Making Music with Jake Haws

Here we are, another year now over and a new one about to begin. You know what that means, right? It's the end of the year list time! Listen now for the top ten favorite albums of the year, along with some honorable mentions. To listen to the songs from this episode on Spotify, visit: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/60S3Gq540DnpXeBOaCTRYa?si=34b3f6140ba4420a   For a Spotify playlist of all the full albums from this list, visit: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1pzvlO4HQg3TModjYcxa1H?si=e79c6939690849c4  

For more Christmas music, visit: https://jakehaws.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-songs Every year, I have a tradition of recording Christmas music with my family. Some years, we've only done one song and other years it's been as many as five. This year we were able to do two song. The first one is a techno version of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Each of my 3 kids sang on it and I used the Auto-Tune plugin on their voices, which is the first time I've ever used it. This was a little out of my comfort zone with production style but it was fun to push myself to try new sounds. The second song is a bossa nova style arrangement of "Feliz Navidad." I used a nylon string classical guitar that my wife bought for my birthday earlier this year. I also used a drum beat sample, a shaker, wood block, and bass. For the singing, everyone in my family traded off lines. We started oldest to youngest, so it began with my wife, Melissa (who is a month older then me), then I sang, then the rest of our 3 kids. Then, we all joined in together at the end.  

So, as this year wraps up, I’m sharing my favorite albums from 2020. There were a lot of great records that came out, and I honestly had a hard time narrowing it down to just ten but I did, and I’m about to share them. But before I do that, let me share my honorable mentions. These are albums I listened to and enjoyed but for one reason or another, didn’t quite make the top ten album list for me:   Honorable Mentions Andy Shauf – The Neon Skyline Sturgill Simpson – Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher Tame Impala – The Slow Rush Deftones – Ohms Jeff Tweedy – Love Is The King Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters Hamilton Leithauser – The Loves of Your Life Idles – Ultra Mono Matt Berninger – Serpentine Prison Top Ten Albums of 2020 Travis - 10 Songs Asgeir - Bury the Moon Gorillaz - Song Machine Vol. 1: Strange Timez Nathaniel Rateliff - And It's Still Alright Phantogram - Ceremony Fleet Foxes - Shore Chris Stapleton - Starting Over EOB - Earth Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter Jason Isbell - Reunions For a spotify playlist of these songs and albums, visit: http://jakehaws.com/ep-105-favorite-music-of-2020-top-ten-albums/

Every year, I have a tradition of recording Christmas music with my family. Some years, we’ve only done one song and other years it’s been as many as five. This year, with launching a new stock music website and our busy family schedules, we haven’t done any new songs as a family yet but I was able to put together two new Christmas songs on my own for you to hear. The first one is an EDM instrumental version of “Once In Royal David’s City.” This is way outside the usual styles of music I normally make but it was super fun to try something new and sharpen my production skills. I kind of imagine it being used for someone’s synchronized Christmas light show. Also, here's a fairly straightforward version of "Carol of the Bells." You can download the songs on my website:  I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays, where ever you are.   Download the songs here: http://jakehaws.com/ep-104-christmas-music-2020/ If you want to the rest of the songs my family has recorded over the years, visit Haws Family Christmas Songs. If you want to license any of these songs for your podcast or video project, visit Arches Audio.

In this episode, I'm joined by Eric Bay, a singer/songwriter from Surrey, England. We talk about his music career and collaborate on a brand new song. We recorded this back in March, so you'll hear us talk a little bit about the spread of the COVID-19 kind of at the earlier stages when more people were panic buying. After Eric and I finished writing the song over a video chat, we recorded our parts separately in our own home studios. Eric provided vocals and keyboard tracks along with some synth parts and I recorded backing vocals, guitars, synth, bass, drums and percussion. I did the initial mix, with Eric finishing the final mix and the song mastered by Joe Lonsdale. I'm really happy with how it turned. I hope it can provide some optimism for people during a difficult time. Enjoy. Lyrics: Knocking on the door on a rainy afternoonThursdays always seem to come around so soonI could tell from the look on your face that it's getting to yaYou wanna be strong but you're worried about the future A sunny day is on its way againThe clouds of fear will start to clear, my friendThese are troubled times indeedBut you got everything you needSo hold on for the sunny days ahead Saw a man I hadn't seen in yearsWasn't sure if he still lived 'round hereHe said the people in this town have all gone crazyHuman nature never ceases to amaze me A sunny day is on its way againThe clouds of fear will start to clear, my friendThese are troubled times indeedBut you got everything you needSo hold on for the sunny days ahead A sunny day is on its way againThe clouds of fear will start to clear, my friendThese are troubled times indeedBut you got everything you needSo hold on for the sunny days ahead A sunny day is on its way againThe clouds of fear will start to clear, my friendThese are troubled times indeedBut you got everything you needSo hold on for the sunny days ahead "Sunny Days" on Bandcamp "Sunny Days" on Soundcloud Eric Bay's Music Website "The List" by Eric Bay "Midnight Queen" by Luna Keller & Eric Bay   

