Steve Barden's Blog

Updated Website

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:44:00 +0000

I've updated my website, which has been long overdue. Since I'm no longer actively promoting my CD, Tallulah Lake, I've returned to my composing roots. I began pursuing film scoring in the early 90's. It's been an on-again/off-again challenge due to raising a family. Now that the kids are grown and out of the house it's time to get back to business!

The website is now very simple with a bio, film scoring credits, and music samples. I keep adding new music tracks each week as I've been very prolific in my writing this year. Check it out!

www.SteveBarden.com

My Other Music Page

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:33:00 +0000

I have created a new MySpace music page that represents my alter ego, that is, the one of a film composer. I've been writing music to picture for nearly 20 years now. Although I've written *songs* since the 70's it's only been the past few years that I really took songwriting seriously. I thought it might be nice to share with you my other musical side.

Go here: myspace.com/stevebardenmusic

My past work includes writing for cartoon shows, radio, commercials, short films, etc., etc. I have a lot of music that I've written in comparison to my pop/rock songs. I'll probably be rotating in new pieces of music every week.

Please feel free to add me as a friend and let me know what you think about my work.

peace & love,
Steve

Just for fun...Norwegian Wood

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:33:00 +0000

Today I posted a new song on my MySpace page, a cover version of the Beatles' Norwegian Wood. This has always been a favorite Beatles song of mine and has been part of my "living room repertoire" for years. The guitar part is always fun to play.

The rendition is basically the same as the original, except I added some slide guitar and also some strings and percussion performed by Eddie Young.

Tallulah Lake on sale for $8 at CD Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:12:00 +0000

My CD, Tallulah Lake is currently on sale at CD Baby for a mere $8.00. What a bargain! Hurry! It won't last long.

Win A Free Copy Of My CD, "Tallulah Lake"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:06:00 +0000

During the month of April I am holding a drawing to win a free copy of my CD, Tallulah Lake. To enter, simply leave a friendly comment on my MySpace page including the words "Tallulah Lake". That’s it! You’re entered. You have until the end of the month. On May 1st I’ll draw a name from the entries.

Good luck!
Steve

Singles vs. Albums

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:06:00 +0000

The music industry is going through some growing pains right now. And by music industry I'm referring to the record companies. Nobody's buying albums (CDs) anymore. When was the last time you bought a CD? Was your last music purchase a digital download? If your answer is that your last music purchase was a vinyl LP then this post is not for you and you can get back to your nap. ;)

I read an article the other day predicting that CD sales will cease entirely by 2012. That's the next presidential election. What's going on here??? What's the draw to digital downloads vs. having that piece of plastic (or vinyl) in your hands? The convenience? Sure, it's fast and easy to get your music now. I'm into instant gratification as much as the next guy, but let's get real.

Not so long ago when you heard a song on the radio that you liked you could buy just that song! Those were delivered on 45's - small vinyl records. For you kids, they were called 45's because they spun at 45 revolutions-per-minute (count 'em!). Well, technically you were getting two songs. There was an A-side and a B-side, but no one really cared about the B-side.

Later on people got in the habit of buying full-length albums, typically 10-12 songs. An album was an experience. It was a cohesive piece of work. It was the equivalent of watching a movie. You didn't go to the movies just to watch your favorite scene - it was a part of a whole. It was about the entire experience.

As the quality of music declined those one-hit-wonder bands put out albums that contained, for the most part, a lot of filler. Once CDs became the norm, 45s slowly disappeared. They tried CD-singles, which were really 4 or 5 songs, but it was still filler. I think this is where the idea of buying singles again became popular because you could buy only the good songs and not feel like you wasted your hard-earned money on some really bad songs.

With digital download web sites such as iTunes you can easily locate and buy as many songs from an artist's album as you'd like. So... after my long-winded introduction it brings me to my original point: singles or albums? Should artists continue to release albums or just a stream of singles as soon as they are made available? I'd love to hear your opinion.

As an independent artist the only way I can get my songs on iTunes is to have an album, that is, a CD for sale. Through my relationship with CD Baby I can have my entire CD available as down loadable mp3's on iTunes and many other digital download sites. When I went about putting together my CD it was created as the result of where I was emotionally during that period of songwriting. My life was going through many changes and I was falling in love again. So many of my songs are filled with a common theme. A comment I received from one of my peers (a musician) was that it actually sounded like "an album", meaning it sounded like it was meant to go together as opposed to just a bunch of disparate-sounding songs. Another colleague commented that there was so much love and positive affirmations coming from my words. I was pleased that they and other listeners responded so positively. I felt good about the end result and that Tallulah Lake is a whole and not just 14 songs.

