“XXX”

Miki: "I love it when you do, that voodoo, that you do, so well...."

I’m slowly getting to grips with the track “XXX” for my Blue Odyssey album. It clocks in at around 6 minutes, and begins with layered acoustic guitars and strings, eventually launching into a blues/rock feel, the explodes into a crazy time signature solo section before returning to the blues rock feel again to fade.

It’s quite hard bringing all the different themes together, as they have different dynamics, and it’s very easy for it to end up very ‘bitty’. I roped Miki in today, too – she takes the part of the Louisiana Witch Queen herself, Marie Laveau, and she has a spoken refrain in the choruses as well as a small speech on the outro. all in French, naturellement!

Today, for the first time, I began to hear it how it should be and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!   Once this one’s put to bed, it’s on to the title track.

Kev Moore

The New Orleans Suite

Joan of Arc, obviously a Saints fan then, being a Saint, and from Orleans and stuff...

The influence of New Orleans on me during our American trip earlier this year was so great that there are no fewer than three songs that deal with different aspects of that fabulous city that will appear on my Blue Odyssey album. I’m considering linking them somehow to form a “New Orleans Suite”, perhaps with ‘vox pops’ from New Orleans residents. The three songs are widely differing in style, Who Dat is funky, Ol’ New Orleans is very zydeco, and XXX is , well, a heavy rock blues with an acoustic beginning and an off-the-wall solo section. But the common thread is the city, whether it be the triumph of The Saints at the Superbowl, the pleasure of the Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, the French Quarter  and the musical heritage therein, or the otherworldly Voodoo influences of Marie Laveau.It is the song dealing with the latter to which I’ve currently turned my attention.

One thing is for sure. It is impossible to visit such a city and not come away with a host of wonderful ideas and influences. Manna from heaven for a songwriter!

Kev Moore