Background Of A Song

     Many times  people ask songwriters why they wrote a certain song or why they wrote it the way they did  or how they got the idea...Well, there  are as many answers to that as there  are songs and songwriters... A person can sit in a public place watching people and get so many ideas... Or,just looking out a window at whatever is there  or having an emotional thing happen in your life or a friend's life... I wrote Still To Rock No More after my Dad  died...I was feeling down  one day thinking about everything and I thought,  "You  know, Mamas and Daddys  are the hands that rock the cradle...I should  write about that."  ..Well, I sat down at the piano and wrote down  when the hand that rocks the cradle is still to rock no more...I intended to write about my Dad....The melody had come with the phrase...many times that is what happens for me...But as I  wrote all of that down, the rest came at a good clip so I had to write fast to keep up...I  reviewed the first verse and as I finished that, the second verse started flowing...When I had finished, I left it on the piano for a few days before I went back to it...I finally picked it up again and put chords to it and sang it over again...over again to really get the feel of it...When I finally figured I had said what I needed to say in the way I needed to say it, I called it quits and sent off the copyright and recorded it...People say you should write and re-write a song...don't be satisfied with your first draft...But  sometimes a song  comes along that needs to be left alone when you finish it...As I just said, you say what you have to say in the way you have to say it at the time...Every time I listen to or sing that song  Still To Rock No More I am satisfied that I did it the way I should have...However, instead of it being about my Dad or Mamas and Daddys, it was a Mama song....Sometimes a song just takes off and you don't really have control over it...Don't worry about it...maybe that is the way it is meant to be....Happy Songwriting...

Michael Travis West

     I am welcoming Michael to my website  with this cd ...West Country..all songs on this cd are written by Michael..  He has been on the music scene for many years singing, writing and performing.. He writes mainly in the classic country genre sometimes leaning to gospel..  So click  on   his name and listen to Michael's great songs...If anyone is looking for songs for a recording project, please  give Michael's songs an extra listen....Thanks for listening.

Music Memories

I just came  from a blog   http://www.sandramarie53.blogspot.com/          There was a picture of one of my first records, Have You Ever Been Lonely  b/w Snowbird....Brought back a lot of memories...I sang with  Harvey Thomas for quite some time on Friday and Saturday nights...The above two songs were requested many times each night..One  night I counted the number of times Snowbird was requested..seven..I made note  of this to the one who requested it...She replied  that she couldn't ask Anne Murray to sing it again but she could ask us... So after that we just sang  whatever the people requested no matter how many times requested in an evening...
I first met Harvey when we were coming  back from skiing...Our children wanted to stop for a hamburger so we pulled in to a  little restaurant and ordered up...My husband and I wandered over to the other end of a big room to see where all the music was coming from...There sat Harvey and his "Infernal Music Machine".  He saw us standing there and asked if I could  sing...I told him I could sing a little..So he said to come on up and asked if I knew several different songs...I told him which ones and he started to play..So I started singing..  He played a triple neck guitar i.e. six string, twelve string and I think the other was an eight string along with a foot bass and an automatic drummer...Really keeps  you on your toes to keep time...If you missed a beat you just waited and came in somewhere else..  It only took me a couple of songs to know where I stood...Met so many nice people going around to different places singing...private parties and clubs for weddings, birthdays, etc.  When we recorded Meet Me In Ponderay, all of the music was recorded by  Harvey at the same time, no  dubbing...For me, I sang the melody, went back and did one harmony, then back and sang a second harmony..  I called it the  "Kari Trio..Me, Myself and I"..   Meet Me and  Have You Ever Been Lonely were recorded at Wiley Studio in Tacoma, WA  with Bill Wiley at the console on a two track machine...We had a lot of fun doing the dubbing on the tracks...It is so much easier now with computers and lots of tracks to work with....The studios gradually moved up to  four track, then  eight  and on up...As I wrote once in a song..."Memories  are wonderful  things, locked in a treasury fold,  I wandered there all alone  then    Through my sweet memories gold....Yesterday's flowers were sweet,   Filled with the nectar of youth...Held in the sweetest bouquet there   in a dear innocent truth"  (copyright  1969   renewed  1997)        There is my trip down memory lane for today.....

kariscottmusic.com

I want to tell you about my two cds.....In The Beginning  volume 1   and In The Beginning Volume 2    
There are sixteen songs on each cd...Some are songs I have written or co-written...The rest are favorites of mine that I hope are also favorites of yours......mostly in the classic country and gospel style..
 I am on My Space if you are on there too...  These cds are on cdbaby     and iTunes.....   If you go to my other site   http://www.kariscottmusic.com/       (just click on that)
you will be able to click on the links to  both cd baby  and iTunes...Then you will be able to listen to my cds song by song...Other digital sites also have them on file....
Also on  http://www.kariscottmusic.com/      is the link to  a cd   West Country   by Michael Travis West...all original songs by Michael .. in the classic country style.
So stop by and say hello.......Thanks for listening...

Harmony

Harmony has always fascinated me since  I first learned about it...In school we learned to read the parts  so I knew that was harmony...Then, on a field trip once, we were singing all kinds of songs...One of the girls was singing something that I didn't recognize...I asked her what it was and she answered  that it was harmony....She had two sisters and the three of them would sing together...After that I started listening closer to the radio and trying to hear and sing harmony...I soon figured it out and have been lucky enough to be able  to hear harmony.   So that added a new dimension to my music.   So as you listen to music, listen for the harmonies and try to sing along with them...Thanks for listening.

Welcome To My World

Welcome to my world..to borrow  a song title from the past... I will try from this day forth to  set down some of my memeories and thoughts  mainly about country music but also music in general ....Maybe sometimes just random thoughts...We will see... I have been around for quite a few years so have seen and done many things..   I think that is enough for now except to repeat...Welcome To My World....