kat330B

It's been a minute since I composed a new piece—over six years as a matter of fact. Intervening was a call to political activism followed by a relocation to a new continent during a global pandemic. And because I had sold every bit of electronic equipment before the move to Finland, I was resigned to embark on no further recording or production work. Then in September 2024, I was struck with an idea to create a new novelty piece culled from a collection of my silly aphorisms and taglines. I had barely begun penning a stanza or two when I received a midnight visitation from The Muse, who generously gifted me with a memorable melody to match my title sentence. It was a solemn minor key, however, so I shifted lyrics away from my trademark wordplay toward a more somber composition. It soon evolved into a Latin rhythm but still sounded so melancholy, I decided I should make a point of ending my sad lyrics on an upbeat note. I had no wish to bring down anyone's spirits—including my own!—one solitary scintilla beyond wherever they landed at year's end. Plus after the election results for US, I was especially glad for that hopeful, major chord ending on I'm Friday's Child (IFC). Since I no longer owned any synth equipment, I presumed new music production, if ever I returned to it, must rely on a collaborator for additional instrumentation and possibly for vocals as well. So after I had a rough guitar and voice part set for IFC, I immediately contacted my Nice friend, Damien Riba, for a piano habanera part. Monsieur Riba came through—brilliantly as ever!—with a habanera piano part in a delightful orchestration for me to use and post here, courtesy of Mangalyan Records. His arrangement accompanying my vocal includes piano, accordion, violin and percussion. Merci, Damien! [Check him out at www.damienriba.com and www.cinelovers.fr ] To hear my own orchestration w/vocal: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/im-fridays-child Unfortunately, I have otherwise run out of free time to post anything further whatsoever at SC. So for my own purely instrumental version of IFC, please find it at freemusicarchive.org/music/Kathleen_Martin or at my Bandcamp "Kathleen Martin" account. Last but never least, multiple thanks to JT Lindroos for his great partnership in using the library's Mac software—I had only recorded vocals and synth parts in the past with a PC using Reaper software—and, as always, for his cover art contribution (photo of li'l Kat at 4 used). How appropriate then to release IFC to the world on January 4, 2025, which marks our Silver 25th wedding anniversary! 😊 😽 XXXOOO 🤗 Kat (a Friday's Child) I'M FRIDAY'S CHILD I'm Friday's Child living in a Wednesday world, A world full of woe for me and any girl, Who's loving and giving at the time of birth And stays that way all her days on Earth. I'm Friday's child living in a Wednesday world. A Wednesday world can break a Friday heart. This world of woe can tear that heart apart. There was a time I seized the days, They struggled free and slapped my face. I'm Friday's child living in a Wednesday world. A Wednesday world can crush a Friday's Child. Can make her meek, and woe can drive her wild With walls of pain built brick by brick, A pincushion pierced prick after prick, When a Friday's child living in a Wednesday world. All Friday folk, let's forge a Friday world. Each woman, man, all boys and every girl, Who are loving and giving at the time of birth And stay that way through their days on Earth, Come Friday folk and make it a Friday world. Yes, Friday folk can make this a Friday world! --Kathleen Martin © 2024

Mar 25, 2018: Maybe this is a straightforward "he done her wrong" song. Maybe it's a wider metaphor for how our nation's no.1 confidence man has sold our national pride for personal gain and has dried up the dreams of too many, making it clear we must VOTE him GONE along with his enablers in Congress to bring back the best in US. I leave it up to you. The familiarly marvelous piano part is provided by my absolutely favorite Nice person, who Cannes only be Damien Riba, courtesy of Mangalyan Records. Discover more Damien here: @damien-riba damienriba.bandcamp.com Written, produced and otherwise performed by Kathleen Martin Love, courage and hugs to my listeners! x♥x♥x♥ [piano/guitar only arr. here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/up-to-me ] UP TO ME lyrics — Kathleen Martin © 2018 Up to me, he sidled and said to me: "Hey, honey, I'm your destiny!" He swore to bring out the best in me, And I felt it. So charming, he really got to me. His confidence was so hot to me. Resisting him was not to be, I just melted. Next you know, I'm his bride-to-be; Then he lied and lied and lied to me. He leached out all the pride in me, And he sold it. He drove off the drive in me. He rode off all the ride in me. My dreams dried up inside of me, And I folded. Now he's gone and sealed my destiny To a life that's always testin' me. On my own, I'll find the best in me— I can take it. Up to me to bring out the best in me— And I will make it.

Nov 3, 2017: This hit single was a sweet swing and No Myth (she PENNed with a lisp) for Michael in 1989 and a song that charmed the socks off me at first listen. Hearing it recently shuffled up in my big mix of music motivated me to finally consider some new recording after nearly a nine-month hiatus with energies focused on resisT activities. It occurs to me that NM could serve as a sequel to my "Shanghaied" piece [https://soundcloud.com/kat330/kat330shanghaied], with the narrator now back on shore and solid ground after her torrid fling on the high seas. Another connection I made is Dylan's "I Don't Believe You" [https://soundcloud.com/kat330/i-dont-believe-you], which is also about a parting of the ways, though perhaps more in terms of a one-night stand? There's even his lyric—"It's only to me like some mystery / It could even be like a myth"—to further connect these two songs. I wonder if Penn was influenced at all by IDBY when writing NM. Our neighborhood has become noisier than ever with households renovating all around us. To keep my sanity when producing a track now, I try to limit mic recording to my vocals. I've found an interior nook big enough only to stand and sing. So my instrument parts here are all electric/tronic, playing my Epiphone SG plugged directly into the laptop for the cha-cha-cha strums and break bits, and my Yamaha keyboard for the drum track, piano, cello, viola and koto parts. As always thanks for finding me here tucked away on an outer spiral of the SC galaxy. Thanks for your listens and thanks for your support! x♥x♥x♥x Kathleen

July 7, 2017: I have not produced any new track for several months now with my energies, such as they are, directed instead to #ResistTrump efforts like writing myriad letters to Congress and attending protest rallies. Then a few days ago, unbidden and out of the blue, I thought on these two tunes from my youth and how they might mash up well, both in melody and the loneliness themes of both. I had to search online a bit for a key match of "The Lonely Bull" to "White Bird," but once I found that, the mashing up choices I made here happened pretty quickly. If it hadn't come together as easily, I likely would have scrapped the idea. Yet usually unbidden inspiration is not to be ignored and for good reason. Hope you enjoy and please seek out the original songs to hear the source material for yourself. For my other 2-tune mash-ups: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/sets/if-6-was-3 Composer Credits: David & Linda LaFlamme's "White Bird" as recorded by It's a Beautiful Day. Although Herb Alpert recorded the famous version of Sol Lake's "The Lonely Bull" (El Toro Solitario), here it is as performed by Doug Beaumier on lap steel guitar. Graphic image: "Bird in a Cage" by Loretto So http://soloretta.deviantart.com/

