The Musical Diary of Greg ScheerYou thought Greg was just for the young and trendy. No, my friends, Greg is an equal opportunity composer. In this blog post, Greg reels in the older folks as Alan Watson sings the Colin/Greg ballad “When I’m with You.” The retro musical arrangement matches Alan’s crooning delivery perfectly. And the video proves once again, that green screen is alive and well:
The collaboration between Colin Gordon-Farleigh and me has slowed to a trickle, with our output dwindling to only 16 songs since the start of the year. The latest was finished this morning. In this demo of “Love Alone” I took a straight up ballad approach, but I think what’s really going to put this one over the top is an arrangement in the long lineage of ballad/disco hits like Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” and Cher’s “Believe.” Each of these has at its core, a great melody, often in a minor key. Things usually start off slowly, then the song becomes a double-time dancing frenzy of grief release. Nowadays, that great pop disco tradition has developed into techno style ballads, although good examples escape me at the moment.
For now you’ll have to satisfy yourself with the down tempo ballad version (MP3, PDF). But if you want to create a bangin’ remix, just let me know and I’ll get you all the files you need.
Today’s post features four gospels–no, not Matthew, Mark, Luke and John–the gospel according to Colin and Greg. That is, four gospel songs I wrote to lyrics by Colin Gordon-Farleigh. Since Colin works with both country gospel and black gospel singers, he wanted music that could swing either way. Wanna get your praise on? Check ’em out:
I finished 6 new country Gospel songs with Colin Gordon-Farleigh last week, but haven’t had time to upload them to my blog because I was so busy finishing Be My Everything (have you voted yet?). Here they are:
Let Go and Let God
Old-Time Gospel
One Saint at a Time
The Armour of the Lord
The Gospel Singer
Walking with Jesus
By the way, Colin posts a new hymn to his blog every day. (Take that Charles Wesley!) And why wouldn’t you want to visit the website of a guy who once looked like this?:
I’ve had to put off writing new songs with Colin the last few months while I get everything in order at the church. But now that my Christmas planning is all in place, I’ve got a little time to write tunes for the lyrics that have been piling up in my inbox.
While Colin and I usually split duties–he’s the word guy and I’m the music guy–this time the lyrics he emailed me were accompanied by a recording of some melodic ideas. It was clear Colin was going for an old-time Gospel sound, and hey, I cut my teeth on that back at Apponaug Pentecostal Church in Rhode Island, so I just channeled all those childhood musical memories and out came “I Will Love You” (MP3, PDF)
This is the time of year when I catch up on all the projects I’ve put off while preparing for Christmas services. Now that the services are basically planned and ready to go I give myself the Christmas present of sitting at the piano for long hours doing creative work. Here is the first to be completed: A Child Is Born (MP3, PDF), written with Colin Gordon-Farleigh. It’s a melodic Christmas song that makes a nice follow up to our Emmanuel Now.
A few years ago, I wrote a song with Colin Gordon-Farleigh called “Forever Friend.” Our Australian friend Darren Mullan has just turned it into a countrified classic. Take a listen to the low resolution MP3 here, or head on over to cdbaby where you can download a high rez MP3 for all your forever friends.