John Condron

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3rd in the Studio Sessions Series with John Condron
November 2011
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Filmed and Edited by : Zoran Orlic
Recorded at Third City Sound, Joliet, IL
Audio by William Aldridge – Third City Sound
2011 Tacony Music (ASCAP)
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John’s Facebook page : goo.gl/EyNCH
John’s Vimeo page : vimeo.com/user8585133

About the song:
This one was written based on an idea that had been floating around my head for a bit, so i guess it’s actually the first proper “concept” song i’ve ever attempted. There is a part of me that would rather not explain the song but in keeping with the spirit of this series, I’ll give it a shot. I had read a book by Bill Barich called A Pint of Plain, some time back, & the notion of “the replication of authenticity” seems to have stuck with me ever since. In Barich’s book it refers to Irish pubs & culture but I felt that it applied to almost everything these days. What we know as authentic or traditional is really subject to years of translation & alteration…kind of the like the way all Elvis impersonators look alike but none of them look like Elvis; “watered down” versions of the original seem quite acceptable to us & in certain cases are even celebrated & revered. I’m not sure when it started morphing into a story but the idea was that if Gabriel, the heraldic trumpeter, was to write the perfect piece of music & give it to us with the understanding that it would take a lifetime of commitment & dedication to learn it properly what would we do with it? I thought that human nature being what it is, versions of the piece would begin popping up fairly quickly as altered or improvised renditions that had some of the authentic piece still left in them but were miles away from what was intended. Our need for instant gratification would justify the embellishments & after a period of time we would no longer be able to trace our steps back to the original. Any alteration of honesty is suspect & the song itself came out as more or less a reminder to not be so quick to accept comfortable versions of the truth. There’s a lot more to it but I think the details would be better discussed over a pint the next time we have the opportunity…I look forward to that; In the meantime, thanks for listening & I hope you enjoy the song. -JC

About the video:
This performance was originally intended to be captured on electric guitar. We had discussed the idea & agreed that it would lend a different sort of aesthetic to the collection, but after running the song a few times we all agreed that, for whatever reason, it just wasn’t working & forcing it would probably be a mistake. Luckily, our friend Matt Biskie had left his acoustic in the studio so we hijacked it & the shoot instantly fell into place (thanks Matt). I was concerned that because we had such a definite idea for what we were going to do, & it didn’t work out, the video may come out very similar to one of the others, but as always, Zoran is a master & was able to capture the mood of the song in such a unique & powerful way that it has become my favorite of the lot so far. Working on these new songs & capturing them live in this series has been an amazing experience & a reaffirmation of how thankful I am to be surrounded by such mind blowing talent & such quality human beings. Thanks so much for taking a look & a listen, be well -JC

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