[Mar. 30 update: JT's surprise b'day gift for me here: https://youtu.be/tDDGKSTzBxk check it out!! xxxooo] President's Day for US (2.20.17): Seemed most appropriate to post this freedom anthem on this particular bank holiday. My acoustic Guild is featured here in a performance of the '63 Madara & White melody, strumming aggressively through the piece twice, with one take from the R and the other from the L speaker. I also played some synth piano and the choral "Ahh" parts on my Yamaha keyboard. [You can D/L an instrumental-only and other versions in my sets: .mp3's at Free Music Archive freemusicarchive.org/music/Kathleen_Martin and .wav's at Bandcamp kat330.bandcamp.com ] My title, by the way, is very much directed also to the toadies in Congress allowing our Democracy's checks and balances to bounce on a daily basis. These lyrics below aimed at 45 were posted in an earlier version at my Under a Bushel blog back in January. Given the pace of crazy antics from our part-time resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, I could revise them with new additions weekly, but had to put down my red pencil finally to get this recorded. I may update them periodically at kat330.tumblr.com JT's visual uses my high school senior class photo from the tail end of the same decade Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" was released. Gore's grrrrl anthem had quite an impact as an early proclamation of female emancipation for me as a preteen, so please check out her performance somewhere on YouTube if you're unfamiliar with it. A few months after this senior photo was taken, I was marching in D.C. against the actions of another White House mad man and criminal, whose ultimate fate foreshadows that of 45's. What goes around comes around. March on, good people of the planet!! xoxoxo I DISOWN YOU [lyrics by Kathleen Martin © 2017] I disown you! You are completely beyond belief! I disown you! You'll never be my Commander-in-Chief! We're going to make you stop trying to turn back the clock; Expose all your lies and such liars as your climate change deniers! You litter with Twitter pollution! You spit on our Constitution! There's already ample reason to put you on trial for treason! I disown you, along with your "so-called" presidency! I disown you! Impeachment will be such an "easy D"! 'Cuz Vlad tells you what to say, and Vlad tells you what to do! You'd mortgage our Fourth Estate to repay your Russian IOU! You can't build a tower to heaven, 'cuz your soul is in Chapter 11! A Faustian bargain with Bannon, and Comey's your homey loose cannon! I disown you! No need to change US, we're already great! I disown you! You're a disgrace as our Head-of-State! We're sick of your sycophants, and so tired of your toadies * Toting your huge ego baggage like glorified, overpaid roadies! McConnell's your miserable Muppet, but the truth is you're Putin's puppet! And trying to muzzle the media is like biting the hand that feeds ya! I disown you, shamefully shilling sham product offers! I disown you for famously filling your family coffers! Among your "alternative facts" is "no one cares" about your taxes, But you lost the vote by millions who wonder whither your "billion$"?! In your bridge game to nowhere, you think that it's US the chump; But the voting majority's well aware our best bid now's won "NO TRUMP"... To be free from all your "bigly"otry, and US women free of misogyny, And stopped before you even start grabbing control of our private parts! I disown you! (a mantra repeated as needed :) * i.e., McConnell and Ryan and their clueless Congressional crews, plus Spicer and Conway and the "alternative facts" news

October 18, 2016: (Headphones! :) Serendipity strikes again. These two tracks came up one after the other in my major .mp3 shuffle program, and the similarities were immediately apparent. Not just the key, but also the overall tone, the shambling rhythm and especially the non-verbal groans that punctuate each artist's piece. Getting the drums to match up perfectly is always the #1 issue when there are unique and interesting drum parts featured prominently in both songs, so there are still some rough spots in the end result here. But I think the dueling "Moan" Osborne and Tom "Wails" section toward the end is delicious, as well as how the separate instrumental parts fit the other piece like a glove in so many places. Anyway, hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did putting it together, and please check out each artist's tracks separately here or elsewhere: "Help Me" (by Ralph Bass & Sonny Boy Williamson) from Joan Osborne's "Relish" (1995): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0173BM4VG/ref=sr_1_1_rd?_encoding=UTF8&child=B0173BMKMY&qid=1476800301&sr=1-1%3C/a%3E "After You Die" (by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan) bonus track from "Bad As Me" (Deluxe) (2011): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SMUW8U/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

http://kat330.tumblr.com/post/152947062479/finland-here-we-come-if-i-never-waken-from posted Nov 9, 2016 [Original notes updated August 2016] I recorded this ditty back in March 2015 in the tradition of a 20th C. protest song while having some extra fun with instrumentation and various musical allusions. At that time I could never have suspected—not even in my wildest nightmares—that a template for my initial inspiration could ever actually be nominated as the presidential candidate of a major US political party! Lumped with so many other heinously ignorant, unjust and horrific events of 2015-16, it can be understood only in the context of some virulent strain of planet insanity. My lyrics are not at all an indictment of middle-aged white men in general; after all, I'm happily married to a wonderful one (who's thankfully also a feminist)! No, my chant here invokes the patriarchal, greedy breed of white middle-aged men who are "doughy" in both form and finances, an ever-expanding waste of bankers and politicians on local, state and national levels who overpower opposition spinning a Turdblossom stench; ANTI-Robin Hoods taking from the poor to give to the rich. A few templates of inspiration for what "Ailes" US include the conspicuously rich, like The Donald, along with power Muppet Mitch McConnell; also a variety of Dicks and attorneys, Koch Bro's and Bernies (who made off with millions, but at least mostly by stealing from the rich). DWM-aM have enjoyed a very long run (and could certainly benefit from one), but it's long past the tipping point for a major sea change more in accord with Mother Earth. The time is ripe to shake the trees so the rotten do-nothing legislators and financial dough nuts fall to the ground for fertilizer until a rose grows on Wall Street. Take courage and be encouraged: it's not a matter of IF ever there will be gender equality for US, it's only a matter of when. Doughy white middle-aged men RUN the world, run the world Doughy white middle-aged men RUN this world we live in. Doughy white middle-aged men RULE the world, rule the world Doughy white middle-aged men RULE this world we live in. Doughy white middle-aged men RUIN the world, ruin the world Doughy white middle-aged men RUIN this world we live in. So doughy white middle-aged men RUN the world and RUIN the world Doughy white middle-aged men RULE this world we live in. But we will not give in! They RUN this world together, But they won't forever! © KAM 2015 Written, arranged, performed, recorded and produced by Kathleen Martin, March 15, 2015.

