"What Does Spock Love? (The Women)" - on Dr. Demento's Leonard Nimoy Tribute

Included on today's episode of the Dr. Demento Show was a tribute to the late, great Leonard Nimoy.  I'm very proud that a song of mine was included in this tribute: "What Does Spock Love? (The Women)."  We will all miss Leonard Nimoy very much.

Natchtioches-Northwestern Horn Society at the Southeast Horn Workshop

Natchitoches-Northwestern Horn Society at the Southeast Horn Workshop at LSU

The Natchitoches-Northwestern Horn Society performed this weekend at the Southeast Horn Workshop at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.  Included in the performance was my composition "Caer Cadarn."  The video below is of the premiere performance in December 2014.

Farewell, Leonard Nimoy

I have just heard the very sad news of the passing of Leonard Nimoy.  His role as Mr. Spock has always been an inspiration to me.  It was great to recently see him reprise that role in the latest two Star Trek films.  I have lost a childhood hero, and we have all lost a wonderful human being.

Here are a few songs that I wrote, inspired by Leonard Nimoy's portrayal of Spock:

This blog has had a good run.  I'm proud of what has come from the project.  I will continue to post music here, but I will not be doing it according to any set schedule for the time being.  I will also continue to post my new musical works on my YouTube channel, so please check out http://www.youtube.com/samstokes80 to hear my latest music.

Also, visit my website at http://www.samuelstokesmusic.com

Thanks for listening!

#151 - "Scion of Eisenach"

Composer's Voice presents Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Homage to BACH, Maksim Velichkin, cello performed at the Brand Library & Arts Center in Glendale, California, May 4, 2014.

This is a video of Maksim Velichkin performing "Scion of Eisenach" by Samuel Stokes.

#150 - "Life's Vicissitudes"

This solo bassoon piece depicts a personal journey through a rapidly changing course of events in the pursuit of a solace in which peace and tranquility allow for the contemplation of life's vicissitudes.

#149 - "The Relentless Stowaway"

A piece I composed, choreographed by Justin Barron and performed by University of Central Missouri Dance Department on their spring performance "Still/Moving" - April 2014.

#148 - "Gauntlet Down"

A fixed media piece that I composed, choreographed by Ashley Miller and performed by University of Central Missouri Dance Department on their spring performance "Still/Moving" - April 2014. The lighting design and video were created by Jeff Peltz.

#147 - "Stone Castles Burning Down and Being Blown into the Swamp"

This is a humorous piece I composed for toy piano, loosely based on a Monty Python reference.

#146 - "Contronym"

This is MIDI-generated recording of my solo piano piece "Contronym."

#145 - "Gradualism"

This is a MIDI-generated recording of a minimalist experiment piece I composed for oboe, bassoon, viola, and cello.  The opening chord is gradually changed in terms of pitch and rhythm from beginning to end.

#144 - "Zydeco World"

This is a piece that I composed for a competition calling for one-minute record pieces to be choreographed.

#143 - "Homily"

This is another piece for my video collaboration project with Matt DeFord to create 6 second looping videos based on words randomly selected from the dictionary. The video is yet to come.  The idea behind this one is that it fits both the first definition as it is a short talk, and it fits the second definition as it is advice that most people don't want to hear.

Lyrics:
The Lord commands us, "give to the poor and thou shalt have treasures in heaven."

#142 - "When I'm Grown"

This is a rough demo for a song that I wrote for the music students of my friend Michael Durham at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired to use for a recording project.  I'm excited to hear what they do with this piece. When I get the recording, I will post it here for comparison.

Lyrics:
"When I'm Grown"
By Samuel Stokes

INTRO:
B  F#m | B F#m | B  F#m | B F#m |


V. 1
     B                    F#m      |B            F#m        |
They told me I would understand someday when I become a man.
        B                   F#m                | B                   F#m |
But the time has come and I still don't know the things I should know.
B            F#m             |B              F#m          |
Someday if I really try, I'll understand the reasons why
   B                F#m          |B         F#m  |
We do the things we do and go the places we go.

G        E7                  |G                 E7         |
 Maybe I missed the boat, and now I'm trying to stay afloat.
G             E7      | G       F#      |B  F#m | B F#m | B  F#m | B F#m |
Maybe I won't be alone, someday when I'm grown.


V. 2
  B                         F#m           |B             F#m            |
I thought that things would be so clear if I just aged a few more years.
B               F#m             |B                  F#m  |
Now I know that no one knows the things they should know.
B           F#m           |B            F#m        |
Lost at sea without a map, all a staggering mishap.
B               F#m            |B             F#m  |
Going where the winds of fate decided to blow.

G        E7                  |G                 E7         |
 Maybe I missed the boat, and now I'm trying to stay afloat.
G             E7      | G       F#      |B  F#m | B F#m | B  F#m | B F#m |
Maybe I won't be alone, someday when I'm grown. (begin improv solo)

(continue improv solo - B Mixolydian)
B  F#m | B F#m | B  F#m | B F#m |

G        E7                  |G                 E7         |
 Maybe I missed the boat, and now I'm trying to stay afloat.
G             E7      | G       F#      |B  F#m | B F#m | B  F#m ||: B F#m :||(fade)
Maybe I won't be alone, someday when I'm grown.

#141 - "Goodbye, Mama"

Lyrics:
Goodbye, Mama, don't you cry.
Wipe the tears beneath your eyes.
Mama, it's time to go away.
And heaven knows how long you'll stay.

Mama never did no good.
Never did the things a mother should.
And now she gets her just desserts
No matter just how much it hurts.

She said she never knew she was doing wrong.
But I think she knew it all along.
And now she's going away and she's going to have to stay real strong.