I respect the idea of people choosing to buy only individual songs from Tallulah Lake, but I wish they would listen to the album as a whole. To my surprise, my biggest selling song from the album is "Leanne". I guess there must be a lot of gals out there named Leanne and there just aren't many other songs containing that name.

Huckabee – Weapons of Mass Instruction

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:25:00 +0000

This is the first politician I can recall who really "gets" the value and importance of music and art in our schools.

Huckabee – Weapons of Mass Instruction
The 21st century will belong to the creative; they will thrive and prosper, both as individuals and as societies. The creative ones will be the competitive ones. We're all familiar with the cliché of thinking outside the box. I want American children to think so far outside the box that they're not even in the cardboard factory. Creativity built this country, and creativity will sustain her as we transition to a global economy. We need to encourage the young people who will have those Eureka moments that give rise to leaps in science and technology, that create jobs, even entire new industries. We need to identify the ones who will take the rough straw of a bright idea and spin it into gold.

How do you nurture something as elusive as creativity? You can't teach it the way you do state capitals and multiplication tables. You and I know how – by offering art and music to all of our students, all the way through school. So the secret weapons for becoming competitive and creative are art and music, our "weapons of mass instruction." Yet when school budgets are cut, too often it's art and music that end up on the chopping block. They say we can't afford to have them. I say we can't afford not to!

The arts are a passion, not just a program, for me. When I was Governor, I made Arkansas the leading state in elementary school arts and music education by requiring the highest level of instruction in the country. When I was chairman of the Education Commission of the States, I used that bully pulpit to promote a major initiative called "The Arts – A Lifetime of Learning" throughout the country. In 2005, Americans for the Arts and the U. S. Conference of Mayors gave me their National Award for State Arts Leadership.

Studies have shown a direct correlation between music education and math scores. Music develops both sides of the brain and improves spatial reasoning and the capacity to think in the abstract. Music teaches students how to learn, and the skill is transferable to learning foreign languages, algebra or history.

Students with solid arts programs in their schools are four times more likely to be honored for academic achievement, four times more likely to win an award for an essay or poem, and three times more likely to be elected to student government. Young artists perform community service four times as often and read for pleasure twice as much as other students. Arts education levels the differences in academic performance among students from different socio-economic backgrounds and reduces delinquent behavior. Arts education results in what all parents and school districts are looking to brag about – higher SAT scores.

It infuriates me when people dismiss the arts as extracurricular, extraneous, and expendable. To me, they're essential to a well-rounded education. If we're not providing courses in music, theater, dance, and the visual arts, we're cheating our children. We have to touch the talents of every child, no matter what those talents are. In too many schools, we're only willing to develop the talents of children who run well, jump high, and throw or shoot a ball. I'm a marathon runner and a sports fan. But for most kids, sports won't propel them to the next level of success in life. Soon they'll be spectators of team sports rather than participants. We must have time and money for academics, the arts, and athletics in all our schools.

Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed whether that child is good at shooting a basketball or playing the trumpet. Every child should have a chance to hear the cheers and applause. What about the child who doesn't have athletic ability? What if someone puts a paintbrush in his hand, and he finds his gift from God? People who never noticed him before suddenly are praising him. Inside every child there are treasures to unlock. We owe it to each one to ensure that whatever his talents are, the doors are open to him.

Some children decide early on that they're not good at school and they hate it. Art and music can be a way to save these children, to keep them in school. For them biology may be broccoli and Spanish may be spinach, but when they get to art class or band practice, that's a hot fudge sundae. If it weren't for these opportunities, where they feel successful and worthwhile, where they're enthusiastic and engaged, many students would drop out of school. There is an established correlation between arts education and drop-out rates.

Art and music can do even more than keep these children in school, it can give them the confidence to believe in themselves and approach their other subjects with a new attitude and more determination. Instead of berating themselves as slow or stupid, they see themselves as talented, as special. They know they can do things many of their classmates can't, so why shouldn't they be able to do things many of their classmates can? They realize that just as learning an instrument takes practice and perseverance, so do their other classes. They come to believe that if they're good at something, they can be good at a lot of things.