July 19, 2016: I happened to catch Parquet Courts' track "Dust" on local radio recently and immediately was reminded of Richard & Linda Thompson's "Don't Renege on Our Love" from their "Shoot Out the Lights" album. With some editing and a slight tempo change of "Dust," this mash-up was born. I hope you find the end result interesting, and please check out the artists' tracks individually, too! xxxooo https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Renege-On-Our-Love/dp/B001RYSNOI https://www.amazon.com/Dust/dp/B01BFVFJIU

July 1, 2016: (Strap on headphones to fully plug into the Kat 3:30 ride here! :) Amused by this LIGO post [apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160615.html] and by my husband's recent dream of us up in a spaceship, I was inspired to create this song of merging black hole G-waves, G-forces and thrust. It isn't rocket science, but it has everything to do with physical science and a sound map where G marks the spot. It's rather 11th hour slapdash in order to release it Friday as a surprise (Happy Birthday, Baby! ♥). Hopefully the multilayered fugue that builds makes it interesting, if a somewhat bumpy ride, through to its G-whiz ending. When I first heard that G-wave .wav at APOD, I hoped I might one day compose a piece around it like I did with Comet 67p's "music" in "Transistor Sister." I felt I'd never manage a new song this July 1st (a perennial item on JT's gift list), but it began to coalesce a recent morning after he described his dream of us escaping gravity and taking a rocket ride together. Given the series of unspeakable horrors and political insanity here on Terra firma, we all must escape the gravity of our planet sometimes if only in dreams, the imagination and some cosmic physical science. Occasionally we all just need to Lighten Up, ease our heavy heads and even heavier hearts to feel weightless and suspended for a moment in time. As JT knows I'm generally not a fan of repetitive sounds or lyrics, but he is, and this one's for him. (It also bears repeating that repetition can sometimes rub me the right way and hit the spot. ;) I had a few grandiose ideas (as I do for most productions, limited by equipment and ability), such as incremental key modulations and accelerations after each plateau point, but time was my greatest limiter in this case. Beyond the LIGO "burp" that opens it and is pasted throughout the piece, everything else is all me plus my little synth keyboard. No looping. To quote Whitman here: "I sing the body electric," and "I contain multitudes." Wishing a safe and super July 4th to those here who celebrate the date! You might check the 2:45 mark for my special nod to the holiday. {{{☼}}} world hug

[May 24, 2016: Dedicated to our true heroes—classroom educators—and to parents around the globe!] Ion Bodi's wonderful guitar instrumental inspired me to write a set of lyrics based on his very relatable title. When I sent them to him, he asked if possibly we could make it a pop piece together. So here is its earliest incarnation. I'm battling a wonky microphone situation and an even noisier recording environment than usual, but Ion has worked some magic with his mix here. He has mentioned adding other elements to this, perhaps his own music students, whenever he can find the time. I suggest it also might make a great visual piece down the line, and maybe someone will be inspired to create a 3-minute video for it (to watch on our phones of course ;). Thanks for taking the time to listen! xxxooo Guitar composition / mix: Ion Bodi @johnbodi [Ion's as equally talented on piano as on guitar, so please have a listen to his work] Lyrics / vocals: Kathleen Martin @kat330 Cover art design: JT Lindroos www.pinterest.com/jtlindroos TURN OFF YOUR PHONE lyrics Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Get out of the zone It just might astound you! Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Hey, turn off your phone! Turn off your phone Soak in what surrounds you And seek the unknown. Find out what confounds you! Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Please, turn off your phone? Life in two dimensions Puts blinders on your vision. Lift your eyes up from the screen. See what a 3rd dimension can mean. A slave of your own devices, You're heading for a virtual crisis. Break free from your pixelation And leave behind your alien-nation. Turn off your phone Take a look around you And see what is shown. It just might astound you! Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Turn off your phone! Yes, turn off your phone Soak in what surrounds you And seek the unknown. Find out what confounds you! Turn off your phone Have a look around you. Forget the latest fad. Lift your eyes up from your pad. See what a 3rd dimension can add—AND Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Get out of the zone. It just might astound you! Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Please, turn off your phone? Turn off your phone Soak in what surrounds you And seek the unknown. Find out what confounds you! Turn off your phone Take a look around you. Hey, turn off your phone! Please, turn off your phone C'mon, turn off your phone! Please, turn off your phone Please, turn off your phone Please, turn off your phone?

[April 26, 2016, a global collaboration that's indeed a thing called love—of music!] So honored to have worked on this Hiatt à la Raitt cover with these greatly talented folk (and even greater souls)! Finn Bårdsen (Autopilot Club): https://soundcloud.com/finn-slide-guitarist/tracks Slide guitar lead and rhythm Gary Reeves (Mountain Songs): https://soundcloud.com/mountain-songs/tracks Percussion Martin Lucas (Return to Normal): https://soundcloud.com/mlucas/tracks for his wonderful working version Logic X drum programming (plus his keen ears and being an all-round Hoosier mensch :) JT Lindroos: Cover design https://www.facebook.com/people/JT-Lindroos/100003643716049 and http://jtlindroos.tumblr.com/ The vocals, synth keyboard (bass/piano/steel guitar/trombones) and sundry guitar bits, along with mixing / production work by Kathleen Martin (kat330): http://soundcloud.com/kat330/tracks For those very familiar with both John Hiatt's original and Bonnie Raitt's revision of the lyrics, you'll note I tweaked them yet again. I felt "queen" was a better fit than "king" for ending the B line of the first verse, and anyway rhymes as sufficiently with "thing" as do both their "kang" pronunciations. But then the "Queen of Sheba" line right afterwards is too much queen for one verse, so I simply switched the C line rhymes between 1st and 2nd verses. Then I also revised the "Prince Charming" lyric to be less of a diss of my lover and more of a "you don't need to be because I don't need one" notion. ☼:) For my 2nd bridge lyrics, longer version of TCL: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/thing-called-love-add-lyrics As always, thank you for taking the time to listen AND to read these notes! xxxooo

March 30, 2016: (headphones please :) A remaster of LR was in the works for a while, but it seems now is the right time to post this given recent world events. A birthday wish of mine is for everyone on the planet to have a "rocky shore experience" ultimately allowing love to reign over all hate. The original release of this—my first fully realized singer-songwriter original—was in July 2013, just prior to JT's gift of a Yamaha keyboard synth. So the instruments performed here include 2 intertwining vibraphone parts on Korg keyboard, a bongo beat throughout, Epiphone drones for the "bass" end, 2 intertwining melodica parts, touches of harmonica, and an ending of metal kitchen trays struck with a cloth-covered meat tenderizer for those "gong" sounds. It opens with a marimba loop and, along the way, picks up conga and hi-hat loops I D/Led from online to painstakingly copy/paste into track layers. Somewhere in answering original track comments, I noted my lead vocal here was merely a draft run-through done sitting down, desktop miked while a ceiling fan whirled above just to see how my lyrics matched up with marimba the way through. I got a bit verklempt when singing of the very personal mystical experience at the rocky shore and, otherwise as well, the main vocal is not my strongest. I considered rerecording it back then and also for this remaster, but decided the vulnerability heard in my draft vocal actually helps convey the power of personal experience. A big thank-you to JT's Audacity for boosting bass and volume in this final version and shout-outs to Ion Bodi and Marty Lucas for providing their ears and valuable input along the way! xxxooo LOVE REIGNED © 2013 Kathleen A. Martin I had settled in the City of Angels, But a lucifer whisked me away To a Second City, so windy, no pity. Soon he left me one fall day. That was a time past passed through. Such a dark and a hard time on my way to you. All alone and on edge in Evanston, Edge of winter and of the Lake; As the nights grew longer, my hurt grew stronger. My heartbeat kept me awake. That was a time past passed through. Such a dark and a hard time on my way to you. Came a day in May at the waterside: The tears spilling down my face Turned from pain to joy on that rocky shore Within a flow of a glorious grace. That was a time past passed through. Such a right and a light time on my way to you. I felt love washing all around me Deep connection to every thing. To each grain of sand, to the family of man And every atom in between. That was a time past passed through. Such a right and a light time—I' m coming to you. I floated home to my carriage house With a great grin for all I greet That's returned in kind, and now forgiven behind Me is that devil in his defeat. That was a time past passed through. Such a right and a light time—I'm on my way to you. [On my way to you/ On my way to you / On my way to you I'm on my way to you / I'm coming to you / Coming to you]

