Category: Video

"I Wanna' Dance With Somebody"

7/29/2022

This weekend, I will be playing music for my girlfriend's sister's wedding. They want me to perform three songs throughout the ceremony: "I Wanna' Dance With Somebody," "I'll Come Running to Tie your Shoes," and "Let's Stay Together."

I've had a devil of a time memorizing these songs. For "I Wanna' Dance With Somebody," the words and sequence kept going out of sync. Last weekend, I had set up some of the studio lights in the livingroom, so I decided to try to make a video, hoping some of the lyrics would sink in.

Here's the raw, muddy result:

This was my first video I've made for a long time. I made a lot of mistakes. I should have made a basic 4/4 drum machine track to play along with, but I settled for a click track; as a result, I went out of time quite a few times.

My uncle, a professional musician, says I should have had less distortion on the rhythm guitar. He's correct, but I do love the sound of those flatwound strings through some light distortion; there's something huge about the sound, something both warm and out of control.

Another friend offered to remix it for me. Perhaps I will take him up on the offer.

Anyhow, there it is. Hopefully I've learned a few lessons for next time.

0 Comments

"Gentle on my Mind."

6/5/2020

0 Comments

I made another covers video for my YouTube channel. This time, John Hartford's "Gentle on my Mind."

"Gentle on my Mind" is simply one of the finest songs ever written. It's sentimental and chock-full of imagery. I think I've always loved it, always known it, that it was part of the ether growing up.

It surprises me sometimes how much songs like this fade from mind from pop culture, how something that seemed ubiquitous can become somewhat ephemeral. But the song's still out there, getting covered now and then by the likes of R.E.M. and Alison Krauss.

My uncle, Monte, wrote a comment on the bottom of the YouTube video:

There’s a personal connection to this particular song. My late aunt Lil, was John Hartford’s book keeper, when she & Uncle Evert lived in Sherman Oaks. John continued to send her Xmas cards yearly, after they retired to Redding [California].

So there's a weird little family connection to the song too, which I wouldnt've known if not for posting this video. Neat.

0 Comments

Coronaoke: "Someday Soon"

4/17/2020

0 Comments

Recorded a video for the "Coronaoke" Facebook page.

I chose "Someday Soon" because I'd never really paid attention to it before I heard people sing it at karaoke in Agassiz. And when I first heard it, I didn't like it. But it grew on me. So it felt a fitting song to choose to post to a group of people who miss doing karaoke.

I kinda' miss karaoke too, but mainly I miss going to pub jams. So I did this recording and kinda' did a pub jam with myself.

0 Comments

Last night: "Take my Breath Away."

1/28/2018

0 Comments

I will be playing at the Valentine's Dinner at the Hot Springs Villa and Restaurant in Harrison Hot Springs on... wait for it... Valentine's Day. As a result, I need to learn how to play some proper love songs.

Here's "Take My Breath Away," a song I clearly remember enjoying as a kid, feeling like it was a good-quality song overall. As a kid, I couldn't hear just how dated the synthesizers were, how oddly repetitive the lyrics were, and just how weird the song was.

So I gave it a little bit of a bossa rhythm, which I consider... appropriate.

https://jeffnords.tumblr.com/post/170215365961/from-tonights-show-at-the-restaurant

Here's the original. Berlin have re-recorded it a few times, so it's important to make sure you listen to this official video-version. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't overdub a different version of the song on the "official" video.

I added a video to a @YouTube playlist https://t.co/DOFbIV5JHV Berlin - Take My Breath Away
— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) January 16, 2018

Didn't realize that Moroder was a co-writer until I printed it off. Cool, Here's the best Moroder thing:

0 Comments

From Saturday night: Roger McGuinn's "On and On."

1/22/2018

0 Comments

I played at the Hot Springs Villa on Saturday night. It felt like an "off night," and I couldn't quite seem to connect to the crowd. But I got at least one OK video out of it.

Here's me singing Roger McGuinn's "On and On."