I'm committed to feeding children's souls as well as their minds and bodies. I want them to make full use of all their talents and find their true purpose. For some children, the discovery of these talents will lead to a fulfilling career in the arts. Without school arts programs, their gifts might remain "buried treasure," lost to them and all of us. Others will end up in jobs that may not be arts-related or make them feel especially important. But for them the opportunity to play guitar at church on Sunday or lead art therapy for cancer or Alzheimer's patients on Saturday may be the most satisfying part of their week and give meaning and purpose to their lives.

In 1966, an eleven-year-old boy who loved the Beatles and other rock bands begged his parents for an electric guitar for Christmas. The cost of an electric guitar was beyond the budget of a family like his, who struggled to meet the rent every month. But his parents made sacrifices and arranged to make monthly payments to JC Penny for a guitar and small amplifier costing $99. The boy practiced for hours on end, often playing until his fingers were nearly bleeding. He formed a rock bank while in junior high school and played through his student days at school dances and small shows.

This boy never became a professional musician, he pursued other things, but he never got music out of his system. Today, past fifty, he enjoys it more than ever and still plays in a band with others who have day jobs, but play just for fun. Their band has opened for Willie Nelson, the Charlie Daniels Band, Grand Funk Railroad, Dionne Warwick, 38 Special, and Percy Sledge, and even played at presidential inaugural balls. You've probably guessed that I'm that boy, and my band is Capitol Offense. If I'd been a star football player in high school – which I wasn't – I wouldn't still be playing full-contact football at my age, but I can still play my guitar, and I plan to be playing thirty years from now. Art and music are not fleeting pleasures, they are pleasures for a lifetime – we never become too old to appreciate as well as participate in them.

So let's deploy these weapons throughout our country, these peaceful "weapons of mass instruction," let's fund them as conscientiously and consistently as we do our tanks and missiles, because they are every bit as essential to our future success.

Mike Huckabee

A Year In Review

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:40:00 +0000

Well, here we are, another year gone by and what do we have to show for it? I think this is the time for a bit of reflection just to see what we have all accomplished.

For me personally I feel that a lot has happened. What did I accomplish? I wrote 14 songs and recorded an album! To me that was my biggest accomplishment. It was a lot of work and I'm proud of the end result. I was able to introduce my music to people all over the world and to my surprise it was received positively.

I've sold a few CDs and MP3s. My song "I Think Of You" has been sitting in the number one spot on Soundclick's Adult Contemporary category for the past several weeks. I've had various songs from the album getting airplay on several radio stations, both Internet and terrestrial. I've included a list at the end of this blog.

I found a foster home for my dog Lola. She has a new companion, Jasmine, and I get to see them every day and take them for walks.

What's in store for 2008? I'm working on putting a band together so I can start performing my music in front of live audiences. I'll continue my songwriting with hopes of having enough material to produce a follow-up album by year's end. In the next couple of months I'll be able to move Lola into my home.

I feel blessed to have so many friends who care about me and have been there for me when I needed support. I have two amazing children that I love dearly, and I have the love and support of my girlfriend and muse, Leanne, who makes life worth living.

We all have struggles and difficulties throughout our lives that can often seem overwhelming. I try to look at the bigger picture and remind myself of all the good things I have in my life and put it all into perspective. It doesn't seem so bad that way!

To all my friends, peace and love always.
Steve

RADIO STATIONS
============================
Keith Community Radio
Scotland, United Kingdom

Emission Pulsions 70 & Radio Aria
France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and in the south of Germany
http://www.radio-aria.net/aria/
http://www.myspace.com/pulsions70
http://www.radiosblues.com/

Beatles-A-Rama
www.beatlesarama.com

Audio RoundTable
www.live365.com/stations/melissaparham

Ear Candle Radio
www.live365.com/stations/jneomarvin

SoundClick.com radio stations
-----------------------------
lovemeloveme's station (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=597282)
LEN AMSTERDAM ALTERNATIVE (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=581433)
Voices In Motion (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=571720)
lynnewood's station (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=566181)
MY SOUNDCLICK TOP ARTIST (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=560384)
edna048's station (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=556225)
TALENT SHOWCASE RADIO (http://www.soundclick.com/stations/stations.cfm?id=401387)
guitargirl2006's station (http://www.soundclick.com/members/default.cfm?member=guitargirl2006&c..station&id=482797)
maxx69's station (http://members.soundclick.com/station/587587)

A Song For Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:03:00 +0000

I'm currently playing bass in a musical stage show called "A Song For Christmas" written by my friend, Erik Przytulski. The show is a contemporary original musical. It's a really fun show with beautiful songs and a wonderful holiday message.

