By My Side - Copeland

It’s taken time, all this fear I’ve pushed back to move on
Beating me like a panic attack since you’ve gone
And if I never fear to be more alone, I do now

I turn to see my faded tracks in the snow
I’ve come so far with no idea where to go
And if I never fear to be more alone, I do now
I do now

I need you to tell me you’ll be right by my side
When I feel alone, you’ll be right by my side

It’s taken hold of a fool with a fondness for pain
And turned to run without a chance to explain
And if I never thought I’d fall like the rain, I do now
I do now

I don’t look back to spot where I fell
Don’t you look back, and don’t you ever tell
‘Cause we know pride, it doesn’t heal all that well
All that well, all that well

I need you to tell me you’ll be right by my side
When I feel alone, you’ll be right by my side
In a crazy world, you’ll be right by my side

Stevie Ray Vaughan

SRV, among a few others, is one of my biggest influences. The sound, the soul! I tend to go on binges where I’ll listen to the same artist/album for a few weeks, and I’ve just come off of my Stevie run.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is a lot of the reason that I started playing guitar, 8 or 9 years ago. I remember being particularly turned on by the grittiness of his sound, especially live. His music is so real, every note, every bend, and every word is true… It’s not like he has to make this stuff up.

Anyways, Stevie Ray Vaughan is a massive influence on my guitar playing, and I think that’s great.

WYL: Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama

Released in March 2005, Stabbing the Drama is Sweden based Soilwork’s sixth record. A strong follow up to the already successful releases, Natural Born Chaos (2002) and Figure Number Five (2003), Stabbing the Drama appeals to a wider audience while maintaining an already developed sound for fans.

Guitars: I’m quite happy with the guitars on this record. Guitarists Peter Wichers and Ola Frenning mesh well together, and while this isn’t the most technically difficult record that I’ve heard, it has a fantastic overall sound. Their tuning is surprisingly low (Drop B), yet melodies are easy to pick out and rhythms are easily distinguishable.

Drums: After the release of Figure Number Five, drummer Henry Ranta was replaced by Derk Verbeuren (also of the French-Death Metal group Scarve). Verbeuren’s drumming is technical, yet incredibly called for. His fills are surprisingly inventive (check out ‘Distance’ @ 3:02 for a good example). Stylish drumming in a genre that can be confined or overrun by flashy guitar licks? Absolutely, and that’s quite alright by me.

Vocals: I’ve always been a fan of Björn “Speed” Strid’s vocal style, the way his scream and singing go so well together, albeit being entirely different. His performance on this record leaves little to be desired. On tracks like ‘Nerve’ and ‘Stabbing the Drama’ he really belts it out, fitting clever melodies over incredibly heavy music. The lyrics are solid, and display a desire to maintain mental and personal strength when surrounded by life’s common and not so common events.

If you’re a fan of metal, heavier music, even straight ahead rock, you’ll probably enjoy this record.

mheathershaw certified: Worth Your Listening.

Oh no! What happened?!

I’ll tell you what happened. Quite a few years back, I was smacked dead in the face by music, and I asked for more! I play guitar and drums, not necessarily in that order. I also enjoy composing music, typically of the ‘heavy’ and ‘metal’ varieties.

Current Obsessions:

Between the Buried and Me - I view this band as a group of musicians who have become bored with any standard of musical genre, so they’ve decided to mix in just about every style, and they do it with grace. Paul Waggoner, one of their guitarists, is absolutely fantastic. His writing/playing ability continues to amaze me.

Sweep Picking - This is a somewhat difficult guitar technique which has been consuming most of my playing time. Basically, you rake up or down the strings,  similar to the way you would strum a chord. The main difference is that you don’t let the notes ring out. This is also similar to arpeggiating a chord, but it’s not necessarily chord specific. I plan on going into more detail on this technique in the next couple of posts.

Non-linear composition - I’ve tried to break away from the standard ‘aaba’ or ‘aba’ writing style as of late. It’s been interesting piecing together songs with different riffs, while simultaneously keeping the song coherent.

I’m excited! Music is a huge passion of mine, and I hope to be able to share that with anyone who is interested.