Hello Raleigh!

Well, the big move was successful!  Wifey and I are settling in to our new apartment here on the west side of Raleigh, NC.  We're currently working on finding jobs and adjusting to the different environment, and hopefully I'll find some new venues to share my music.  Perhaps the Raleigh State Farmers Market will hear a little Kyle Scobie Music in the near future!  Stay tuned!

Bel isi,

-kyle

Raleigh evening skyline

PS - We've survived our first hurricane, too!  Raleigh is seeing a lot of wind and rain as Irene passes through. The power has been flickering a bit, and some parts of the city are without power completely, but we're faring much better than most everything east of us that got hit really hard.  We'll see what shakes out after the weekend.

Sweet Pea - SOTW #34

I do believe it's week #34!

Sorry to all of my Thursday regulars who may have been expecting this a little earlier today, but this is moving week for my wife and I. On Tuesday we packed a big moving truck to the gills with our junk, then we drove all day Wednesday from Cambridge, OH to Raleigh, NC. Then today we picked up the keys to our new apartment in west Raleigh and unloaded all of our junk. Currently I sit among boxes and plastic totes scattered all over the place. It looks like hurricane Irene has already been through here!

Anyway, on to the good stuff. I knew I wouldn't have ANY time to actually learn something remotely difficult, or have the time to record a good take, so I chose a nice, easy, fun tune by Amos Lee called "Sweet Pea". Mostly know as a commercial jingle, this song was from his 2006 album Supply and Demand. It's nothing fancy, just a good song to make you smile.

I took a quick break on Tuesday from packing the truck to record this one. We had just put the office chair into the back of the truck and I took a seat with my guitar while the wifey held the camera. This was a one-take-wonder, so there are a few flubs here and there, but my break was almost over. (non-union)

Using the Taylor on this one, and my mom even makes a brief appearance as she walks by the side of the truck. Mr. Frog is in this one, too, but he's in a box somewhere behind me. Probably peeking though a handle hole or something. Cheers!


Bel isi,
-kyle

Helplessly Hoping - SOTW #33

Greetings from I-77! It's week #33, and there's nothing like a little mobile AGF-ing. The wifey and I are currently headed back to Ohio after being in Raleigh, NC all week. As many of you already know, we're moving! We found a place and have some employment prospects lined up. We'll be North Carolina residents by the end of next week, and we're really excited to do something new!

This week completes my CSN(&Y) series. I started out by doing a song from each member's other musical projects. Stephen Stills and Manassas, David Crosby and CPR, Graham Nash and The Hollies, and a song last week from Neil Young's solo career. Now it's time to wrap it all up with something form the supergroup itself. So I took on a cool little number (the title track) from their 1969 debut “Helplessly Hoping”.

Mr. Frog and I are in a hotel room again for this one. Luckily the song is a bit more mellow, so I didn't have to hold back nearly as much. Only thing you might miss on my cover is the nice harmonic layering of the original, but since I haven't mastered polyphonic singing yet, it's just me and my guitar. And since we are traveling, I'm on the Yamaha FG730s again. I think it sounded pretty good on this one, silk strings and all. Enjoy!

Next week's song will be interesting, since we'll be in the middle of the big move. Might just do it from inside the moving truck! Cheers!


Bel isi,
-kyle

Long May You Run - SOTW #32

Happy week #32 friends! It's Thursday again! Man, the weeks are just flying on by. Not sure how I feel about that.

This week I continue my theme of "CSN&Y: Other Projects" where I've been going through each member of the super-group and pulling something from their outside work. So far I've cover Stephen Stills (Manassas), David Crosby (CPR), and Graham Nash (The Hollies). That just leaves the sometimes-super-grouper Neil Young. After a lot of listening and test runs on a couple of songs, I settled on this little title track-gem from 1976. The album was a post-Buffalo Springfield collaboration project credited as the Stills-Young Band.

