Reckless Abandon took the week of Thanksgiving off of practicing to be with their family. Also, Ryan needed to catch up on school. "The band had drug me behind in school some, and I felt the need to catch up" said Ryan. The band went back to practicing Monday, one week after their first recording session, hoping that they would not miss a beat (no pun intended). "We could tell we had our week off, but it didn't take long before we felt right back and ready in the music" said Ryan. "We had another good practice session" said Jef.
Ryan is now anxious for future recording. "Last time, we got a little nervous, had to rig the drums due to temporarily-misplaced mic cables, and was a little unsure exactly how our recording would work best. Next time, we will now more of what system works best for us, have a few wrinkles ironed out, and should have the mic cables. It should go faster and easier." Until next recording session, the band is simply desiring to iron out these wrinkles. "We have our songs down pat as far as the general gist of it goes, but we just want to 'iron out our wrinkles' so to speak" said Ryan.
The band has been wanting to begin working on more songs as well, but feels that for now, it is best to work primarily on the stuff ready to record. "We have more stuff - almost too much stuff - we can work on, but we focus on the stuff we have the best now" said Ryan. Jef added, "I have a lot of lyrics Ryan has given me, some good chord proggression ideas that we just need to fit to the lyrics. We also have some already written songs we just aren't really doing much now. I am trying to get the hand of Ryan's song 'Calling in Life' but am primarily working on the main stuff." There are five songs the band is working on now. The band is also supposed to be playing at a friends Christmas party this December.
As one fan said, "This could be one big move in the music industry. Ryan can do anything he puts his mind to. He's even an Eagle Scout for crying out loud! Jef is pretty dang serious about his music as well. Timothy is one of the best violinists around. The lyrics sung are touching to the common American. 'One thing that keeps me going is the fact of knowing, I can express myself in the songs that I write,' 'Do you remember the day Satan seemed so close,' 'Let me finish what I started,' 'I want to love you forever and a day,' 'Lord please help me to do what is right,' 'All I can do is think about them times, and ponder on what might have been,' 'If only they knew the prays I pray at night,' and so on. You get the point. These are songs about real life, real stories, real feelings, and are played by real people. They touched me, and they can touch you. Ryan adds, "We play American music. We play people music. We play Reckless Abandon music."
Yes, it really is that simple. And with the winning attitude, beatiful music, and touching lyrics the band provides, it is only a matter of time before they heavily influence the music industry, whether they are popular or not. Some things happen despite inpopularity. After a week off, the band is ready and exited for any more possible opportunities.
God Bless America
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The First Recording of Reckless Abandon
"It was a good start." That was the reaction for Ryan, Jef, and Clifton after doing the first recording session. "It was not as fast as lightening. We did not get tons of stuff done. But we did get some done, got to learn some about recording, and got a good idea of what will work best for us" said Ryan. "It was fun to me" said Clifton. "I really enjoyed playing Jef's guitar. It rocked. I love guitars."
But a scare came when Clifton realized that his mic cables had mysteriously gone missing. "Oh, no," said Clifton in a concerned voice. But there was no reason to fear. The technological skills of Clifton were here. He was able to get just enough mics and cables to make it work at least well enough. "It's not perfect- it may sound somewhat like it comes from the fifties." But Ryan said, "That might add something to it."
The group recorded their song "Forever And A Day." We were between "Do You Remember" and "Forever And A Day," but we figured since most people know "Do You Remember," that "Forever And A Day" would be best to do first" said Jef. "Forever And A Day" is a love song. Jef has a lady friend who he was getting to know well. She wanted him to write a "cheesy love song." About that time, Jef wanted to write a song with the same title as their band name- which at that time was "Forever And A Day." Jef combined the two ideas, making a love song called "Forever And A Day." "Y'all impress me. Y'all write songs about girls, where I just write songs about other guys and everything!" said Clifton. All of its reviews have been great thus far.
The band laid down the basic track for "Forever And A Day" but did not put in the full version of violin, bass, and piano. "The violin goes great on this song" said Ryan. The band hopes to get semi-member Timothy Winstead in to dub over a beautiful violin harmony. "It would add a lot" says Ryan.
The band is looking foward for a full demo CD, and is greatly appreciative of the support.
