10 songs mixed! I didn’t think I was going to make it this year, but I’ve got a submittable batch of tunes with 2.75 hours to spare! Magic! The rhythm guitars are Les Paul through Vox MV50, and the leads are Les Paul through Fender Bassbreaker…

This one hasn’t quite fallen out of favor yet but it probably will. The interesting factoid about this particular song is that the bass and drum parts were written and recorded on my iPhone while sitting in a hospital room. Later, the lyrics were…

This was the first idea I worked on this year. 5/4 time, as usual. Lyrics were made up on the spot and I don’t think they mean anything. Guitars are all Les Paul. Rhythm through a Vox MV50 and lead through a Fender Bassbreaker. I don’t hate this…

I think the lyrics unconsciously mirror how I feel right now. This was the last song to get lead guitars and it sounds it. This was the last song mixed and it totally sounds it. I’m tired and I wanna go to bed. The guitars are all Les Paul…

I liked this one a lot more while working on it than I do now as I listen to a mix. Urgh. The lyrics were written while sitting in an emergency room waiting area. I actually managed to write two song lyrics while sitting there that day. It’s been…

The 2018 RPM Challenge is underway! One song down with only four days left! This one is overly political, and like most of my favorite RPM songs from the past, it’s in an odd time signature. The guitars are all Les Paul. The rhythm used a Vox…

Something about this song. I think I might really, really like this song. This is the reason why I allowed myself to use music written prior to February 1st this year. I bought a new guitar back in May and at some point during the early summer…

My favorite part of this song is the D major 7 chord at 0:30, bar 19. I just wanted to share that. Robbie does not like the fascist in the white house at all. The sound of his voice makes Robbie want to vomit and the actual words fill Robbie…

I had the guitar parts for the three main sections of this one demoed out back in January so it doesn’t qualify for this year’s FAWM, but it does qualify for the RPM Challenge album. The lyrics are embarrassingly crappy, but someone I care about…

This one seems okay. I’m really tired tonight so I think I might listen tomorrow and find the mix is a disaster. Wait and see, I guess. Most of the guitar parts were worked out in January and then worked into a song in February. The lyrics are…

This one is unusual for me in that I kinda like the melody but the riff is kind of a throw away. It’s almost always the other way around… or more likely I just hate it all. This is noteworthy for this year’s RPM Challenge in that it was the last…

I thought this would be a drop candidate but the more I work on it the more I like it. The lyrics are about how much I hate the anti-vax and flat Earth movements. The guitars are Gibson SG through a Fender Deluxe Reverb. why are we still dealing…

Looks like I have a song for the drop list. This one is a throwaway. If I were to release a single off of this year’s RPM Challenge album, this would be a B-side at best. I wrote and recorded the vocals while sitting in the front seat of my car…

Why don’t I write songs in ¾ more often? This one is kinda fun to play. I’m not sure if it will make the final cut for the RPM Challenge album or not, but it’s done and that’s what matters right now. The guitars are a Gibson SG into a Fender…

This one started out life as a guitar/drums groove that I worked on for the National Solo Album Month back in November. It’s not the reason I decided to break my RPM Challenge Must Be Written in February rule, but it could have been. The lyrics…

The second of three (so far) songs for the 2019 RPM Challenge with lyrics inspired by a ghost story. This time a woman who was executed for witchcraft (yup, I live in New England) who cursed her accuser. Years later his family built a memorial…

Songs in 6/8 time should be faster, shouldn’t they? This one is slooow. I think in previous RPM Challenge projects this would have been a sludgy metal song. Not this year though. The lyrics are about a ghost town in Connecticut where things started…

You can’t have an album worth of ghost story songs without at least one haunted lighthouse song, right? I have no idea what I was going for with this song but it doesn’t sound anything like what I had in mind. It sort of fell apart and then fell…

The 10th and final ghost story song for this year’s RPM Challenge. I think it needs more wah-wah pedal. Maybe. Not sure if I like this or not. I might. Or I might not. I can’t decide. The guitars are all Gibson SG through a Fender Deluxe Reverb…

I restricted my guitar gear to just three effect pedals. They included an overdrive pedal, but no fuzz boxes. Any other year I would have fuzzed the holy hell out of the rhythm guitars here, but it still feels okay with just a cranked overdrive…