tag:widetrackband.com,2005:/blogs/widetrack-blog?p=3The Widetrack Chronicles2024-02-07T17:54:32-05:00Widetrack falsetag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/73476412024-02-07T17:54:32-05:002024-02-08T18:56:24-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 94: Update (Feb 2024)<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/9f7b8ea5abe321e6d7c04d7616400399f4a356a0/original/widetrack-2023-07-15-tue-w-logo-1000x800.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 94: Update (Feb 2024)</strong></span><br><br>It's been a while since we reached out, so just wanted to get you a quick update on what's been happening with us as of late...<br><br>Firstly, we're happy to report that the reception for our recently-released album, <a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/monoliths-smart-link" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><i><strong>Monoliths</strong></i></a>, has been absolutely wonderful so far... It's been so gratifying to know that, after working so hard on it for over two and a half years, the album's been appreciated this way... So, THANK YOU!<br><br>Click here to hear <a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/monoliths-smart-link" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><i><strong>Monoliths</strong></i></a>:<br><a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/monoliths-smart-link" target="_blank" data-link-type="url">https://widetrackband.com/monoliths-smart-link</a></p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/3a180d8b43e5f54795e38e790b697ce0160167aa/original/monoliths-cover-front-1500x1500.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p style="text-align:center;">Incidentally, as we do to mark the end of every year, we put together this month-by-month documentary, highlighting our time together during 2023… This video was a lot of fun to make as we went back through the footage we shot of so many great moments spent together…</p><div class="video-container size_xl justify_center" style=""><iframe data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="t9yqDc2yvTs" data-video-thumb-url="" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t9yqDc2yvTs?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><p style="text-align:center;">Presently, we've already begun the process of recording our sixth album… This time around, though, we'll be releasing songs on a more frequent basis: every 6 weeks or so… The first track, <i><strong>Red</strong></i>, will be coming your way very soon, so keep an eye open for it…<br><br>We've already been playing some of these newest songs live, and, along with songs from <a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/monoliths-smart-link" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><i><strong>Monoliths</strong></i></a> and its predecessor, <a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/product/680584" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><i><strong>The Unwakening</strong></i></a>, our sets are flowing better than ever…</p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/f4aa189ec2312108baa37efd992226eb69c30e3e/original/2023-07-29-sat-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /><p style="text-align:center;">Speaking of which, we'll be playing a show on Saturday, March 2nd at The Corktown Tavern in Detroit, MI… Details here: <br><a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/event/5454341/671384453/widetrack-corktown-tavern-in-detroit" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/event/5454341/671384453/widetrack-corktown-tavern-in-detroit</a><br><br>That's it for now… Keep in touch and let us know how you're doing!<br><br>Rock on!!<br><br>Zach and Ron<br><br> </p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/5b27cffb4fb37114c0cc8bf1b8b2957c40bcf752/original/dsc03311.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_orig justify_center border_" />Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/72733612023-09-15T00:54:20-04:002024-02-07T17:27:09-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 93: Monoliths now available!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/3a180d8b43e5f54795e38e790b697ce0160167aa/original/monoliths-cover-front-1500x1500.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 93: Monoliths now available!</strong></span><br><br>We are exceedingly pleased to announce that our fifth album, <i><strong>Monoliths</strong></i>, is now available!<br><br>It's be a two and a half year journey to this point. We put everything we had into this one. Hope you enjoy it!<br><br>This link will give you the option to listen to/buy it on your favorite platform:<br><a class="no-pjax" href="https://ffm.to/monoliths" target="_blank" data-link-type="url"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/02d30e3a65792b30ec11ac7a29baee30ba6eae1f/original/monoliths-eclipse-click-here-to-listen.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a><br>As always, thanks so much for your support!!<br><br>Love, Ron and Zach<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/b9a2bc66ea8bc50b18c00a456d10bde34ffbdf21/original/2023-07-18-tue-29.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /><br> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/72538012023-08-08T00:07:14-04:002023-09-14T12:10:16-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 92: The new album is finished!! <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/3202f0bc9f8bbd933f3db2a73aae0734d64c539a/original/2023-07-18-tue-14.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /></p><div style="text-align:center;" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" data-en-clipboard="true">Our new album is finished! To say we're relieved would be a major understatement...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">From January 2021 to July 2023, we lived, ate and breathed these songs (as well as a few others that didn't make the cut)...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">You could say we were setting a new bar for ourselves...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">(Or maybe we're just gluttons for punishment... lol)</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">But seriously, this particular album was kind of a big deal...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">During its creation, Zach:</div><div style="text-align:center;">*Graduated high school</div><div style="text-align:center;">*Started a new part-time job (in addition to his <i>other</i> weekend job of playing cover songs with his dad in The Vintage)</div><div style="text-align:center;">*Started college</div><div style="text-align:center;">*Started a different college</div><div style="text-align:center;">*etc.</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">All while writing, recording, re-writing and re-recording his parts for these songs (and even some of mine)...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/6306392e845fb04f4360a5e5e19cedfe9087c3ef/original/dsc03194.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">Needless to say, he's enjoying a much-needed respite this month, vacationing with family and friends...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">And so, while he's away recharging his batteries, I'm manning the fort and getting on with the next tasks at hand - which means uploading music, artwork, videos, promotional writings, etc., etc. to the digital world, in preparation for the album's official 9/15/23 release...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">So much to do...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">It is during this precise juncture that I have somewhat dropped the ball with our past albums...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">Of course there's been a lot of posting and promoting; but never any real effective overall strategy to bring our music to a much wider audience...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/be2c71b5e4f6847a81eaee2bb5fd1a09360776c3/original/dsc03091.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">I guess there are understandable reasons for this, being that Zach joined the band at the age of 12; still in school, still living his young life... there's been only so much we could do in terms of how hard we pushed with this...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">Then, of course, there was the COVID shutdown, which coincided with the release of our last album, the first one that Zach had been a part of writing...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">By the time all that was over, we'd begun writing this album...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">And now here we are two and a half years later, at its completion...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">It feels like the beginning of the next chapter...</div><div> </div><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/eb5375893b1d7e22d51c9d8963a3128180588362/original/dsc03099.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><div> </div><div style="text-align:center;">What does this next chapter consist of?</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">I can't say, but:</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">We know we'd like to play this music for a lot more people...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">We know we'd like to one day find two or three other soul-brothers and/or soul-sisters to round out the band's lineup for playing future shows...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">We know we love playing/spending time together...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">But where this is all leading, we'll just have to see...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">So, in the meantime, we work on raising awareness for our band and its music...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">Increasing connection...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">Enjoying the journey...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">Onward we go...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><div style="text-align:center;">More to come...