In this episode, I talk about a new business I just launched called Arches Audio. We provide music and audio services for creative projects like podcast, audiobooks, youtube videos, ads, TV, and film. Visit archesaudio.com for more details. I also break down a new hip hop track in the style of Gorillaz called "Simple Math." To download this song for use in your projects, visit: https://archesaudio.com/shop/stock-music/simple-math-alternative-hip-hop/ Use promo code "songoftheweek" at checkout to download and use this song in video use for free. Good until July 12. Pitchfork Article - The Secrets to a Successful Podcast: https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-secrets-of-successful-podcast-music/ Circles Drum Samples: https://www.circlesdrumsamples.com/

For this episode, I meet up with an old friend of mine, Drew Danburry. Drew has been playing music for nearly 20 years as a DIY solo indie folk artist, playing over 800 shows around the world and recording dozens of albums. His latest release is the excellent EP, Pallid Boy & Spindling Girl. Some of Drew’s past releases are side projects, many of which being collaborations with other artists. One project Drew and I worked on together back in 2010 was called “Reliving the 90s,” where musicians from the Provo, Utah area covered songs from the 90s. Drew’s song was a fun take on the Vengaboys classic “Boom Boom Boom.” My band at the time, Adding Machines, recorded a version of Weezer’s Across the Sea, which Drew sang harmony vocals on. See the rest of the videos on Youtube. Drew and I later collaborated on a song for his 2014 album “70 Love Songs” as part of his “For all the Girls” project. This time, Drew and I are collaborating yet again on a song for this podcast. We starting with writing a song about sleep, which sort of morphed into a song about the joys and pains of being a parent. It’s called “Goldie (for Dave and Cami).” To read the lyrics and hear the song by itself, visit: jakehaws.com/podcast-ep-101-drew-danburry-and-i-write-a-song-about-being-parents

This episode marks a special occasion because it's the 100th episode! I started this podcast at the beginning of 2016 it’s now just past the 4 year anniversary of putting this out. It's been a blast sharing what I'm working on musically with you and collaborating with guests. So, I thought a lot about what I wanted to do for the 100th episode to make it special so I decided I would talk about sort of my journey as a musician and how creating music has evolved for me over the years. Hopefully it gives some insight into why I do what I do and maybe it will be of some help to you as you travel on your own creative journey. Visit jakehaws.com to download the songs from the episode. Visit thefabfolk.com for more on my folk duo. Visit my new stock music site, archesaudio.com.  

My family has a tradition of recording Christmas songs every year. Some years, we’ve done as many as 5 songs and other years we’ve only done one. This year we were pretty busy but we were still able to do two song. For the first one, my wife and I recorded a jazzy version of Winter Wonderland with 2 vocals, acoustic guitar, bass and drums. The 2nd features our three kids on an instrumental version of Up on the Housetop with violin, chimes and sleigh bells. These two songs (as well as all the other songs were done over the past 13 years) are available for free on my website, jakehaws.com  We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays!

As this year wraps up, I'm sharing my favorite albums from 2019. There were a lot of great records that came out and I honestly had a hard time narrowing it down to just ten but I did, and here they are. Music includes Kishi Bashi, Vampire Weekend, David Gray, Billie Eilish, Takenobu, Vid Nelson, Angel Olsen, Big Thief, Joy Williams, and Telekinesis. Spotify Playlist of my favorite albums of 2019: https://open.spotify.com/user/121154176/playlist/0LOwKZdZTr19Hk8iAiNI6U Spotify Playlist of my favorite songs of 2019: https://open.spotify.com/user/121154176/playlist/4IGjRx7LoUCmBwnDpWyIYV Visit my website: http://jakehaws.com

For this episode, I meet up with Jack Mergist. We talk about how he balances his music and film projects and we challenge ourselves to write a sequel song to the Weezer classic, "Only In Dreams." Visit jakehaws.com for more info.

In this episode, Michael Stanley and I get together and jam on the Beatles.   Visit jakehaws.com for more music and podcast episodes.

In this episode, I sit down with singer/songwriter Cody Butler (aka The Boy and His Dog aka Cody Francis). He plays some tunes and we talk about his musical endeavors and life. We also collaborate on a song together called "Moving Forward," which is about a father watching his daughter grow up. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and free download of the song.

