NEW SONGS 2012 – From the Sublime to the ROCK-diculous. (Part 1)

New ballads & rock anthems added to repertoire. 

(Fast forward to HERE if you’re impatient to Rock out!)

Try not to drop sideways with shock people, as Procrastination Boy here actually gets around to telling you about some of the song’s he’s added to his list of live music choices for 2012.  I’m always fiddling about with new song ideas – mainly by trying them out in the shower, as my long-suffering wife and kids will tell you....

However, prompted to learn them ‘properly’ for weddings & events during 2012 here are some of the salient new numbers I wanted to tell you about available from summer 2012 onwards....

This I Promise You (Ronan Keating)

I was asked to learn this delightful number for a lovely seaside summer wedding I entertained at Tenby.   If you’re on Facebook you can see pictures and commentary HERE....

Now I’ll admit, my automatic reaction to the name ‘Ronan Keating’ is to mock-sneeze “schmaltz” into my hand.... however this is not the first time I’ve set my personal tastes aside for a client... and (man, this admission is gonna hurt) not the first time I’ve been proven wrong about songs by Ronan Keating.   (Good grief, my elan is decimated!)

Ronan: Irish charm & good looks.

This song from Ronan’s 2006 album ‘Bring You Home’ has some of the most poignant first-dance lyrics I’ve ever sung.  It’s not just about love, but about that strange mixture of joy, anticipation and vulnerability one feels stepping out in front to one’s friends and family to declare vows of love AND to undertake that all-important first dance. 

The lines “take my hand, only you can stop me shaking” and “don’t let go, ‘cause I could almost cry now”
express how many of my clients say they feel about these huge moments in their special day – and I remember too the intensity of those 3 minutes ‘in the spotlight’ in the middle of a dance-floor that felt to me about as big as Wembley Stadium. 
(Which is strange considering I stand in the spotlight all the time for my job as a performer! )

In the approaching 20 years I’ve been performing at weddings, (oh good lord I’m old!), I’ve seen intricately choreographed first dances, right through to simple two-steps where the couple have just clung to each other in swaying bewilderment...and every first dance is unique, special and beautiful.  My advice to all my clients (especially those nervous about this keystone moment) is to just focus on each other and be themselves. 
(Even if being themselves *is* doing an epic 7-minute multi-song comedy dance routine!!!)



You don't have to be Fred & Ginger

The well-planned first dance is an essential mechanism in the success of a party too: my research among wedding guests shows that attendees feel short-changed and frankly a little lost without the structure of some formalities within an event.  So even if you are terrified by ‘performance anxiety’, if you have booked a committed and professional entertainer you will be able to find options or alternatives that will tick the boxes and tailor each part of the night to your tastes and personalities. 
A weddings specialist can offer plenty of advice and suggestions to make the whole event a success.

I Loved Her First (Heartland)

I first performed this song to an audience just after the Ronan number at the Tenby wedding I write about above.  Typically within the fee for an evening-only package I’ll learn one new song not in my repertoire for a special dance...unless a song request is one I’d be able to use for other events and I’ve just needed a darn good excuse to learn.... ;-)

I’d been aware of this touching country ballad for a long while: several of my purely-DJ associates have pressed play for brides to dance with their dads to it with great success in the past.  Some have often said I would be wise to learn the song myself - so the opportunity to add this number to my live repertoire, with all the emotional energy only a live performance can add to an event, was a request that could not be overlooked.

Heartland: Southern Charm and...average looks

The premise of the song is of a father looking on at his daughter’s wedding-day joy, sharing her happiness but simultaneously fighting the nostalgia & subtle pang of loss as his  ‘little’ girl seems to grow up and move on from him and away, as if before his somewhat dewy eyes. 
(Clearly at this juncture, he’s not considered the empty-nester savings on his phone bill.  ;-)     )

The simple violin part within the arrangement really tugs at the heart-strings in this highly emotive number – and the simple but touching lyrics are very stirring:

“From the first breath she breathed, when she first smiled at me, I knew that the love of father runs deep.”

When I sang this song live for the first time at the Tenby wedding, the closing words ....

“Someday you might know what I’m going through, when a miracle smiles up at you...
I loved her first.”

...seemed to have extra-special resonance with the family, as one proud father embraced his daughter and they glanced over at her 6-week old baby girl cosseted in the arms of a newly-proud husband and father, with happy tears budding in all of their eyes. 

Magical, unique, moments like this are one of the reasons I love performing at special family celebrations such as weddings – it can be a real emotional rollercoaster even for me.  J

Which brings me neatly to:

Danny Boy (Irish Traditional)

The family gatherings I help facilitate are not restricted to the expansion of loved-ones through marriage, but also the re-joining of relatives in celebration.  In March 2012 I was booked to entertain at a family reunion in Abergavenny.

While the event was partly a life-time landmark celebration – as Irish matriarch Mary had reached 90 years – it was also a perfect excuse for all parts of the family to re-gather from all corners of the UK and Europe.  Many of the family – including some of Mary’s older siblings, had travelled over from the Emerald Isle to join Mary and the extended family in Wales.

Irish charm and good looks? 
(The Pogues' Shane MacGowen.)

As a special surprise pre-request, one of Mary’s sons had requested I perform a traditional Irish ballad, and suggested the classic ‘Danny Boy’ aka "Londonderry Air."
Folksy songs are not a typical part of my repertoire, and finding a suitable arrangement proved a challenge at first as they last thing I wanted to do was ape a cod-Irish accent or be a Josef Locke wannabe!

Likewise, I wanted to leave space for the highly-poetic lyrics to ‘breathe’, and not become embroiled in too much instrumentation. 

The version I eventually found seemed to strike the right balance between the traditional and the soulful...a lesser know arrangement as sung by Elvis Presley.  (You know... that famous Irishman, Elvis Presley!?!)

The backing I’ve chosen hits a good mid-pace that is not too elegiac nor does it become an inappropriate jig.  I love the way I can add light and dark to my performance, cutting short some notes to emphasise the imagery, then applying sustain and vibrato in spades without it becoming too 'music-hall' in style. 

The pacing of the final phrase is quite difficult, but by using a smattering of stuccato I’m able to elongate the final phrase “I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me” so the final notes flutter away like petals in the wind.

The song is well outside my typical style: and (I’ll admit) one that I struggle to sing as well as I’d like...however seeing Mary’s family gathered together, holding hands around her as they joined in was another brilliant moment that reinforces why I probably have the best job in the world.

 - - -

Not all the new songs I’ve learnt during 2012 have been about tenderness and reverie...sometime The Boy Just Gotta Rock.... you can read more about the high-energy numbers I’ve undertaken in Part 2 of this article HERE.

In the interim, I’m greatly looking forward to what romantic songs my clients ask me to learn during the 2012-13 season...and I’ll let you know in due course.  (For “in due course” please read “eventually”!  LOL.)

Take care....and have fun

Jon Paul