Tea with Hungry Lucy #81 (dough punchers)

In episode 81 of TWHL Christa and War-N talk about more BSOD adventures, how live performance has chipped away some of their former confidence and their plans to overcome it. The pair tell us of their grand plans for two upcoming shows in September (in Dayton and Pittsburgh) and War-N threatens to perform topless …. ewwww! OPMs this week are Azam Ali‘s latest project, Roseland, The Cranes and the deliciously dark film, Pan’s Labyrinth. Then podcast ends with Christa off to punch some dough.

What HL songs would YOU like to hear live?.

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Tea with Hungry Lucy #80 (bearded men in tutus)

The blue screen of death nearly prevents episode 80 from seeing the light of day. As Christa and War-N speak their special brand of nonsense and tell us tales of hearing disorders, bearded men in tutus, the planting of trees and other such oddities. Final mixing of the song, Hill is complete and War-N keeps us guessing about its impending release. Christa shares her impressions of the delightful Prairie Home Companion film (and radio show) and War-N does his best Garrison Keillor impersonation … nose whistle and all.

Thanks for all the orders this week folks! How was your week? Mac or PC for you?.

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I Listen to Create to Listen

I listen to focus. I listen to motivate. I listen to correct my state of mind. I listen to detach. I listen for inspiration, to summon the muse. When I create, I create something to which I can listen. I create, because I have music in my head, heart and soul, but I cannot physically hear it yet. The desire to hear that music is what drives me to create. I do not create for money. I do not create for others. I only create for me. Once I have finished creating, I like to share. I share in hopes that others may enjoy as much as I do. I do not share to brag. I sell what I create. I sell in hopes of someday supporting my family from my creations. This is not something I deserve or expect. This is a hope … a dream. People buy what I create. I buy what others create. I buy because the creations of others move me. I am moved when I listen.

Why do I listen? I listen to create to listen.

Tea with Hungry Lucy #79 (Wawawawa Beechmont)

Early Sunday morning…huh? In an earlier than usual podcast, the duo chat about the progress on their new track “Hill”, which is coming along quite nicely! CB goes on a small Gardening expedition and War-N quotes Rollo from Faithless on “not catering to anyone’s taste but your own.” That said, Faithless was this week’s OPM, without the catchy little jingle. CB&W enjoyed a fabulous film called “The Fountain” and marveled at the film’s visuals and story. Wow…what a Hugh Jackman you have!!

More progress on the t-shirts. An order will surely follow soon (probably in a couple of weeks) and we can all wear new HL t-shirts designed by Neil! But, we need your input. What size do you prefer? We will have regular black t-shirts, baby doll t’s and the long sleeved hoodies. How do you like yours…small, medium, large, XL or more? Let us know HERE.

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Tea with Hungry Lucy – Episode 78 (Powered by Vegetables)

Story behind the song, and powered by vegetables are back for an appearance! This week the duo discuss CB taking a trip to Asheville N.C., War-N writing new tunes for an old vocal piece CB did at least two years ago and the somewhat weird article Christa read on turning vegetarians back into meat eaters. War-N chats about being inspired more by rhythms again and the process for his new writings. Also War-N chats about the remix he just finished for Lovespirals. No official OPM’s, but War-N mentions the lovely cross-promotion with “The Secret Meeting” and how it’s all about community..in’t it?!

Stay tuned for next week’s show which may, or may not, bring a preview of a brand new track! That being the aforementioned rhythmic delight which will be titled “Hill”. Don’t miss it!

You want a new, loopy theme tune? Do you enjoy the silliness?Tell us here.

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Fascinating Rhythm

This past weekend I watched a good portion of the Live Earth Concerts starting with The Soweto Gospel Choir in South Africa. Their performance included an amazing percussion ensemble. Nothing but rhythm and glorious syncopation. This started my mind wandering (along with the book “This is Your Brain on Music“) about the importance of rhythm. So much of the more recent Hungry Lucy material has begun with melody or harmonic progression. I used to start a lot of writing purely from a rhythmic place (“In the Circle”, “You Are”) and wanted to get back to that. So, with nothing but rhythm, syncopation and a lot of swing I started to construct something. I wanted to capture the feel of this massive percussion ensemble with their heavily syncopated “high-pitched” parts and heavy, thunderous hits emphasizing the downbeats. This was working for me and providing the momentum I’d hoped for. Being a lover of contrast I added an oddly arpeggiated synth-bass figure. So far, sounds like nothing I’ve heard before … perfect! Now for a little matching. Christa has quite a library of song fragments that she has recorded vocals for. One in particular is called “Hill”. I think it’s about 2 years old. The vocal melody has a celtic/Middle-Ages feel to it and has always felt like it should be something cool, but I’ve never found a satisfying setting for it. So, I tried dropping it in against this rhythmic piece … with a little time-stretching, it works. So, I went about figuring out a chord structure for it … came up with something very Bach sounding … not right for this. I tried dropping out every other chord change … getting better. The oddly arpeggiated bass now follows the chord progression. After adding some counter-melodies (way in the background) and some sweeping pads I feel I’m on to something pretty cool. I have an intro, verse section and chorus and then kick the whole piece in with some standard fair “rock drumming”, splashy open high-hats and all along with a Depeche Mode styled synth riff. After going back and anchoring everything with some “felt, but barely heard” bass, the piece is feeling nice and full. A good day’s work.

I’m sure we’ll talk about this on this week’s podcast (to be recorded and posted Monday eve, July 9) and maybe play a bit. I’ve tried to capture the way I work here, so I apologize for the many sentence fragments … this is how my brain works.

Tea with Hungry Lucy – Episode 77 (Actually, actually)

In episode 77 of Tea with Hungry Lucy, both War-N and Christa fixate on the word actually (actually) as they review their performance in the town square of Cincinnati. Neither really liked the broad daylight and lack of HL “fullness”. That means the video is coming back folks! War-N spoke of Prince and his method to release his new album. Retailers are angry but War-N and Christa think Prince should be able to do whatever the hell he pleases with his own music! Christa shares the recipe for tonight’s dinner (a veggie ragu) as War-n salivates in the background.

OPM’s for this week include Miriam and Areonaut (specifically, the instrumental Relics collection). Christa also gives a nice plug to Contagious Graphics as the HL merch supplier of choice. oh yes … SHOUTOUT is back!

The podcast ends with a live performance of Blue Dress … the song that started it all.

You want stickers? What kind? Tell us here.

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