Meet Me at the Gulf of Mexico (iPhone Demo)
Original demo at top, with actual release beneath.
I feel a special connection with the Gulf of Mexico, particularly that stretch of shore along Florida’s panhandle. My grandparents had a house on the beach in Panama City, so my summers growing up were filled with white sand and blue-green waters, as well as all the adventures of my mischievous father and his brothers and clan.
Teenaged and college summers were spent predominately in Destin-Ft. Walton with an eye toward drinking and bikinis rather than the natural magic of the place, but by my settled-in adult years that sweet body of water had whispered the memories and promises back into my ear, planting the rhythm of its undulating waves firmly alongside my heartbeat.
The recent oil disaster there was heartbreaking and infuriating, and hard to fathom from my vantage point here on the Jersey Shore. A client of mine asked if I’d be willing to write a song about the Gulf for a project he had in mind. Naturally I jumped at the chance, and the resulting song demanded that it become the next Marble Tea single. And so it has (details below).
For this month’s free download, I thought it would be fun to put my original “memory” recording of this song up, so that – if you’re interested – you could have a peek into part of my writing process. I often do this quick type of recording into my phone, nearly always listing the chords used, as a way to remind myself of any ideas that come along. You’ll hear that I hadn’t finished the song by this point, and that it’s much faster than it ultimately ended up being. You will probably also realize that you won’t be asking me to play at your next garden party anytime soon. Fair enough.
If you’d like to get the single version of this song, you can listen to it and download it via the Bandcamp widget up top there.
Roll on, like an ocean.
Presto MusiCo 