I haven’t been able to compose quite as much lately as I’d like, but I had fun with a little 5/4 composition that I wrote on 8 November 2023. It’s called “Orange Roll,” mainly because I wrote it with an orange gel pen, and I had fun playing around with the harmonies and variations on it.
I’m dipping back into the hymnal for this week’s Open Mic Adventure, from the same Sunday service as last week’s installment. This week, I’m featuring a short video of the hymn “‘Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus,” written by Louisa M. R. Stead and set to the tune “Trust in Jesus” by William J. Kirkpatrick.
In the wake of Anklegate 2023, I’ve been leaning on the Lord (and other people) more than ever. So it seemed appropriate to look back a piano performance of the hymn “I Need Thee Every Hour” from before the Sunday, 22 October 2023 morning service at my church.
I’m diving back into Péchés d’âge moyen with the track “Andante in D major“; it’s a sweet little lo-fi tune that I enjoy, with some vaguely Impressionistic shades.
Now that school is back in session, yours portly isn’t making it out to open mic night much, so I’m doing what I do best: mining the rich veins of my old, neglected works.
This week I’d like to share “Minuet for a New Moon,” which I composed on 9 February 2022 as part of Péchés d’âge moyen, the highly unpopular collection of lo-fi solo piano pieces I released largely as part of an inside Internet joke.
My latest album, Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids has now hit all streaming services. That includes the following:
…and many more. That being the case, I thought I’d look back at two recent Open Mic Adventures posts:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
I released Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids last Friday, 6 October 2023. Sales were… disappointing, but actually exceeded my normal sales, so I suppose I am happy about that.
Regardless, I am proud of the album. Most composers are not appreciated in their times, and my instrumental music is definitely “niche.” I enjoy the process of composing, editing, and publishing music, so that’s something.
But I digress. This week, I thought I’d feature the opening track from the album, “Bigfoot Boogie.”
The Roman numeral “L” means “fifty,” which means I’ve been writing these Open Mic Adventures posts for nearly a year now. It also means I couldn’t pass up the alliterative opportunity to have the Lth edition feature “Lament of the Lizardman,” which will appear on my next album, Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids, due out on Bandcamp this Friday, 6 October 2023, and on all streaming services one week later, Friday the 13th (mwahahahaha!).
For those that don’t know, the Lizardman of Lee County is a local cryptid here in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. He is most strongly associated with Bishopville, South Carolina, which is a mere twenty-minute drive from my place.
This past Friday, 22 September 2023, I played a gig at a local coffee shop with my buddy John. I was recovering from a sinus infection, but through a combination of cough drops, water, and tea, I soldiered through and managed to hit quite a few high notes—woooooot! It also helped having John there to carry lead vocals on several tunes.
It was a sloppy performance on my end—I mixed up the lyrics to a song I have been singing for eleven years!—but I’m chalking that up to the sinus congestion and my slowly diminishing mental faculties. The result, regardless, was an absurd, self-indulgent, over-the-top, ridiculous, long closing number to a very fun show.
I’m hosting a FREE online listening party for Spooky Season on Sunday, 1 October 2023, at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. You can RSVP here.
After the unusual success of “Skeleton Dance No. 1” on YouTube, I knew it was time to compose “Skeleton Dance No. 2.” As is often the case with sequels, “Skeleton Dance No. 2” is far more developed and fleshed-out (no pun intended) than its predecessor.
The Portly Politico 