Critter's Crazy Corner

It has been a LONG time since I posted anything new here, so I figured I'd post a quick update.

NEW MUSIC PROJECTS

Music has kept me VERY busy recently. At the end of last year, I started to work on music for a local independent movie called "The Lard Boys," which will resume later this summer. The songs recorded so far are nothing like my usual style - as a hint, I even play some banjo on one of the tracks!

ROCKIN' AROUND THE TOWN SQUARE 2012: RED WHITE & BLUE

Of course, the 2011 "Rockin' Around the Town Square" (RATTS) Christmas concerts were a success and a blast - so much, in fact, that for the past few months I've been working on new music for a brand new SUMMER show! The "Rockin' Around the Town Square: Red, White & Blue" summer concerts will take place June 22-24, 2012 at the Main Street Theater in Columbiana, and as suggested by the title, will have a patriotic theme. The summer RATTS show will feature many brand new, exciting things to honor and pay tribute to those who have served or are currently serving in any branch of the U.S. Military. It's certainly been fun taking songs that are as old as 230 years old, reworking them, and giving them a hard rockin' twist - hopefully others will enjoy the new arrangements. If the demos serve as any indication, the summer shows should be even more fun than ever before! The 2012 Christmas RATTS concerts are already scheduled, as well - for December 14-16, 2012. Be sure to check out baydamusic.com for all the latest updates and upcoming performances.

STUCK ON REPEAT: BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART'S "FEEL THE POWER"

I never thought I'd admit to enjoying an album with any type of screamo/deathcore/metalcore/hardcore/whatever-'core'-the-scene-kids-are-calling-it-these-days leanings... until a few days ago after buying "Feel The Power", the latest album by Blessed By A Broken Heart. Before elaborating any further, I certainly understand musicians' needs for expression and totally respect their artistic freedom. I also try my best to be open-minded and set aside my opinions when checking out new music, which can admittedly be challenging at times. However, since the screamo/metalcore/etc. scene first started to sneak out of the underground in the early- to mid-2000s, I've not been able to relate with most of the music... because I tend to be a positive, happy-go-lucky individual, the angst present in the vocal delivery of much of that music doesn't really connect with me on an emotional level. In addition, as a huge  fan of musical variety and growth, I haven't noticed much of either of those traits within that particular genre. Most of the bands sound very similar to me at first listen. Then I stumbled upon Blessed By A Broken Heart's "Feel The Power." Finally, a modern North American rock/metal band that's unafraid to be different from everyone else! "Feel The Power" showcases a band eager to continually learn from, expand on, and improve upon its past experiences and experiments - and, unlike BBABH's previous 2 albums, it successfully blends together elements of Journey, Def Leppard, Racer X, Yngwie Malmsteen, Underoath, Avenged Sevenfold, Dragonforce, and more. Loaded with impressive musical chops, irresistible vocal melodies, layers of vocal harmonies, and a nod to old-school 'feel good' rock, while also possessing a modern edge and intensity, "Feel The Power" has something for ALL open-minded music lovers to enjoy. And it may just inspire me to play guitar FAST again! Check it out!

That's all for now - until next time!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 02:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been almost 4 months since my last update here, and those 4 months have been a very busy time! The "Rockin' Around the Town Square" 2010 concerts were a blast and a success - so much so that the 2011 dates have already been scheduled and confirmed! Since January, I've kept busy working on recordings for 3 different simultaneous recording projects, which include an instrumental album of original material, a rockin' Christmas album, and an album of original material featuring vocals. As of now, I've made the most progress on the instrumental album, the Christmas album is the next most complete project, and the vocal album still has much work left to do. Considering my track record of being a perfectionist (to the point of obsessive compulsion) with my recordings, I'm amazed at how much material I've actually managed to complete recently.

Tentative plans for the remainder of 2011 will include much time spent recording - including completing and releasing the Christmas album (which will feature many of my arrangements as used for the past "Rockin' Around the Town Square" concerts, plus brand new material), plus completing (and possibly releasing) the instrumental album. The goal is to complete the Christmas album in time for this year's concerts, but time ultimately reveal the final outcome. I'm also in the process of scheduling several live performances for this coming summer and fall.

In addition, after nearly 3 years, I've finally updated the music player at baydamusic.com - it now features a total of 15 songs (with more to come soon) recorded between 1998 and 2011. Many of the songs recorded for the above-mentioned recording projects are currently streaming in the Jukebox Music Player - check it out at baydamusic.com by clicking on the "MUSIC" link!

