(Note: I have a number of songs up on SoundCloud, which is where I first started to push my music. However, since you must log-in to play the music, I only provide this as info.)
I have actually self-published a few of my songs on a EP called “of Crawdads and other things.” They can be found them on Spotify and Apple Music.
Songs on the EP are:
- Where the Crawdads Sing
- Wonders of Kathleen
- Plan B
- That Day
- Sing Me a Sweet Song
You might think that “Crawdads” was written after the movie. Truth is it was written before the movie and after the book came out in late 2018. My wife bought the book around mid 2019 and had it lying around on a side table. I took one look at it and thought, “Cool title. Might be a song there.” I don’t read quickly. So, I got the audio book version and listened to it in two sittings. Within hours, ideas were flowing out of my head. By late 2019, the song was pretty much done. But, producing it took to mid-2020. I had tried to contact Delia Owens to tell her how her book inspired the song. But, Reese Witherspoon had purchased the rights to the book and contact with Delia was discouraged. Oh well.
“Wonders of Kathleen” was just one of those whimsical songs that just came to me on a trip to Phoenix in 2017 (BTW, that was a very prolific writing trip). At first, I wasn’t sure of what woman’s name to use. But, Kathleen just seem to fit it. I do have a sister named Kathleen. But, the song is not about her at all, though she might share some traits in it, as would a lot of women, I think.
Now “Plan B” was a direct result of a trip to Madeline Island in Wisconsin. It’s about Tom’s Burned Down Cafe and the sign he (or someone) posted in front of the building. The song notes say it was written in 2017. But I’m not sure when the trip was. Tom’s burned in 1992. I can assume the trip was within a year or two of that time. Also, not much before that had been the merger of Sperry and Burroughs into Unisys. I was on the Sperry side and was soon facing layoff possibilities thanks to an “economic downturn.” Not sure why it took 20 years to write the song. 2017 might simply be the last update made to it before I recorded it because I know I sang it at my SL shows, which started in 2008 and ended in 2018.
“That Day” is a remembrance of a good college buddy (Syracuse U.) who died of cancer. He had written to me about having cancer about a year and a half before he died. But, I never got back to see him. So, there is a lot of regret in the song from that point. But, it’s about what he said to me on one of our “about town” walks that stayed with me to this day, even though he said I’d forget it by morning. What he said is in the song.
Finally, “Sing Me a Sweet Song” is one written for Second Life and is based on something my Host said as she came in to prepare for one of my sets back in 2009. She said she’d had a rough day and was ready for some “Ray songs” to relax to.
I didn’t provide any links here because I don’t want to send you to a service you don’t use. But, most of the major ones should have these out there. Just search for Ray Pascoe, Jr.