Man of a Thousand Faces - The Playlist
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[00:00:00] Blake Melnick: Well, Happy New Year and welcome to 2024. I'm your host, Blake Melnick. I hope everybody had a great holiday season. I know I did. Christmas is a funny time of year for me amidst the whirlwind of holiday cheer time seems to stand still. I lose track of the time of the day and the days of the week.
[00:00:29] Blake Melnick: And it's probably the only time in the year where my mind stops racing and I focus entirely on spending time with family and friends. It really is some kind of wonderful, well, let's dive right back into the rhythm of our podcast, veering towards a lighter note to kick off 2024. To this point in season five, we've covered wide ranging topics from artificial intelligence to mathematics, to innovation. Now it's time to pivot to our music series Pass the Jam. What began as an idea born [00:01:00] from our frustration, with our inability to play live music on for what it's worth. Because of the costs and restrictive nature of copyright laws. Particularly, as they relate to podcasts, has morphed into something completely different. A creative, new approach for supporting artists, their music and their stories. One which breaks free from traditional industry norms and the typical industry directed listener experience. An approach which places, the artist and their music at the center, and allows listeners to hear music.
[00:01:28] Blake Melnick: They might not otherwise be exposed to and to develop a deeper connection with the artists, through their music and their stories. At the same time, we hope that having artists directly involved in passing the jam. will foster connections between the artists themselves leading to previously unimagined possibilities for collaboration, new musical directions, as well as providing a great listening experience for you our audience.
[00:01:53] Blake Melnick: Here's how it works. The music from our artist in residence, the current holder of the jam becomes central [00:02:00] to our podcast. Their music has played for all the intros and outros for each episode. And at the end of their term, we feature each artist in a playlist episode where all their songs are played in their entirety. The artist then returns to co-host the next episode with me. Passing the jam on to a new artist. This is sort of akin to the telephone game. The official passing and the jam involves a deep discussion between our outgoing artist in residence and our incoming artist about things like the art and craft of song-writing, musicality, influences, instrumentation, and how to navigate a career in the music industry. Our past artists have built incredible connections with one another.
[00:02:43] Blake Melnick: some have played together live. A bit of a silver lining for this series. And our ultimate dream. A live or recorded ensemble of all the amazing artists we've hosted on the show. So hold onto your earphones.
[00:02:57] Blake Melnick: And if you or anyone else, you know, is an [00:03:00] accomplished, aspiring or seasoned musician who needs to be heard, reach out to us.
[00:03:05] Blake Melnick: We'd love to consider having you as a guest on the show. You can email us at fwiw.thepodcast@gmail.com and check out the links in the show notes to the blog post to find out more information about being a guest on the show. In this episode, Man of a Thousand Faces. We feature the music from our current artist in residence, Douglas Cameron. His eclectic mix of styles for Bruce Coburn to Stomp'n Tom Connors to his unique, old time, rhythm and blues, Douglas Cameron's music has been at the heart of our show for the past couple of months. In this episode, we'll be playing all the songs. he submitted in their entirety. Accompanied by snippets, from our interview.
[00:03:46] Blake Melnick: Whether you're tuned in via your car stereo or from home. Prepare for some terrific music. for what it's worth.
[00:03:54] Blake Melnick: First up on our playlist is a song called doctor. Doctor was, written during a [00:04:00] difficult time for Douglas Cameron. And here's how he explains the song.
[00:04:04] Douglas Cameron: what I tried to convey was the fact that I'd gone to this doctor, looking for help looking for answers.
[00:04:11] Douglas Cameron: Tell me what is true. You know, tell me what to do what the doctor did was he sat there. And I think in the song, I say the voice would always listen. The heart that never tells it was the idea that I could be myself in front of this person. I could spill all the beans. I had no fear that this was going to go beyond this and that this would, in some way harm me and that being listened to and being acknowledged was the path to living my life better
[00:04:42] Douglas Cameron: and that feeling inside, and I tried in that song to convey that, plus the sound of the slide , it's a really bluesy feel and it suggests that, this sort of power underneath all of that. So that's that one?
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[00:04:55] Blake Melnick: [00:05:00] [00:06:00] [00:07:00] [00:08:00] That was Doctor. Next up on our playlist is a song called How Come I Gotta, a song about the movies.