March 14, 2016 This is my remaster of a track posted originally on October 24, 2013: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/michael-from-mountains Headphones always recommended as my production tweaks are usually on the subtle side. I first heard this sweet and cheery song where I found so many other gems I performed long ago: Judy Collins' treasured "Wildflowers" album. Likewise I adapted the keyboard part (Korg in harpsichord mode) from her superb "Songbook" of the period. Cello, oboe, harp and flute parts are produced on my Yamaha synth. The artwork is JT's deft actualization of an image I had in my head as I recorded the vocal track.

Leap Day 2016 I always "Relish"ed this song the most from Joan Osborne's breakthrough album. It's the music that pulled me in since I can't resist a waltz tempo, especially in a minor key. The lyrics, just vague and mysterious enough to be out of easy reach, were secondary to my enjoyment. I picked up on obvious drug references, but I needed to create a different back story in order to cover the song with any personal meaning. And while most of the lyrical content describes a shabby urban backdrop, the music itself suggested to me a rural Appalachian setting, so that's where my mind goes when singing the piece. I'm pretty certain what I see in my head when singing "way down in the hollow" is not what Joan had in mind which is, perhaps, more closely suggested in the accompanying track art. I recorded first an open minor-chord drone strummed on my JT-made "kat330" cigar-box guitar for the length of the piece. Then, for accent strings, I added some Finnish harp (kantele), which JT commissioned to be handmade for me several years ago. So this track's sound (and visual) is truly courtesy of and owes much to my wonderful husband *—kiitos, Sweetos! The tambourine and a few Epiphone bottom sliding bits are the only other handheld instruments I played. The drumbeat, organ, bass and mandolin tracks are played on a Yamaha synth keyboard. Arranged, performed, recorded and produced by Kathleen Martin. * Please, spare a minute to read this new interview with JT (hard to believe English is his 2nd language! :) http://badcitizencorporation.com/2016/02/29/interrogation-j-t-lindroos

While most of US tuned into that ball-maul Bowl Sunday eve, JT and I caught up with Scully & Mulder's latest reincarnation followed by the newest Abbey episode. If not for this viewing serendipity, quite possibly my keen ear would never have connected the dots—dots as ♪♪ in this case—to produce this brand new Kat Mash. And yes, those are my own "la-la-las" at the end. It's a seamless quickie both in length and in time taken to turn it out. I encourage you to visit my other similarly seamless mashup involving serendipity here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/rogue-world Also inspired to produce quickly, JT Lindroos provided me the track artwork. Kiitos, Sweetos! ♥ And speaking still of speed, we also watched on Superbowl Sunday a Harold Lloyd 1928 classic entitled "Speedy," allowing me a good excuse to include a delightful quote from this silent film's captions: "Outside the sun almost refused to come out because it could still see stars." ☼ Credits: Mark Snow is the composer of the X-Files theme, and John Lunn is composer of the Downton Abbey Theme.

[see full LYRICS below and hear joerxworx's wonderful saxophone addition here: http://kat330.bandcamp.com/track/nice-to-be-naughty-featuring-joerxworx-on-saxophone ] Kim of My Hot Air Balloon challenged me to do Eartha Kitt's "I Wanna Be Evil." As much as I enjoy Kitt's delightful performance here https://youtu.be/SS02GeKuWQ4, the lyrics didn't speak to me enough to cover it. Instead I wrote a nice vs naughty piece of my own and deliver it atop Earle Hagen's own composition duality: His song of innocence being the Andy Griffith Show Theme (on which Earle whistles as well), followed by a most sultry song of experience, his magnificent Harlem Nocturne (a fave song of mine of all time!). The opening also contains snippets from my Waltz to a Wood Thrush intro for a later von Trapp allusion and, just so it wasn't a 100% spoken word performance, I also recorded a track of me vocalizing to the two Hagen melodies as an echo in the background. The HN version I used here is performed by Johnny Otis and orchestra, and the glorious blat of chord separating nice from naughty is from the final two-minute mark or so of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I consider this a "first draft" in the hopes some blues-jazz musician in the SC community will compose a steamy 2:25 (or so) piece tailor-made for my second section naughty lyrics, either also to go beneath my already spoken recording, or even better, with a melody line to match my lyrics so I can actually sing the second part. It should be in a key that works with both my Waltz melody (which I'd use alone under the "nice" spoken section for an all-original version) and especially with that Gershwin segue chord (or provide a new blat chord of your own :). I had fun with the wordplay in these lyrics and hope you all enjoy both sides now! xxxooo [Nice2bNaughty 'toon by JT Lindroos] Nice to Be Naughty by Kathleen Martin © 2016 Like the driven snow I have always been pure. Polite as Miss Manners. So mild and demure. More femme than fatale On a path that is narrow. More prim than low-brow As straight as an arrow. I colored within the lines, Kept my ankles crossed. Listened to my elders, Content to be bossed. Yes, I've always... Dotted my I's Crossed my T's Minded my Q's And also my P's But in the innuendo, It's my asterisk! * I'll shut my von Trapp now to Break it down for you like this: I'm gonna ... Embrace the whole Eartha Full caboodle and Kitt! Clad in skintight clothing Become the girl that is "It"! I'll be lovably wicked From my purrs to my growls, Scratching all my itches On my wildKat prowls! I'll take off my specs, Loose my mane from its bun. I'll be a credit to my sex And I'll be second to none! I'll be good to the boner With variety and spice. A mumbler and a moaner More naughty than nice! Hooching my coochie, Grinding my bumps. Wooging my boogie, I'll shimmy my lumps! In amazing disgrace I'll fly high my freak flag. Buy a merkin in case My carpet needs a good shag. Hooching my coochie, Grinding my bumps. Wooging my boogie, I'll shimmy my lumps! I'll trade in my harp For some down & dirty sax. I'll kick out all the jams And be ballin' some Jacks!