As you can see, I'm joined by Mr. Frog amongst a pile of packed boxes for moving. I thought the background was rather fitting for the song (which is about an old hearse, BTW). Most of the stuff in our apartment is packed and ready to go; wherever and whenever that may be. Either eastern NC or Raleigh will be our new home by the end of the month. Just waiting for some answers from the man upstairs.

There's also a bit of background noise from the A/C cranking. Just pretend it's the ovations of millions of adoring fans. Cheers!


Bel isi,
-kyle

Farewells

So, at some point this month my wife and I are moving to North Carolina.  In the meantime, we've been gradually saying our goodbyes to our various circles throughout southeast Ohio.  In my previous post I mentioned my final gig at the farmers market here in Cambridge.  Then, this past weekend I played two more musical adieus.  On Saturday evening I went out one last time to the Bear's Den, a wonderful little restaurant on historic Route 40 just a few miles east of Cambridge.  For the last couple of months I've spent my Saturday evenings out on the porch playing my songs for diners as they enjoy the wild outdoors around them.  Among the great patrons were a few friends from church, coming out to support me in my final gig at the Bear's Den.  I had a blast and wish I could continue to play there every weekend.  The owners and staff are excellent, as is the food.  I will miss it.

On Sunday I gave a farewell concert at North Terrace Church of Christ in Zanesville.  North Terrace has been our church home for almost 3 years.  I've played with the worship team there for about 2 1/2 years, providing some special music for services as well.  Over the past couple of years people had asked me if I would ever do a concert at the church, and since we are moving, I decided to do a farewell concert this past Sunday.  We had a great turnout for the concert, and I enjoyed sharing some of my favorite songs (as well as some originals) to a wonderful audience.  Afterwards we were thrown a surprise reception of yummy refreshments, giving us a chance to greet people and say our goodbyes.  Of course, we will be back to visit whenever we pass through on our way back to Michigan, but we will miss seeing all of those wonderful people on a regular basis.  But as our friend, Don, said Sunday night, "Miles don't separate friends."  How true.  Between email, Facebook, Twitter, and cell phones, no distance is too great.

Bel isi,
-kyle

Parting gifts (mine's on the right) from our friends at North Terrace

Carrie Anne - SOTW #31

Greetings from Newport News, Virginia! It's week #31 everybody!

Well, it's a little later in the day than usual, but it's been a crazy week for my wife and I. Up until earlier today we were in Elizabeth City, NC checking out possible places for us to relocate in case my wife gets the job she interviewed for on Tuesday. So we've been doing a lot of driving, walking, and looking. And today we spent a good chunk of time down in Kitty Hawk on the beach. And I learned two really important rules of body surfing: be patient and keep your mouth closed! I really wasn't sure when I'd get the chance to record and put up this up, but we drove up to Newport News for the night and had a quick break between driving and dinner to capture this one. Knowing that this week would be limited on time, I chose to cover something pretty easy.

In keeping with the theme of doing CSN&Y "other projects" and already covering Stephen Stills and David Crosby, I figured it would be cool to go after something from Graham Nash's British Invasion days with The Hollies. The group had mild success in the United States compared to some of its peers, as they did a lot of work with covers initially. But they did came out with some catchy tunes. I chose one that Mr. Nash himself helped write, from 1967, "Carrie Anne".

I'm not thrilled with this particular performance of mine. Partly because I didn't have nearly the amount of time to work on this one, but also because I had to hold back a lot because I'm in a hotel room and didn't want to cause a ruckus. You can also hear the shower running in the background. Talk about on-the-fly! Probably should have done this at the beach, huh?

Anyway, here it is. Hope you enjoy it despite it not having the energy or effort it deserves. It's quite a bit different from my typical selections, but I had some fun with it. Since we're on the road, I used my wife's Yamaha FG730S again. I also gave Mr. Frog a break again. He had to stay home with the turtles, and I figured our friend Steve would appreciate it. Cheers!


Bel isi,
-kyle