[00:08:35] Douglas Cameron: I thought of, People becoming famous, but what happens when a person becomes famous and, in the story, in the song, obviously the love interest is become a famous movie star, and the only way you can get to see the movies.
[00:08:49] Douglas Cameron: It's not really about anything, true, anything specific, but it has that great feel to it. And those changes, which are, not entirely standard blues changes, those are the [00:09:00] kind of chord progressions that I
[00:09:02] Douglas Cameron: love to get sunk into then making up all the funny lyrics about the different movie stars. [00:10:00] [00:11:00] [00:12:00] [00:13:00] [00:14:00] That was how come I got it?[00:15:00]
[00:15:00] Blake Melnick: What a great song. I love that song. It's a perfect song for a late night. Listen with a nice bottle of And your main squeeze by your side. The guitar playing is sublime. The lyrics are funny. Creative, thoughtful. I love that song.
[00:15:17] Blake Melnick: Next up on our playlist is a slightly different kind of song. A little bit more contemplative and it's called nightfall.
[00:15:26] Douglas Cameron: I had created heartbreak in the world. I was experiencing heartbreak. I was trying to , make amends. I was trying to fix my own life and I lived alone. I lived in this little Garret the streets were empty at night time. And I found this little hypnotic guitar progression G major B minor, kind of back and forth and mixed it in with a little E minor
[00:15:53] Douglas Cameron: and it was very evocative. I tried to play as little as possible. Although , in night falls there's a little bit more going [00:16:00] on, there's harmonica slide guitar, a couple of different guitar, parts brushes.
[00:16:04] Douglas Cameron: The recordings that I really admire it's almost like they're distilled down to just the minimum of what you need to convey the feeling . I was trying to convey the feeling of being alone.
[00:16:18] Blake Melnick: [00:17:00] [00:18:00] [00:19:00] [00:20:00] That was nightfall
[00:20:44] Blake Melnick: Next up on our playlist is a country song it's written by Douglas and performed by his band. The Louisiana Snow blowers. it's called the queen of Queens.
[00:20:54] Douglas Cameron: She was at the Empress hotel in Peterborough. I would play matinees on Saturdays [00:21:00] at the hotels in Peterborough when I lived there.
[00:21:02] Douglas Cameron: And this was a particular woman who sat at a table all by herself and would listen to the band and sing along and drink beer. And you would imagine she'd had something of a tragic life. So I wrote that song in Peterborough and, later the snowblowers recorded it.
[00:21:18] Blake Melnick: [00:22:00] [00:23:00] [00:24:00] [00:25:00] That was queen of Queens written by Douglas, Cameron and performed by his band. The Louisiana snowblowers. Next up on our playlist. My favorite song of all the ones that Douglas submitted. for the show got to have a favorite song. And this was mine.
[00:25:46] Blake Melnick: It's called Bible thumping Sundays. By the Louisiana snowblowers.
[00:25:52] Blake Melnick: [00:26:00] [00:27:00] [00:28:00] [00:29:00] [00:30:00] That was Bible thumping Sundays. What a great tune. I'm a sucker for the accordion, the sax and that new Orleans sound. Next up are two songs that Douglas and I didn't discuss during our interview, but I've played them on the show. and I want to include them as part of this playlist. The, first is called high water. And the second is called follow you down
[00:30:23] Blake Melnick: [00:31:00] [00:32:00] [00:33:00] That was high water. The final tune on our playlist is called follow you down. [00:34:00] [00:35:00] [00:36:00] [00:37:00] [00:38:00] Well, this concludes our playlist episode, a man [00:39:00] of a thousand phases with my guest Douglas, Cameron. Douglas, if you're listening to the show. Thanks so much for all your contributions, your music, your story, old guitar, and your willingness to
[00:39:12] Blake Melnick: cohost with me on past the jam. And speaking of that, our next episode of the show is the official passing of the jam.
[00:39:19] Blake Melnick: From Douglas, Cameron,
[00:39:21] Blake Melnick: to an exciting new artist.
[00:39:22] Blake Melnick: We're going to leave you with a taste of what you can expect on the next episode of past the jam. For what it's worth. [00:40:00]
