Oct 18th, 2007 by jmenard
I recently entered a song competition to write what’s called a “Townie Tune” (a parody of the Boston area) for the Loren And Wally Morning Show. Turns out they liked it, played it on the air this morning, and placed it on their site (link above) for others to listen and vote for!
The compeition is for $5,000 so obviously I’m pretty excited.
Take a listen to the song it’s at the top currently titled “Want A Place To Park” — a parody of Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel.
I need the votes so if you like it, help me get into the finals this coming week!
Thanks all,
Jon
UPDATE: I MADE THE TOP TEN FINALISTS! There’s another round of voting and I will be on the air live Thursday morning 105.7 WROR around 7am!
The winner will be announced then! So visit http://www.WROR.com and vote for my song “Find a Place To Park” if you can!
Posted in Random, Songs / Music | 615 Comments »
Oct 17th, 2007 by jmenard
Well, seems I just can’t seem to keep out of the studio for very long.
I made the final decision recently to professionally record my instrumental music. So, as of this past week, I began what will be a series of smaller recording sessions (a song or 2 a session) at Wellspring Sound in Acton, to record my piano solo “new age” CD. I’ve had a number of friends and family (my father and brother primarily) who have always hoped I would do something like this eventually. So far, the sound is amazing. The piano Eric Kilburn has at his studio is by far one of the best I’ve played on. Combine that with a great mic setup and a his masterful way of recording, and these songs are sounding better than I ever imagined they could.
I hope to have it done by Christmas. A nice little gift for friends and family. No worry though, it will be publicly availble once I get “official copies” in.
Oh, and the CD title? No idea yet. I’ve got a couple great ideas floating around but nothing in stone.
Take care as always,
Jon
P.S. Don’t forget my upcoming show at Casey’s on Oct. 25th! Thanks to Jeff Munro for booking me.
Posted in Songs / Music | 174 Comments »
Well it took me long enough.
Thursday Oct. 25th, At Casey’s Bar in somerville, I’ll be playing a 45min-1 hour long set as part of Jeff Munro’s Open mic night then. Should be a great time. Food and drink there, so a good time for all. Stop by if you have the time. In addition to me, alot of my musical friends will be joining me on stage for their random songs (as I’m just the feature of the night)…so check it out!
Address is 171 Broadway St., Somerville, MA. Literally, 1 minute off of I-93.
See you then
Jon
UPDATE: SHOW CANCELLED DUE TO RED SOX BEING IN THE WORLD SERIES.
Posted in shows | 4 Comments »
Hey everyone.
I just wanted to make a quick post about why I haven’t really played out much lately. Basically, I haven’t been feeling very well, and that combined with the long shifts I have at work sort of wears me out. I’ve got a show or two lined up with no specific dates yet (still talking to those in charge about when would be good). Hopefully I’ll be getting back into the swing of things soon and playing a bit more regularly.
Thanks to those that inquired about this. I appreciate the support.
Jon
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Well, this past week, I had one of the greatest experiences a songwriter can have. A collaboration with another musician in which the end result is better than anything either could have produced alone.
However for me, this experience took on an entire new meaning.
Why? Becasue it was song about my “soon-to-be-born” niece, that was co-written by myself and my older brother, Grant (the father).
It started with me strumming a chorus I had written about “Bella Grace (short for Isabella),” singing a line I had written and explaining to my brother about how I have been trying to write a song for/about her. He wanted to chip in, and before we knew it, a few hours had gone by and we had a perfect song. Harmonies, Lead Lines, Finger Picking, and a simplicity to it that makes it easy to connect to the words and music. Never before have I had such a great time playing along someone, something I haven’t really experienced since having a band years ago.
We played the song for some close family members on the 4th of July, all of which were very noticably impacted by it. Others that I’ve had the chance to play it for, have said it’s one of the best songs I’ve been a part of creating. It’s pretty amazing what people can produce when they combine their ideas together, esepecially when it’s over a topic that they are directly related to.
The song is titled “Stay Graceful.” My brother and I plan on getting a live recording of it (probably from Club Passim) as soon as we can. You can bet it’ll be up on the myspace as soon as it’s in my hands.
