The Desert Mothers

“Secret”

spencer — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:56:19 +0000

Love this new song by “Nowhere Motel” singer Gina Fant-Saez with Sissy Siero:

That’s Gina on piano and vocals.

Desert Mothers take a break for Obama

spencer — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:33:52 +0000

I’m in Detroit for the months leading up to the election, helping out on the Barack Obama campaign’s communications effort in the swing state of Michigan. Too busy for music till Nov. 5! The Desert Mothers will return…

Spencer signing with Audiosocket

spencer — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:50:27 +0000

Looks like I’ll be signing with Audiosocket for music licensing, including music by The Desert Mothers. They seem like a good bunch. As they say:

We seek the best talent and provide a seamless way for songs to be licensed for use in film or TV, on DVDs or documentaries, on video games or on the Web.

Audiosocket connects artists with talent buyers in the mainstream media. We provide a means of licensing music that doesn’t require any loss of ownership. We are passionate about our work, love what we do, and care greatly about helping both sides of this equation achieve on-going success.

“Nowhere Motel” MP3 for sale in CDBaby’s new MP3 store

spencer — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:10:08 +0000

The name says CDBaby, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be MP3 babies too:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/desertmothers

Duggup reviews “Nowhere Motel”

spencer — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:56:13 +0000

A very nice review of “Nowhere Motel” by The Desert Mothers at Australian music site duggup.com.au, which has made us their featured artist of the day - excerpt:

Today’s track is a ripper, for a whole bunch of reasons. My favourite one is that if you are interested you get to hear the stages the song went through as it was created as the recording process moves along. (this assumes that like me, you actually are interested in stuff like that). So, if you have ever wondered about how a song is created? Then today is your day because…

1. Spencer Critchley (the driving force behind The Desert Mothers) has documented the whole process from audio sketch to the finished product above complete with MP3 excerpts from the recording along the way.
2. “Nowhere Motel” is a great song (which is a really good thing).

Read the whole review…

5 Favorite Songs

spencer — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:07:14 +0000

I stumbled across Paul Zollo’s music site bluerailroad.com, which features lists of 5 Favorite Songs by Bob Newhart, John Doe, Diana Krall, and others. Before I knew it I’d written my own and was trying to submit it - only to find the form is broken. So, rather than let it go entirely to waste…

Angel, Jimi Hendrix

Many people think of Jimi Hendrix as a lead guitarist, but he was also a brilliant rhythm player, with a style that grew out of his work backing R&B bands, including the early Isley Brothers. “Angel” is a beautiful ballad with a rhythm guitar accompaniment that transforms “licks” into orchestration.

I Can’t Make You Love Me, (sung by) Bonnie Raitt

Just a beautifully written song that captures a deep emotion - a favorite “I wish I’d written that” of many songwriters. The actual writers were Allen Shamblin and Mike Reid. I understand they started out writing an uptempo bluegrass song - if you sing it fast in your head you can hear what they were up to.

Darn That Dream, (played by) Thelonious Monk

A strange, angular melody that is still singable and moving. Recorded by who knows how many people - listen to a vocalist doing it (Tony Bennett? Billie Holiday? Dinah Washington?) to get the lyrics in your head, then enjoy the “genius of modern music” as he explores its intricate musical underpinnings. Written by Eddie De Lange and by Jimmy Van Heusen, a Frank Sinatra favorite, who named himself after the shirt.

Hearts and Bones, Paul Simon

The title song from an under-appreciated album. Paul Simon manages to be a literate intellectual, a great pop tunesmith and a heart-breaking poet. For just one example: “The arc of a love affair/His hands rolling down her hair…” And he knows how rare this balance is - in “Think Too Much” he asks, “Did you ever experience a state of grace/When your mind just takes a seat behind your face?”

Pancho and Lefty, Townes Van Zandt

Another one that’s on a lot of songwriters’ lists. And they always mention these lines: “Now you wear your skin like iron/Your breath as hard as kerosene.” Who knows just what “breath as hard as kerosene” means - in words, anyway? Except that it seems exactly right. And how’s this for a summary of the aftermath of betrayal: “Lefty he can’t sing the blues/All night long like he used to/The dust that Pancho bit down south/Ended up in Lefty’s mouth.”

O’Reilly Digital Media Article on Recording “Nowhere Motel”

spencer — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:28:36 +0000

I wrote an article for O’Reilly Digital Media (as in Tim O’Reilly, not Bill O’Reilly), on the recording of “Nowhere Motel” using esession.com, the web-based “virtual recording studio” founded by Gina Fant-Saez - the same Gina Fant-Saez who sings “Nowhere Motel” - you can read how all that came to be.The Desert Mothers were scattered around the United States - and at one point, Nova Scotia - but stayed connected via esession. The article has lots of MP3 examples so you can hear the song came together.

“Nowhere Motel” single advance release

spencer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:09:23 +0000

“Nowhere Motel”, the first single from the upcoming album of the same name: “A dew drop on a cactus/Balanced on a spine/I’m feeling like a figment/Of the desert’s fevered mind”.

AVAILABLE NOW as a download. CLICK to hear it.