BLUE VELVET COUCH SERIES
Season One Overview
Welcome to Season One of “Songs & Stories From The Blue Velvet Couch.” Thanks for stopping by. We’re so happy that you’ve decided to check out what we’re all about.
With everything going on in the world around us, everyone I know needs a weekly timeout… a chance to enjoy the small things that we love; getting together with friends to socialize (even if it’s virtual), eat, drink, laugh, listen to our friends play music & tell stories… but most of all, take a moment to reconnect, remember and be grateful for all of the people that we have in our lives and all of the experiences we love…
So, that’s what inspired this idea: for one hour a week, we’ve created a show where you can tune in to hear original music, listen to the stories, the inspirations & experiences behind the songs, listen to special guests talk about their own songwriting processes & storytelling experiences and even offer opportunities for those listening to join the online conversation in weekly audience participation.
And to know anything about me, is to know that I am an extremely optimistic person… and given that one of my goals is to bring love into every conversation I have; that premise is built into the framework of the content we are creating & the type of guests we plan to have on; offering up ideas that are hopefully not only uniquely eccentric, but also positive and joyful.
If there was a theme to Season One:
“Be The Light, Share The Love.”
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SEASON ONE: EPISODE 1
SEASON ONE: EPISODE 2
Season One: Episode 2 - "Encouragement"
This episode’s theme is all about ENCOURAGEMENT. After last week’s show, I received lots of personal texts & phone calls, all offering me such positive words of encouragement, support and inspiration… for being such a positive, authentic person in their lives and for playing such heartfelt, beautiful music. The LOVE & GRATITUDE I felt was so overwhelming... Thank you... EVERYONE.
With such an outpouring of emotion, I wanted to offer what I could in sharing that love & encouragement back with everyone in this show; so I created a setlist of songs & stories around the themes of "encouragement", "support those around you," "inspiration" and "love."
At the end of the show, I even "encouraged" everyone to reach out to someone this week who had encouraged them to do something that had made a difference in their life and thank them:
maybe that someone had inspired them to reach towards one of their dreams
maybe that someone had pushed them to get out of your comfort zone
maybe that someone saw more potential in them at the time then they had seen in themselves and they extra support gave them that extra confidence to do it!
I know it will make that person’s week! If your reading this, I even "encourage" YOU to do the same! Remember, "Be The Light & Share The Love!" You'll get it back tenfold!
SEASON ONE: EPISODE 3
Season One: Episode 3 - "Being The Light" with Special Guest Brandon Coleman
This week's episode featured two new songs focused on "Being The Light"... Being the light in someone's life, being someone's hope, someone's strength; being a patient hand to hold or having the grace to know when to hold your words back in judgement. Most of all, always striving to bringing the bright light of love into your own circle of influence with friends & family. Listen to "Light Shines Bright" & "Light In The Darkness."
This was also our first episode with a special guest and I couldn’t think of a better first guest, one of the most talented musicians & nicest human beings I know... our dear friend, Brandon Coleman. Not only is he an amazing guitarist, but he is also a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. In fact, both he and Jeffrey are currently mixing, mastering and executive producing my next release, tentatively titled, "The Things We Find In Everyday Places." We look to release that sometime in early 2021.
Among many notable accomplishments, Brandon leads his own jazz quartet and puts out a steady stream of original music. I have a dedicated Brandon Coleman Collection playlist.
Favorites include:
• The Watchmaker
• Aquatic
• A Key
• Snow Angel
• Morphic Gate
You can hear these and more from Brandon on bandcamp at: https://brandoncoleman.bandcamp.com You can also check out Brandon's website: https://www.brandoncoleman-music.com
SEASON ONE: EPISODE 4
Season One: Episode 4 - "Writing Songs About the People I Love" with Special Guest Kristin Fontaine
As with many songwriters, my songwriting is super personal. My songs are about specific people and real experiences in my life. It's one thing to write the song... but it's so interesting & sometimes wild what happens when you decide to share it with the person you wrote it for. Always so emotional. You do always wonder... How will they react and feel about it? What will they say? Have you ever written a song for someone? What were the circumstances? Did you share it with that person? What happened? Has someone ever written a song about you or for you? How did it make you feel?
On Episode 4, we discussed this topic with my wife Kristin Fontaine, as she joined the Blue Velvet Couch as a special guest to talk about her own personal experiences and how my music has infiltrated her life. As we've discussed on previous episodes, I've estimated that about 30% of all of the songs I've written have been about her and moments our lives... from our early dating, to our wedding and even our everyday moments.
SEASON ONE: EPISODE 5
Season One: Episode 5 - "Playing From The Heart" with Special Guest Justin Dawson
Episode 5 features a special guest performance & conversation with Justin Dawson, a talented bass player & composer from Cincinnati who plays regularly with the Eric Wurzelbacher Quartet. Justin has been part of my latest recording project and will join me on some of my songs, as well as play some of his original compositions.
This week's song selection was all about choosing songs about "Playing From The Heart." I have always loved the upright bass and the way Justin's playing adds so much emotion and heart to my music. Justin's style is so emotional as he does everything he can to dial into the subtitles of my music. I selected songs that reflect an authenticity and gentleness to my songwriting.
SEASON ONE: EPISODE 6
Season One Episode 6 - "Electric Ladyland"with Special Guest Michael McGlynn
Episode 6 featured a "pre-recorded conversation" with my brother Michael! He had come out to visit me a couple of weeks ago, and Jeff & I were able to sit down with him to talk about our childhood musical influences, including guessing our top 3 high school influences. You'll have to watch to see what we were listening to in High School. He was also online to answer any questions that attendees of the live show typed in.
I decided also to break out my electric guitar to mix things up a bit this week. My song selection featured Jeff Buckley style playing... delicate, haunting & from time to time, downright feisty. This week's playing, showcased my songwriting & personality in a different light.
SEASON ONE: EPISODE 7
Season One Episode 7 - Favorites, Fan Requests & Birthdays
Episode 7 featured a set of fan requests and personal favorites. It was my final “solo” episode before the climatic finale with the entire band joining me for episode #8. Highlights of the night included: “World of Wonder”, “Our Words” and “Hallelujah.
Like the previous week, I decided also to break out my electric guitar, alongside my acoustic guitar to mix things up a bit this week.
We also celebrated Jeffrey’s birthday with cherry pie and on-set guests.