Until then,
Jon
Posted in Songs / Music | 1 Comment »
Jun 30th, 2007 by jmenard
Hey all,
Just figured I’d shine some light on the next project I’m going to do, when both time and money allow.
I’ve yet to get into a studio and record any of my instrumental tunes. A while ago, I compiled alot of them using my computer to record my digital piano, and gave them out to friends and family for free. The responses I got were really good, more so than my lyrical things. However, it’s always bothered me that I never had them recorded on an acoustic piano.
So, my next project, is going to be a totally instrumental album. I have roughly 14 or so instumental piano pieces (as well as a few guitars ones I might throw in, not sure) to put together as one album. I hope to do it sometime towards the end of this year, but who knows! Of course, I’ll keep you posted here.
Take care,
Jon
Posted in Songs / Music | 97 Comments »
May 18th, 2007 by jmenard
So about a week and a half ago, I took a shot at the Lizzard Lounge’s Monday Open Mic Night challenge. It’s a great time, and I’ve gone here a ton and have been able to get to know both the host (Tom Bianchi) as well as the rest of the “regular crew” that tend to show up there (including Brendan Hogan, Dave Coffin, and many many others). I decided to try something different this time though, and instead of singing, simply sat at the piano and played two of the piano solos I have written.
The room was dead silent, like nothing I’ve experienced before. So much so, that at the end of one song, people weren’t even sure it was done due to my gradually soft outro. Was an awesome night, and alot of people seemed to enjoy this “New Age” piano music that not everyone is accustomed to hearing.
I was called back at the end of the night as a finalist, used the piano again but this time through in the song “Jennie Wishes” from my CD. And Lo and behold, ended up winning the night’s competition.ÂÂ
Made me realize that no matter how much I enjoy playing the guitar, the piano will always be where my true passion lies, and it shows. A big thank you to the Lizard Lounge (check the link!) it’s guest judge, Tom Bianchi, and those who were there to support some local music.
I’ll be trying my luck again there on the 21st! Come check it out!
-Jon
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Since its release, I’ve on and off played World of Warcraft for the last 2.5 years.
Over time, I just ended up writing goofy music about the game and the people I played it with, including some parodies of popular songs.ÂÂ
In fact, “google-ing” my game name gets you pages of hits about my music and such. One such song was bootlegged to the internet and has since gotten over 150,000 downloads and is a topic of discussion on forums in languages I can’t even read!
Thus, I decided to make a myspace page where I’ll be able to put up those songs for people to listen to and have a laugh. If you’ve never played the game, then you’ll probably have no clue what the lyrics mean haha.
Anyway, I’ll be doing a full self produced “WoW Song CD” as soon as I can (per request of alot of people). Until then, check out this link to hear the stuff!
Take care,
Jon
Posted in Songs / Music | 27 Comments »
Apr 26th, 2007 by jmenard
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     Well, Thanks to the efforts of Jeff Munro (allowing me to use his gear and his first bringing me to the place) and Alex Weston (the wonderful host), I’ve had the opportunity to do a few features at the Starbucks Coffee House on Bedford Street in Lexington. I’d stongly suggest any musicians out there looking for a nice little place to play check this out. They usually only do shows booked for Saturday nights, but the atmosphere here is incredible. Not to mention the room is ALOT bigger than you would expect, and has an amazing sound to it. Can’t wait to lug the piano down here one day and give it a shot.
Check it out sometime, heck you might see me there again soon I hope.
Until Then,
Jon
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Apr 18th, 2007 by jmenard
Hey all
I’ve been fooling around lately with the guitar and trying out some different tunings. I’ve 2 to be very interesting; the DADGAD tuning (where you down tune both E strings and the B) and a similar one EADGAD (where you leave the base E alone).
I’ve used these tunings for the last two songs I’ve written and was glad I explored using them. Overall, you get a very interesting “ring” from the guitar, as the harmonics that overlap from the strings sound amazing. not to mention any percussive hits on the guitar itself casues that ringing as well.
I was curious if anyone else out there has tried any other tunings that might be uncommon? Let me know I’d love to give them a shot!
Now if i could only downtune a piano easily…that’d be some interesting stuff.
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