Cannon

Some of my decision making with music involves input from others.  Why not?  That's definitely what it's all about to some degree.  Wait, does that make sense?  Anyway, whether taking song requests from an audience member or suggestions on what guitar to use from my producer, you can never do it alone.  Here are a few examples of how folks who hear my music are making my album a little bit better, one step at a time.  

I have a song called "Cannon," now up on the Eddie West MySpace.  A performance of that song also yielded a suggestion I decided to keep for the album.  At Fiddler's Dream (Phoenix) in December where I played most of my new songs to a crowd, an audience member said he wanted to have heard the ambient part of the song once again at the ending.  (You'll have to listen to the new studio version if you haven't already.)  I took his suggestion to heart and after trying it out decided to keep the song that way.  

This past weekend I played my regular First Saturday gig at Xtreme Bean in Tempe, AZ.  I had been having a thought bounce around in my head for a while - what song should finish my album?  The one I had anticipated as becoming a last song I thought might be superseded by another song, "Cannon."  I tested out the idea by ending my show on Saturday with the song, "Cannon."  

Talking to members of the audience afterward I got specific complements on that song from someone who was enjoying the last bit of my set.  She was watching in the back for a while but then came up and sat down during the last few songs and afterward, sensing her enthusiasm for the music, I went up to say hello.  She told me strait up that she liked the last song; my test worked!  And just like that I'm planning on making "Cannon" the last song on my album.  

That always happens by the way - not only do people in the back sometimes have a better view of the stage (better sound?) - at Xtreme Bean the crowd becomes intense right before I get done playing as the room fills up with late night coffee drinkers.  I think I should have done a third set or played later.  Among the crowd one person was really excited about that last song, and that changed my whole way of thinking about it.