So I’m still very much in the throws of finals hell in school, but I wanted to start throwing stuff up from the show last Saturday night, which was a huge success!
There were about 100 people there over the course of the night. I collected $460 in donations and gave the EFF its $230 on Monday.
Here is a live track of my new anti-war song, In The Spirit. I’ll include the lyrics below. It’s got Alex Walsh sitting in with us on guitar – “us” being Ron Taylor (guitar), Jeff Norwood (bass) and Simon Grant (drums).
I’ve made two versions – one with the little introduction explaining what the song is about, one without the intro so you don’t have to listen to the intro over and over again when you’re listening to the song on your ipod 🙂
Lemme know what cha think!

In The Spirit – w/intro (MP3 – 9 MB)

In The Spirit – Radio Edit (MP3 – 8 MB)

In The Spirit – Video (Small – 14 MB)

So this is the last song. Thanks a lot for coming out. I really appreciate it.
So this song is my first anti-war song. This song is basically about the war and how it sucks and all that kind of stuff, but it’s also about keeping a good attitude about how we have to change things and basically, kind of, rebuild our entire country from the ground up. From square one. And trying to keep a good attitude about it, ’cause there’s a lot of work to do. But if we stay in a good mood and have a good time doing it then we have a better chance of pulling it off.

In The Spirit – Lyrics
Words and Music by Lisa Rein
Sticks and stones won’t make them go away
problems rearranging every day
30,000600,000 faces disappear
history repeats itself in fear
how far will you run
how far have we come
won’t be any fun
without you in the spirit
sticks and stones can’t build a better way
hear their story changing every day
in the distance you can see their lies
targeting you right between the eyes
how far will you run
how far have we come
won’t be any fun
without you in the spirit
how far can we go
time to hit the road
such a heavy load
unless you’re in the spirit
solo 1
sticks and stones can’t build a better way
hear their story changing every day
in the distance you can see their lies
targeting you right between the eyes
how far will you run
how far have we come
won’t be any fun
without you in the spirit
how far can we go
time to hit the road
such a heavy load
unless you’re in the spirit
solo 2

I just uploaded three versions of a new song (Studio, Studio-Guitar Mix, and Unplugged):

Should I Let You In.
I’ve started a mailing list where you can sign up to be notified when new tracks are published and about upcoming live shows.

I just released a studio version of Slipping Away today. (Slipping Away v. 2.0.
Here’s the scoop:

10/17/03 — I just rediscoverd this track when I was in Seattle a few weeks ago doing the RetarDEAD themesong.
I’d forgotten how good this came out, and just kinda never got around to doing anything with it. Now that I’ve played it for people, I’m told it may be my best track ever. (Which reminded me to make it available to you.)
I’ll be going back to Vagrant Records soon to cut some more tracks. This time with Ron by my side in the studio. I can’t wait. (Even if Evan Foster did play the hell out of this song! Thanks, Evan!)
One of the great things about recording with Evan was that he could really pull these songs out of my head. I would say something like “Randy Rhoads tone” (not for this song, but for say Poltergeist, and he would just know what I meant, and play it perfectly. I was really great working with him, and I’m told it will never happen again, because he’s about to be a rock star 🙂 So I feel especially lucky to have worked with him “when.”
Anyway, hope you like it. Check it out.

Here’s another track with “studio” and “unplugged” versions.
It’s Alright
By Lisa Rein and Ron Taylor

This songs too personal to really go into details. It’s a song I wrote to my boyfriend in 1995. So I guess this one is for you, James.
People always wonder if I mean “it’s all right” or it’s (only) “alright.” But the lyrics below are intentional. For the most part, at that time in my life, for lots of different reasons, it was only “alright.”

Continue reading →

I just put up a new song today. And there’s more where that came from.
This time I’m trying something new, and posting both a studio track and an “unplugged” version from our practice a few weeks ago.

Hiding
By Lisa Rein and Ron Taylor

There isn’t really a story that goes with this song. It’s about reaching one’s full potential.
I used to not be able to sing it without tearing up a little. (I actually have a lot of songs like that — like James and Marybeth…)
It’s another oldie but goodie. There will be newer stuff going up soon — and I’ve really been focusing on the new material lately. But I realize that all of these are new to you guys and so, when a friend mentioned how much he liked “Hiding” — and that I shouldn’t be — it reminded me to make this available to you.

Continue reading →

I just put up another old song. Well, it’s new to you guys!
Rain
I wrote this one myself a while ago and finally recorded it a few years back.
There’s more where this came from, so stay tuned!

This is one of the first songs I ever wrote. I wrote it around 1994.
My friend Simon Grant recently mentioned to me that this one was still his favorite. It reminded me of a peak experience I was lucky to have of performing it live with him and two other guys from Scream Radio — Jeff Eason and Blake Harkins — at one of their gigs in Seattle in 2001. (These are the same guys that played with me on Poltergeist, Wander, and Spunky Funk.)
So I went and dug up the studio version I still had of this that I recorded at my friend Joe’s studio in Seattle in 1999-2000 or so. My other friend Scotty produced it. (Damn, I wish I could remember their last names.)
I sing and play guitar and bass on this one. My friend Scotty did the drum track.