During a recent chat with my friend, Marc, a consultant in Salt Lake City, I was excited about our show the night prior and said, "I’m a Rock Star!"

He responded with, "I thought you were a crossover star?"

Which brought up a bit of a dilemma with the issue of genre and musical classification.

It is one I am unsure how to solve or answer. The long answer I provide when someone ask, "What kind of music do you play?" is..

"Modern Americana – acoustically driven rock and country crossover with pop sensibilities."

??????????? I really don’t understand it so I can’t expect someone else to.

Sometimes I say, "think John Mellencamp meets James Taylor meets ??"

That isn’t really it. I am thinking it is rock and roll – with an acoustic base.. or contemporary country pop?

If I say "rock & roll", people assume the current, two screaming guitars and a bit of anger. If I say "pop" they are thinking auto-tuned hip/rap. If I say "country", they think we sing about tractors and jacked-up tailgates and "pretty thangs" in Daisy Duke shorts. Americana? – it is a catch all and the people playing it know that but now even country artist hoping to appeal to a larger base use it.

In any case, the verdict remains out. When asked the question I think I’ll say, "Mighty Fine Music!"

Anyone who has been through a relationship gone wrong will probably relate.

Lyrics below…Still Gone
Copyright © 2010 – Matthew Moran

VERSE:
My friends they call keep telling me it’s for the best
But memories and moments they leave me a mess
And every decision that I second-guess
Leave me certain that I’m failing this test

She still captivates, she still catches my eye
She still makes me wait, she still makes me wonder why
(chorus)

CHORUS:
She’s still dealing every card
The Joker, Ace, the Queen of Hearts
She still walks above the clouds
She’s still laughin’, I’m still down

She still calls me from the dark
Those words that tear my soul apart
I turn to look and she’s not there
But still I see her everywhere

She still turns me round and turn me on
I’m still spinning, She’s still gone

VERSE:
Time is what they say will ease the pain
But time with her ‘s the one thing I want back again
Those hours, minutes, seconds that I can’t redeem
Those hours, minutes, seconds taking longer than they seem

She’s still holding on even when she’s letting go
She’s still leading me, she’s still hot, she’s still cold
(chorus)

~ view online ~

In it, I discussed some of the challenges I had with my current recording and a rush of creativity.
 
I’m writing a lot of new songs – and while I am happy with the output, it sort of seemed to be derailing me from recording the current CD.
 
The fact is, it really isn’t derailing me. I am making headway with the new CD. A friend and fellow songwriter (Jim Pipkin) said to me, “Don’t bemoan the muse, Matt. She can be a jealous bitch!”

I’ll take his word for it. He’s been writing songs a lot longer than I have.

As a side note: I mentioned that my muse looks like Raquel Welch in 1 Million Years BC. He replied that I was lucky – his looked like Ma Barker.

Also, in fairness to the recording schedule, I have been interviewing/meeting with potential band-members. They have all expressed a desire to be part of the recorded project – and that makes sense.

So rather than simply plow through the recording process, I wrote up chord charts, arrangement ideas, and made demos for them to listen to and work out their respective parts.

One of them is recording at his home studio – remotely collaborating. The other, a female vocalist, is hopefully going to come by this weekend to record.

Needless to say, I really am not bemoaning the muse. Whether she looks like mine or Jim’s, as long as she feeds the mind and pushes the fingers, I’ll welcome her in.