Tuesday 26 November 2013

The Last Dictator

  Every now and then I would like to post one of my songs or a video, along with some of the history behind it. I am going to start with a song called 'The Last Dictator'.


  My usual songwriting process is to sit and strum my guitar and wait for a song to come along. Lyrically, this particular song started with the idea of a conversation between Colonel Gadaffi and a nameless western diplomat, wherein an olive branch was offered to him giving him an option to back out of the conflict gracefully.

 This song was written while he was still alive but talks had broken down. I am not trying to make any political points in this song; merely trying to convey the hopelessness and stupidity of the situation. Like a lot of songs I write, the lyrics for this one came forth spontaneously as if delivered to me by a muse, and it wasn't long before I stumbled across the urgent, rolling guitar part to go with it.

  Please let me know what you think of the song and I hope you enjoy listening........

Sunday 24 November 2013

Mixing the new album !

  I have been working on my new album  'The World Looks Very Small From Up Here' for about 6 months now, and today I have sent the final mix off to EMP studios to have it mastered by music guru Mark Elliott.

  I am very pleased with how this 6 track album is turning out. If you have seen me live, you will know that I tend to play solo, accompanying myself with acoustic guitar. On this project I wanted to take that a bit further by adding drums and bass to the mix to give a much fuller sound and a better feel for how I hear the songs in my head.

  I recorded a simple guitar/vocal for all the tracks and then programmed the drums and bass parts myself on the computer. The recording was done at Soundz studios and EMP studios, from which I chose the best result for each track. I think it ended up with 4 tracks from EMP and 2 from Soundz. There is a mixture of new and old songs on this with the track listing as follows;

  1. Madeleine
  2. Portrait of a Cereal Eater
  3. The Second Coming
  4. The Box of Bees
  5. The Man That I Can't Be
  6. A Tale of Winter
 Some of you may have heard some of these live, but there are a couple there that I have never played before. I decided to put in a studio version of Box of Bees because that is one of my most requested songs, as well as being one of my favourites.

There will be more news on the new album soon..........until then...

Cheerio !

The Chris Robson Band - Blog

The Chris Robson Band


  So... I have decided to start a blog so that anyone out there who may be interested in my music can keep up to date with what's going on. For anyone that doesn't know who I am or what I do, I am a singer/songwriter, and despite the name, at present I am a band of one ( although I have fronted a band of four recently, bit that will be the subject of a different post).
 
  I am going to use this blog to tell you about my music; where I am playing, forthcoming releases, what I am currently working on, and any other music related projects I have going at the time.

  Please feel free to make any comments or ask any questions you may have, especially about my songs or songwriting in general. I really do want to hear feedback about my songs, regardless of whether it is good or bad, so don't hold back either way!