. I won’t be sending it through the mail. This is for local pick up only.
Also here’s a link to places you can buy the albums I made with that guitar. Help a brother out. https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/trevor-marty/86791425
Here’s a link to a Spotify page of mine. Play some of my tunes y’all. Link
It's been awhile since I've written anything here, so I thought I'd catch you up.
Spring is finally here and with it the outside jobs. Whether is cleaning the yard up from the long Winter or it's checking to see if the house needs repairs the list is already building.
One thing that I am wanting to do this Summer is to cycle. When I was young it was just called bicycling, but now there is a new term. Cycling. I have been trying to build up strength and stamina so in August I can go on a big journey. I plan on riding from the gates to Canada to Iowa completely through my home state of Minnesota on my bicycle. As I have gotten into the planning and the working out of my legs and heart I have realized just how daunting a task I have set for myself. Which paths to take, what happens if something breaks, what happens if I break, traffic, hotels or camping and that's just the stuff at the top of my head. It's a bit overwhelming, to say the least; however, as with most things I take on you can be certain I will make a bigger deal out of it than it is. All it comes down to really is riding my bicycle. That's it. Just get on and ride and keep riding.
The most I've gone in my training so far is 14 miles in an hour and I did a little GoPro video of it. That's linked below. I'm hoping to finish the whole thing in seven and a half days. I have those days off of work and will just go right back to work the day after I finish. I will also be taking a lot of video of the whole thing, and have been doing smallish workout journal videos since January when I started training for this project.
Perhaps I should define my version of training. If you are like me than the word itself conjures up images of a drill Sargent person yelling at you that you ain't worth the carbon base which makes you up. That's not going to happen for me. Training for me is just getting on my bike and riding. I try and choose hardish rides and don't coast. I always keep my legs going, and go hard till I can't anymore then I go a little easier on myself for a little while. It's been working pretty well because my legs are getting huge and weird looking.
Well, here is that video sped up and with music for your enjoyment.