But a scare came when Clifton realized that his mic cables had mysteriously gone missing. "Oh, no," said Clifton in a concerned voice. But there was no reason to fear. The technological skills of Clifton were here. He was able to get just enough mics and cables to make it work at least well enough. "It's not perfect- it may sound somewhat like it comes from the fifties." But Ryan said, "That might add something to it."
The group recorded their song "Forever And A Day." We were between "Do You Remember" and "Forever And A Day," but we figured since most people know "Do You Remember," that "Forever And A Day" would be best to do first" said Jef. "Forever And A Day" is a love song. Jef has a lady friend who he was getting to know well. She wanted him to write a "cheesy love song." About that time, Jef wanted to write a song with the same title as their band name- which at that time was "Forever And A Day." Jef combined the two ideas, making a love song called "Forever And A Day." "Y'all impress me. Y'all write songs about girls, where I just write songs about other guys and everything!" said Clifton. All of its reviews have been great thus far.
The band laid down the basic track for "Forever And A Day" but did not put in the full version of violin, bass, and piano. "The violin goes great on this song" said Ryan. The band hopes to get semi-member Timothy Winstead in to dub over a beautiful violin harmony. "It would add a lot" says Ryan.
The band is looking foward for a full demo CD, and is greatly appreciative of the support.
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Philosophy of Music
Music is music. But what is music beyond that? Music itself is natural sounds of beauty through arrangements of harmonies and melodies in certain frequency ranges and timings. Music is used to express what so often, words can not express. But many songs have words that go to them. This is because songs lyrics are essentiall poetry, most times, and poetry is a way of deeply expressing words- perhaps the most powerful way to express words. The words and the music go together to tell a story, support a philosophy, and tell of the deep emotions of life.
And largely, the music can be played to where one can identify with the emotion or philosophy presented. Some of this may be absolute and some may be relatively based on culture. Rap and heavy metal may get someone pumped up and wanting to fight, while classical music may help someone relax and concentrate. There are times we need to fight, and there are times we need to relax. There are times we want spiritual war, times we want physical war, and times we want no war at all. There is a large sense of propriety we are missing in society today. It is not good to so much be against any sort of music, but we should know how to put them in their proper place- and all music, at least as far as Christians go- should be consistent within a Christian worldview.
And most people's music will be consistent within their worldview, and if not, then they contradict themselves, and destroys what is considered to be the dignity of music. When people sing songs or write songs that are against their pressuppositions, or that are not relative to their life, the dignity of music is destroyed. Each person has a pressupposition and philosophy behind their music.
And Reckless Abandon identifies itself with those of the same general philosophy behind the music- both musically and, especiall, lyrically. It is hard to directly quote from our overall pressupposition to this universe in every song- though we can get to the general core of it through songs directly about the pressupposition itself- that is, Christianity. But the general and imidiate philosophy behind the music of Reckless Abandon is that the songs played is songs that fit into the overall worldview of Christianity in songs about our own lives. It is songs about good people who are misrepresented. Songs about the deep emotions that many people feel, but have not heard it due to the disgrace-of-dignity in modern music. We play songs that identify to the line in Lynyrd Skynyrd's song, "Freebird" that says, "If I leave here tommorow, would you still remember me?" It is songs that tell us the haunting fact that "All I can do is think about them times, and ponder on what might have been" (The Absolute of Love- Ryan Hampton). It is about constantly and consistently writing songs, even against the tide.
For this reason, Reckless Abandon considers Ronnie Van Zant, the founder, and once lead-singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, to be one of its musical, particularly lyrical, icon and inspiration. He wrote of the "concrede slowly creeping," and asked the Lord to "Take me and mine before that comes." Ironically, not long after the song was written, about half of the band, including Van Zant, was killed in a plane crash.
All of this is to say, that behind every song you will hear from Reckless Abandon, has a meaning and philosophy behind it. It may be a simple song, but even yet, it shows support to that life in some form or fashion. Also take heed to remember that the band is filled of sinful people. Writing songs about sin does not mean that the band supports sin- it may show the regret to it, and a plea for grace.