[Originally uploaded @kat330 in 2014 during the Polar Vortex hitting US. Deleted there for more account time and remastered here November 11, 2015] These are my original production notes. While playful Kat's warming up outside in the cold distance, a wild Kat did growl: This prose poem was written in a rush of despair the morning of the autumnal equinox, September 23, 2010, after hearing a weather report the temperature could reach 100-degrees in the Louisville, KY, metro area that day. It is an Owed to Earth screed about unbridled greed, my enviro-rant venting rage over the decades of senseless waste now creating great haste (if not too late already). It's a bitter pill prescribed without sugar coating for parents and those planning ever to parent. If you are not as responsible a steward of this planet as you can be, get real and ponder: Why is it you sacrifice less toward the future your offspring will inherit than do citizens without any lineage to inhabit a damaged Earth? At least consider what is Owed the Children and why it is that a childless couple cares more what your great-grandkids will be forced to endure decades from now than you do. Also, it's long past high time to start calling some of us so-called '70s "pessimists" by our true identities: REALISTS. [c.f. first post of Getting Real here: kat330.tumblr.com/post/3242598956/getting-real ] And to see more evidence why we must be responsible stewards, see these lovely animal portraits JT snapped: https://www.flickr.com/photos/84307396@N00/albums/72157660985981162 Okay, all right. Gotta admit, you got us good. I'm talking to YOU, the loud, materialistic majority who smirk at us bent on our bicycles or cramped in our compact cars as you cruise around in your roomy, gas-guzzling SUVs and minivans. Who scoff at all the extra time and effort we take to recycle and compost over the decades, while YOU fill the ground with your mounds of trash. YOU, who luxuriate in your long hot baths and chuckle at us shivering in our stream-off-as-soaping showers. YOU, who fill up your swimming pools and hot tubs with utility rate breaks, while we use collected rainwater on our locavore gardens. YOU who sneer at the "eyesore" of clothes hanging to dry on lines while running your washer and dryer for that one pair of jeans you just gotta wear tonight. I could continue ad nauseum with this laundry list of compare and contrast, but you get my drift. So now, when it's 100 degrees on the first day of autumn, and natural disaster after natural disaster follow upon the heels of man-made disaster after man-made disaster, you get to gloat about us all winding up together in the same oil-filled boat after all. You can smile smugly to yourselves and think, "Tree-hugging suckers! At least WE really lived it up and enjoyed the spoils of the planet before we spoiled it for everyone! Ha-ha! You took all that extra effort and you sacrificed creature comforts for decades yet, in the end, you won't suffer any less from our selfishness just because of your responsible behavior. Nah, you just bought us all a little more time to party on. And besides, we'll just crank up the A/C even higher and go take a dip!" But here's a truly sobering thought for consumerists who have done little-to-nothing as stewards of this great Earth: If not your children, then your children's children, and whatever generations may survive beyond that, all still alive will curse you and your lethal legacy left to them with every labored breath they try to take. And the band plays on, with Nero on first violin... [Please, if you can, translate to other languages and pass along this SOS]

Here is yet a new mix, this time removing my lame melodica track so Damien Riba's marvelous piano is showcased far better. Damien, merci beaucoup for making my fantasy of being part of a combo come to life! Your piano contribution is so lovely and fits like a glove here! And love your artwork, too! ♥ Hear his sounds https://soundcloud.com/love-suites and https://soundcloud.com/mishugina-1899 and https://soundcloud.com/mangalyan-records

October 7, 2015 [Lyrics below and headphones strongly recommended] 'Tis the creepy season of Halloween chills and, to mark the centennial of its publication, here is my sonic version of Franz Kafka's notorious tale of hapless Gregor Samsa in "Metamorphosis," greatly abbreviated here in my words and music. The narrator (guess who?!:) describes only the earliest moments of Samsa's transformation, and then I spin it in the end with an upbeat twist. Maybe it will pique your curiosity to read the original story, and I encourage you to do so. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out all in all but, my-oh-my, did this piece ever have a long start-and-stall journey once I set lyrics down all the way back in January. It passed from collab to collab until it became clear the only way it was going to sprout wings and fly (ahem) was as a DIY project. I recently wrote in reply to a track comment, but I'll reiterate: Collabs at SC are great for revealing the true character (or lack thereof) of people; an eye-opening wake-up call that is indeed the single silver lining otherwise to a good deal of wasted time with a couple of folks. OTOH, it has also been the greatest source of joy collabing with people whose heads and hearts are both in the right place. (Won't name names either way, but all you good souls know how much I respect and ♥ you!) Written, arranged, produced by Kathleen Martin, performing on all vocals, Epiphone electric rhythm and Yamaha keyboard for bassoon, clarinet, organ and percussion/effects. Insect sounds found online. Artwork by Kazuhiko Nakamura (aka Almacan) here: http://www.deviantart.com/browse/all/?section=&global=1&q=almacan and please also see the original artwork by JT Lindroos at https://kat330.bandcamp.com/track/gregorian-chance GREGORIAN CHANCE Mother, is that you? Sis, you out there, too? Voice so weird within my head. So very hard to lift up out of bed. My body feels so strange. I think there's been some change, Yet it can't be as it seems. It all must be a dream My boss yells from the hall: "You're late and didn't call!" I crawl across the floor To open up my door. I glimpse my image mirrored. It's just as I had feared Overnight I'd turned in To wretched insect vermin. BRIDGE I scream, but what comes out Is not a human shout. My angry boss still knocks. How will I work the locks? I try to use my mouth To turn the latches south. It's not an easy job, But now I've turned the knob. Shocked in sheer revulsion And recoiling in repulsion, My callers quickly flee From the very sight of me. BRIDGE I fold my wings within my shell To shield me from my nightmare hell. This newest transformation Guarantees me more isolation. And I cannot fall to ruin If cushioned in cocoon. Shall I settle in to rest Safe inside my insect nest? But we're none as we appear, And change is what we fear; And fear that stunts our growth, So I'll bid goodbye to both! Auf wiedersehen! (c) October 2015 Kathleen Martin CODA: [from "I'll Fly Away" punctuated by sounds of "La Cucaracha"] Just a few more weary days and then, I'll fly away. To that land where joy will never end, I'll fly away. I'll fly away. I'll fly away.

Please see original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/candy-man-dave-van-ronk Cover Design by JT Lindroos: http://pinterest.com/jtlindroos

Please see original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/east-st-louis-blues-1 (cowbell layer removed per request of JT/ "Philo" https://soundcloud.com/philo-gristle :) Cover Design by JT Lindroos http://pinterest.com/jtlindroos

Please see original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/frankiesblues (NOTE: at 1:09-1:15, you'll still hear the truck on wet pavement passing by our living room--just pretend it's ambient barroom noise. :) Cover Design by JT "Philo Gristle" Lindroos http://pinterest.com/jtlindroos and https://soundcloud.com/philo-gristle