Goodbye, Mama, don't you fret.
Don't go saying things you might regret.
It'll only be a couple years.
It won't be very hard to hold our tears.

#140 "Crackly"

This is the second audio-visual collaboration between myself and Matt DeFord.  Matt created the video, and I created the audio.

Expansion of Format for the Year of Song Blog

I've been giving this some thought, and I have decided to expand the format of the Year of Song Blog.  The project began when I was in the middle of the second year of my Ph.D. program at LSU majoring in music theory and minoring in composition.  I began to realize how much I missed writing music as I wasn't making the time to work on the many ideas that would pop into my head.  I focused on "songs" with the blog, which I defined as any musical work including voice.  Since musical theatre is a huge area of interest for me, the idea of writing and recording songs was very appealing to me.

All in all, I have found the project to have achieved many successes.  It rekindled my passion for composition, prompting me to switch composition from my minor to my major.  It has led me to compose more experimental pieces.  It has led to having songs performed by several great performers including Gracie Stean, The Solution, Kelly Riely, Shannon Roberts, Yumi Suehiro, and Viola Yip.  It has also led to me composing pieces in a variety of instrumentation and styles, performed by such artists as the LSU Symphony, the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, the Vine Orchestra, Thomas Piercy, Vilian Ivantchev, Maksim Velichkin, the West Winds, Juan Maria Solare, Robert Botti, and upcoming performances by Suzanne Mueller, Pamela Sklar, Susan Mendel, and Kenji Haba.  Additionally, it has rekindled my interest in musical comedy, and although I first achieved my childhood goal of having a song played on the Dr. Demento Show in 2007, I have appeared on the show an additional 20 times since the beginning of the Year of Song project in 2012.  Finally, the chain of events that began in January 2012 with the beginning of this project has led to me becoming the music composition instructor at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

In the past month, however, I have found that I'm having much more difficulty keeping up with the one song per week goal (I have to record two today to catch up with the original goal), and I've spent some time in introspection to understand why.  Ultimately, I believe that the success of the project itself has contributed to the mental stress the project's format is now causing me.  I chose to compose and record one piece of vocal music per week, because my love of composition began with sitting down at the piano and writing songs, inspired by my love of musical theatre, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones (primarily).  However, since I have felt the emotional uplift of writing and enjoying the success of the project, I have written a number of other pieces, instrumental, experimental, sound art, and so forth, in addition to the weekly song recording.  Since I have expanded in so many different directions with composition, I feel much more pressed for time in writing and recording a (vocal) song every single week.  Whereas I feel that I have learned something from writing and recording each week's song, I have sometimes felt that I didn't produce the quality product of which I am capable, and for which I am striving.

On the other hand, I look back at the 139 songs in the project and am thrilled and gratified that I have such a diverse portfolio of recorded works of my own, which are available to share with anyone at anytime.  It is such a wonderful thing for a composer to have.  And although I feel as if I'm tiring somewhat of the grind of the project, I really don't want my portfolio to slow in its growth.

To address these issues, I am making these changes to the format of the this blog:

1) Although the name will still be "Year of Song," I will expand this to include instrumental works and other types of "sound art."  This will diversify my composition portfolio and allow me more time to focus on works that don't necessarily fit the definition of "song."

2) Instead of strictly requiring myself to compose and record one work per week, I will make the goal to compose and record 52 weeks per year.  The ultimate result is the same, but this will (at least psychologically) give me the leeway to expand and contract a bit without feeling like I've not lived up to the standards of the project itself.   I might post three recordings in one week, for example, or occasionally take a week off.

3) I will be putting more effort into collaborating with other wonderful musicians, allowing them the freedom to interpret and record my pieces as they are inspired.  I have no doubt that I can learn a great deal from relinquishing some of the control of the final product, and it will also take some of the pressure off of me.  Of course, I'm going to do the best to return the artistic favor, by recording their works, or providing some sort of creative service.

I believe these changes will ultimately be a positive thing for me and the project.  I still plan to write plenty of songs, but now I will be free to write other types of music as well.  And I will be able to do this without feeling guilty about "giving up" on a project, which has already far exceeded my original expectations.  Thank you all so much for listening and supporting my music!

Song 139 - Driving Jingle Demo 2

This is a demo for a second commercial jingle for an auto glass shop in Missouri.

Song 138 - "You Don't Need That Girl"

Lyrics:
Sometimes you need a brand new pair of shoes,
Sometimes you need to sing and play the blues.
But listen friend - there's one thing you don't need.
That evil girl, she'll only make you bleed.

You don't need that girl. You don't need that girl.
You don't need that girl and she ain't no good for you.
You don't need that girl. You don't need that girl.
You don't need that girl and she ain't no good for you.

Sometimes you need to buy a brand new car,
Sometimes you need to find out where you are.
But there's one thing that you could do without.
You're better off there's certainly no doubt.

You don't need that girl. You don't need that girl.
You don't need that girl and she ain't no good for you.
You don't need that girl. You don't need that girl.
You don't need that girl and she ain't no good for you.

Sometimes you need to buy a new TV.
Sometimes you need to have a shopping spree.
And yes you need to finally turn your back.
Or you know that girl is gonna give you a heart attack.

You don't need that girl. You don't need that girl.
You don't need that girl and she ain't no good for you.
You don't need that girl. You don't need that girl.
You don't need that girl and she ain't no good for you.

Song 137 - "My Barbaric YAWP" - a tribute to Robin Williams

Robin Williams died today August 11, 2014.  This piece is a tribute to his role as Mr. Keating in one of my favorite films, "Dead Poets Society."