So remember that any song written is written from our philosophy and our view of the dignity of music. "You may not like my music or the words that go to it, but I think you can relate if you start with me" (Calling in Life- Ryan Hampton). The past is important- "For at last I have found the past and thus eternity" (Calling in Life- Ryan Hampton. You will be finding out soon, as our demo CD comes up- hopefully finished before Christmas. For now, I will leave you with this moving song:
"A brief candle- both ends burning, and endless mile, a bus wheel turning. A friend to share a lonesome time, a handshake, and a sip of wine. Say it loud, and let it ring, that we're all apart of everything. The future, the present, and the past- fly on proud bird...You're free at last." -Charlie Daniels
And largely, the music can be played to where one can identify with the emotion or philosophy presented. Some of this may be absolute and some may be relatively based on culture. Rap and heavy metal may get someone pumped up and wanting to fight, while classical music may help someone relax and concentrate. There are times we need to fight, and there are times we need to relax. There are times we want spiritual war, times we want physical war, and times we want no war at all. There is a large sense of propriety we are missing in society today. It is not good to so much be against any sort of music, but we should know how to put them in their proper place- and all music, at least as far as Christians go- should be consistent within a Christian worldview.
And most people's music will be consistent within their worldview, and if not, then they contradict themselves, and destroys what is considered to be the dignity of music. When people sing songs or write songs that are against their pressuppositions, or that are not relative to their life, the dignity of music is destroyed. Each person has a pressupposition and philosophy behind their music.
And Reckless Abandon identifies itself with those of the same general philosophy behind the music- both musically and, especiall, lyrically. It is hard to directly quote from our overall pressupposition to this universe in every song- though we can get to the general core of it through songs directly about the pressupposition itself- that is, Christianity. But the general and imidiate philosophy behind the music of Reckless Abandon is that the songs played is songs that fit into the overall worldview of Christianity in songs about our own lives. It is songs about good people who are misrepresented. Songs about the deep emotions that many people feel, but have not heard it due to the disgrace-of-dignity in modern music. We play songs that identify to the line in Lynyrd Skynyrd's song, "Freebird" that says, "If I leave here tommorow, would you still remember me?" It is songs that tell us the haunting fact that "All I can do is think about them times, and ponder on what might have been" (The Absolute of Love- Ryan Hampton). It is about constantly and consistently writing songs, even against the tide.
For this reason, Reckless Abandon considers Ronnie Van Zant, the founder, and once lead-singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, to be one of its musical, particularly lyrical, icon and inspiration. He wrote of the "concrede slowly creeping," and asked the Lord to "Take me and mine before that comes." Ironically, not long after the song was written, about half of the band, including Van Zant, was killed in a plane crash.
All of this is to say, that behind every song you will hear from Reckless Abandon, has a meaning and philosophy behind it. It may be a simple song, but even yet, it shows support to that life in some form or fashion. Also take heed to remember that the band is filled of sinful people. Writing songs about sin does not mean that the band supports sin- it may show the regret to it, and a plea for grace.
So remember that any song written is written from our philosophy and our view of the dignity of music. "You may not like my music or the words that go to it, but I think you can relate if you start with me" (Calling in Life- Ryan Hampton). The past is important- "For at last I have found the past and thus eternity" (Calling in Life- Ryan Hampton. You will be finding out soon, as our demo CD comes up- hopefully finished before Christmas. For now, I will leave you with this moving song:
"A brief candle- both ends burning, and endless mile, a bus wheel turning. A friend to share a lonesome time, a handshake, and a sip of wine. Say it loud, and let it ring, that we're all apart of everything. The future, the present, and the past- fly on proud bird...You're free at last." -Charlie Daniels
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Back to Practicing and Soon to Record
Reckless Abandon took last week off from practicing. After their latest gig while celebrating Reformation Day, it started becoming obvious a break would be nice. "We have no upcoming gigs" said Ryan Hampton. "I am off a couple of my classes this week. It would be nice just to have a nice break from blogging, what I can of school, and even some of our music."
But don't think for a minute that the band was completely out of practicing. Ryan and Jef contacted a small amount via e-mail and phone, regarding the music, and how it can improve. Of course phone conversations were also limited, but were straight to the point when made. On Sunday, Jef Park said that he "Was ready to get back into the groove." After all, the band is preparing to go record sometime soon as CGStudio Inc.
But the band was not completely "back in the groove." There were a few flaws that Ryan attributed to not practicing. "We needed the week off to focus on family, and school, even though even school was light this week as well," said Ryan, "But you could just tell we were missing a beat in our first practice."