[Originally posted February 2013 @kat330 / deleted there for upload time / retained listener comments below] While noodling on a newer toy (Epiphone Special II) in my musical instrument array, I decided to record myself back in early February 2013 strumming a rendition of "Fixin' to Die." The year had begun on a roll, but there was a sad blindside to the soul before I got around to recording any vocals for it. Well then, Dylan's / Bukka White's lyrics felt too dark for the place I was pushed aside to, so I set about writing new words in a very different direction, adding acoustic guitar as well as a couple of melodica and harmony tracks. My opening verse arose from something JT and I discovered early on in our pixel-ated courtship: We share the exact same sensation and physical experience of flying within our dreams. Rather than horizontally soaring like a bird or Superman, we both "fly" in an upright position, and the sensation is more of leaping up to a height and maintaining altitude through a momentum of bounding and skipping thrusts. And that moment of wonder-filled revelation forever bound us as soulmates to one another. Well, I woke up this mornin’ Wondrin’ what had I seen? I threw back the blanket Recallin’ that I had dreamed I’d been boundin’ and a-skippin’ Over oceans and forests of trees. I shiver in the shower now And figure I’m fixin’ to live. Cold water washes closed eyes That see how I’m fixin’ to live And wondrin’ on the right way To deliver (to deliver) and give. So I step out my back door, For I’m fixin’ to be free (to be free). I look toward the sunrise Beyond an old (an old) oak tree. It’s shinin’ on a new day, A wide world of possibilities. 16 comments Lee >>> Lucas says at 2:58: Well Kat you certainly handled all the instrumentation very well indeed and put it all together wonderfully, and your voice words and harmonies done the bizzo. Cracking stuff and a cracking song here... @lee-lucas: As always, Lee, your kind words mean my morning is Fixin' to be cracking swell indeed! Lee >>> Lucas says at 1:22: The melody actually sounds close to an Harmonica in some ways.. Certainly fixing that :)))))))))) Lee >>> Lucas says at 0:10: Your opening harmonies and the melody sounds like your coming in on a train here Kat and very cool indeed... @lee-lucas: Aha! You figured out my loco-motives! ;) Thanks, Mr. Lee! Leo Capitanelli says at 3:10: I listening yours songs from another part of the world.. Sounds like a tales. Beautiful. Mara from Leonardo soundcloud @leocapitanelli: Gracias y gracias por su comentario en Inglés! :) Gui Junq'S says at 1:41: amazing sound! amazing Kat @guijunqs: Thank you—again and again—Gui! Gui Junq'S says at 1:41: @kat330: :D tkalec says at 2:42: Great vibe, love it! @tkalec: TY, tk! Jim Platts Rhythm Innov says at 2:49: you rock it girl!!! Jim Platts Rhythm Innov says at 0:24: amazing sound love it reminds me of Led Zeppelin 3 Jim Platts Rhythm Innov says at 0:06: love it.. @jim-platts-rhythm-innov: Wow, Jim, don't know what space I was in 6 months ago -- actually I do, and it was a hard time -- but my sincerest apologies for never responding to your trifecta of kind words on this little track. THANK YOU x3!!! :)

August 18, 2015: Hope you enjoy this word puzzle I constructed as a challenge to myself. Squeezed into the 19 couplets below are fully 39 pairs of words that are spelled as if they should be rhymes but are pronounced differently, sometimes even quite so (like "tamale" and "pale" :). If there is a term for this English language quirk, I could not find it, so please inform me? In my search, I came across this site: http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~jburkardt/fun/wordplay/unrhymes.html While obviously every couplet ends in "eye-rhymes," several lines also contain within them two to three additional words paired to the line below that are also busted rhymes. English may not be the most difficult world language to learn, but it is certainly littered with as many broken rules as it has rules to follow, most of these in pronunciation. It's no secret I'm a huge fan of wordplay, but I have also been a constructor of those big, theme crossword puzzles ("cruciverbalist" is the term) and enjoy puzzles wherever language is involved. In this instance the paired words came first, and the narrative was then formed from them. I considered composing music and melody to sing this piece, and still may do so in the future, but here it is spoken word over bits of my "El Preso" instrumental. ☼:) Mean Sean Devane from Spokane This is the tale of Sean Devane, who as a youth Blew clean from Spokane and headed down south. Bought himself a Buick that he wasn't much into So exchanged it real quick for a silver Ford Pinto. After the car swap, he rushed right through Kansas. Wearing his war cap, he pushed on to Arkansas. In Mena he met a model who said "Hi, my name's Judy! I've a mighty fine yodel, and I act as an understudy In an amateur drama playing across the road. I'm portraying some Panama con-artist broad Who's only pretending to be a lily white waif But instead is very wily, not at all some naif." No break to perform it, she brought that broad home, Taking a turn for the worse along the road to come. Her cons created an ocean of cost in deceit, And soon confirmed Sean had most to forfeit: Badly got a bum's rush as she drove off in his Pinto Her penultimate push to prove what he'd stepped into. He dialed Judy's dad to ask "Where is your daughter?" "Somewhere in Texas," her dad chortled in laughter. So he finally tracked her down to one of Waco's Crummy cantinas where she'd been slinging tacos. But Sean didn't follow her there for her food So clean on his mind he was here for her blood. When he walked in the joint, she dropped a tamale From shaking in shock and then drained ashen pale. She cried out, "Sean, baby, hey, there's no quarrel!" But two strides later, she stared down his barrel. He plainly had no plans to take Judy hostage; He dispatched her to sender without any postage. It was hardly any wonder when a Texas jury Took no time to ponder; nor the judge to bury Convicted Sean Devane with a ruling to inter His mortal coil in Spokane the upcoming winter. Yet the Waco weather was still mighty warm When that needle of poison went into his arm. Now, should Sean's fate feel a bit too untoward, Know that at least no one called him a coward. [if you want to see the 39 pairs in boldface, they are here: http://kat330.tumblr.com/

Please see original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/el-preso-numero-nueve It was used on PBS here: http://www.pbs.org/food/original-fare/season-3-episode-2-childhood-search-puerto-ricos-lost-pepper (Muppets have left, but Kat crawled in ;) What you'll hear missing compared with the first recording is a pan-effect that Mr. Gristle had done on my track using Garage Band software. If people really want that back in on this remaster, let me know and I'll put Philo on it! ☼ If you care to hear a *really* lo-fi, effed up version, there is always this: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/el-preso-redux-1998-tape :) xxxooo

Please read original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/after-the-gold-rush ☼

Find original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/catch-the-wind An early track benefiting from my mixing and production learning curve, separation in vocals, etc.

Find original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/since-youve-asked-judy-collins

Find original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/colours-donovan See Mr. Gristle's video backdrop (to the original version) here: https://youtu.be/dDqkUJq4HJw Much better separation on this remaster, and D/Ling can now resume anew! :)

[Find lyrics and production notes at:https://soundcloud.com/kat330repost/major-melon-farmer

Please check out this droll dude's podcast, "Ragbag," which intersperses quirky music with snarky observations on e-human behavior: https://soundcloud.com/frank-burton-912417543/ep2-triangle-house Find lyrics and production notes at:https://soundcloud.com/kat330/bipolar-vortex-boogie-drrrama ]

[Find lyrics and production notes at https://soundcloud.com/kat330/player-vs-player ]

July 28, 2015: Another in my remaster series, Original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/richland-woman-blues A Mississippi John Hurt cover as I learned from Maria Muldaur's version. I tweaked a lyric in verse 3 -- just made sense. The rooster artwork is by Tony "Doc" Shiels. We're fortunate to have a couple of original pieces by him. xxxooo