</div><div style="text-align:center;"> </div><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/a3cacf68ae9dacf50f4ce259c5b1151feda63378/original/dsc03301.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/72058242023-05-09T15:50:40-04:002023-05-12T17:32:04-04:00Widetrack Chronicles 91: Official announcement of our new album<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/139609/fc3116ab26143922d6b77b7d21273fbae4dbf423/original/virtue-edit1-logo.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">We’re immensely pleased to announce the impending release of our fifth album, <i>Monoliths,</i> coming this summer!</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Tracklisting: </span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>1. Illumination</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>2. Symptoms</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>3. Unlived</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>4. Virtue</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>5. Pendulum</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>6. The Departure</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>7. Serpents</strong></span><br><span class="text-big"><strong>8. Mirage</strong></span><br><br><br><span class="text-big">Zach Tippin: Guitars, bass, keyboards</span><br><span class="text-big">Ron Tippin: Vocals and drums</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Produced by Zach and Ron Tippin</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Recorded by Zach and Ron Tippin</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Mixed and engineered by Zach Tippin</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><br><span class="text-big">We literally put everything we had into the creation of this album. Three years in the making, it marks our biggest step forward to date in the evolution of Widetrack's music and production quality. The songs were truly a labor of love for us to make together as father and son/musical partners.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><br><span class="text-big">The first single, ‘Illumination’, will be available next week in limited release, followed by wide release on all the streaming platforms soon thereafter…</span><br><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Deepest thanks to all who’ve supported us… YOU ROCK!! </span><br><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">To subscribe to receive our updates, special offers and exclusive content, go to </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.widetrackmusic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1"><span class="text-big"><u>https://www.WidetrackMusic.com</u></span></a><br><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Hope to see you soon!</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Love, Ron and </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/154568238133/user/100006108793210/?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZVSp_kqYQljwU5Q10gBOVqzalBBPRw23ikIvZCD-uRDsvOZIxECahbpFkW5lVz2gm_XnCOuW4mgHM3l04jTcXFnMwJ0fwf9yVYWLVQ0H_dJmUCGGkn7FxgGQx4vHsejLuUvWk_x6mzgw7Mx4QWH7WtaaUdBcZKlnMENB0GUy40-Zw&__tn__=-%5DK-y-R" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="2"><span class="text-big"><u>Zach</u></span></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/70343622022-08-09T20:29:09-04:002023-03-09T13:15:23-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 90: Catching up with Widetrack<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7163d75d3310ac77aea8830450db6f50f9799669/original/2022-05-24-tue-5.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 90: Catching up with Widetrack</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Hi, Ron here... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I was running some routine maintenance on our website yesterday and I noticed I haven't sent out an email to you since April, and a lot's been going on... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>MAY </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">As previously stated, this band revolves around Zach's busy schedule, and his graduating from high school activities kept him occupied for much of the month... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Still, what a wonderful thing, to see him win the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for the second time... <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cbf476e736fcf31cd17d46ba69723caf978556c3/original/2022-05-23-mon-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>And to see him graduating was such a whirlwind of emotions... Just can't believe how fast his childhood went by... So very proud of him, though...</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0cc8b9ac5ff85c8b719c4508e85a2a533605b05e/original/2022-05-30-tue-38.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /> <br>In the fall, he'll be going to Wayne State University, taking Music Technology... So excited to see what the future holds for him... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/844e780937b7bf759c551f962a129ba959f69d5e/original/2022-05-21-sat-28.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><strong>JUNE</strong> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">As summer got underway, so did the live shows... June 18 at the Crofoot in downtown Pontiac - birthplace of Widetrack (but that's another story!) - was a great one, to say the least... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6517edf9df17197a480c8a137e6ea6b4dc3f6d0f/original/2022-06-18-sat-crofoot-bravin-shots-3.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bf3c9bb5f3c05f4e784da58d7eaca56bc36555b5/original/2022-06-18-sat-crofoot-bravin-shots-47.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3c734f86b324c2b6a98fed36e756aaa22e0d7918/original/2022-06-18-sat-crofoot-bravin-shots-7.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/22c096e179c36a7d13b331491ea96c1ea10c3406/original/2022-06-18-sat-crofoot-bravin-shots-36.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><strong>JULY</strong> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The end of an era... My landlord informed me that he'd sold the building I'd been living in for the past ten years... This was alarming news at first, but then he offered to rent me a much better place where with a nice area for our music studio... Needless to say, we were pretty excited about this... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/162ffaf239a6680323c42d657776ca548882ce9f/original/2022-07-07-thur-5.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>Zach was a trooper helping me move... Relocating to the new place was quite a strenuous exercise, but he really busted his butt helping me get everything moved in... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It was indeed a great feeling to finally get everything set up in the new place... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1b6131f904db0cf98f00cfee2a3c90a94bdb2b72/original/2022-07-08-fri-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><strong>AUGUST</strong><br>Now that we've got a new home base, progress on our fifth album h shifted into overdrive.. As of this writing, we're in the process of mixing the first 4 (of 8 songs, while rehearsing for more upcoming gigs... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">We feel this new material is a giant step forward for our music, and these shows are allowing us to try them out for people, while getting some live playing experience after being primarily a studio band for so long... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e153bdb62e5da3261487b5f4803563d667eacf0e/original/2022-07-26-tue-8.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>SO excited about the future, and can't wait for you to hear this new stuff! We plan on trying really hard to get out to some new areas to play shows in 2023, so hopefully we can finally get around to your way at some point... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">In the meantime, just want to thank you so much for being on this journey with us... Your support means so much... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">THANK YOU!! </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Hope to see you soon!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Love, Ron and Zach</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cdf5e215c4af99f734b7684c85df0621af34008/original/2022-07-16-sat-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to drop us a hello at: Widetrack@WidetrackMusic.com </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com </a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Official Website: <a contents="https://widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Store: <a contents="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/store-physical </a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Spotify: <a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP </a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">YouTube: <a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Apple Music: <a contents="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Facebook (page): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Facebook (VIP group): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Twitter:@widetrackband / <a contents="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Widetrackband</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Instagram:@widetrackband / <a contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Soundcloud: <a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Bandcamp: <a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/68567392022-01-01T16:43:10-05:002022-01-03T11:29:50-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 89: 2021 in Review<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1bdb23ab370a1d7c24b5df188235bf544c29b7cc/original/2021-01-19-tue-3.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><strong><span class="font_large">The Widetrack Chronicles 89: 2021 in Review</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Happy New Year! We hope 2022 is a great year for you!