Until next time, please stay tuned to baydamusic.com for more news and information!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 09:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's difficult to believe that this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" concerts are only 2 weeks away from now... the band rehearsals have been going well so far! For a sneak preview of what to expect at this year's concerts, visit the newly updated opening page at www.baydamusic.com and wait for the song to begin streaming.

Tickets are available online by clicking here, and they're also available by calling the 24/7 ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006.

Stay tuned for further details and information. I'm excited for this year's concerts!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Christopher Lee at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

About an hour ago, I finished recording the instrumentation for the new songs for this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" concerts in early December (in an effort to maximize time and efficiency, I record demo versions of my arrangements to distribute to each of the performing musicians along with chord and lyric sheets so they can learn and practice with the recordings prior to the rehearsals). In about 10 hours, I'll be recording Greg and Natalie Sprouse's vocal tracks for the new songs - and I am PUMPED to see how they will bring the songs to life! The new recordings are sounding awesome to these ears, and have made me even more excited for the upcoming concerts. At this point, I'm most excited about the recordings and arrangements for "Ode to Jam (The Classics)," "Joy to the World," and "Little Drummer Boy," and I can't wait to see how well they translate to the live performances.

Hope to see you at the shows on December 3-5! Stay tuned for more info...

Posted by Christopher Lee at 03:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The past several months have been more hectic than usual, but in a good way. I've managed to compose and record a LOT of new music for that still-unreleased-first-album-that-has-been-ten-plus-years-in-the-making, which has been a very rewarding and refreshing experience. I cannot remember the last time I had such a creative streak. At this point I'm approximately 65-70% complete with recording the instrumentation, and I'll eventually get around to working on writing vocal melodies and lyrics. Of course, some of the material will remain instrumental, but it will be interesting to see how everything else develops.

Recently, however, the work on the "Destination Unknown" CD mentioned above has been temporarily postponed in order to focus on this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" holiday concerts, which are scheduled to take place on December 3, 4, and 5 at Main Street Theater in Columbiana, Ohio. I've had a blast working on the new material and arrangements for the show, and I have also been recording music for it (so the other band members can learn their parts and have something to practice along with while I'm not around). This year's shows will feature some of the same arrangements I've used in previous years, along with a considerable amount of brand new material - including an original instrumental I composed and recorded for my solo CD. Tickets will be made available soon (check www.baydamusic.com for all the official details), and we'll be gearing up for rehearsals within the next couple weeks.

It's an exciting time right now, with a lot going on, so stay tuned!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the down time between bands and musical projects, I've begun composing and recording music for my often-rumored "solo project," which promises to return to my progressive and power metal roots.

As a sneak preview of the direction the new recordings are headed so far, the vaults have been opened to unveil a brand new demo. Tentatively titled "Destination Unknown," this particular track showcases several of my musical influences and features a few surprises for fans of fast guitar work. It is among the fastest and most progressive tracks I've recorded thus far. It is currently available for streaming HERE. For the time being, it features only drums and guitar - additional instrumentation will be added soon. Feel free to listen and post any comments.

In other news, I've recently joined the Twitter community. My new Twitter profile may be viewed here: www.twitter.com/clbayda. As a refresher, I've been a member of Facebook and MySpace for several years as well - my Facebook profile may be viewed at www.facebook.com/clbayda, while I may be found on MySpace at www.myspace.com/christopherleemusic. Feel free to add me as a friend and keep track of my random activities.

Until next time, enjoy the new music!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is difficult to believe that Christmas is only 4 days away, the New Year is only 11 days away, and that after approximately 2 months of planning, the 3 nights of this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" concerts have already passed. Time has a way of slipping by very quickly, especially when having fun.

This past weekend was both a lot of fun, and yet also frustrating in several aspects. Overall, the "Rockin' Around the Town Square" holiday concerts were a BLAST and went over well with the audiences. Comments and reviews have begun pouring in, and they have all been very positive thus far.

Friday evening's show began with the Crestview High School's band, who performed a nice selection of holiday classics. We then took to the stage and the performance went pretty well. The audience consisted of approximately 120 people. Following the performance, however, we were dismayed to find out that the driver in one of the main house speakers had been fried. It was replaced and we were ready to go for Saturday.