The show is being performed at the Ebell Club theater in Santa Ana (French St. and Civic Center). There are four more shows this coming weekend, Friday through Sunday. If you're in the southern California area I urge you to come on down and see the show. I promise it's a show you'll really enjoy!

If you do come to the show please take a moment to stop by and say "Hi"!

peace & love,
Steve

Own Tallulah Lake for $7.79

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:59:00 +0000

Yes, it's true! You can own my new CD, Tallulah Lake, for just $7.79. Is there a catch? Of course there is! CD Baby is carrying the CD for $12.99 --- BUT if you purchase more than one copy then you get EACH COPY for 20% OFF. Wow! That's just $10.39 a copy.

But wait...you're probably asking yourself "didn't he say $7.79???". Well yes I did. Here's the catch. If you purchase 3 copies - and they make wonderful Christmas gifts - then I will throw in a fourth copy absolutely FREE!!! In fact, I will even autograph a copy (if that's your idea of a good time). That comes out to just $7.79 a copy. (Do the math. I did and I'm pretty sure it's correct)

Please support independent artists. We work hard and spend thousands of dollars to produce our art. Most of us are a long way off from actually making any money from this. We do it because we love it.

Peace & love throughout the holiday season.
Steve

Go to CD Baby to make someone happy

Lola and Jasmine

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:01:00 +0000

Lola is my German Shepherd. She has a slight Rot mix so she is a little small for a shepherd. I've been blessed to be able to keep her as part of my divorce settlement. However, my current living situation does not allow Lola to live with me. During my transition to a dog-friendly home I was in search of a foster home for Lola.

BTW, Lola was named after the Kinks song (L-O-L-A Lola), not the Barry Manilow song ("her name was Lola...").

As luck would have it I found a remarkable situation that allows me to see her every day. After weeks of asking everybody I could think of we found someone who actually lives within walking distance of where I live. "Bob" is an old Hollywood character actor whose career began in the 50's. He's been in so many movies and TV shows it boggles the mind. I recently saw an old "Adventures of Superman" episode that he was in!

Bob has a Lab-Terrier mix named Jasmine who recently lost her companion. The dogs bonded immediately and are now a true "pack". It's a win-win situation because I walk both dogs every day and that is something that Bob is not capable of doing for Jasmine. I feel very blessed how things have worked out.

New Song Posted on MySpace Page From "Tallulah Lake"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:08:00 +0000

I have replaced "A Simpler Life" on my MySpace page with "Let Me In", another track from my CD, Tallulah Lake. Take a listen and let me know what you think!

Check out all 14 songs on CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com/stevebarden). You can hear the first two minutes of every song on the album.

peace & love,
Steve

Have you heard Tallulah Lake yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:35:00 +0000

Have you heard the CD yet? Did you know that you can listen to the first two minutes of every track at CDBaby? At most sites that sell CDs (physical and digital) you can only listen to 30 seconds of a song and those 30 seconds are usually randomly selected and don't highlight the best 30 seconds of a song. You really don't get a chance to get the flavor of the song.

Do me a favor and check out Tallulah Lake at CDBaby and listen to the tracks. Feel free to leave your comments by reviewing the CD right there. Read what others have said about the music. And pick up a copy while you're at it! Only $12.99 for a real CD and $9.99 for an MP3 download. If you buy more than one copy then each copy is reduced in price by 20%. That's too much math for me to do but I'm sure it's a good deal.

Peace & love,
Steve

Download MP3’s of Tallulah Lake directly from CD Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:15:00 +0000

CD Baby has traditionally been a place to purchase CDs from - but you had to go elsewhere to download and MP3 version of the album. Well now you can get my new CD, Tallulah Lake, as an MP3 album directly from CD Baby!

These are very high-res versions: 200 kbps (VBR) as opposed to other places that are low as 128 kbps. That means the sound is much closer to that of the actual CD. PLUS...you can play these MP3's on any MP3 player you own. Also, there is no DRM - that is, Digital Rights Management - encoded, and that can be very annoying!

In addition, JPG images of the cover artwork and a text file full of the liner notes are included. That's pretty cool! Check out their page of MP3 Download info here: http://cdbaby.com/mp3.