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We're looking forward to the a fine one ourselves... But first, let's look back at some of the highlights of the past year...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>January 2021:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We hit the ground running in 2021with the release of a brand-new song called <a contents="Heretic..." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-heretic" target="_blank"><strong><em>Heretic</em></strong>...</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="mEYWSvfmYFI" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/mEYWSvfmYFI/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEYWSvfmYFI?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>February:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We begin recording Zach's parts for a Widetrack E.P. that was never released... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5ca96795736768edfa10282bde3ddf656cd27496/original/2021-02-28-sun-31.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bccbee5afce16aff20211d07be9e0d52b3925333/original/2021-02-15-mon-12.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/03bbb94e31377a5d0e66ca2c854d90aea3451dac/original/2021-02-15-mon-7b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><strong><span class="font_large">March:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">On The 24th, we celebrated Ron's birthday with a fun jam-out, followed by a nice visit to the lake to catch the sunset, then a nice evening walk, highlighted by a really cool sky... This was a really good day...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6012b0d5690c7a2f3b211a1b48aa6835d688891e/original/2021-03-24-wed-2.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7e4f1bd420e665248ea9a71fd24107cf3897d6d9/original/2021-03-24-wed-32.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cf6e691d9e446b9fc1c2880777134baba6aaf716/original/2021-03-24-wed-39.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><strong><span class="font_large">April:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our first "retro-active E.P." was released on the 7th (Ron's dad's/Zach's grandfather's birthday)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1897808/lineage" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5ccd4f57b0b93a187c75f1102eb3b64bb63a61e9/original/00-lineage-00-front-final.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a>Inaddition to this, Zach's birthday was on the 23rd... It also happened to be the day that he played in the orchestra pit for his high school musical...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fae9d3b591a42bce9b09756f67b8b8653c7d5c1d/original/2021-04-23-fri-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6b8b509fe9783650731bc87adb4ef337fe2c516a/original/2021-04-23-fri-2.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c6ed39492b6f8da3f9665eaad0d95f7690699a76/original/2021-04-23-fri-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_large"><strong>May:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our friends, Jim and Alannah from Purple Otter Sunrise Productions came over to film the video for our song, Virtue (to be released in the not-too-distant future!)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/512ca450c769433e8e92aac4ab1956dc8a263a83/original/2021-05-16-sun-18.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4af244c9cedd523ab6689f3b3ab38b279cee96c5/original/2021-05-16-sun-32.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c0b39fa072301fed5920fe272b44015b21ec35e8/original/2021-05-16-sun-11.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a3b627cad5aa616fc7755f28c5a5ee90a74d9881/original/2021-05-16-sun-7.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><strong><span class="font_large">June:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron finally got to see Zach's trio play, and it was at DTE Music Theater... They were fantastic... A proud parent moment, to say the least... (Click on the photo to watch a video clip of a song they played)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/1065002476/videos/pcb.10222766485165127/10222766457484435" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/776146347d28ca35825ea42e7c636e52874aaad7/original/2021-06-12-sat-zach-dte-13.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></a> <br><strong><span class="font_large">July:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As progress on our fifth album continued, we tried our best to maintain public visibility by way of sharing video clips of us playing some of our songs...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="CGFUK8GnbFY" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/CGFUK8GnbFY/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CGFUK8GnbFY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="5BStarICgsA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/5BStarICgsA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5BStarICgsA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">August:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Finally! Our first show since 2019! Also, our live debut as a two-piece... A fantastic night, to say the least... (Photos by Lee Smith and Garrett Hoffman)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/62aa6a9719c3d0b3ba57a5ae5f580e4d234ab8dc/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-105.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/95e41f821f48ca1ef555b0057a098bc12341d9af/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-2.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8308ccf785a455e1037205ca2311eaf52c2097c1/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-30b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/da575a89053d04de6df85d5ef5056e129e1b1edb/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0b07e2cebcf2e505f8507c14699fc94e6b010611/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-8.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f2c1aa59543be7e53e72082956791a17c5c6a01e/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-35.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3b337f4f9b3266a6717504871526e39896baf446/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-36b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6462ae7ec041fcafae21a0c95e1c49b70835fb02/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-25.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a81cd699bcde70c290661b37ca3744c6755f7c0c/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-12b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8560ae248cadcfc3c50b1764cea7a430133c3f81/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-7.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And if that wasn't enough for one month, we also got to open for "Last In Line", featuring members of Ronnie James Dio's band... This was a phenomenal show for us...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="9FVJdMiZTfc" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/9FVJdMiZTfc/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9FVJdMiZTfc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">September:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As fall arrives, we begin what is to be the biggest leap of progress on our fifth album to date... (Click photo to watch a clip of Zach recording some guitar)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://fb.watch/agvM_4A_NQ/" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8869740dfb58640c14ebf52efc0dc90789a4354d/original/2021-10-14-thur-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>October:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach's marching band schedule has been pretty intense, but he's be absolutely loves it... Here's him playing drums and guitar for one of their big 2021 marching band competitions...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e14c6976d0e310f5003c013873fa9768d75a6bd1/original/2021-10-13-wed-4.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6221beb53c17a8a5b5ebecd191ff02b2237a287b/original/2021-10-13-wed-3.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d90840762840854288bd3a4feeabc5c66dd13f74/original/2021-10-13-wed-11.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/dbe246c1a605b9a8b7d4da678378d8b6f878fee5/original/2021-10-13-wed-14.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/71a6edb33da917a0f277cd5886fa216d0f5640b6/original/2021-10-13-wed-zach-marching-band-festival-2.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Also, progress on our fifth album continues...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="wsTWv7ynCZA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/wsTWv7ynCZA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wsTWv7ynCZA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">November:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And still, even more progress on the fifth album is made, and as you can see, we couldn't be happier about it (click on photo to watch a clip of Zach recording some guitar)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://fb.watch/agwvOXCh0g/" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/23e03f441f2c300537344282cdf713a7239e390a/original/2021-11-22-mon-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a><br><strong><span class="font_large">December:</span></strong><br><br><span class="font_large">Whew, what a year! And it's looking like things are only going to get busier in 2022... but we wouldn't have it any other way! (Click on photo to watch a clip we made to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://fb.watch/agwWTmvGVO/" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6e68308c36bb248c322345ffdb679c11754042c8/original/2021-12-24-fri-6.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></span><span class="font_large">We can't thank you enough for all your support and encouragement... Wishing you immense happiness, success and blessings in 2022 and beyond...