February Album Writing Month - FAWM.ORG

$TJ O\'Donnell - tjod$

TJ O'Donnell (@tjod)

progress: 15

winner!
joined: January 29 2007
location: Alaska, USA
influences: Stanley Brothers, Del McCoury, Avetts, OCMS, Meat Purveyors, Danny Barnes, Langhorne Slim, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Prince...

Bio

When I'm not teaching 6 year olds to read, I play clawhammer banjo, upright bass, and fake it on a few other instruments... This is my 6th year fawm-ing.

Been busy with the bass of late. Playing traditional bluegrass with some other dads, while we sort of supervise playdates... as the ET Barnette String Band. Eclectic americana/folk/country fun with the Frosty Bottom Boys, and original material (some fawm-generated) with the Headbolt Heaters.

2012 Songs

1	Trouble	14 comments // 3 months ago
2	50 Below	9 comments // 3 months ago
3	Crystal Clear	7 comments // 3 months ago
4	The Fountain	9 comments // 3 months ago
5	Death by a 1000 Cuts	8 comments // 3 months ago
6	Amelia	4 comments // 3 months ago
7	Absolutes	5 comments // 3 months ago
8	Melody	6 comments // 3 months ago
9	Fair Season	8 comments // 3 months ago
10	Big Idea	3 comments // 3 months ago
11	Alabama Sundog	3 comments // 3 months ago
12	For Sale	3 comments // 3 months ago
13	Easy Way	3 comments // 2 months ago
14	It's True	3 comments // 2 months ago
15	Like A Tree In Winter (with wyatt)	5 comments // 2 months ago

Soundboard

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derekburkins 2 months ago

And congratulations of making it to 14.5!!! Well done!
derekburkins 2 months ago

Thanks, TJ! The banjo is an open-backed Ome and I record it with a fat condenser mic put right in front of me. . . vocals and banjo go right into that mic and are recorded at the same time. I was surprised myself at how well the banjo recorded. . . it took a bit of fooling with the mic placement the second time around, but it still worked well.
timehaven 2 months ago

TJ! Very nice to hear from you. Yes, I've been out of touch this year but wanted to drop something in. Haven't listened to anything really. Wait...I'll listen to one of yours now...there, I did it. Nice. I have now heard 4 fawm songs this year. Thank you for writing. Piedra visits us next week, as amazing and random as that sounds. Take care, amigo.
wyatt 2 months ago

Yeah, Tree works for me. Different but still works. I about had to turn things over to collabors cause I din't know if I'd have a puter the next day
marlenejs 2 months ago

Thanks so much for your comments. On "When failure falls through" you are right, it does have a double meaning..What I was trying to convey was it kind of falling thru the roof on you! So I'll change it...but not completely. i will say "failure falls true"...poetic and will make someone think. Thanks for your care.
arthurrossi 2 months ago

Thanks a lot for having taken the time to comment that profoundly and in detail... I have liked to read it, it is always good to hear an objective opinion as when one writes sometimes it is difficult to anticipate which effect certain words/phrases will have on the people who read a set of lyrics or listen to a song, that is why it is so precious to get a feedback... In fact, the passages you named are those ones that also I myself thought they could "cause some troubles"... I will definitely think something up to change it... Once again, thanks a lot!
wyatt 2 months ago

Sure 'nuff on a Tree In Winter--I'd like to see what you do with it
AND--My puter has been crashing worse and worse.. I'm just trying to limp through FAWM with it --SO if you get sometning done with it and I've disappeared, why go ahead and post it. I think we'll be pretty much on the same page anyway
And Thanks
mikedebenham 3 months ago

You may be on to something. I wouldn't put it past the Finns to create an entire language out of obscenities.
$Elyon\'s mitten - anonymouse$ anonymouse 3 months ago

there is that much repeated (I think) comment of Leonard Cohen's "Ideas are what you want to get rid of" (otherwise you end up writing protest slogans rather than poetry). I'm not familiar with Wil Car Will, so I don't know if this is the same sentiment (suspect a lil different). I am at a very high level of agreement with Cohen, yet almost all my songs/writings are ideas(based)!
derekburkins 3 months ago

BTW. . . I realize now that you don't see responses left in song comment boxes (first FAWM year for me), so just wanted to thank you to for the constructive critique of "When Morning Comes Around." I think I agree about that spot in the lyrics and I am going to go back during March edits and try it both ways. . . thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to really read the lyrics!
monty 3 months ago

Thanks for the feedback on "G Minor's Daughter." I did not play the fiddle unfortunately. It was programmed using Band-in-a-Box and a fiddle Realtrack.
chipwithrow 3 months ago

I assume (hope?) you were comparing me to Jerry Garcia and not Jerry Lewis.
I don't try to sound like Garcia, but I can't help it, I suppose, as much Grateful Dead as I've internalized. And I look over the top of my glasses when I play, too, but I think that's because I need bifocals. I'm going to be doing a video for the covers challenge at dead.net, and I'm not going a Garcia tune - I'm taking a crack at a Brent Mydland song, "Blow Away."
Love your music!