So swing on over to my CD Page and check out Tallulah Lake. The CD is on sale for $12.99 and the complete MP3 album is only $9.99. Download the album immediately for your dining and dancing pleasure!

peace & love,
Steve

Beatles-A-Rama !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:29:00 +0000

Beatles-A-Rama (http://www.beatlesarama.com) is an Internet radio show that plays, well, Beatles music. They also play music by other artists that have a "Beatles" sound...like me!

They (Pat Matthews, Beatles-A-Rama owner)) has chosen 3 tracks from my CD, Tallulah Lake to include on his show. The tracks he has selected are: "I Think of You", "You're Not Alone", and "Let Me In".

I'm absolutely thrilled to be a part of his show!

:)

Number One on the Indie Charts

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:26:00 +0000

We did it! Thanks to your support, my song "I Think of You" has reached Number One on the Indie charts (as a sub-genre of the Alternative category) at Soundclick.com. That's out of 22,566 songs in that category!

On the Alternative charts the song has moved up to Number 7! So we're still pushing to get that to Number 1 also.

Thanks again for your continued support.

peace & love,
Steve

Creeping up to Number One in the charts!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:22:00 +0000

My song, "I Think of You" is still moving up in the Soundclick.com charts. Slowly. It has reached number 2 in the Indie charts and number 9 (number 9...number 9...) in the Alternative charts.

My goal is for it to reach Number One in both charts! And to help me reach that goal all you have to do is "listen" to the song on the Soundclick pages. Here are the links:

Soundclick Alternative Charts
Soundclick Indie Charts

Peace & love,
Steve

Misunderstood Lyrics

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:04:00 +0000

There are books dedicated to the subject of misunderstood lyrics. You think you hear the singer saying one thing when in fact something else entirely was said. As a case in point, in the song "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the lyric:

"...there's a bad moon on the rise"

has so often been heard as:

"...there's a bathroom on the right"

that singer John Fogerty now sings it that way!

I received an email recently from a friend who said he heard my lyrics incorrectly. In the song "A Simpler Life" the lyrics are:

"I wish I was living a simpler life
I wish I was living like a caveman and his wife"

But what my friend heard was:

"...I wish I was living like a gay man and his wife"

Hmmm. That's pretty funny. Now I can't get that version of the lyrics out of my head. So I'll probably be singing that version in the future without even thinking about it!

"I Think Of You" is climbing in the charts!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 18:42:00 +0000

Today (Sep 9) my song, "I Think Of You" has reached #3 on Soundclick's Indie charts (out of 22,484 songs) and #21 on Soundclick's Alternative charts (out of 115, 821 songs).

You can help me reach #1 on both charts by simply going to those pages and simply listening to my song.

Thanks for your continued support!

peace & love,
Steve

I Think Of You

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 03:47:00 +0000

"I Think Of You" is the opening track on my CD, Tallulah Lake. This is the song that really started the whole album project. I began writing the song in 2004 during a time when my personal life was taking a major turn. I was discovering love all over again.

This is the song in which I hear over and over again that "it sounds like John Lennon!". It never sounded that way to me. What I heard was George Harrison. That was for two reasons. First, I play slide guitar. I love the sound George gets and have always tried to emulate his sound. So whenever I play a guitar solo I tend to gravitate torwards playing with a slide.

But the other reason the song felt so "George" influenced to me was the inclusion of the diminished chord in the verses. The second chord is a D-diminished which George used quite often (diminished chords in general - not just D-diminished!). What does that all mean? It just means that it sounds like a George Harrison-style song. The diminished chord is not used often in modern pop songs. But go back to the days of Gershwin and Porter and you'd hear them used more often.

To be honest, when I was first writing the song - just me playing acoustic guitar and singing - I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. It just didn't sound like anything I wanted anyone to hear. But as I began to lay down all the other instruments, the guitar solo, the background vocals, it suddenly began to sound like a song.

I put the song aside for a while. I went on to other songs. By the time I had a half dozen songs I decided to create a MySpace page and post a few songs to test the waters. The difference here is that I had decided that these songs were for me - no one else. I liked them. If anyone else liked them - then great! If not, that's okay, too.

But people started responding positively to my music and that really surprised me. I kept getting questions like "where can I get your CD" (I didn't have one), and "when will you be touring in Vermont?" (where's Vermont?). These were tough questions. So while I answered the first question (I released the CD in August on CDBaby), I haven't figured out exactly where Vermont is. But that doesn't mean that I won't be there in the near future!