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">Ron and Zach (January 2022)</span><br> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/68527872021-12-27T13:56:22-05:002021-12-27T14:02:06-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 88: A Common Misconception<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e8013371a186b7f1468d811977c6ccc9e1cc3434/original/2021-12-26-sun-4.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 88: A Common Misconception</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Ever since I began playing music at the render age of 11, I've continually gotten the same well-meant questions/comments from friends and family: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"When are you going to make it?" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"You should make your music more like (x)" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"When are we going to hear you on the radio?" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"You know, it's a long shot that you'll be filling up stadiums..." </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Etc., etc. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I used to get defensive and frustrated over these questions/comments, as I didn't have any persuasive response... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Growing up as a musician/artist in the 80s and 90s, things were much different... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">In addition to home recording studio equipment being highly expensive and still in its primitive stages, there were well-defined "gatekeepers" who held all the cards, in terms of access to record deals, wider distribution, worldwide marketing, etc.... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It behooved bands like ours to find a way to fit into the mould of bands/entertainers who had already achieved mainstream acclaim... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Then the digital revolution happened, and all that changed... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Now, home studio production equipment has evolved bands/artists have access to potential fans anywhere in the world... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Access is now in the hands of the musician/artist... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">And yet, the old perceptions remain... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Personally speaking, it took some time and effort to alter my perspective on the music business; along with some vital questions I had to ask myself: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"Why are you doing this?" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"What do you ultimately want to achieve with your music?" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"What kind of music career do you ultimately want to have?" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"Who is your music for?" </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">In the old days, my answers could be summed up in the typical, vague way of most other musicians from my generations: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"I want to make it." </strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But once the digital music age happened, and I was able to fully understand its capabilities and potential, I realized I need to dig deeper for more specific answers to those questions; answers that more accurately reflected my true ideals... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Here's what I've come up with thus far... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">First of all, it's a major assumption that every musician yearns to "make it" to the realm of worldwide fame, selling out stadiums at every turn, reaching platinum status with their album sales... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I've <em>never</em> desired this... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">To put it another way, every year when the Grammy Awards announce their nominees, I peruse their lists and realize I like very little of the bands/artists on it... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The mainstream is usually not where I find the music that resonates with me... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Absolutely, I love many legendary mainstream bands... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, etc., etc., are all bands whose influence runs deep in our souls... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But since forming Widetrack, and especially since Zach came onboard, one important distinction we've made is that we're not that kind of band... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">What type are we striving to be? </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Well, have you ever listened to a band that's outside the mainstream, that doesn't sell out stadiums, isn't on terrestrial radio, not even remotely a household name, etc., but still makes cool, interesting music and has a respectable level of success? </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Some of our favorite music in the world leans more toward that type of independent approach to their careers... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">They have a smaller, but incredibly loyal following of fans who appreciate their unique, "you-can-only-get-this-here" approach to their music, and encourage them to stay true to their innermost uncompromising artistic visions... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>That's</em> the kind of band we strive to be... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Our favorite concerts to attend are in medium-sized halls; not stadiums... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It's unlikely that much of the music we enjoy would ever be played on terrestrial radio; it's too "quirky"; the songs are oftentimes too long and "different from what's normally played"; etc... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Yes, we of course want success; but it has to be on our terms, aligned with our artistic goals and principles... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Again, this is not to say that we're musical snobs just for the sake of being contrarian; we love many of the mainstream bands like the ones mentioned above... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But it became an extremely important thing for us to understand what we're actually good at, and what the driving force for creating our music truly is... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The promise of platinum album sales just doesn't motivate us; becoming a band which creates the type of music that we'd personally find satisfying, and the sheer love for writing, recording and performing that music for people who feel the same way about it, is what motivates us... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Being famous? We'd actually find that to be a pretty awful thing; not to mention, the misguided quest for this very thing is, in our opinions, precisely what's been wrong with mainstream music since forever... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Desiring fame and attention for fame and attention's sake is poison to art... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">We personally find the idea that one has to look a certain way, and be "hot" in that same old generic way, to be not just nauseatingly boring, but extremely toxic... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">To us, the only thing that matters is being true to the music and image that reflects our deepest, innermost artistic spirit... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The beaten trail of least resistance is just not where we want to to be... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d883480b7c7ae7401f5c80fbd09ef8c01a3d98f6/original/joni-mitchell-music-business.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Hey, if you're a musician and that's your thing, knock yourself out; our opinion should have no bearing on what you set out to do... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">At the end of the day, we all just need to ignore the naysayers and stay true to our own particular ideals and goals... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But for us, that means less mainstream success, but more artistic freedom to explore a wider realm of possibility... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">People will call this approach "pretentious", and that's their right, as cynical as we might find such a perspective to be... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But we're honestly not concerned with those who reject what we do; we have zero control over any of that... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It's an absolute waste of time and energy to concern ourselves with trying to convince people who feel that way to like us... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">We can only focus on being the best we can be at writing, recording and performing the music that moves us; for ourselves and the people who do get it... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">That's a challenging enough objective for us... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">And an infinitely more satisfying one...</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8b2d82dd750fc39b6801bfe00eb9ece7fd08ef7c/original/2021-11-22-mon-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Store </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com/store </span></strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/68501032021-12-23T12:25:18-05:002021-12-23T12:55:26-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 87: Our Driving Motivation<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8f2c8bc4875efb22806a0cd4d509874a9a87698a/original/video-stills-virtue-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></strong></span><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 87: Our Driving Motivation</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">At some point in our lives, each of us is asked, “What positive contribution(s) are you making/did you make to the world? How did you, in your own small way, leave it a better place than you found it?" </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For us, the answer to this question is, "By creating a specific blend of music that's available only through us, and which has a positive impact on the people with whom it resonates..." </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Indeed, besides the fact that we find writing/recording/performing music to be just plain FUN, our primary driving motivation is the desire to create something that only <em>we</em> are capable of creating; however insignificant that may ultimately end up being in the grand scheme of things... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a0b5642eabd9f1fc4c834a114ef05d5dec77c592/original/video-stills-virtue-23.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Without exception, all the bands we most admire have held to the principle of creative self actualization: they never altered their music in any way, shape or form to fit in with where the popular music of their time happened to be... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Though a much more difficult path, the rewards to this are immense... Setting out to create something directly from our souls, with zero compromise, with all the musical "craftsmanship" we're capable of, that never quite existed before, and feeling we've succeeded in doing so, is as amazing a feeling as we’ve experienced in life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/028b73970ff5d6b07d5e1f8338f7e1c549e92d99/original/video-stills-virtue-16.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Being avid music fans ourselves, when we survey history's blessedly rich musical landscape, we find that, when done right, our music, while having its influences, inhabits its own unique area... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is the essence of it all, for us... We live to create a musical experience one can get only by listening to Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The fact that this of course means many may not be into what we create is just part of the deal...Because the plain fact is, there will always be people who don’t get one's personal type of self-expression, regardless of how well one does it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4fb2c427bf8ddddee6c5580c2b309d3b5bd84da3/original/video-stills-virtue-18.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But artistic integrity demands that we disregard the need for such approval, a</span><span class="font_large">nd so, yes, we do create first and foremost for ourselves... but a close second to this is creating for the ones our music resonates with, who feel they can’t get this specific music anywhere else... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s like that with humans as well... How many people have you encountered in your life who can never be replaced? They are their own unique entities, and staying true to that is their gift to the world... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We can't imagine them hiding who they really are, just so people who don't get them will possibly accept them...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What a shame that so many choose to be carbon copies, when the ability to be one's own unique self is an option all along... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3e8bcca4615463482af524f12139523afc42d003/original/video-stills-virtue-9.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Consider the analogy of music being like a big stew... Some people prefer a lot of salt; some people don’t like salt at all... Some want tomatoes... Some want no meat... The amount of this and that, the temperature it's cooked at, the quality of the ingredients one puts into one's own stew, etc., etc.... all these factors differ wildly from person to person, artist to artist... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And well they should... Art is a means to be unashamedly particular... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Why do we like specific artists such as King Crimson, Prince, Pink Floyd, etc., etc., while passionately disliking others; many of which possessing similar elements to their music? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">More than an artist's given genre, it seems there's some common thread between the music we really dig.., and we're merely following that thread as best we can, in the effort to self-actualize our own music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6220bc3830b1b91cca6c9bb65ee1ee36abf52621/original/video-stills-virtue-22.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Each of us has that inner compass which guides us towards/away from particular music, and it's important that we stay true to it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This even applies to how we can each share a love for a certain band's music with many other people, and yet favorite songs will differ, person to person... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It's always interesting to us to hear which of our songs resonate with different people... Of course we have our personal favorites, but those favorites aren't always necessarily shared by others... Some people even like songs we don't really much care for anymore (but that's another topic altogether, lol)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, appreciate you reading these thoughts... We're deeply thankful for your support and encouragement of our music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Speaking of which: do you have any personal favorite Widetrack songs?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b70640c212a1ec4a9139347eae1de7af21d6614c/original/2021-12-20-mon-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a><br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Store </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/68120302021-11-16T21:23:19-05:002023-05-12T17:32:04-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 86: Update (November 2021)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c632c84d574c6c0c34b2c088da97a2ec3307cbda/original/000-2021-fb-cover.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" alt="" /></p><p> </p><p style="text-align:right;"> </p><p style="text-align:center;"> </p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 86: Update (November 2021)</strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Ron here... A couple new updates to report in the world of Widetrack...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">Packing all the activity he can into his senior year of high school, Zach has been busy young man... But that doesn't mean we haven't been able to make progress on our fifth album...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">As of this writing, we've got six songs semi-close to finished... We're still deciding/discussing/debating how many tracks will be on this one (Zach says 8 is enough; I've always thought 12 was a good number... We'll probably settle at 10-ish, lol)...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">With Zach's playing skills constantly evolving, and me practicing like crazy just to keep up, our music is taking on new, surprising characteristics that have us buzzing with excitement... Can't. Wait. For. You. To Hear. It.</span><br><span class="text-big"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/32f23e605d7a87526d7e4385441b411644864d03/original/img-9685.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" alt="" />In the meantime, our friends Jim and Allanah from Purple Otter Sunrise Productions are finishing up our newest video for one of the new songs... This one is going to be a bit of a "concept" clip, featuring us playing, but also some actors and such... Here's some screenshots from it:</span><br><span class="text-big"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e8545e92cf14e6de4cfa388c772297adf3a18ea8/original/8fcbe758-eb73-4129-bb80-9048a959b798.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" alt="" />With the new album's release still a year out, we're trying to figure out the best time to post this new clip... We'll of course let you know as that becomes clearer...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">Incidentally, we were thinking that it might be a cool thing to record and release a couple cover song remakes in the meantime, just to have something out there for you, since it's already been a year and a half since the release of our last album, <i><strong>The Unwakening </strong></i>(we'll see if this is feasible, though)...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">In the meantime, it's all about writing and recording... Speaking of which, we realize the music world has changed dramatically since Widetrack began releasing albums... These days, independent bands are releasing singles more frequently, rather than albums every year or two...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">And so, this could <i><strong>possibly</strong></i> be the last time we release an album all at once... Old habits die hard, and we do like presenting a collection of songs together as an album, as opposed to singles trickling out every 4-6 weeks...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">But we want to do things that actually help us raise awareness for our music...</span><br> </p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">And, as mentioned before, Zach is preparing to go off to college, so it's really up in the air as to how much time we'll have to work on Widetrack music together...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">So singles might be a more practical way to keep things moving forward...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">We'll see...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">I guess that pretty much sums up our our life philosophy...</span><br><br><span class="text-big">Reminds me of an old Chinese Fable...</span><br><br><i><strong>A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away. </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>His neighbors said, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>The man just said, “We’ll see.” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses following. The man and his son corralled all twenty-one horses. </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>His neighbors said, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>The man just said, “We’ll see.” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>One of the wild horses kicked the man’s only son, breaking both his legs. </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>His neighbors said, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>The man just said, “We’ll see.” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer’s son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted. </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>His neighbors said, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” </strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>The man just said, “We’ll see.”</strong></i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big"><i><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ecf839a41ac5b5becd074f32564b95caeee8a92f/original/2021-10-20-wed-3.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" alt="" /></strong></i></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to drop us a hello at: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="mailto:Widetrack@Widetrackmusic.com"><span class="text-big">Widetrack@Widetrackmusic.com</span></a><br><br><span class="text-big">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" data-link-type="url"><span class="text-big">http://www.widetrackmusic.com</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Official Website: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://widetrackband.com&nbsp;"><span class="text-big">https://widetrackband.com </span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Store: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical"><span class="text-big">https://widetrackband.com/store-physical</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Spotify: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP&nbsp;&nbsp;" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP&nbsp;&nbsp;"><span class="text-big">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP </span></a></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">YouTube: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;"><span class="text-big">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Apple Music: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031"><span class="text-big">https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Facebook (page): </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband"><span class="text-big">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Facebook (VIP group): </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband"><span class="text-big">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Twitter:@widetrackband / </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband"><span class="text-big">https://twitter.com/Widetrackband</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Instagram:@widetrackband / </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband"><span class="text-big">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Pandora: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw"><span class="text-big">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Soundcloud: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack"><span class="text-big">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack</span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Bandcamp: </span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank" data-link-type="url" contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com&nbsp;"><span class="text-big">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com </span></a><span class="text-big"> </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><br><span class="text-big">BIO: </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Widetrack is the musical partnership of Ron Tippin and his 17 year-old son, Zach. </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">The duo's "Alterna-Prog" sound strikes a balance between the moody-deep undertones of such progressive groups as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, etc., with the heaviness of alternative and hard rock bands like Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, etc. </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Between 2007 and 2016, Ron self-released the band's first three albums, 'Widetrack', 'Widetrack II', and 'Widetrack III', Zach's recording debut, as bassist. </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Beginning in January 2019, the father-son team wrote, recorded and released one new song each month, marking Zach's debut as a songwriter and recording engineer, as well as the first time Ron had written Widetrack music with another person. </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">The twelve songs comprise Widetrack's fourth album, The Unwakening, released on April 23rd, 2020 (Zach's 16th birthday). </span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="text-big">Widetrack is currently booking live dates and working on their fifth album.</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/67649342021-10-03T15:16:19-04:002021-10-05T09:22:14-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 85: Update (October 2021)<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c632c84d574c6c0c34b2c088da97a2ec3307cbda/original/000-2021-fb-cover.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 85: Update (October 2021)</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Having a musical partnership of one band member attending his senior year in high school, with a demanding scholastic and social activities schedule, and the other working a demanding day job, presents certain challenges to overcome, in terms of finding time to work on Widetrack music… <br><br>Add to that the semi-busy weekend cover band schedule that we share, and time gets even tighter… <br><br>But somehow we manage to make the most of the time that we do get together… </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/63c6eaa4d923b19aea19d69b1d35087f9427fd6f/original/2021-09-08-wed-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>The years of watching Zach grow up are flying by… But we’ve packed a lot into such a short period of time since his joining the band… <br><br>And thankfully it’s not all just “business”… We still somehow find time for our hikes through the woods, attending concerts, going out to eat, etc… </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2c4ca2c356e63a9a316afde3e4f9061566d869b1/original/2021-08-28-sat-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>We try and make the most of the time we *do* have together, because that’s life, right? <br><br>All that said, progress on the fifth Widetrack album has shifted into a higher gear as of late… <br><br>We’ve now got roughly 75% of the songs either written or begun, and it must be stated that this one promises to be something quite special indeed… <br><br>There’s a diversity in the types of songs we’re coming up with that we haven’t quite tapped into before, and a level of musicianship they’re demanding from us that is just so damn exciting to immerse ourselves in… </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3e67b8e3af61c8b851c715cc0e2faf0c01984160/original/2021-02-27-sat-48.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c975f90b90a5d67b6b40e662d5946952749785e2/original/2021-02-27-sat-47.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>As stated, our goal is to finish the album by the time Zach graduates high school this June, and release it shortly thereafter… <br><br>Judging by the way things are going, we’re right on target to make this happen, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results so far… </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4051d56f3d9ed0f2cad73685905b02c0ae64eb30/original/2021-02-28-sun-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>Can’t wait for you to hear this stuff! <br><br>In the meantime, we’ll be making the most of the time we get together; which is really all any of us can do… <br><br>As always, thanks so much for your support and encouragement… Have a fantastic week! <br><br>Ron and Zach<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/23d54f91069279ed3587d1e32009123945b501b7/original/2021-08-31-tue-10.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></span><br><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to drop us a hello at: Widetrack@Widetrackmusic.com</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <br>http://www.widetrackmusic.com <br><br>Official Website: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com</a> <br><br>Store: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical&nbsp;&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/store-physical </a></span><br><br><span class="font_xl">Spotify:</span><br><span class="font_large"><a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP</a> </span><br><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a> <br><br>Apple Music: <br><a contents="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031</a> <br><br>Facebook (page): <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</a> <br><br>Facebook (VIP group): <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a> <br><br>Twitter:@widetrackband / <a contents="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Widetrackband</a> <br><br>Instagram:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@widetrackband / <a contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</a> <br><br>Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw </a> <br><br>Soundcloud: <br><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack</a> <br><br>Bandcamp: <br><a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">BIO: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Widetrack is the musical partnership of Ron Tippin and his 17 year-old son, Zach. