Lauren Zettler

Fallen in love again - definitely one of my favorite things to do.

This time it's Lauren Zettler - you can check her out at:
http://laurenzettler.com/
http://www.myspace.com/laurenzettler

I'm digging the voice - she has this whole Susan Vega / Shawn Colvin / Alanis Morissette / KD Lang / Nanci Griffith thing going on - complete with high register vocal moves that Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace) would recognize. All this is a good thing. She has a seriously nice instrument and sounds like herself. The music is accessible and cleverly delivered, the guitar work particularly tasty - also, you just gotta love a glockenspiel every now and then - listen to Shapes.

The reason I found this music? Back in november of 2008 I came across the following tweet:

Today my wife went to a panel discussion on the economy w/ some world leaders and economic experts. Meanwhile, I bought a glockenspiel.

It struck me as just funny - it paralleled my own experiences and so I started following the author - turns out that Cameron Mizell is a guitar player: he practices, he plays out, he loves his family, he's hipped me to new information and he's made me laugh - he reminds me of Jazz Pianist Noah Baerman who is definitely one of the good guys.. I caught something in his stream recently about going out on the road and had a moment to see what the gig was - which of course led me in turn to Lauren Zettler.

If you like the names referenced at the top then you're probably going to dig Lauren - you get a free download when you join her mailing list - a killer cover version of FleetWood Mac's The Chain - it's very good. otherwise, go buy her two EPs - hell at under $7 each they didn't break the bank and here I am - listening to her music on rotation while I'm writing this!

I love living today and right now I love Lauren Zettler - but in a way that my wife would be ok with ;-p

---------------- Now playing: Lauren Zettler - Persevere

Late - 16 minutes 5 seconds

Early Piano theme development.

Another one of my favorite pieces of music – written in 2006 when I’d just got my hands on a Triton Extreme. Single voice piano all the way through, nods to Beethoven and Wendi’s theme - I really enjoy working to this one – I’m writing to it right now!

The reason this track is called “Late” is because that’s when it was made; late, late in the evening and into the early morning. Most of music2work2 has been done out of normal “business” hours – whether it’s a music gig or a marketing gig – the day job has enabled me to write, to practice, to be a better musician and marketer and as a result – music2work2 continues to develop.

I like to think that this track is a mix between Gary Vaynerchuk and Malcolm Gladwell; take one part “Outliers”, combine with 1 part “Stop watching fucking Lost!” add an incredibly cool and supportive wife and there you have it – music2work2.

---------------- Now playing: music2work2 - Late via music2work2

Wendi at 40 - 22 minutes 52 seconds

2 themes, piano and strings written for Wendi with thanks to Beethoven .[audio:wendi40strings2.5.mp3 |titles=Wendi at 40 |artists=music2work2]

One of my favorite records growing up was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations – his take on Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 in A minor. Originally written for violin, Lloyd Webber created this variation for his brother Julian, a cellist and also a member of a rock band.

The music was cool but the album cover was cooler; it was the electric cable coming out of the cello, the flying V in the background and the 18th century musicians playing 20th century instruments that got me.

I loved the idea that you could go and develop an existing work, that you could build on an idea, take something established and change it radically and yet keep it real; change the lead instrument, change the tempo, change the instrumentation.

A lot of this piece is a development of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata which was the original inspiration behind one of Wendi’s themes (and yes that’s plural – she’s the wife so she has a few.) You’ll hear the original Beethoven theme around 7 minutes or so before it segues out into Wendi’s G Minor theme.

Coming in around 14:30 is Wendi’s other theme – this one was written in our first year together and gave me the courage to continue on with music2work2.

Both themes have yet to be developed to where they are ready for release but they are getting there - hopefully I'll finish them before she hits 50!

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---------------- Now playing: music2work2 - Wendi at 40 via music2work2