VIDEO: Performing art in art space
An afternoon with visual artists Joseph Dermody and Jeanine Jackson chatting about art and performing old and new material.
songwriting
Rough Diamond Session: Stepping Stones and Fireflies
Coffee and Creativity I’m sitting in Artisan Roast, my favourite cafe in Bruntsfield this early Friday morning. I’m listening to a piece entitled Stepping Stones and Fireflies I created a few weeks ago but hadn’t found time to work on until now. If you’re interested in the creative process, this is how it can start. […]
Latest release ‘2+2=4’: another reinvention of Muir’s songwriting?
Departure or reinvention? I was reading an article recently about which artists have been successful at reinvention. The article went on to say that these artists recognized the need to reinvent themselves in the pursuit of obtaining a long lasting career in the music industry. I’m sure you’ll have a few artists which come to mind. […]
How did BBC show Taboo inspire new song Same As Letting Go?
Where the inspiration started A few days ago, I had been working heavily on a project for a good part of the morning. After three hours of deep concentration, I decided to have a break. What to do? I then remembered the fun I’d had the previous day after discovering a melody I’d recorded on my phone – where I […]
Writing Session PART 4: Let Me Tell You About ‘The Three Bears’
I often get asked about my creative process. To help explain, I use the term ‘The Three Bears’ just like the folk tale we were read to as kids. It may sound playful, but it it gets the point across. The baby bear is my iPhone to get down ideas for melodies, the mother bear is my […]
Writing Session PART 3: Home Studio Demo
River Running sound byte exclusive. This is an extract from the home demo version I sent to Steve (Producer) yesterday. Steve heard the complete song and liked it a lot, so we should be able to go into the studio early next week. I want to have as much of it done before then. I need to […]
Writing Session PART 2: Words to a Rhythm
These are the final lyrics of new song River Running that I wrote about in my previous post. As with the theme of the song, they seemed to flow into the page. I’ve used some harmonics in the home studio version of the song in order to add more atmosphere, and I can feel the […]
WATERFALL OF SONGS
Fantastic Saturday so far and the sun is just about to say hello properly on the balcony. Last weekend I started a new song Pocketful of Sand. Gracie Day was recording some songs for T489 and I mentioned I had an idea for a song but I couldn’t play this pattern of notes while try […]
Here and ‘NOW’ – new song
I wrote a song seven days ago. NOW was one of those non-stop marathons: five hours on Saturday night, seven hours from early Sunday morning, and the space in between for sleeping. Don’t get me wrong; this was no penance, no exorcism. It was a cool and exciting outpouring of ideas, each running into the […]
New ‘Rough Diamond’ song – You Never Knew Me
To get down quick recordings of new ideas before the moment has gone, I’ve started using a simple method. I lean my Roland Micro Cube amp against the wall, whack on full delay and set it to ‘JC clean’, stretch the guitar cable to where I’m sitting then put the iPhone on a small […]