Saturday's special guest was the Columbiana High School choir, who did an excellent job. A few minutes into our set, however, the driver in the other main house speaker melted. As if that weren't bad enough, a few minutes after that, the newly replaced driver (from the night before) also blew. For the most part, the audience only heard the band's monitor mixes. Nonetheless, the crowd of approximately 220 people was very energetic and screamed for more at the end. Following the performance, both drivers were replaced, and it was later discovered that one of the crossovers was also blown. At this point, several of us were discouraged by the problems that seemed to be plaguing our performances until that point. It seemed as if voltage spikes were passing through the line and melting the copper windings on the coils, so a few power amplifiers were also switched around. Technical difficulties notwithstanding, Saturday evening's performance felt to be more solid than Friday night.

Approximately 310 people attended on Sunday evening, which began with a small group of musicians and vocalists from Heartland Christian School. The students sang several popular carols and performed a few familiar Trans-Siberian Orchestra arrangements, including "Christmas Canon in Rock." We then took to the stage and played through our set for one final time. Sunday's crowd was the most energetic, and the band's performance was the tightest of all 3 evenings. On another positive note, Sunday evening's show was not plagued by any major technical difficulties, which came as a huge relief to all of those involved with the performance.

I'd like to again thank everyone involved this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square," beginning with the Arthurs family and Main Street Theater. Thanks for hosting the event again this year, and for being extremely accomodating to all of our needs! Special thanks are due to each of the performers (my partners in crime!) - Greg & Natalie Sprouse, Don & Dawn Arthurs, Dave Arthurs, Nick Rupert, Martha Rogowsky, and Roger Lewis - without your help, it could not have been possible. Each of you should be very proud of your involvement in this year's program - you all did an EXCELLENT job! It was a special treat and a personal pleasure to watch you breathe fresh life into my arrangements - I hope to work with all of you again soon! Thanks also to Amy Arthurs and the staff at Main Street Theater for the awesome food and service - I ate better backstage this past weekend than I have over the past couple months - perhaps it's a sign that I should perform more concerts! Thanks to Sean Kapp, Jim Couchenour, Jim Klemann, and Rob Wichert for your invaluable assistance with the lighting, sound, and other technical needs. I'd also like to thank the Way Station for their involvement again with this year's performances. And thanks to Terry Kilbourne, Tim Pool, Kelley Moran, and the staff of Tec, Inc. Engineering & Design for their support for the shows! Thanks also to John Benson of the Vindicator and Katie Libecco with Valley24.com for their support and coverage of the performances. A special mention is also due to the music students and staff of Crestview High School, Columbiana High School, and Heartland Christian School - thanks for participating in this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" performances. I hope to work with all of you again!

On a lighter note, thanks are also in order to Melanie, Malory, and Natalie Sprouse for the new hairstyling!

To everyone who attended one or more shows this year - thanks for your support! I hope you enjoyed the performances, and that it brought a smile to your face and some rockin' holiday cheer to your hearts.

In conclusion, it was a total blast this year thanks to everyone's involvement and participation. Let's hope for another "Rockin' Around the Town Square" holiday concert event in 2010!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first of this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" holiday concerts is exactly one week from tonight. I am excited and cannot wait for next weekend! The full band has only rehearsed together twice so far, but both rehearsals went very well. It's been a ton of fun to watch and listen as the other musicians bring my arrangements to life! Personal highlights so far of the rehearsals include my new arrangements of Pachelbel's "Canon in D" and Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock," plus my arrangement of "Joy to the World/Ode to Joy" from last year. The band is sounding tight and is hungry to perform.

This next week will be filled with more rehearsals (four left to go, beginning with this Sunday afternoon) and other last-minute preparations for the shows. In addition to planning and coordinating the musical side of the performances, I've also spent the past couple weeks passing out event flyers, doing interviews with local newspapers and e-zines, and working on rehearsing the material on my own. It's been a labor of love, and even though it can be exhausting at times, the end result will be well worth all of the effort.

After the concerts have been completed, my next goal is to finish recording my original arrangements as featured in the performances. For last year's show, I recorded rough demos of the guitar tracks for my arrangements and sent them to the other musicians as a way for them to learn the material and rehearse it in such a short period of time (last year we had 3 weeks to construct and rehearse for the entire hour-long performance). Because that approach worked very efficiently last year, I repeated the same process for this year's performances; however, this time it has been taken a step further - so far, basic guitar tracks, vocals, and drums are recorded, with bass and keyboards to be added soon. The ultimate fate of the recordings is still undecided. I'm contemplating releasing a Christmas EP of my arrangements; otherwise, the finished tracks may be posted online for others to stream and enjoy. Nonetheless, I definitely plan to complete the recordings and hopefully finish with a professional-sounding result.

