General Music Chat

"AMERICANA" is the title of a forthcoming ALBUM by Craig Maxim!

Well,

I'm not one to sit on my ass, when I believe in something!

Chippy's words got to me! Something like "Why not write some music about it" in response to how we could make a difference, in helping to stop the tide of our eroding freedoms!

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A·mer·i·ca·na2 (ə-mĕr'ə-kä'nə, -kăn'ə, -kā'nə)

noun

1.(used with a sing. or pl. verb) Materials relating to American history,
folklore, or geography or considered to be typical of American culture
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As I pondered this, feeling he was right, and started the basics of a pretty badass song called "FREEDOM", I realized that more than a single song was needed, maybe a group of songs, meant to REMIND some, what America means, what makes it great, and why the biggest part of what makes it great, is now under assault! I wanted to defend my country, just as surely as our brave men and women in the armed forces do, but my arsenal of choice, being perhaps the strongest I possess... My songwriting, and musical abilities.

Hence... AMERICANA was born!

My goal is to fuel the fires, not just of opposition, but of HEART, of helping people to fall in love with our great nation again, and maybe helping others, who have never learned to truly love it, to begin to develop a love, or at least understanding, of why this nation is so vital to the future of free societies everywhere!

I plan to release maybe, 3 songs a month, until a 12 song album is released in entirety. I'll make them available for purchase as they are released, with the hope, that I can finance remastering them professionally, and making a HARD COPY CD available for printing and distribution.

Wish me luck!

The first single debuts: FRIDAY - AUGUST 14th

It is BITING to say the least, and may not please some. But I need to shake the trees a little, to get the spark burning strong!

Forgot to mention:

The ALBUM PAGE can be found on MySpace HERE:

http://www.myspace.com/craigmaximamericana

PLEASE, Sign up there (It's my old band page, so some of you may already be signed up on it) For those that are not signed up - PLEASE DO SO, so you can leave COMMENTS in support, if you feel moved to do so. SUPPORT will be critical, because this is the page that my former band mates got deleted...

But God gave it back to me!!!!

WooHoo!!!!!

And now it's gonna be used in His service and in defense of this nation's freedoms! LONG LIVE FREEDOM - LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL!!!

Good job, Craig.

Craig, this is where you leave your old bandmates all in the dust. Is Train going on the CD?

Great Idea, Craig.

Sorry that I have yet to listen to your recent work. I'm still a bit computer challenged and was unable to get on the site.

I'd love to record the new songs to cassatt so I can listen to them on the good 'ol boom box while building our new house. Any suggestions? (I did record your "It's no Crime" and Shredd's "Burn" some time back, but the recording quality left a lot to be desired.

John

Good job, Craig.

Thank you, but...

What did I do a good job on? LOL

Not sure what you are referring to? I haven't released any songs for "Americana" yet.

I'm confused...

Craig, this is where you leave your old bandmates all in the dust. Is Train going on the CD?

YES!!! Good idea!!!

Train MUST go on the CD!!!

Train fits Americana perfectly, don't you think?

Great Idea, Craig.

Thank you! Well... Thank Chippy and God!

Sorry that I have yet to listen to your recent work. I'm still a bit computer challenged and was unable to get on the site.

Bummer bro! You would LOVE "Train"

Hey, I uploaded "Train" here on Bandmix! Go to my profile here John!

I'd love to record the new songs to cassatt so I can listen to them on the good 'ol boom box while building our new house. Any suggestions?

Yes...

My suggestion is to get an MP3 player bro! Break down, and join the technological revolution! LOL

You can get an MP3 player these days for $15 or $20 bucks! Hell, I've seen them on sale for $10 bucks at places like BrandSmart.

Then you can download stuff and directly put it on your MP3 player and use it anywhere! In the car, if you have an FM radio, you get an FM adapter, which plugs into the headphone jack on your MP3 player and you tune your radio to the station it is set to, and you hear your MP3 player through your car's speakers. The FM adapter costs around $30 bucks or so, and you can find them on sale maybe for $25. With the adapter, you could even play the MP3 player through your beloved boombox! (if it also has an FM radio in it)

The Offspring titled an album "Americana," Craig. It's pretty good, too. Check it out...

http://www.offspring.com/cgi-bin/WebObj ... =Americana

I dunno if ppl will associate yours with theirs. Just wanted you to know it's been done.

Good luck on your project.

A great idea Craig. One I have contemplated many times. A return to the "revolutionary" inspirational roots of R&R.
I have tried to write down some of my own thoughts on this matter, but alas they come off sounding more angry than inspirational.
I shall pray for the success of your project.

play it loud and proud brother!
lemme know if you have a freedom tour, ill hop aboard!

PHIL,

I'm gonna check that link out in a little bit! Thanks for sharing it. Albums will often have similar titles, just like songs. There are probably hundreds of songs called "Love" for example, so they have a second title in parentheses, which differentiates it from the others for legal purposes. So that it would be "Love (I Can't Get Enough)". I will have to do something similar for the title "Americana".