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to move forward with my songs. I get a lot of joy out of songwriting and I'm thrilled when I hear that my music affects someone in a positive way.

Peace & love,
Steve

Labor Day Discount on Tallulah Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:49:00 +0000

For the Labor Day weekend I've set a DISCOUNT PRICE of 40% OFF if you buy more than one copy of my new CD, Tallulah Lake. That means that each copy is only $8.39! If you only buy one copy it's still $13.99.

Here's something to consider: Buy 10 COPIES for about $84 and sell them to your friends for the regular price - or whatever price you want to charge. I don't care. You get to make a few bucks and I get to share my music with more people. It's a win-win for all!

Thanks again for your continued love and support!
Steve

Here's a handy-dandy order form for your convenience:

Or go to CD Baby and order from there:

A Simpler Life

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 21:34:00 +0000

I have uploaded a new song on my MySpace page. It's a song from my CD, Tallulah Lake, entitled "A Simpler Life". The song is actually quite different than most of the other songs on the CD because it has a Ska feel.

My agent called me a few months ago. "You know those funny Geiko cavemen commercials? Well, they're turning those characters into a sitcom. They're looking for songs that feature either the words Neanderthal or Caveman".

Huh. Sounds easy enough. I don't actually have any songs lying around that contain those words (who does?) but how hard could it be? Since I had over the weekend to come up with something I decided to give it a shot. Usually films and TV shows want something yesterday. I wrote the song in one evening (unusual for me) and spent the weekend arranging and recording it.

I still haven't heard anything from the Cavemen people but they're still having issues with the show! I heard they had to re-shoot the pilot. At any rate, I ended up liking the song quite a bit and thought it would be fun to include it on my CD project. At that time I needed another song or two and decided to include it.

Like everything else I write my feeling is "if you like it, cool. If not, that's okay, too." What I hear now from people is that this song gets stuck in their head. They can't make it go away!

I hope that's a good thing.

Download songs for as low as $0.77 !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:48:00 +0000

This is getting ridiculous. Another digital download site now has Tallulah Lake available. It's called PayPlay.fm. You can find my CD here: http://payplay.fm/stevebarden. They have the lowest download prices I've seen so far! Only $0.88 per song in MP3 format and only $0.77 for WMA (Windows Media) format. The entire album can be downloaded (in MP3 format) for just $8.88!

Sounds like a good deal to me.

peace & love,
Steve

Write a Review of my CD

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:11:00 +0000

Did you know that you can review my CD, Tallulah Lake? It's true! Right there on my CD Baby page (www.cdbaby.com/stevebarden) you can write your own review of the CD. Be a critic. Let everyone who visits my page know what you think about my songs. Or my guitar playing. Or even (heaven forbid) my singing!

Thanking you in advance for your continued support!

peace & love,
Steve

The Dangers of Being "Almost Famous"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Barden) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:39:00 +0000

To recap, I was attacked the other day by someone who was not only a music critic but also a personality critic. (see blog)

I actually found the episode silly and a waste of my time, but I am overwhelmed at the response I received by dozens of my friends on MySpace. Everybody was in agreement that "Ed" probably just needs a hug. I mean, who doesn't get that proclaiming to be "almost famous" was meant to be tongue-in-cheek? Sheesh.

But what took me by surprise was the love and encouragement that I received from so many people. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Or maybe it was just the tequila. Either way, it helped.

Imagine the nerve of the guy telling me that I suck just because I haven't made it big (in spite of also saying in the same sentence that I have a lot of talent). Well here's a news flash: Success isn't measured by appearances on the Tonight Show or Grammy nominations. Success is what you make it. I'm writing songs and that makes me very happy. I'm making music and that makes me feel good! I have friends and people who love me. I completed a CD and people actually like it enough to want to own it! Isn't that success???

Well it is to me. I'm very happy where I'm at in my life right now. I've accomplished a lot, especially in the field of music. I've written music scores to films and commercials, I've been interviewed on the radio in Los Angeles (a major rock radio station), I've even sung on a recording session with Roy Rogers! Suck on that Ed.

I guess it feels easy to attack someone behind the anonymity of the Internet. It would have been one thing to simply attack my music, but to attack me personally??? What a dick.

To all of you who have expressed your thoughts on the matter I thank you. What the guy said to me doesn't bother me as much as simply the fact that he did it. But more than anything I'm blown away at the support from all of you.

peace & love,
Steve