Much is happening at the moment... with much more to happen soon. Stay tuned!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Everything is coming together quite nicely for the "Rockin' Around the Town Square" concerts, at least from the front-end planning stages. Last weekend I wrapped up recording rough demos of my new arrangements for the rest of the band members to listen to and rehearse with, and then spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and catching up with a close brother of mine. It was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy some time off, especially after immersing myself into music and recording over the past several weeks.

After a few days of recharging the batteries, however, it is time once again to get back to work. During the past couple days, I've already begun to revisit and re-learn some of my arrangements from last year's Christmas show that will be used again this year. I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family and catching up with friends over the next few days - but after that it's back to work again. The first full-band rehearsal is scheduled for this Sunday afternoon, and I'll be meeting with Roger on Saturday to record drum tracks and to work on material for this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" shows. I'm excited to hear and witness the musicianship he will bring to the shows this year, as I've always been impressed with his feel and how well everything he plays fits perfectly within a song - one reason why I always enjoy working with him in a studio environment. These will also be the first live shows we've performed together, which should be a ton of fun. 

One exciting new thing for this year's Christmas performances is the addition of some newly-written original music. While in the process of recording demos for possible inclusion in the Christmas concerts, many ideas were left on the cutting room floor for one reason or another (mainly because they didn't fit in with the overall theme); I'll probably revisit and finish some (if not most) of them for other future musical projects. Some of the freshly recorded new ideas include a couple piano-based tracks, as well as some of the darkest and heaviest material I've written, and more... so be on the lookout for news soon about this exciting new material!

As of today, 24 days remain until the first performance... the excitement and anticipation has already begun!

As always, stay tuned for further information... and have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

 

Posted by Christopher Lee at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With the end of the calendar year and the holiday season so quickly approaching, I wanted to take a few minutes to promote the upcoming “Rockin’ Around the Town Square” holiday rock concert. Last year I helped to organize and perform as part of a free holiday concert held at the Main Street Theater in Columbiana, Ohio as a community outreach to collect food items for charity. The concert featured my own arrangements of familiar Christmas carols, along with instrumental versions of a few of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s most popular holiday hits. The demand was unbelievable - after only a few days of being available, all of the tickets for the event were completely gone and a long waiting list was quickly generated.

Thanks to the overwhelming response from last year’s performance, I am currently organizing the 2^nd Annual “Rockin’ Around the Town Square.” It will be similar in style to last year’s performance; however, I am presently composing and recording original music specifically for the performance, and will also be including more original arrangements of popular Christmas music. The length of the performance is being extended, and will feature special guests as opening acts. In addition, it will be performed over three consecutive nights this year – Friday December 18, Saturday December 19, and Sunday December 20. Once again, the Main Street Theater will be hosting the event. The shows will begin at 8:00PM and last for approximately 1.5 hours (doors will open at 7:00PM). Unlike last year, however, tickets will be available starting in November for the affordable cost of $5.00 each and will be available online and by telephone. Further information - including directions and parking information, plus when tickets will be available and how to order them - will be posted on www.baydamusic.com within the next few weeks.

Feel free to invite your family and friends!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just returned home after spending last week in Rushville, Indiana where I performed each night with some very special friends for approximately 40 junior high students and 15 adult staff members at  Mahoning Valley Christian Service Camp. A great time was had by all, and plenty of new friends were made. Many thanks go out to Rachel Bishop, Brenten Lamoncha, and Ethan Hardwick, my musical comrades and partners in crime - thanks for your hard work, dedication, and a job well done! I could not have done it without all of your help. I'm also proud of the fact that (unlike LAST year) none of the band members were injured this time around - I seem to vaguely remember a gimpy vocalist with a very badly sprained ankle sitting on stage with a microphone and singing - and also remember playing my guitar with a broken finger last year. Great times! Special thanks go out to Matt Hatfield and Chris Koch for an excellent job leading and planning the week, and also to Mike Riggs for his rather "entertaining" lessons. Thanks also to all of the other staff members and children. I'm amazed with how much I learned as an "adult" (I'm still not very keen on associating that word with myself, as I still feel as if I am a kid) from all of the kids. It was awesome to spend the week "on fire" and getting to know everyone - I'm definitely looking forward to returning once again next year!

Posted by Christopher Lee at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Christopher Lee at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)