Shawn Lightfoot: The Word

God love the servers at The Casbah. They keep me employed and motivated. Lovely, lovely boys and girls they are.

Haters? Bring it. I will go Christina Wagner on a fool.

.....Is a song that i've been picking around with on the guitar for the past week. The guitar is tuned to D-A-D-G flat-A-D. Nice for finger picking. Very drone-tastic in that sitar kind of way. The melody I've picked out on the guitar is pretty much the jewel in the lotus, and it's demanding that I sing in unison. If only I can figure out what it's trying to say. Then I'd have lyrics for this lovely little song. I wanna record it yesterday.

So, I've been reminded that I've neglected this little blog of mine for quite some time. I had no idea anyone actually read this thing. And so, after neglecting the site through the holiday season, I decided to update and make a renewed effort to update this blog/diary/thing more often. Doogie Howser style. Maybe. Perhaps even every day. I'll treat it as an online diary of musical musings, tales of musical glory (should it ever happen) and musical mishaps (which happen way too often).

So....here goes nothing.

On this day, January 26th 2012....I've learned that I should check and double check that Yoga lessons are not in session in the yoga studio next door before I practice drumming in my studio. *SDL*

This appeared in October 2's Jack Magazine insert in the Florida Times-Union.



Shawn Lightfoot
www.shawnlightfootmusic.com
Shawn Lightfoot is a local singer- songwriter who performs solo and with the bands The Brigade and Longfellow Street.

Five Songs I Wish I Had Written

"Jolene" by Ray Lamontagne: It's a singer's song and I sing it every chance I get, whether it's on stage or in the shower.

"Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel: To me, this whimsical song covers the Orphic elements of love, art and death. There is a lyric at the end of this song that has almost become a mantra for me: "How strange it is to be anything at all." It reminds me that I'm ultimately glad to be alive.

"There is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths: This is another song that I perform often because of the playful melody and the brilliant lyrics. The melody and lyrics ooze with this dark romantic quality that reminds me of the better moments of being young and in love. It's pretty much a standard for us bohemian types.

"Last Year's Man" by Leonard Cohen: This song seems to be written in riddles, which I love. The disparate themes give me the impression that the song is ultimately an ode to writer's block.

"Between The Bars" by Elliott Smith: This is one of the songs that influenced me to start writing lyrics in the first place. I love waltzes, and this one pops in my head often. I remember serenading my current love with this song on a rainy night in San Marco toward the beginning of our courtship.

The link on Jacksonville.com is HERE

What's going on in 5 Points? If you asked me that question six years ago, I probably would have been able to produce a sizeable list of things-to-do. Two years ago? Nothing. Friday night, August 14th of 2009, I was glad to see that 5 Points is alive and kicking again.
I was performing at Starlite with the Longfellow Street kids after a rain storm heavy enough to call off my 5 o'clock gig in St. Augustine. A little less money in the pocket was a good trade for some early evening relaxation before a 10 to close set. Eventually, me, my guitar, and my new Roland Jazz Chorus 120 (tee hee) amp made our merry way to 5 Points, rolling into a parking spot in front of the Derby House. Usually, the Derby is closed at night. However, the lights inside, shining like some Edward Hopper scene, revealed folk musicians and music revelers alike having what looked to be a damn-good time. Even Arvid Smith, who is the resident guitar wizard with Longfellow Street, had to drop inside for a piece of the action before our show. The promoter in charge of this show, Raven Stands Alone, approched me and gave me the scoop on what was going down. Once a club promoter and bouncer (according to the rumors), he's come out of retirement to bring a little night life to the Derby House. He even invited me to play a show there sometime in the near future (which will be posted as soon as it's scheduled).
Around the corner down the Lomax Street end of 5 Points, I saw a small crowd gathering outside of Steamworks Pub and 5 Points Coffee and Spice, which used to be Heartworks. Not even half-a-year into it's existence, it's already a place for spoken-word and live music. It's the only place I know of in the area that's open and serves food till three, aside from the 24-hour Waffle House. Apparently, Alva makes a pretty mean Italian sub sandwich. It's also good that Diane has a great thrift shop space inside 5PCS. She had a great little coffee shop in San Marco called Uncommon Grounds, that played host to block party-style music events. When that place closed, I no longer had a daytime cafe destination. I was honestly bummed about it, but to have her and that crowd in 5 Points, I think it gives a sweet little energy boost to the bohemian flavor that makes this village unique. Friday night, 5PCS was host to Jacksonville bands Johnathan Appleseed and Night Lite. Though my own show kept me from checking out their show, I could see the gaggle of kids gathering outside. Steamworks was going off too, although it just seemed to be a regular Friday night for them. No live music, but I know they play host to bands also.
For me it was great to see 5 Points alive with music and people, like a Morrissey lyric. 5 Points is the one thing that convinced me stay in J-ville almost 10 years ago. And though my beloved little village had been in a lull for some time, it was good to see a whole city blocks's worth of "something to do".