I'm joined by two guests, Dawn Red Sun and Audrey Olivier, originally from Germany and Switzerland, respectively. They share 3 songs they collaborated on and talk about the process of how the music came together. Songs produced by Adam Basedow. Visit their youtube pages for more music: Dawn Red Sun: https://www.youtube.com/user/DawnRedSun Audrey Olivier: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7PAbUqikduGjfrJOcBmUdA

In this week's episode, I highlight a song from my "50 Songs in 50 Weeks" series, influenced by the gloomy sounds of Nirvana's unplugged performance of "Something In The Way."

In this podcast episode, Mike McClellan and I get together and collaborate on a song. We use the "track and hook" method, which is an approach to songwriting and production used extensively in pop music. We came up with this catchy dance pop tune called "Man on the Moon."

This is a love song I wrote for my wife and put on my latest album, Good Grief. Influenced by The Lumineers. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

This week, I'm sharing an acoustic cover I recently recorded of the Frank Ocean song, "Thinkin Bout You."

For this episode, I break apart a modern disco song I recently collaborated on with Dawn Red Sun. The sound is influenced by Leon Bridges' tune, "You Don't Know." For lyrics and more info, visit jakehaws.com

In this episode, I share a mellow indie rock instrumental used for podcast theme music. Visit jakehaws.com for more info.

For this episode, I break apart a recent song of mine called, "The Last Waltz," which is influenced by Arcade Fire. Visit jakehaws.com for details and more episode.

This week on the podcast, I break apart a haunting piano ballad influenced by Wilco. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

This episode, I break apart an original spacey piano rock song called "Only In Your Head," which is from my recently released album, "Good Grief." Influenced by The Walkmen and Radiohead.

In this episode, I'm joined by film composer Joshua Sohn. We talk about his career, play some of his compositions and create a song together, which ends up being a homage to Queen. 

Here's a gritty blues rock song I recently submitted for a car commercial. It's got stomps, claps, distorted guitar, bass, cymbals, hi-hats, and organ. Hopefully it has the type of tough attitude they are looking for. 

This week I'm breaking apart a song from my new album called, "Invisible." It's influenced by Ben Folds, Coldplay, Slowreader and The Flaming Lips. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

My family has a tradition of recording Christmas songs every year. I thought I would share with you the three songs we did this year; White Christmas, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Auld Lang Syne. As a special bonus, I'm also sharing a recording of Feliz Navidad entirely in Spanish. I collaborated on this song with Mariadela, who is originally from Peru but now lives in North Carolina. 

This week as the year wraps up, I'm sharing my favorite albums from 2018. There was a lot of great records that came out and I honestly had a hard time narrowing it down to just ten but I did and here they are. Featuring music from Pinegrove, Lucy Dacus, Parquet Courts, Emily Brown, Gorillaz, Leon Bridges, Kasey Musgraves, Matt Weidauer, First Aid Kit and Glen Hansard. Visit jakehaws.com for more.

So you may have noticed it's been a few months since I've put an episode out and there's good reason for that: I've been finishing my album! And now the long awaited day has come that I'm sharing it with you. This album is many years in the making and one of the most difficult projects I've worked on. I started recording some of the songs back in 2014 and other songs were written and recorded as recently as a few months ago. There have been many starts and stops stops along at the way as I've tried to figured out what I want to say and what this thing should sound like. There's rock songs, folk songs, piano songs, electronica songs and everything in between. There's songs about death, grief, disagreement and anxiety, but also hope, patience and love. As I thought about what it should be called, I came up with the title, "Good Grief," which references Charlie Brown, a character I've come to relate with more and more as time has gone on; someone who wears his heart on his sleeve as he experiences many of the themes I write about. It's also an inside joke to myself about what someone might say when I tell them it took me 4 years to make an album! Besides the artwork, I did everything on this album myself. I wrote the songs, played all the parts, and recorded and mixed everything in my home studio (which is partly why this took so long). So without further ado, let's start the listening party! Grab your favorite beverage and a snack, kick back and enjoy the album.

This week on the podcast, I break apart a brand new song I recently wrote and recorded called "Moving On." This is my best attempt at making a radio friendly pop song, influenced by Justin Timberlake. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics, pictures and more info.

I recently went on an awesome trip to Nashville for the first time, including a stop in Memphis. I talk about, among other things, our visit to the Bluebird Cafe, the Grand Ole Opry, Sun Studio, Graceland, and recording at the Third Man Records vinyl recording booth. 

This week, I'm featuring a brand new song I just recorded called "Little Bird," which will be on my new album coming out this October. This song was influenced by a San Francisco band called The Dodos.

This episode, I'm joined by music therapist, Emily Sanderson. She performs a few tunes and talks about her career in providing therapy through writing songs and performing music with her patients. We even write a song together as if I was a patient! It's a fun and informative episode you're sure to enjoy.