Cool original artwork of her abusive, halfway house biker by JT Lindroos [kiitos, Kulta!] July 28, 2015: Another in my remaster series, still with the sarcastically cynical lyric changes as sung by an older (yet not at all wiser) woman. Original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/cynical-sarcastic-someday-soon This is the earliest recording still on my kat330 site that I have never tweaked until this remaster. I think it benefits the most from my learning curve. :) xxxooo

July 28, 2015: Another in my remaster series. Original production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/hard-lovin-loser-richard-fari and Mr. Gristle's YouTube edited cartoon visual here: https://youtu.be/nc1BuhBxY6E No getting rid of the Korg's "buzz" when it was plugged into my laptop and in normal piano mode, but maybe there's more clarity elsewhere in this version. xxxooo

[see a video using this track here: https://youtu.be/UlJGyvCFRkc ] July 27, 2015: OK, the 4th and final variation on a thrush theme, whew! This is my vocal version with the lovely lilts of Lisa West (Faerytale on SoundCloud) https://soundcloud.com/faerytale/tracks and here: www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Faerytale Lisa indicated she recorded her vocalization against my lyrics version, and so I feel it fits together even better than her with my instrumental version. To see lyrics, go to production notes here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/waltz-to-a-wood-thrush

Nov 11, 2016: Leonard Cohen, R.I.P. ♥ July 23, 2015: [headphones suggested] Here's the 5th in my "remastered for downloading anew" project. You'll also find a few DL-maxed tracks at freemusicarchive.org/music/Kathleen_Martin (excluding my covers of active artists). Somehow I had mastered my initial recording of "SoM" with an especially soft volume, so boosting that is the primary improvement here. I feel this is one of my finest vocals overall, coming after I'd learned a bit more about Reaper and before I'd beat up my best mic by badly securing it to and often dropping it from a telescope tripod for stand-up singing. From looking at the vocal stem, somehow I also lucked out with no outside noise interference for the full recording—unheard of during my miked performances, whether voice or instrument!—resulting in a more cohesive delivery of the lyrics. Keyboard accompaniment includes my Korg in harpsichord mode and my Yamaha for bassoon, recorder and concert harp parts. Please read original production notes at my November 2013 version posted here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/sisters-of-mercy-leonard-cohen XXXOOO

This instrumental variation includes the lovely lilting of Lisa West (Faerytale on SoundCloud) https://soundcloud.com/faerytale/tracks and here: http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Faerytale Thank you for adding your pure vocal instrument to my composition, Lisa! xxxooo

July 16, 2015: How appropriate that my probable "swan song" over at kat330 was inspired by a bird a couple of weeks ago, a talented wood thrush to be specific! From his 6-note song, I heard a waltz melody in my head and began writing lyrics to fit. It was an unexpected yet joyous journey getting into the guise of a male songbird courting a mate for this narrative. But this is an instrumental version only, recommended I upload by JT. Would be so lovely if someone choreographed a waltz piece to it or used it for some pastoral video. My Guild provided the simple chords and rhythm, and to that I added keyboard sounds of harpsichord, cello, pan flute and orchestra harp, even some flourishes of kantele near the end. The thrush song you hear interspersed is from a field recording at a Brown County, Indiana, forest on July 1st. This song might seem like something Maria would teach the Von Trapp children and will be too twee for many to appreciate—as my Major Melon Farmer and Swamp Guinea lyrics are 180-degrees too snarky for many—but all my pieces reflect a full rainbow of sentiments and aspects of my persona, the good, the bad and the ugly. I'll continue creating new sets now and then while still remastering some of my older tracks to upload for downloading anew here, but the kat330 account is now filled to the gills. Unless and until I remove pieces there for more time, any new composition will be found here or at my Bandcamp and Free Music Archive pages. Thank you, dear listeners and sound friends! xxxooo Written, arranged, performed and produced by Kathleen Martin (c) 2015

June 23, 2015: [headphones suggested and, please, no need to ♥ / repost / comment again!] Another in my "remastered for downloading anew" project. You'll also find a few DL-maxed tracks at freemusicarchive.org/music/Kathleen_Martin (excluding my covers of active artists). I tightened up the melodica track a bit and used new master settings to hopefully improve and increase the overall sound. A simple trio of sounds here: my voice, my Korg in harpsichord mode and my melodica (in dark corridor FX). Please read production notes at my initial version posted here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/la-chanson-des-vieux-amants

[see JT's Betty Boop visuals for this track here: youtu.be/BezN4R-WZRI] June 20, 2015 [remaster]: I tightened this up a bit, esp. in the "Hit it, gals!" instrumental section, and used new master settings to hopefully improve and increase the overall sound. Here are my original production notes: When I came across this title within my old set lists, I remembered actually that it—and not Mitchell's "Last Time I Saw Richard"—was the very first song I pecked out the piano part by ear as a teen, note by note, from my vinyl of "Another Side." Never tried to transpose the key—where's the piano capo, inventors?—so it was a bad fit for my high soprano back then. Now, however, I've nicely aged into the chesty alto needed for that original key. So there's your upside to getting old. I'm having some fun around the 1:50 mark with my "Hit it, gals!" shout-out to my honkin' and tonkin' band of one. :) Original track posted here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/black-crow-blues-bob-dylan

June 18, 2015 [remaster]:I haven't tweaked this significantly, but I did tighten it up and used new master settings to hopefully improve and increase the overall sound. Here are my original production notes: Sisters and brothers, saints and sinners in the congregation of the Everlasting Light of Hope, please open your hymnals to p. 330 and join me in making a joyful, hopeful noise! ☼ First time I heard this song as rendered by The Band on "Music from Big Pink," it hit me like a hymn, and that's how I've always interpreted it. Here I've changed up the rhythm and added several keyboard and melodica tracks along with my original guitar-picking version, but I've kept in my ending "A-men" chords. When I realized how it was shaping up with this altered rhythm, I quickly caught the haunt of "Stand By Me." For a while I toyed then with the notion of mashing the two together in some fashion, but the project was already becoming overwrought with tracks. Maybe someone else would like to tackle that? Here is the first posting of this track: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/i-shall-be-released-bob-dylan

June 15, 2015: [headphones suggested!] Please, no need to ♥ / repost / comment again. I posted this to offer resumed downloading because after "El Preso" (which still can be downloaded at freemusicarchive.org/music/Kathleen_Martin ), "Brass in Pocket" was my most downloaded SC track prior to October 2014 when I reverted to a non-pro account with DLs limited to 100. I haven't tweaked it a great deal, but I redid a smidgen of harmony and used new master settings to hopefully improve and increase the overall sound. My original release is still here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/brass-in-pocket-pretenders More to come! Arranged, performed and produced by Kathleen Martin [Art by awesomeblossompossum at deviantART w/ tweaks by JT Lindroos]