SANS,

What's wrong with ANGER? People "ARE" angry, and I think they should be! I just don't want the anger to turn from being CON-structive to being DE-structive. The first song "FREEDOM" is BITING brother. It has anger, but also inspiration. I can reveal this... Fans of Bruce Springsteen may not appreciate a few of the lyrics. LOL - In the tradition of "Sweet Home Alabama" it goes for the jugular of a famous artist, who has taken his career down the path of improperly labeling an entire group of people, or in Bruce's case, an entire country. It just flowed inspirationally. I had no intent originally, of making a hit on the singer, but it started flowing through my soul, that this guy wrapped himself in an American flag when his career was hitting on all cylinders, only to begin degrading his country for maybe the last 7 to 10 years, without ceasing. I know HE BELIEVES he is being a loyal American in his assaults on our country and on the military, but I DO NOT AGREE! When you write songs purporting to be from a military perspective, where they are doubting their purpose and appearing to be enslaved in their military careers, but just going through the motions as they shoot weapons at people that are either innocent, or not really worth their time.... this does a DISSERVICE to our fighting men and women. It DOES NOT lift them up. It DOES NOT represent the feelings of the great majority of the military, and YOU NEVER, NOT EVER, NOT EVER do something, artistic or not, that DESTROYS the morale of people fighting on the front lines, IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR! I began wondering if he was Jane Fonda in drag? Many here remember the pictures of her literally straddling a North Vietnamese Viet Cong anti-aircraft gun. She has since apologized, but many, many veterans will never forget or forgive, what she did. But "good ole" Bruce didn't get the hint. He's not a steel-worker type after all, he's the typical hollywood elite type, who acts before he thinks, and does so with incorrect information and no thought about the consequences of his actions. You don't believe in a military involvement of this country? Fine. That is respectable. Pressure Congress to end the action. But DO NOT... DO NOT... do ANYTHING that destroys the morale of the people on the front lines, facing down those intent on killing them. You will find that the OVERWHELMING number of military leaders believe that this behavior COSTS LIVES, because their troops feel the nation is not behind them, and it affects their morale, which distracts them from focusing on the challenges they are enduring. When your life is on the line... YOU DO NOT want to be distracted in the middle of it.





AIR-VIKING,

Thank you brother! I believe this first song is STRONG. It could potentially become almost an ANTHEM for the angry PATRIOTIC Americans who are incensed that they are losing their freedoms, in many cases, the freedoms THEY THEMSELVES fought for over the last decades and century!

The DNC is making a HUGE mistake in dismissing these people. Which only shows how out of touch the leaders of the DNC are! They are so ignorant that they have put out a commercial calling the Town Hall protests as financed by the GOP (this may or may not be true) but the REALLY stupid part, is showing video of them, and calling them a "Mob". Have you seen this "Mob" on the commercial, or in the news? They are blue-hairs and old men with canes and walkers!!!! THIS IS THE MOB? Are you afraid of walking down the street, because these "potentially violent" elderly citizens may hit you with a purse, or trip you with their walkers?

ARE YOU F*CKING SERIOUS????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not a "Mob"! These are patriotic Americans who have been around the block. They KNOW what is happening to their country! They KNOW they are witnessing the beginning of the greatest loss of freedoms this country has EVER seen! And they are PISSED!!!

They fought wars, even the great wars. They lost loved ones in these wars. THEY KNEW how to pull together in war time, and NOT destroy the morale of their sons and daughters over-seas. They argued about the wars, BEFORE or AFTER the wars, but NOT DURING! They fought, and their loved ones DIED to protect and preserve FREEDOM, both here and abroad! And they will be DAMNED if some out-of-the-loop politicians are going to STRIP FROM THEM, the very freedoms they preserved for later generations!

WAKE UP CONGRESS! WAKE UP MR. PRESIDENT!

That "Mob" apparently recruited from nursing homes across America, WILL BE HEARD!!!!

And I am going to help them be heard!!!

btw...

The DNC does not have a corner on being "out of the loop" and "out of touch" with mainstream Americans. Bush 41 lost his second election for the very same reason. The economy was suffering, Americans were suffering, and he appeared to be ignorant or uncaring about their sufferings. When regular Americans watched Bush Sr, going to a food market, acting as if he shopped all the time, and Bush saw the checkout clerk waving a can over the bar-code scanner, and it rang the item up... He remarked something like "Wow, is that scanner thing new? That's really neat!" Americans who REALLY DID shop at food markets every week, knew that this amazing technological advancement had been around for at least 10 years. Which showed them that the lofty and wealthy Bush, had not shopped in a food store, or even been exposed to one, in over 10 years.

Get a clue: BOTH PARTIES...

Americans will unite when we are attacked from abroad, and they will also unite when we are being attacked FROM WITHIN!!!

Americans just want to live their lives in relative safety, and FREEDOM!

They will work for what they need, just give them the FREEDOM to do so!

6 Months to choose the family pet, but you are going to RUSH UNREAD and UNDEBATED bills through congress, completely changing the ENTIRE health care system, something like 1/7th of our economy, in ONLY 3 WEEKS??????

Americans know something is VERY wrong, with that priority list!

A dog is worth taking 6 months to make the best decision, but our citizen's health system is not?

WOW!!!

amen brother preach it!

start the tour dates now, im on board for this!

Good job, Craig.

Thank you, but...

What did I do a good job on? LOL

Not sure what you are referring to? I haven't released any songs for "Americana" yet.

I'm confused...

You are doing a good job in following a dream that was prompted by an inspiration. I have been struggling with a similar goal so I know how tough that can be.

Black57,

Thank you so much. And you are right. Sometimes when you feel something so deeply, maybe a path you know you should be on, and are convinced it is the right path, it can be miserable when it doesn't always seem to be working the way you felt it should. Was it my failings? Did I make some crucial mistake along the way? Did I not do something I should have done? Did I let myself get to distracted? Did I let myself buy into the people who tried to convince me I was wasting my time?

Sometimes the only thing more challenging than trying to follow a dream, is the fateful day that you give the dream up.

Which is worse? Not having a dream at all? Following a dream that doesn't seem to be panning out? Giving up a long held dream?

I feel you!