This episode, I'm joined by local blues legend, Brother Chunky. He plays a few tunes, then we talk about how he got started making music, the ups and downs of playing in a band and recording his new album. After that, we even write a record a new song together about going to Nashville. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

For this week's episode, I'm sharing a cover I recently recorded of Neil Young's song, Harvest Moon, which I'll be performing at a wedding later this summer. Visit jakehaws.com for more.

This episode, I break apart an old, slow song I wrote influenced by the indie band Low.   Visit jakehaws.com for more episode and music.

I'm joined this episode by singer/songwriter, Kimberly Knighton. We talk about how she got started playing music, including taking songwriting classes, her time in Nashville and finding her voice as an artist. She performs the songs: Better Now, The ABCs, and We Don't Have To Save The World.

This podcast, I'm joined by Severin Bozung of Seve Vs. Evan. We challenged ourselves to write a song about being picked last in gym class. We ended up with a fun synth-pop tune called "The Underdog (Swervy Courage)."

In this episode, I'm joined by singer/songwriter Iris (aka Britney Holman). We talk about how got started making music, her time recording in Nashville and hearing her song at a Victoria's Secret. She performs 3 original songs: Love?, Let Go, and Blue Sky. Listen to more of Iris' music at officialirismusic.com.

For this week's episode, I'm joined by Tom Brinton. We challenged ourselves to "write a song about another band." We ended writing a song about the first time Tom heard The Strokes and appropriately titled the song, "The First Time I Heard The Strokes." Listen to our conversation writing the song and the process of recording it in this podcast. For lyrics and more info, visit jakehaws.com.

For this week's episode, I break apart a brand new song I just recorded called "Flawed," which will be on my new album coming out later this year. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

Today’s episode is about a song I wrote back in high school called "Based On a True Story." It's influenced by a Radiohead tune, "Bulletproof... I Wish I Was" from their album, The Bends. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

I'm joined by professional guitarist and friend, Mike Fjerstad. We challenged ourselves to "write a song based on an abbreviation." We chose "BRB" and came up with an epic story about a sci-fi romance involving a time warp. Hear our conversation writing the song and process of recording it in this week's episode.

This one is an oldie written during high school. At the time, I was digging the mandolin sounds on R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" so I tried to use that as a template. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

I was recently apporached by someone to record Depeche Mode's song "Somebody" in the style of Blake Shelton to be sung at his wedding.  Visit jakehaws.com for more details.

My attempt to write something in a Bossa Nova style. Influenced by the Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz track, "The Girl From Ipanema." Visit jakehaws.com for more.

For this episode, I'm joined by a special guest, acoustic guitarist Camille Nelson. We talked about how she got started making music and she shares some of the stories behind the songs on her new album, Lead Me Home.

When my wife and I first married, we started a tradition of recording Christmas songs every year. Sometimes it's just one song and other years, we've recorded as many as five. We've kept it up for 11 years now, totaling 24 songs. This year, we recorded "Little Drummer Boy." I sang lead vocals, played acoustic guitar, bass, mandolin, tamborine, and cajon. My wife, Melissa sang harmony vocals. Our three kids joined in and played cajon and sang backing vocals. It was a fun song to put together. I hope you enjoy it and have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

In this episode, I highlight my favorite music of the year including songs from Dr. Dog, Dan Auerbach, Jeff Tweedy, Asgeir, Mac Demarco, LCD Soundsystem, Iron & Wine, Morning Teleportation, Spoon and Jason Isbell. Visit http://jakehaws.com/ep-59-favorite-music-of-2017-top-ten-albums/ for more info on this episode.

For this week's episode, I break apart a folky bluegrass tune of mine about a fictional kidnapping. Music influenced by Tapes 'n Tapes. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and free downloads. 

For this episode, I remixed a track by Bleachers called "Don't Take The Money." Bleachers is the project of Jack Antonoff. He is also a member of the band Fun and has written songs for some pretty big names in pop music including Lorde, Taylor Swift, and Carly Rae Jepsen. His new album, "Gone Now" came out earlier this year. The remix I did was for a contest put on by indabamusic.com. I was given 13 isolated tracks from the original recordings. The rules were that I had to use at least part of the vocal tracks and I couldn't incorporate samples from other songs for copyright reasons. I began by trying to program a new beat using a drum machine application in Pro Tools but I wan't satisfied with anything I was coming up with. Typically most remixes are electronic but I decided it was better to play to my strengths and take it different direction by going with a folk rock sound. I ended up keeping the keyboard track and 4 vocals tracks I was given and adding 2 acoustic guitar tracks, 3 electric guitar tracks, bass, organ, 3 cajon tracks, tambourine, and handclaps. I'm pretty happy with the results. I think the existing vocals fit surprisingly well with the sound and the new instruments keep the song upbeat and high energy. Become a sponsor of this podcast through Patreon.com"