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The duo's "Alterna-Prog" sound strikes a balance between the moody-deep undertones of such progressive groups as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, etc., with the heaviness of alternative and hard rock bands like Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, etc. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Between 2007 and 2016, Ron self-released the band's first three albums, 'Widetrack', 'Widetrack II', and 'Widetrack III', Zach's recording debut, as bassist. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Beginning in January 2019, the father-son team wrote, recorded and released one new song each month, marking Zach's debut as a songwriter and recording engineer, as well as the first time Ron had written Widetrack music with another person. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The twelve songs comprise Widetrack's fourth album, The Unwakening, released on April 23rd, 2020 (Zach's 16th birthday). </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Widetrack is currently booking live dates and working on their fifth album.</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/67280602021-08-26T16:08:06-04:002021-08-30T17:18:51-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 84: Our opening slot for Last In Line was a blast!<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4309d6dbfd137e11a01a5fe6b32e3078de72f256/original/00-2021-08-22-sun-logo.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 84:<br>Our opening slot for Last In Line was a blast!</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Last Sunday, August 22, we played our second live show last together, in this present incarnation of Widetrack as a two-piece entity... and what a blast it was!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This was a pretty high-profile gig for us, being that we were opening for the former members of Dio's band, who now go by the name "Last In Line", performing as a tribute to one of metal's greatest legends...<br><br>The show took place at The Token Lounge, in Westland, Michigan... We were the first of three opening bands to go on, so, upon arriving, we immediately began setting up our equipment and sound checking...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2979be9744ab65785680f2e1013d8a72aa678662/original/2021-08-22-sun-1.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We were scheduled to play a short 30-minute set from 6:30 to 7:00 PM... By the time we went on, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the room had filled up quite nicely... This got us in the spirit to dig deep for the best rock we could come up with, and it ended up coming off better than we ever imagined it would've...<br><br>More shows like this, please!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d36255d0dc00325d3cc9e476fdaace1c1c588657/original/2021-08-23-sun-05.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bc75ed0b99d3619b23c7157b0b5cbb3dbf038f35/original/2021-08-22-sun-02.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/94dec6fef84ef4afe8e75ae04207afd6aabb9e36/original/2021-08-23-sun-03.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7c1b619edbe8387dec1ef72c92337d36e447e8fa/original/2021-08-23-sun-06.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4aaadc09efc269d7e56b24e60f810a5cd6fbe3c3/original/2021-08-23-sun-10.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0bd0ed1f21066c1874bb3d2e2b6d6ce12d9db63a/original/2021-08-23-sun-11.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9e776fb3a80203993765419379569bb574c6140c/original/2021-08-23-sun-12.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span style="font-size: 22.399999618530273px;">Thankfully, we even got some video of this special evening to share...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 22.399999618530273px;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9FVJdMiZTfc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span style="font-size: 22.399999618530273px;">Onward...</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to drop us a hello at: Widetrack@Widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/store-physical </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Spotify: <a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube: <br>https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Apple Music: <a contents="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031 </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Facebook (page): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Facebook (VIP group): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@widetrackband / https://twitter.com/Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband / https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Soundcloud: <br><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Bandcamp: <br><a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">BIO: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Widetrack is the musical partnership of Ron Tippin and his 17 year-old son, Zach. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The duo's "Alterna-Prog" sound strikes a balance between the moody-deep undertones of such progressive groups as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, etc., with the heaviness of alternative and hard rock bands like Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, etc. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Between 2007 and 2016, Ron self-released the band's first three albums, 'Widetrack', 'Widetrack II', and 'Widetrack III', Zach's recording debut, as bassist. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Beginning in January 2019, the father-son team wrote, recorded and released one new song each month, marking Zach's debut as a songwriter and recording engineer, as well as the first time Ron had written Widetrack music with another person. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The twelve songs comprise Widetrack's fourth album, The Unwakening, released on April 23rd, 2020 (Zach's 16th birthday). </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Widetrack is currently booking live dates and working on their fifth album.</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/67138452021-08-11T20:56:45-04:002021-08-13T01:26:17-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 83: Crofoot show a smashing success!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f7bf14932a46f8086b722facfc17cfa520e20c1d/original/widetrack-logo-heaer.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8155836d19b8ad2c405505f51815f2b24c80eefa/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-3.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 83: <br>Crofoot show a smashing success!</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A live show... <em>FINALLY!</em></span><br><br><span class="font_large">This show was supposed to happen in April of 2020... To say that it was worth the wait would be an understatement... We had an absolute blast!!<br><br>More of this, please!!<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/39a011cb05a4b2242113db6c3f805a3701673384/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-2.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bd233c9aead21144b5207c15845b9ae2f80d5cba/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-21b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cf4ea83466457eee040ae9cc00eb25982c1e695b/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-10.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/243d5a3d3f7dea3ef337f52927b16645ed28398c/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-44b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/97b106d28a8fb5987d93faa1cbde91f250fbe862/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-122b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c278671294b0d5378dc31e395aa0d3e8f1388a8f/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-1.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/402c674eef020b8b0271f65e795c4ff439bac6e8/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-42b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5e03f0f3d0b438c485a804563e3d07d84c9404df/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-157b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/959fe64a93a31a0b6c53dbf49a49bd2228725468/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-105.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ac1d3eaf5ef74f8a85d817700b75fa21c486abe2/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-36b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ad4da72d16d4a53b635dc5547135d24038345581/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-47.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d8c4adc97d03088b10d452f52e04e70c541a9f52/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-111b.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/dbc4271533c8724d7aed714575c0307da2eb172a/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-7.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/82fa9d542ab0351b03adcca148ca6dc2bc5c3582/original/2021-08-07-sat-crofoot-8.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">(photos: Lee Smith and Garrett Hoffman)</span><br><br><br><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to drop us a hello at: Widetrack@Widetrackmusic.com<br><br>Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Official Website: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com</a><br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/store-physical&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Bhttps://widetrackband.com/store-physical" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/store-physical </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Spotify: <a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8Bhttps://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a><br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Apple Music: <a contents="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://music.