Scott Garred Music

I count myself lucky to have seen Beat Happening, an arty trio of raw self-expression, in concert. I was still in high school making frequent trips to Pullman, WA and Moscow, ID to skateboard and experience my first live music. When I wasn't skateboarding, I was very likely watching a band practice in a basement. I was hooked, admiring real humans interacting amidst noise, sweat, and melody. At the time, lyrics weren't as important to me as they are now. I really just loved the sounds.

Butch's Den was a small little multi-purpose area in the basement of the Compton Union Building at Washington State University. I got to see likely a dozen bands play there before I was even out of high school. One exceptional bill featured Fastbacks with Beat Happening, supported locally by one of the best bands I may have ever seen, Ignatius. 

Even Calvin Johnson, the lead singer of Beat Happening, was impressed. He stepped on stage and uttered, "Ignatius." His deep booming voice stretched this one word into at least five syllables. Then, he stared at the crowd, contorted his body, and let it rip. The band was simple: guitarist, drummer, and singer--all three of them changing up instruments. My take away from this performance was that you don't have to master anything to make art happen. Just be expressive.

I don't know that I've seen a better show.

"One of Us" was written by Eric Bazillian and performed by Joan Osborn for her 1995 debut album called Relish. It gives us the idea that God is just a "stranger on the bus trying to make His way home."  While I'm not a huge fan of her music, I'm a big fan of God and this song resonates with me. I will admit that working on this one was challenging. I was so in love with Joan's version that I had trouble getting away from that feeling she created. I was almost ready to move away from it but...

It's the Lenten season and I like the idea of sharing this one now. 

While I'm usually one to research an artist I admire, I must admit that I know very little about Bill Fox. He is a songwriter from Ohio and I think of him as Cleveland's Bruce Springsteen, if all Springsteen ever made was Nebraska. He sings about real people and real stuff. His recordings share the same quality of 4-Track home recordings, although considerably more lo-fi than even Nebraska is. 

I learned about Bill Fox from my friend, Eric, who also lives in Ohio. For years, Eric and I made tapes for each other. We were constantly introducing each other to great music and still are. I distinctly remember a stand-out track from Bill Fox on a mix tape from Eric that I listened to while walking all over Austin, TX.

One day, I went to my favorite record store at the time and ordered everything I could find. A week later, I went back home with two CDs: Transit Byzantium and Shelter From the Smoke. In researching Bill Fox just now, I learned that Transit Byzantium has just been released on vinyl for the first time by Scat Records. It's on this album you will find the song "For anyone that you love." 

It took me ages to decide on a Bill Fox song to cover. I really love his music - the melodies and lyrics resonate deeply. I learned "For anyone that you love" the old fashioned way - just listening and writing down the words I could recognize. There's a section that changes and I don't think I have the lyrics close at all. I hope Bill Fox doesn't mind. My aim is to pay tribute. 

This is a beautiful song.

My most John Denver pose, photo by Christina

Me: (Listening to John Denver) "That John Denver's no joke."

Wife: (Trying not to listen to John Denver) "You do love yourself some John Denver."

Do you love John Denver's music or do you hate it? I find his music to be simple and straightforward. His poetry about the natural beauty of the world is very moving to me, and this is one of his best examples. When he sings "This is a prayer for nonbelievers," I just have to smile. So John Denver right?

I dedicate this post to my friend, Tom Hudson, because everyone needs a friend who loves John Denver. You are my guy, Tom! When he told me over 30 years ago that he loved John Denver's music, I just knew we would have a lasting friendship. I remember the day well. We were at an outdoor concert at the University of Idaho, maybe '91 or '92. Tom and I had just started playing music together. We watched the band, Engine Kid, performing their version of "Rocky Mountain High," which they call "Mountain High." I think Tom said something like, "Fuck, I love John Denver."

I recorded this one on my phone just sitting on the couch. Keeping it simple I guess.

There used to be such thing as a "Fall" album. My friends and I believed in this. We would be walking around campus, new autumn leaves on the ground, with a chill in the air, and a new album by a favorite band would make the perfect soundtrack for the season. Sebadoh's Bakesale was one such album for me. Sub Pop released it on August 23, 1994, just in time for my senior year of college. 

I was in Pullman, WA living alone on Main Street, attending Washington State University. I had my Thursday 1 P.M. radio show on KZUU "Pullman's only alternative." This album would have been in heavy rotation at the time. The promo copy we had at the station featured a black and white photo of Sebadoh sitting on desks in a classroom or library. I loved the lyrics of this song, "Skull": "There is history in this place. There are dragons to be chased." My own career in music was just starting, for it was at this time I bought my first 4-Track cassette recorder and began what would eventually be called Super XX Man.

When I started this 50 Songs Project, I knew I would include a song from Bakesale. I recorded my version of "Skull" using only a Casio CT-X700 keyboard. The only exception is the vocal, recorded with a microphone. I imposed these limitations on myself because I felt like using a guitar would have sounded too much like the original. 

I just hit delete on everything I thought I wanted to say about this song. I'm just going to let it be what it is. It's called "Vincent (Starry Starry Night)" and written by Don McLean. Recorded with the usual tools and mastered in Australia by Warren Gardiner. Thanks for listening!

Cooking up a summer concert series. If you or anyone you know would like to get involved please don't hesitate to reach out to me. For now, I'm just planning Bay Area shows but open to venturing out if it it makes sense to do so.

