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 twitter or subscribe to my RSS-Feed.
There's also a YouTube channel with some stream concerts.
You can find older recordings on the page of my old band HEY NONNY NONNY.

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Song 43: O Little Town Of Bethlehem

12 December 2012 - That's the song I had planned for last week but couldn't record because my voice was rotten. And it wasn't easy to record today either. I think I did abot ten versions, but the perfect one didn't show up. So this is an edit of the final two versions. It turned out ok, I think.
I got to know this song through Bruce Cockburn's fantastic album "Christmas". It really a fine piece of work and the best album of Christmas songs I know (I'm really not a fan of Christmas songs!). If you like acoustic guitars and if you don't like Christmas kitsch, give it a try.

Kai Widmann: vocals, acoustic guitar

recorded and mixed on 11 December 2012

music by Lewis Redner, lyrics by Phillips Brooks

first performed in 1868
inspired by Bruce Cockburn's version from his album "Christmas" (1993)

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Song 42: Silent Night

4 December 2012 - Last weekend I had a gig with my friend, colleague and fellow musician Georg at a pub in Berlin. I successfully ruined my voice singing and abusing all kinds of legal narcotics. What finally killed my voice was a jam session that started around 3 am and lasted for quite some time. I had a lot of fun, but my immune system was not amused. The cold is back, singing high notes is impossible. As a result the song I had planned for today and recorded yesterday didn't get as good as I wanted it to be. So another song had to be recorded and since I promised Christmas songs what better song to start the series with than "Silent Night", a German (well, Austrian to be precise) Christmas carol. I actually don't like this song that much, but I think I got a decent version that's worth sharing. And my slightly broken voice fits nicely ;)

Kai Widmann: vocals, acoustic guitar, hammond, e-piano

recorded and mixed on 4 December 2012

composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, English lyrics by John Freeman Young

first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at the St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg

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Song 41: Love The Way You Lie (Part II) (Rihanna)

28 November 2012 - Who would have guessed that I would do a Rihanna song one day. But I really love this one. Truth is, I never heard the original. I discovered this song watching a German casting show (Unser Star für Baku) where Ornella de Santis performed it. I decided to avoid the original and instead listened to some more cover versions to find the essence of the song. Since I didn't like the original bridge ("So maybe I'm a masochist ..."), I changed it a little (as Ornella de Santis did, my version is closer to her version than to the original). The recording was - as last weeks "Time After Time" - made for Georg to practice for our gig next Saturday. I later added the tiny jazz guitar line and the hammond.
Next week the advent season will have started, so it's time for a few Christmas songs. I don't know if I'll find the time to record, but I already started practicing. So I hope I'll be able to post some more tuesday songs this year.

Kai Widmann: vocals, acoustic guitar, jazz guitar, hammond

recorded and mixed in October/November 2012

written by Alexander Grant, Holly Hafermann and Marshall Mathers

originally released on Rihanna - Loud (November 2010)

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Song 40: Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

20 November 2012 - I've recorded plenty of songs during the last ten days or so, but all in a rush, almost never recording a second take. I had to get these songs finished for my fellow musician Georg to practise for our next concert (1st December, at the pub "Subito" in Berlin - Moabit). So these recordings were not intended for anyone but him. But this one got better than expected. By no means perfect, but good enough to be a tuesday song.
I never would have thought that I one day would cover "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, 'cause I always thought that it would be a sacrilege. This song is almost thirty yers old and it has aged so well. It's still one of my favourites from the Eighties. But Georg and I were looking for new songs to play and we wanted to add some more well known songs to our set, so we tried it and it worked way better than I would have hoped. So here it is, let me know what you think.

Kai Widmann: vocals, guitar, bass

recorded and mixed in November 2012

written by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman

originally released on Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (October 1983)

Comments

claudia - 21 November 2012, 15:10:51

very nice:)

Mac - 22 November 2012, 02:36:56

Just perfect!!!

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Song 38 + 39: Fly / An Interlude - Remaster (The Church)

30 October 2012 - Today I got two songs, both by The Church. The first one (Fly) was recorded and mixed yesterday, the second one (An Interlude) was recorded in 2000 and I've already posted it some time ago, but I think it fits nicely to "Fly", so I did a remaster to make both songs sound more alike. I'm preparing for another gig in a pub on 1st December. So if you happen to be in Berlin, drop in.

Kai Widmann: Vocals, Guitar, Hammond

Fly - recorded and mixed on 29th October 2010
An Interlude - recorded in April 2000

Fly - written by Steve Kilby
An Interlude - written by Steve Kilbey / Peter Koppes / Richard Ploog / Marty Willson-Piper

Fly - originally released on The Church - Seance (1983)
An Interlude - originally released on The Church - The Blurred Crusade (1982)

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