But not for long. On Wednesday, the seventh, the band arranged for another practice. "This time, you could tell we were in the groove as good as before our week off." Jef Park says, "It is good to be back in the groove, you know, where we're not missing a beat- because we will need to be perfect come recording time in a couple of weeks." Toward the end of practice, good friend A.K. (to protect his identity, his last name will not be given), listened in, and even began clapping for the band. "It was great!" said A.K.
But the possible bass guitarist Jim Warlick will not be available. "I talked with my mother, and she really encourages me to work more on school than the band" said Warlick. Timothy Winstead, the violinist also has been out. "Me and Ryan both have three school papers to write, and I have been playing a lot of weddings, so it will be hard for me to practice as of now, but I should get back in soon." "Besides," says Timothy, "I can pretty much improvise when needed." Ryan says that he "Can only imagine what the band would have sounded like if Timothy was there today."
The band did talk with friend and collegue Clifton (to protect his identity, his last name will not be given) today. Clifton is the owner of CGStudios Inc, where the band looks to soon record. "I'm as exited as you are...I love doing this stuff" said Clifton. The band is thankful for his cooperation and is ready to begin recording soon. "We hope to have a full (of five songs) demo cd out sometime before real long- possibly by Christmas" says Jef Park. "We will just have to see...Clifton seems like a good all-round Christian guy."
Please let us know if you are interested in a demo cd. "This will be better than some of my cassette tapes," says Ryan. If you have heard any of Ryan's cassette tapes you will know what is meant. "Now, we have a better singer, and better equipment, a full drum-set, not just a tamberine." Please continue to encourage Reckless Abandon, as we all watch it grow in maturity, musicianship, and above all, as a glory to Jesus Christ.
Songs for the first demo cd are:
Do You Remember?
Understanding
Forever And A Day
If Only They Knew
Will You Be There
All of these songs are written and arranged by Ryan Hampton and/or Jef Park, and all violin harmonies are provided by Timothy Winstead.
But don't think for a minute that the band was completely out of practicing. Ryan and Jef contacted a small amount via e-mail and phone, regarding the music, and how it can improve. Of course phone conversations were also limited, but were straight to the point when made. On Sunday, Jef Park said that he "Was ready to get back into the groove." After all, the band is preparing to go record sometime soon as CGStudio Inc.
But the band was not completely "back in the groove." There were a few flaws that Ryan attributed to not practicing. "We needed the week off to focus on family, and school, even though even school was light this week as well," said Ryan, "But you could just tell we were missing a beat in our first practice."
But not for long. On Wednesday, the seventh, the band arranged for another practice. "This time, you could tell we were in the groove as good as before our week off." Jef Park says, "It is good to be back in the groove, you know, where we're not missing a beat- because we will need to be perfect come recording time in a couple of weeks." Toward the end of practice, good friend A.K. (to protect his identity, his last name will not be given), listened in, and even began clapping for the band. "It was great!" said A.K.
But the possible bass guitarist Jim Warlick will not be available. "I talked with my mother, and she really encourages me to work more on school than the band" said Warlick. Timothy Winstead, the violinist also has been out. "Me and Ryan both have three school papers to write, and I have been playing a lot of weddings, so it will be hard for me to practice as of now, but I should get back in soon." "Besides," says Timothy, "I can pretty much improvise when needed." Ryan says that he "Can only imagine what the band would have sounded like if Timothy was there today."
The band did talk with friend and collegue Clifton (to protect his identity, his last name will not be given) today. Clifton is the owner of CGStudios Inc, where the band looks to soon record. "I'm as exited as you are...I love doing this stuff" said Clifton. The band is thankful for his cooperation and is ready to begin recording soon. "We hope to have a full (of five songs) demo cd out sometime before real long- possibly by Christmas" says Jef Park. "We will just have to see...Clifton seems like a good all-round Christian guy."
Please let us know if you are interested in a demo cd. "This will be better than some of my cassette tapes," says Ryan. If you have heard any of Ryan's cassette tapes you will know what is meant. "Now, we have a better singer, and better equipment, a full drum-set, not just a tamberine." Please continue to encourage Reckless Abandon, as we all watch it grow in maturity, musicianship, and above all, as a glory to Jesus Christ.
Songs for the first demo cd are:
Do You Remember?
Understanding
Forever And A Day
If Only They Knew
Will You Be There
All of these songs are written and arranged by Ryan Hampton and/or Jef Park, and all violin harmonies are provided by Timothy Winstead.
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