I’ve been listening to lots of Elliott Smith lately. After a brilliant show performing with the Brigade band at Club TSI, I promised myself that I would work on something new instead of the tunes I’ve been playing for the past five or six years. I’ve got a lot of ideas and lyrics on the back burner that are in the process of becoming something, and I feel I should turn my energies in that direction. So with the urge to create I’ve also had the urge to listen, and I’ve gone back to the tunes of Elliott Smith.
I was one of the guys that found out about Elliott Smith from watching “Good Will Hunting”. I stayed behind in the movie theater and watched the credits to catch the name of the genius that crafted such beautifully melancholy tunes that sounded nothing like the drivel that was infecting the FM waves in 1997 - which for me was the year that radio completely asphyxiated from lack of quality music (whatever that really is). It may not have happened overnight, but I did eventually discover the used/indie record store in Greenville, NC…..home to East Carolina University and home to me. I must’ve been 18 or 19 years old going into that used record store wearing khaki pants and a tucked-in polo shirt. I was probably looking for Radiohead b-side discs when I ran across that familiar name on an album that would change my life: Elliot Smith’s ‘Either/Or’. It was love at first listen, and I played the disc like it was heroin for my ears. His hushed tenor and meticulous acoustic guitar arrangements were a regular part of my personal soundtrack in those days, mostly while driving around Greenville, Jacksonville NC, or on the nearly two-hour drive through tobacco and cotton country between the two towns.
I’m not sure exactly how the epiphany piphed exactly, but I know I was listening to Elliott Smith when it occurred to me that I too could write a song. How it never occurred before, I’m not sure but all of the elements were present. I had a guitar. I was already a seasoned musician and performer, if you count choirs, musicals and faculty observed vocal recitals. I was listening to the same rock and roll as other kids who were putting shitty lyrics to music. Why couldn‘t I?
Elliott Smith’s music was very encouraging to a kid like me who had an acoustic guitar and nobody else to jam with. With nothing but a guitar and his voice, Smith wrote some terribly lovely songs that had delicate and complex arrangements. And they didn’t lack for anything. All of his tunes maintained a structural integrity with or without a supporting band. Some time after listening to his music, I began to create my own tunes with no more than my voice and my 1987 Fender acoustic.
You’d probably assume that my early attempts at songwriting might have seemed like Elliott Smith knock-offs. If so, then your assumption would be wrong. If there was anything I could identify about Elliott Smith, it was that he definitely wrote from a darker place than I could manage at that time. My early tunes were liquid sunshine compared to that of Elliott Smith’s. If my psyche were a singer, it would be Billy Holliday. However, it was that orphic darkness in Elliott Smith’s tunes that drew me into the world of a songwriter. Perhaps that’s why in the first trimester of my creative rebirth, I’ve got his tunes flowing into my ears from some form of audio placenta.

**Promotion of the new CD "That Old Sweet Southern Style" been done in God's time, or slowly. But surely. Soon I'll be sending some of this stuff off to press, but before I did so I wanted to sort of review the CD myself. Perhaps it's a way to clarify my ideas about "That Old Sweet Southern Style" before a third party reviews it.

Yes...it's written in the third person.**

"Shawn Lightfoot had grown to hate music. Has it really become nothing more than a calling card for posers in pursuit of the sexual and financial quick fix? After eight years of performing within a geographic radius that spans half the country (but mostly in Jacksonville Fl), Lightfoot had to ask himself ' is music becoming an empty experience?'

In 2008, Lightfoot began recording the tracks for his recent Ep 'That Old Sweet Southern Style', his second musical release since 2006‘s 'Nocturnes and Serenades'. Most of the songs on the album are songs he’d performed for years on many different stages and so often that some of the songs had lost their meaning. During the recording process, Lightfoot began to remember the meaning in his old songs. With a refreshed perspective, he began to see that his old songs - Shogun: The Love Story, Johnny Goes West, Sweet Em’ly Brown, and Get Sexy With Me - celebrated the pursuit of higher ideals pertaining to truth, beauty and love. The songs were born again, and Lightfoot himself was reborn as a musician and performer. The latter songs on the album, Picture Show and The Star Light Waltz are mindful markers of that rebirth.

Stylistically, the songs on 'That Old Sweet Southern Style' are folk-inspired but also convey Lightfoot’s eclectic palate. As a young musician writing his first songs, folk music and musicians were an integral part of his early journey. When studying at the Fletcher School of Music in Greenville North Carolina, he was drawn to the Volkslieder, or 'folk songs' of composers such as Schubert and Brahms. When Lightfoot began writing songs, his early musical comrades were folk singer-songwriters and acoustic musicians. Though the instrumentation is largely acoustic on the album, there are subtle hints of electronic elements at work, alluding to where Lightfoot may go next musically.

Ever mindful of his musical journey, his roots and his creative aspirations, Shawn Lightfoot can safely say that his hatred for music is no-longer. Perhaps that’s the deeper purpose behind 'That Old Sweet Southern Style': being mindful."