June 14, 2015: Serve a dish cold? Fahgeddaboudit! Nothing beats a brand new hot creation for venting one's veritable vexation. Listeners of a certain age will immediately recognize the "Ad Lib"ing vehicle, but I take this parody out for a very different spin here. My arrangement / performance is 100% original; my lyrics are 180-degrees in an opposite direction and across the Hudson River. While their cute NYC boy was "the most" from coast to coast, this clueless dude in Joizy is the least of the least from west to east. Been a while since I've produced so many layers for a piece, and I find the effort is always as personally rewarding as it is tedious. Pleased with some of the music phrases I created for the horns (and word phrases for the horn-dawg), and hope something here pleases you as well. xxxooo Performed, recorded, arranged and produced with lyrics by Kathleen Martin. Parody based on melody of Ad Libs' "Boy from NYC." Graphic art concept and design by JT Lindroos. Major Melon Farmer (Airing Off the Side of Caution) [Similarity to any person living (yet dead inside) is no coincidence] Refrain: It's a doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop ditty Of a major melon farmer in Jersey City A doo-wop doo-wop doo-wop ditty Of a major melon farmer in Jersey City His form is free of diversity Couldn't care less for gender parity It really bites, it's just not right Mostly men of middle age and mainly white Ewww what an ego from Newark to Oswego! He calls the shots across megawatts [Refrain] He thinks he's hip, but he's a dip Who's traveling on a petty power trip It's such a shame he shirks all blame And breaks the rules to always win the game Ewww what an ego! He's no one's true amigo When in the grip of his power trip He pilfered public money To build a vanity Hall For disclosing his full Monty Entertaining none at all. ("Tell me whyyyyy you're so vain!") [Refrain] He's such a troll. He has no soul. Wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole In his "mo' hair" suit, he's never cute 'Cause his birthday suit is LOL hirsute Ewww what an ego from Brooklyn to Oswego! He has no taste, an airwaves waste [Over the Refrain] He is the least From west to east. He thinks he's cool, But he's a tool. He's just a jerk At play or work. He's such a putz! He's really nuts.

This is a remaster of the original Sept. 19, 2013 release. Please see original info here: https://soundcloud.com/kat330/swamp-guinea There's a kantele driven break in the middle, and please listen all the way for the surprise at the end. :)

Haven't done such a lo-fi, raw test track since 2012, but felt I had to post this while still my birthday. The photo is of my morning gift from my husband: a cigar-box guitar he made himself for me! [Kiitos, Hunaja!] This recorded tryout of the instrument has plenty of sketchy moments, but it's a start. I may add some vocal to it [July 1, 2015 update: https://soundcloud.com/kat330repost/loving-you-ah ] or expand on it, or toss it out altogether; but here is what it is, fresh upon delivery, along with tambourine and harmonica tracks. [Composed, performed, recorded and produced by Kathleen Martin, March 30, 2015 -- video using the track on April 1, 2015 -- quick turnaround, Renee! https://vimeo.com/123789697 ]

[Original notes updated August 2016] I recorded this ditty back in March 2015 in the tradition of a 20th C. protest song while having some extra fun with instrumentation and various musical allusions. At that time I could never have suspected—not even in my wildest nightmares—that a template for my initial inspiration could ever actually be nominated as the presidential candidate of a major US political party! Lumped with so many other heinously ignorant, unjust and horrific events of 2015-16, it can be understood only in the context of some virulent strain of planet insanity. My lyrics are not at all an indictment of middle-aged white men in general; after all, I'm happily married to a wonderful one (who's thankfully also a feminist)! No, my chant here invokes the patriarchal, greedy breed of white middle-aged men who are "doughy" in both form and finances, an ever-expanding waste of bankers and politicians on local, state and national levels who overpower opposition spinning a Turdblossom stench; ANTI-Robin Hoods taking from the poor to give to the rich. A few templates of inspiration for what "Ailes" US include the conspicuously rich, like The Donald, along with power Muppet Mitch McConnell; also a variety of Dicks and attorneys, Koch Bro's and Bernies (who made off with millions, but at least mostly by stealing from the rich). DWM-aM have enjoyed a very long run (and could certainly benefit from one), but it's long past the tipping point for a major sea change more in accord with Mother Earth. The time is ripe to shake the trees so the rotten do-nothing legislators and financial dough nuts fall to the ground for fertilizer until a rose grows on Wall Street. Take courage and be encouraged: it's not a matter of IF ever there will be gender equality for US, it's only a matter of when. Doughy white middle-aged men RUN the world, run the world Doughy white middle-aged men RUN this world we live in. Doughy white middle-aged men RULE the world, rule the world Doughy white middle-aged men RULE this world we live in. Doughy white middle-aged men RUIN the world, ruin the world Doughy white middle-aged men RUIN this world we live in. So doughy white middle-aged men RUN the world and RUIN the world Doughy white middle-aged men RULE this world we live in. But we will not give in! They RUN this world together, But they won't forever! © KAM 2015 Written, arranged, performed, recorded and produced by Kathleen Martin, March 15, 2015.

March 1, 2015 February 2015 was brutal locally beginning midway through, but colorful seed catalogs put me in a reverie of spring planting and summer's bounty. And whenever I think of homegrown vegetables, my mind returns to a ditty I performed at age nine in Knob Knee high school's production of "Plain and Fancy." [http://kat330.tumblr.com/post/18854920150/first-stage] "Plenty of Pennsylvania" is the musical number in which this minute solo occurs and, as you might figure out on your own, I'm singing out vegetables in alphabetical order, A to Z. There's some fudging on "U" (un-ions) and "X" (x-plant for eggplant) and, at the end, the soloist struggles finding a proper "Z" vegetable. In addition to the simple guitar accompaniment, I decided on a riverboat calliope sound from the keyboard (ending with a reed organ flourish). I've never refreshed my memory of melody or lyrics, so what you hear is what I've kept with me throughout all these many (far too many! :) interim years since those performances. No doubt I have a thing or two wrong and hope anyone who knows better will send me correction comments, thanks! Expanding on the plant theme here, you might munch on this homophonic pun fun opus I penned and posted in winter 2011: http://kat330.tumblr.com/post/3258540996/from-the-ground-up-can-yew-dig-it PLENTY OF PENNSYLVANIA from the musical "Plain and Fancy" [Young Miller Girl solo] Asparagus, Broccoli, Cauliflower Dandelion greens, and Escarole, Fennel and Grapes and Honeydew melon, And Iceberg lettuce for the salad bowl! Juniper, Kale, and lovely Lentils; Mushrooms, Nutmeg, Okra, Peas, Quinces, Rutabagas, Squash, Tomatoes And Un-i-ons sweet like strawberries! Vinegar and sweet Watermelon, X-plant planted all in rows. Yams and Zpinach? [No!] Zauerkraut? [No!!] Zucchini! [Yes!!!] In Pennsylvania anything grows! Lyrics by Arnold Horwitt / Music by Albert Hague Arranged, performed and recorded by Kathleen Martin

Many thanks to Alfonso Llorente Sardi for offering to make TS "sound big" and for doing so! My initial lower-fi, shorter version is here https://soundcloud.com/kat330/transistor-sister and check out Alfonso's sounds here https://soundcloud.com/abogllm Also a free .wav download of this longer version available here: http://kat330.bandcamp.com/track/transistor-sister