By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another edition of Original Wednesday here at the Laptop Sessions!

Tonight, I’m happy to present the second installment of my summer preview series of my forthcoming album The 2010 Project.  I began recording demos a few months ago, as I mentioned in a previous post, and now I’ve officially hacked out a track listing.  There will be thirteen tracks, all of which are fully composed now and have been recorded in demo form — a few of the demos are more fully produced, but minimally.

Now, I’m at the phase where I’m putting together the tools I need to record.  With the help of a friend, I’ve recently picked up a set of seriously great headphones, which will be a necessary component of the mixing process.  He also helped me pick out a USB microphone that I’ve been experimenting with this week.  There is a line in and external mic plug that I may use if I’d like to refine the sound quality as I begin to record the tracks in a couple weeks.  Finally, I had to replace my guitar pedal, which I had to throw away a few months ago when I pulled it out of storage and found the batteries had leaked.  I tried to clean it out, but it was too far gone.  So, I just got the latest Zoom pedal, which I can’t wait to try out!

Which brings me to the track I’m unveiling today.  Previously, this has only been played for two people: my girlfriend and one of my dearest friends of all time.  Both encouraged me that the new music I’ve been writing is among my best, so I’m hoping to make them proud by the time I’ve finished recording this new album.

And it’s about time — this marks four years since Love Out of Fashion!

“I Would Prefer Not To” will be the second track on the album, following “No Lights, No Sound.”  Those of you English majors out there will pick up on the allusion to the Herman Melville short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.”  The verses are as simple as they come, only two chords: D and A.  When I record the studio version, I hope to flesh out the riff I have in my mind and make that more catchy.  The chorus is more interesting and, as in my favorite songs by artists like Bob Dylan, Mike Fusco, and others, the lyrics change slightly each time around.  The song deals with the conflicts that arise from not wanting to disappoint others, but also needing to follow your impulses and passions.  It’s a very personal song, critical at times — though it’s meant to be more confident than scathing — and I think there is a universal quality to it, regardless of its personal nature.

Without further ado, I give you my acoustic performance of “I Would Prefer Not To.”  I hope you like it, and that you’ll continue to check back for more Original Wednesdays in the near future.

See you next session!

By Jeff Copperthite:
Welcome to Saturday’s edition of The Laptop Sessions, where I bring you another song by request. This song, while being an Itunes-only purchasable track, is easily one of the coolest songs by America.

The song is called “Glass King” and is written by Dewey Bunnell. It has a great bluesy guitar riff and sung in that classic Dewey style. It easily translates to acoustic since both Dewey & Gerry Beckley are on acoustic guitars when they play this song live. I became an instant fan of this song once I bought their album “Here & Now” on itunes.

Speaking of which, it is a great, great album. This song should really have been part of it, instead of as a bonus track. Don’t get me wrong – the songs that are part of the “official” album are all great in their own right. After all, it’s America – one of the greatest bands of all!

I hope you enjoy this song, as I am sure this will be added to my live song library for The Laptop Sessions Live Tour (remember, May 16 @ George’s II in Wallingford!)!

Be sure to come back tomorrow, where Jim will kick off another specialty week here at http://www.laptopsessions.com – #1 week! We’ll see you tomorrow for that!

For Pearl Jam chords and lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to a special Saturday edition of the Laptop Sessions!  I finally passed the 90,000 mark on YouTube, so I figured, “What better way to celebrate than to post an all-new session?”  The answer to that question is the video you’re about to view.

So, why this song?  The truth is that I know very little about Pearl Jam.  Binaural is the first Pearl Jam album that I’ve bought, and there’s a funny story behind that.  I bought it along with two other discs that were marked down at Circuit City.  The other two albums were ones that I’ve been waiting and waiting for a decent price to buy.  I bought Binaural because it was $4.  Brand new!  Now, Circuit City going-out-of-business sale or not, that’s an outstanding price!  My first response was to check the packaging over for signs of a compilation album.  Was this all rarities and b-sides?  Was this an EP? It appeared to be a full album.  So, I did what anyone in my position would do…

I pulled out my iPhone and jumped onto the good ole World Wide Web!

Sure enough, Binaural was a full studio album.  With that in mind, as well as my interest in the upcoming remastered release of their debut album, Ten, I bought it.  At first, I wasn’t crazy about much of it.  Then, at some point during the second listen, songs began to click.  The booklet is really well done, so although Eddie Vedder’s lyrics are unclear at times, I was able to refer to the booklet.  One by one, I fell in love with the tracks and couldn’t stop listening to it.  Now, it turns out that this $4 CD has been my most worthwhile album purchase in a long time!

Before I say much more, I should stop and save my thoughts for tomorrow’s posting of the second installment in my “Deep Racks Report” series.  After the response to last week’s report on Wilco’s A.M., I’m pumped up to finish writing this one.  I was lucky last week that someone found my article and posted the link on an oft-frequented Jay Farrar message board.  If only I knew how I could get my articles seen each week…

So, without further ado, I bring you my first Pearl Jam cover song music video, joining Jeff, who is already six songs strong!  I hope that this holds up to Jeff’s standards for this 90′s alternative rock band that he knows far better than I do.  Or, at least, for now.  (I’m learning…)

See you next session!

By Jeff Copperthite:

Monday is always a tricky day for all that begin their workweek on that day of the week.  Weird things tend to happen on that day – I think it’s because people have just their weekends and are more prone to find unkind things weird and abnormal.

I’m certainly in the latter group.

On a morning where someone decided “Egg & Cheese” was the same as “Sausage Egg & Cheese”, I decided (well, against my will) to have a weird Monday.  And it’s just getting more abnormal.

Youtube is having maintenance tonight – on my night – again – for the umpteenth time.

It’s becoming weird when that doesn’t happen to me.

Ok well, the video you will soon get to enjoy is a Pearl Jam song called “Immortality” from their album “Vitalogy”.  This marks the 4th song I have covered from this album, as I have always enjoyed its awesome array of songs.  I think this album is one of their finer releases, and has many more acoustic cover worthy songs on it.  I also have a knack for something songs in a minor key.

Whenever you get to watch this video, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you come back for an extra special Thumpin’ Thursday ®.  Of course, I know you’ll be coming back to enjoy Jim & Chris’ next offerings as well.

Until then… (quick, find the last time I closed a blog post with those words!)