I had the best time last weekend on my winter vacation. I met up with my childhood friend, Chris Gage. He and I met when I was still in junior high. I've looked up to Chris pretty much from the moment we met. I learned to skateboard and snowboard with him.

We went snowboarding at Schweitzer Mountain. I hit the beginner park and felt like a champ.

Then we met up with the rest of Chris’ family in Coeur d’ Alene, ID. We read old Thrasher Magazines from 1987 - 1990. We skated the family mini ramp after chipping away the ice and heating the wet spots with this weird heat gun. 

We decided to hit the local park and I got this gnarly ollie tail revert. Chris got this cool rock-n-roll. And carving this corner was kind of like being on the mountain again.

You can check my Instagram feed for all of this footage.

That’s what I did on my weekend winter vacation with my childhood friend of nearly 35 darn years. 

Oh and on the way to the airport Chris handed me a stack of photos from the late 1980s. That's a long time ago. We talked about the early days snowboarding at Moscow Mountain. This is legendary area pro, Keith Wallace, blasting out of the half pipe around 1987.

And this is Steve Matthews with three of us looking on.

We both had half pipes. Mine was in my backyard. His was down by his dad’s shop. This is my ramp on 'opening day' with fresh masonite.

Here I am on my Blockhead skateboard in the middle of a big grind.

Here's a picture so you can see how a ramp is put together. This would become Chris' ramp.

Chris did not land this one.

I learned to skateboard in the old Lewiston Country Club pool. We used to hop the fence, use buckets to bail the water out, and skate. Please don't tell anyone. Chris said that he and his friend Jim Cole discovered the pool. Once word got out people showed up from all over. I don’t know this guy’s name but he was the real deal. If memory serves, it could be he was visiting from a nearby college. I think it had 2-3 feet of vert so to see this guy up on top like this scares the crap out of me. 

Anyway, now I’m finished sharing my weekend winter vacation. Oh, almost forgot to ask. What did you do?

Oh crap, one more thing and then I promise I'm done. This is my recording of "I wanna be sedated" by Ramones. It was one of the first CDs I ever bought around 1987.

Featured on Johnny Cash's LP Hello, I'm Johnny Cash, this song has been part of my life ever since I raided my parents' record collection. They always had a great stash of honky tonk records from the 1960s and this is one of my all-time faves. From start to finish, it's filled with rich stories of "love and charity."

Written by one of the greatest songwriters of all time (IMHO), Kris Kristofferson, "To Beat the Devil" tells the story of a down and out songwriter struggling to make ends meet (been. there. for. sure.) The singer enters a tavern, only to see that there was "just one old man sitting at the bar and in the mirror I could see him checking me and my guitar." He listens to the "old man" who seems to know him intimately.

Give it a full listen to hear how it all ends. Start with mine and then go listen to the master himself, Johnny Cash. I recommend the entire album from start to finish. Don't do anything else. Just sit and listen. 

Production note: Live vocal and guitar, recorded with UA Apollo LUNA, mixed to 4-Track cassette, back to LUNA, mastered in Australia by my mate Warren Gardiner at Gardiner Audio.

Over the years I have developed a way to play my Gibson Les Paul Standard with just one hand. I turn the amp up, add a little bit of a CompTORTION pedal, and I simply find the melody and enjoy the overtones provided by the harmonics that develop once it all starts feeding back on itself. The sound starts slowly and builds to maximum volume (we're talking shake the windows loud), at which point I can start painting the sound I'm after. 

While this song by Adele falls a little outside of my criteria of being a song I've loved for the last 50 years, it really lent itself to this crazy guitar technique.

At the core of being a music therapist is utilizing music preferred by my clients. During one session, a client was playing a pitched percussion instrument I keep in my therapy bag. Since they identified Adele as an artist they liked, I used "Rolling In the Deep" as a backdrop for their exploration of this instrument. I was moved by the session and inspired to try singing the song for my own enjoyment.

I started playing it at home with the same slow, gentle picking pattern you hear in this version. I added many layers and a haunting lead vocal, and it didn't take long for me to realize what it was that was missing: several noisy guitars.

When I was in the band Raspberry (1992-1994) with Tom and Shawn (pictured above), we traveled often to Boise, ID. It didn't seem to matter if we played at a bar or all ages venue; we always had a chance to catch a Built to Spill show same day or next day next day next day next day (see what I did there?). I'm almost certain we never played on the same bill. However, Doug seemed to always be bartending when we played the Neurolux. I think it's safe to say he was a fan of ours. We chatted often and one night he encouraged us to make a professional recording with Phil Ek, producer of a few Built to Spill albums including There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Recording with Phil in Seattle at the legendary John and Stu's (formerly known as Reciprocal Recording) was a wonderful experience for us. Sadly, the material was never released.

One day, we played an early show at the all ages club and went to the bar later in the evening to see Built to Spill perform. This was right after Ultimate Alternative Wavers and before There's Nothing Wrong With Love. If memory serves right, we heard many songs from the aforementioned album. I remember a RAT pedal, a second distortion pedal, and a few other pedals, all linked together, surrounding the base of the microphone stand. He seemed to dance on them while holding that red Strat with the Dirt Fishermen sticker. Mouth to the microphone. Hand on the wammy bar. Two feet on the pedals while singing on tip toes, "Christmas, Twin Falls, ID is her oldest memory. She was only two. It's the first time she felt blue." I was floored at how lovely this song was - the minimalist performance of it.

My version is not meant to be perfect by any means. It's a perfect memory, and I get to share it with you now. Enjoy!