My True North

CHASE THE SUN

CHASE THE SUN is the follow up to my 2005 rocky, funky, jazzy and guitary CD Cinco De Mayo. You can also find my other CD’s BLUEPRINT, EYEWITNESS and CINCO DE MAYO on cdbaby. This time round I’ve reverted to maximum guitar so there’s none of those vocal type things to contaminate the music!

TRACK 01: - MARINA DEL REY (4.33)

Written whilst on holiday in Los Angeles in April 06, in, believe it or not, Marina Del Rey. This is my nod to the excellent Steve Oliver whose CD's are a frequent companion when vacationing in sunny climates. The solo section is well away from Steve Oliver territory, it's on electric for starters. I went for a Jeff Beck / Joe Bonamassa type hard hammer and bend on the first few notes then it's away into my normal pinched squeals, tapping and string skipping territory.

TRACK 02: - FALL TO PIECES (5.00)

This tune starts quietly and then gradually builds to a pounding finish. It has a nice C to Cmaj7 to Fmaj7 chord sequence going on in the verse. It was influenced by listening to Snow Patrol.

TRACK 03: – PULSE (6.07)

The full title of this was “My Pulse Is Racing”. These were the words I heard at the chorus section every time I played the melody. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't influenced by Dave Gilmour, but if I get even close then that will do for me. This was one on the first tunes I recorded for the CD.

TRACK 04: - YOURE MY SECRET (5.25)

This was written with words - like a proper song! However I recorded this instrumental version of it and liked it so I kept it. If you want to sing along just sing “you're my secret” over the first 4 notes of the chorus and you'll get the drift. The song is about unrequited love - You're my secret, only trouble is no one knows it but me. Not brilliant I admit, but better words than Zoom by Fat Larry's Band.

TRACK 05: – VENEZIA (4.53)

Named after the DeArmond Venezia guitar rather than the place – although they are both pretty special.

TRACK 06: - CHASE THE SUN (3.21)

This is another of my up tempo acoustic holiday type feel good tunes, although the electric solo does liven things up a bit.

TRACK 07: - MY TRUE NORTH (4.38)

The title comes from a line in the film “Message in a Bottle”. The song structure features a run down in a major key, which is a change of approach for me I'm usually a minor man (story of my life!). This is definitely my ode to one of the unsung best, Neil Zaza who really should be up there with Satriani, well in my book anyway. The solo on this is one on my favourites although if I was being 'picky' it's probably got a shade too much distortion on it (we are not talking summer breeze type levels here). But I wasn't sure I could get quite the same feel if I did it again. So I left it.


TRACK 08: - STRANGE FRUIT (6.00)

An eastern sounding melody to the verse. My favourite bit is the break down section near the end before it comes back in up tempo. I was going for the Whitesnake feel they get near the end of Still of the Night.

TRACK 09: – MIEMMA (3.53)

The title is a combination of Michael and Emma but no prizes for guessing that. This originally appeared on my first release “Big Trouble” and was for many the stand out track. Although when you listen to it now it's not difficult to see why. I'm not singing on it which gave it a distinct head start over most of the rest. This version is pretty much a faithful reproduction with better recording and a new intro and outro section. The outro has a bit of my current favourite tapping lick on it-any excuse!

TRACK 10: - LUCKY SUGAR (3.38)

Descending chorus chord progression Am-G-F on this track. Although this track has been written for a couple of years it was one of the last ones I recorded for the CD. Well I actually recorded a further Latin track called “Havana Bop” but it didn’t really fit with the rest of the tracks so it was culled at the last minute. This track is at 115bpm for those people who like those kind of details.

TRACK 11: - DAY OF TEARS (6.08)

This tune has taken about 30 years to get this far. It owes its origins to a desperate desire to emulate Robin Trower in a Bridge of Sighs type way. Anyway, I went watching him live last year and he was excellent so the desire returned. However, once I started to work out the chords and melody the song changed and you now have a Gilmour / Trower hybrid. The song title was written, like the riff years ago. I originally called it lachrymosa, which means day of tears but I've now used the less prog rock dungeons and dragons type title. You can hear me play a little bit of Bridge Of Sighs just at the end.

TRACK 12: - NO MORE TEARS (5.38)

A song that was originally on “Big Trouble” and had vocals on it. It’s mainly a 12 bar (ish) in Am. I pretty much adhered to the solo from my earlier version.

TRACK 13: – PORCUPINE (4.36)

Late last year I got into the band Porcupine Tree in a big way. Consequently I penned this track which when it was finished didn’t sound much like them at all, however there are a few influences dotted around here and there that the PT faithful would spot.

TRACK 14: - HONEYTRAP (3.42)

Straightforward 120bpm acoustic / electric mix.


TRACK 15: - SHANGHIGH NOON (6.18)

Another track with an oriental feel. It’s quite a long track, clocking in at 6.18 with a bpm of 86. Fascinating stuff eh.


TRACK 16: - PERFECT BUT FUTILE (5.59)

The CD was all finished and ready to print when I started writing this tune. I liked it so much I ended up keeping this and dropping a track called “In Our Age”. The track is all about some relationships. Again, although hard to spot, there are some Porcupine Tree influences at work on this one as well.