Announcing   Rick's  first  CD

" Another Hard Year in Taos "


Cover artwork by Carly Delong. © 2002 by Carly Delong email

Rick’s song “Waitress at the Donut Shop (Those Eyes)” received a nomination for a New Mexico MIC Award for best humor/novelty song.
Awards will be announced Sunday evening, May 23.
NMMIA Link

Good Day LA     Two Hearts     Hard Times     Angelina     The Champion     Interlude al Presto

Sometimes It's Right     The Sheriff Of Nottingham     A New Father's Song

Waitress At The Donut Shop     Coyote and Magpie

Another Hard Year in Taos

Two Great Songs To Download and Enjoy

"Another Hard Year in Taos" ( 5MB ) "Hard Times" ( 4MB )



Where To Buy Your Copy Of

" Another Hard Year in Taos "

QUE PASA, Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos   -   DOWNTOWN BISTRO, Pueblo Allgre Mall, Taos

OLD BLINKING LIGHT, Taos Ski Valley Rd

WESTERN SKY CAFE, Weimer Road across from Holy Cross Hospital

MOBY DICKENS, John Dunn Plaza, Taos   -   OLD TAOS GUEST HOUSE, Taos

CHARLES HENNINGSEN FINE ART, 235 Morada Lane, Taos (758-1434)

CASA de las CHIMENEAS, 405 Cordoba Lane, Taos (758-4777)

HOTEL EDELWEISS, Taos Ski Valley (opening December 7)

And Online Secure Server

TaosMusic.Com

Vicky Pfeiffer Backing Vocals & Violin Michael Hearne Backing Vocals David Bynoe Bass Guitarist

Rick DeStefano Songwriter, Lead Vocals Producer Daniel Thurmer Electric and Acoustic Guitars Backing vocal

Cindy Valerio Lead & Backing Vocals Dave Dickerson Drums and Percussion Omar Rane Percussion Sequencing

Link to Credits

Notes on the Songs

" Good Day LA "
Link To Song Notes
 

"Two Hearts"
was inspired by the breakup of two musician friends of mine, where I witnessed the shock, anger, and eventual moving on, and I figured that there just hadn't been enough pop songs written on those subjects. This song evolved out of the opening piano hook, which led to the verse music. I had a different chorus originally that did not work, and after a while I chucked it and wrote a new one. The outro evolved during the recording project. For a while it was sounding uncomfortably like "Layla", in that the first change is the bass moving up a major third under the tonic major chord, and it was unforgivably long (without "Layla's" artistry). But adding the fiddle line and trimming it to under a minute, made it cute as a bug, don't you think?
 
"Hard Times"
is the first song that I ever completed. I started it many years ago, and for a long time I had only one verse and the chorus. Some years later, I revisited the tune, and wrote the second and third verses. "Hard Times" was the first original song that I ever performed in public, with the LA band ZZYZXX. The song is about the uncomfortable way that people deal with each other after breaking up: she only seems to call when she's having problems; he's unsympathetic, smug, and gets to say snotty things like "It takes more than you had, and you don't even have that any more". I love the swinging feel and up tempo. The verse starts with ordinary changes, G, Am, D7, G, but veers a little out of the ordinary by the end. Then the chorus turns sharply, changing key to F, then Gm, circling back to G major. Cool.


" Angelina "
Link To Lyrics & Notes

 
"The Champion"
is about a fictional composite of several real-life corrupt sports heroes, the rapist, the gambler, and the denier of responsibility. The opening two lines are reputed to have been part of Mike Tyson's statement to the judge at his sentencing for rape. Pete Rose never bet against his team, he said. The gospel chorus singing only one line of the refrain works pretty well, I think. The 2-part bridge adds some more musical interest for me. The outro reflects back to the second part of the bridge. I especially like the 5-part harmonies in the refrains and outro.
 

"Interlude al Presto"
I make all the noise on this track using various settings on my digital keyboards, under the main themes played on a grand piano. The percussion sounds are rendered on the keyboard and "sequenced" through the engineer's computer. This piece evolved from a much simpler noodle on the piano, which was mainly interesting to me because it covered almost all 88 keys, and was a good way to test a new piano. The main theme is vaguely reminiscent of Vince Gueraldi's work.
 

"Sometimes It's Right"
is my first song written for a woman to sing, Anita Lewis, who fronted my LA band, ZZYZXX. Of course the band broke up before she even learned it. It was a real treat for me to hear Cindy Valerio sing it. My own performances (in a lower key, you bet) never worked for me, because it was intended to be sung by a woman. ZZYZXX was a vocal band with three good male singers behind Anita; so the arrangement on my CD, three male background vocals, is the one I originally intended, except that I got to do all three parts on the recording.
 

"The Sheriff Of Nottingham Addresses The Maid, Marian, And She Replies"
was written as a four part vocal song for the vocal group, Flight Dream. This band, organized by Bob Meyers, was just getting started when Bob died unexpectedly, last fall. Bob was a great musician and teacher. I learned much from Bob, especially about arranging complex vocal harmony lines. We had worked together for years in a jazz standards trio with vocalist Sandra Dancer. Bob wanted to take vocal music to the next level (wherein Manhattan Transfer is worshiped) with Flight Dream. I met Vicki Pfeiffer, who sings the alto line on this and most other songs on the CD, in the last incarnation of Flight Dream. This song evolved out of the chorus- for the longest time I had the chorus music and no lyrics except "Oh, Marian, what's a man to do?" When I had the idea to make it be about that Marian, and that it would be from the point of view of the Sheriff of Nottingham, the rest, about chivalry and Robin Hood, followed. The chord changes under the last few lines of the chorus come from a piano piece by Edvard Grieg. (Steal only from the best.)

"A New Father's Song "
Link To Lyrics & Notes


" Waitress At The Donut Shop "
Link To Lyrics & Notes


" Coyote and Magpie "
Link To Lyrics & Notes


" Another Hard Year in Taos "
Link To Lyrics & Notes