Hey Everyone,
I’m going to try to post a series on what was on my mind while writing the songs on the new album “Wind&Fire” by my band “NorthOf60”.
I should probably start by saying that the name has more to do with how long each of the band members has been on the planet rather than a reference to degrees of latitude.
The songs were written in 2019 so that should give you a time perspective. In actual fact there were 60 songs written during that period, but only 16 made the album.
For the song in question, I would like to say that I listen to many different music genres from pop (Ed Sheehan, Taylor Swift) to Valdy (Canadian folk) and everything in-between. When Jason Alden came out with his last album “9”, I was listening to it in the kitchen while doing the dishes and I realized it was about the same as the previous 8 albums. That prompted me to write the song “Hey Jason” as a way of offering some friendly advice.
Remember that at the time of writing, the president of the USA was being impeached for a phone call that boarded on what some would call questionable territory. The USA was separating children from their parents at their southern boarder. A number of shooters had gone on rampages in the USA (El Paso) and the view from north of the boarder was that our southern neighbours were losing it. A couple of latin American countries had actually issued travel advisories.
I really like Jason’s songs but I decided to challenge him to write something with a bit more bite. There was no shortage of things to write about at the time, but there were definitely two different views so taking a stand could be hazardous to ones health. Maybe there will be something on his next album. Do you think he will call it “10”?
If you haven’t heard “Wind&Fire” yet you can preview it at http://northof60.hearnow.com
..FG..