tuesday songs

performed by Kai Widmann

It's been my new year's resolution for 2011 to spend more time making/recording/mixing music. To force myself into doing so, I decided to put up this page and post one song I recorded every tuesday.
After eight months I couldn't go on with this. Having a stressful job and a family leaves not enough room to post on a weekly basis. But I will continue posting songs every once in a while. If you don't want to miss a song, you can follow me on SoundCloud or subscribe to my RSS-Feed.

Since 2021 I'm part of a band again, Fahmi Friedrich Widmann, check our LinkTree page to see what we're up to.

Feel free to leave comments. And please share!

Song 57: Better Be Home Soon live (Crowded House)

28 September 2025 - This one's in loving memory of Miguel Barrios. More than a friend. He was family.
We shared our love for music. We didn't record much together, but when we did, it was a joy. Listen to his percussion on "Roads" or his vocals on "Alyda". I always enjoyed singing with him. No one I know sang better harmonies. That's why I chose today's song, a live rendition from a night of singalong songs. Martin and I were playing and Miguel was in the audience, spontaneously joining us with the harmony vocals without any rehearsal. Since everybody knew he could pull it off, he was asked to sing along at the start of the song, when he was still in the middle of a heated conversation, as he quite often was. But by the first chorus he was ready to join in. Crowded House was one of his all time favourites, and it wasn't the only band we both loved.

You'll be missed, brother!

Kai Widmann: vocals, guitar / Martin Friedrich: bass, vocals / Miguel Barrios: vocals / The BAS community: vocals

recorded live on 26 October 2024 in Felsberg

written by Neil Finn

originally released on Crowded House - Temple of Low Men on 5 July 1988

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Song 56: So Much (Peter Gabriel)

31 December 2023 - My beloved friend and drummer Handrin recommended this song and somehow implied that this might make a good cover for our next Fahmi Friedrich Widmann concert (18 May 2024). And right he was. I listened to both originals (bright/dark side mixes) only a few times, then learned to play it myself just two days before recording it yesterday. The recording was done in a hurry (as usual) and originally was intended for Handrin (Fahmi) and Martin (Friedrich) only as a draft how it could be played . But it got better than expected, so I decided to share it here.
It's the last day of 2023, so Happy New Year to all of you!

A (quite minimalistic) video for this song can be found on YouTube.

Kai Widmann: vocals / guitar (Martin 000-15M)

recorded and mixed on 30 December 2023

written by Peter Gabriel

digitally released on 3 July 2023 (dark-side mix) and 17 July 2023 (bright-side mix), part of the album "Peter Gabriel - I/O"

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Song 55: Fred Jones Part 2 (Ben Folds)

22 April 2023 - I loved this song ever since I first heard it in 2001, but I never tried to play it until I recently stumbled upon it while I was researching songs for a future concert project (only songs in 3 based time signatures like 3/4 or 6/8), so I learned to play it. This recording was a one take, done in a rush, for the first time ever recording with my newest instrument, a tiny Gitalele (oh boy, how do I squeeze my huge fingers in those tiny frets?!?).
This cover version might have its live premiere at a concert I'll play in Heidelberg next saturday (29 April 2023) with my dear friends Handrin and Martin, see our linktree page for more information. Hope to see you there!

Kai Widmann: vocals / gitalele

recorded and mixed in February 2023

written by Ben Folds

originally released on Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs on 11 September 2001

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Song 54: A Thousand Years (Christina Perri)

24 May 2022 - During the last few weeks I've been working on covers for a new Zoom concert, themed "female artists only" – that's my favourite so far. Join me, If you want, on 25. June 2022 at 19:00 CEST. Leave a comment with your mail address, then I'll send you the access link and login credentials.

Kai Widmann: vocals / acoustic guitars

recorded and mixed in May 2021

written by Christina Perri and David Hodges

originally released as digital download on 18. October 2011 as part of the soundtrack album "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

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Song 53: Mamy Blue (Pop-Tops)

25 May 2021 - Mamy Blue by Pop-Tops was a number one hit in Germany from November 1971 till January 1972 and my mother was listening to the radio a lot during that time. So this became my first favourite song and somehow my first cover, at least my mother told me, that I was singing that song even before I was able to speak.
Fast forward almost 50 years ...
To celebrate my 50th birthday I did a Zoom concert that I opened with "Mamy Blue". For the concert I prepared a backing track with drums, bass, jazz guitar, hammond and some tracks with backing vocals. Actually I didn't plan to record as many tracks, it just "happened", the tracks came out in a rush and somehow added up to a dark Calexico-Violent-Femmes-Country-Americana version of that song. The lead vocals and the acoustic guitar were performed live during the concert. Unfortunately I don't have a decent recording of the "semi live" performance, so I re-recorded the acoustic guitar and the vocals yesterday. Quite rough around the edges, but somehow charming.
You can find the live version on YouTube.

Kai Widmann: vocals / acoustic guitar / jazz guitar / bass / hammond / drum programming

recorded and mixed on 16/17 April and 24 May 2021

music and French lyrics by Hubert Giraud, English lyrics by Phil Trim

originally released on the album "Mamy Blue" by Pop-Tops in 1971

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