About Brendan's Music

Listen to the free Download of "Dancing With Armageddon" and the MP3 sample of  " Wings of darkness"  from Brendan's
 new album "American Mythology" coming soon!

WHERE TO BUY

Paid Down Loads from "On the Edge of Time" 

Our CD Is Also Directly Available at: 

New Intro to The making of the album “American Mythology”

After writing the updated "making of " piece a week or so ago I thought I would listen to some old recordings of my music and songs from the 70"s, 80's and 90's. In listening to these songs I realized that nearly all of them were intensely personal and were songs about real experience. There were a few that I had written "for the market" but even these had such a personal feeling to them that publishing companies had a tough time with them. 

So what I have to say after a lifetime of musical experience is that music that is not about life and experience and/or some insight into the human condition is probably not worth listening to unless you just want to dance. But even "shake your ass' music should be about something even if its raising hell and having a good time which is after all a valid human experience.

Country music, alt country, rock and roll, rock, R and B  and the Delta Blues all meet that criteria. Every so often I hear new music that meets that bright line definition but almost never in the pop dance categories. I'm talking Justin and Britney and their like here...

Grunge and its descendents do a pretty good job although there seems to be too much focus on weird vocal or instrumental dissonance for me to really get into it. some rare exceptions are the music and vocalizations of the late great Kurt Cobain and the still productive Eddie Vedder. I just heard the latter in a movie called "The Darjeeling Express" directed by Sean Penn and it sounds like he's getting even closer to the kind of music I like. The vocalization and nuance seemed just right for the subject matter. Sean Penn and I would agree on music it seems.

If you are visiting this site I hope you also will like my music and recognize the personal experiences and authenticity of the emotions in the writing and performance of the album.   

The original "Making of"

When I started my second album “American Mythology” some years ago I found that I was writing songs that took a sharp detour from the songs and music of my first album “On the Edge of Time.”  One critic described the first album like this:

 Brendan McCloud’s debut CD, On the Edge of Time (Ancient Futures). The songs tend to be an amalgamation of Celtic overtones, soft rock and some sort of ethereal, digital experience... The CD starts off in an Arthurian way with "Lady of the Lake" -- I'm sure that those of you familiar with Avalon will enjoy it as much as I do. "Song for Leonardo" is a little slower in tempo, but every bit as good. "Blues for Meriwether Lewis" is almost ballad-like. For some reason I can picture Phil Collins singing "Love Overdrive." I can't put my finger on exactly why this is, but the resemblance is almost uncanny! My favorite song is "White Heat." There is a little hook in the background that just kind of grabs you. I also like the guitar playing. I wish I had McCloud's talent" - Wil Owen, Rambles.net - A Cultural Arts Magazine

I found that with the new album I was writing songs that were more basic and that seemed to have their roots in American rock, country, folk and blues.  I have always had some confusion about my influences since they are so many, all the way from folk to pop rock, from the Beatles to Johnny Cash and every stop in between.  I found that the term “Alt Country” was being used a lot to describe bands and performers that did not quite fit into the easy categories but that did seem to have a sense of authenticity and edge that spanned the gap between country and rock.

The very first song I wrote for this album was “Wings of Darkness” a song that all but wrote itself. In this song a possibly dark character on an endless journey down the two lane, black top highways of America, who may also may be dispensing some form of justice (or is it just balance?) considers loneliness after finding a woman, who may be the queen of darkness (or is it the queen of hearts?) and asks her to accompany him on his journey. This song was influenced by Alfred Bester’s “The Pi Man”, Damon Knight’s “What Rough Beast” and the imagery from Clint Eastwood’s “Pale Rider” as well as the comic book/ movie anti-heroes from The Crow, The Punisher, The Renegade and even “Ghost Rider”.   This composite character graces the album cover shown above.

In looking at the other songs I had “Blues for Prometheus” a kind of blues rocker song albeit with a classical mythological theme and “Fields of Eden” as pure a folk song as you could find about living on the land, love, purity and innocence. As I continued to write I came up with “Days of Fire,” a love ballad and reflection of growing older, “Approaching Normal” that had a sixties pop rock edge but was about the kind of love that most of us experience, hard love.

“Immortal” was an 80’s influenced rocker about, well, immortality… I resurrected a song from the 90’s with a Celtic rock synth violin about the two wars in Iraq which sadly was even more relevant than the second time around.

The came the Native American influenced instrumentals that also came about form living so close to nature in Greenbank, Washington on Whidbey Island.

I was creating another mélange of an album but this time it felt purely American. I had delved deep into country and Appalachian music as well as the other music that had touched my soul. I listened to Johnny Cash, old and new, to alt country legend Steve Earle and to folks such as Lucinda Williams and Chris Whitley. I discovered those last two after all the music had been written but their work underscored the validity of the direction I was going.  

Like “On the Edge of Time” I also found that I was drinking deep of classical mythology but also “American Mythology.”  I found that my album title which started out as “Myths and Legends” then “Electric Mythology” and finally, yes, “American Mythology.” The album title was so good I had to write a song of that name and did so as one of the last efforts for the album

So I had my album which was “Alt Country” Plus. And if you download the songs or buy the CD you’ll have it as well. I hope you enjoy the new album and tell your friends about it.    

 

  Dream Time Records

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further Contact Information

Phone	360-222-3164
Cell	206-300-0293
Fax	360-222-3164
Address	PO Box 58 SR 525 GREENBANK, WA 98253
Electronic mail	Brendanmccloud@whidbey.net

alt country, alt country, alt country, Celtic rock music, Celtic Rock