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031 </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Facebook (page): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Facebook (VIP group): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Twitter:<br>@widetrackband / <a contents="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Instagram:<br>@widetrackband / <a contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Soundcloud: <br><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Bandcamp: <br><a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">BIO: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Widetrack is the musical partnership of Ron Tippin and his 17 year-old son, Zach. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The duo's "Alterna-Prog" sound strikes a balance between the moody-deep undertones of such progressive groups as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, etc., with the heaviness of alternative and hard rock bands like Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, etc. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Between 2007 and 2016, Ron self-released the band's first three albums, 'Widetrack', 'Widetrack II', and 'Widetrack III', Zach's recording debut, as bassist. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Beginning in January 2019, the father-son team wrote, recorded and released one new song each month, marking Zach's debut as a songwriter and recording engineer, as well as the first time Ron had written Widetrack music with another person. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The twelve songs comprise Widetrack's fourth album, The Unwakening, released on April 23rd, 2020 (Zach's 16th birthday). </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Widetrack is currently booking live dates and working on their fifth album.</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/66720462021-06-27T13:14:16-04:002021-06-27T13:20:47-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 82: Current Highlights<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f7bf14932a46f8086b722facfc17cfa520e20c1d/original/widetrack-logo-heaer.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5831754a5d41e044c5e62b3f4d34a80846751b26/original/2021-02-11-thur-3.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 82: Current Highlights</strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Things have been moving at a pretty rapid pace for us in these newly-post-pandemic times... Which is a good thing, as <a contents="there's never time to waste these days" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-81-the-ticking-clock" target="_blank">there's never time to waste these days</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As previously announced, we've been writing songs for what will be our fifth album, and want this one to be something above-and-beyond special... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach's currently entering a whole new level of musicianship/songwriting, and it's so exciting to watch it unfolding... This newest track that we're currently working up is a great example of that... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RKK_dBzdBRg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">When we began writing together in the winter of 2018, there were no rules as to how we'd come up with ideas for a song... But by the time we finished the 12 songs for the fourth Widetrack album, <a contents="The Unwakening" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Unwakening</em></strong></a>, it became clear that our best work came from either Zach presenting a song idea that he wrote on guitar, or Ron recording a drum idea and giving it to Zach, at which point Zach would write a song on guitar to that...</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">The song in the video above is a great example of the latter, which initially came from <a contents="this drum idea" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/100063757111935/videos/2514377465375056" target="_blank">this drum idea</a>...</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">It's so exciting to hear how the music's evolving, mostly due to Zach's insanely exponential musical growth... It's pushing his dad to keep working hard to come up with drum/vocal parts that do Zach's ideas justice... and, ultimately, the music can only benefit from this... <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/dd1483db818a65754e9e47eae326fccdbdcc140b/original/2021-02-27-sat-48.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></span><span class="font_xl"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">As of this writing, we've finished recording the "first draft" of the entire song... now it's about playing it many times, so that it can "tell us what it needs from here"...</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">It may be too early, but we're hoping to add this one to the set when we play what will be our first live in-public show since Zach began writing songs for Widetrack... As previously announced, it will be in Pontiac, Michigan, at The Crofoot on Saturday, August 7, from 8:30 to 9:00 PM EST for the Pontiac Music Fest...<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/58021c7e796db4c26b0d308d91deea044fb568ac/original/2021-06-06-sun-2.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><span style="font-size: 22.4px;">If you're within driving distance and would like to attend, we have discounted tickets on our website at <a contents="*this link*" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/event/4300259/562940473/widetrack" target="_blank"><strong>*this link*</strong></a> </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once purchased, your tickets will be waiting for you at the Crofoot box office the night of the show, so there'll be no hassle with mailing, etc...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For those of you who can't make it, we'll be getting it professionally recorded... We realize this isn't as ideal as being there, but hopefully, as things build, we'll eventually be able to play your area in the not-too-distant future...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We can't even tell you how much we're looking forward to playing this show... We've spent the past three years <a contents="rehearsing" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWx-6G9SoTQ&list=PLhDkp5P7dwBwbSZF2GfOASN2jCO8QXmwQ" target="_blank">rehearsing</a>, <a contents="writing" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://fb.watch/6opwYehIRh/" target="_blank">writing</a> and <a contents="recording" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://fb.watch/6opt1NjQsN/" target="_blank">recording</a>... Yes, we've done a couple Facebook Live performances <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzU29KJS5HoO7GYCVMZJuPH" target="_blank">here</a> and <a contents="there" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzQjls6Er-7kWeUOHm4cc0X" target="_blank">there</a>, but that's a far cry from being in the presence of people, playing on the live stage... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And speaking of which, we'd like to once again express our deepest gratitude for your continued support and encouragement... This father-son journey is so much more than just a band making music; it's about a most cherished, "who knows how long this will last" chapter in our lives... We really do appreciate so much you coming along with us as we head onward into the future...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Thanks and we hope to see you soon!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron and Zach</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f677cb885f221fe9a307d39727d729375ef35fc4/original/2021-03-24-wed-52.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: </span><br><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website/store: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Spotify:<br><a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Apple Music: <br><a contents="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031 </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Facebook (page): <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Facebook (VIP group): <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: @widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: @widetrackband </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Pandora: <br><a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Soundcloud: <br><a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Bandcamp: <br><a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://paypal.me/widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><br> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/66644412021-06-19T15:37:10-04:002021-06-20T15:17:51-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 81: The Ticking Clock<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f7bf14932a46f8086b722facfc17cfa520e20c1d/original/widetrack-logo-heaer.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4df7b03d9bfe2d28cb2b2251c2df3d15acf0594a/original/2021-06-01-tue-5.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 81: The Ticking Clock</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Time is a crafty illusionist... At the risk of veering into the cliche, it seems like only yesterday that Zach played his first show with Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">At the young age of 12, he began this journey, his humble beginnings quickly evolving into a skilled musicality that turned the student into the teacher at a pace that surprised even the most supportive of those around him at the time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/13494a3b65cc94a59e85acdd062d4e08396c6b7e/original/img-3452.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Fast-forward to 2021, he's now 17 and will be entering his final high school year in September... Then it's off to college... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We're still not sure which college he'll be attending, but the distinct probability exists that his time with Widetrack will be drastically diminished by his post-high school responsibilities... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As his dad, I couldn't be happier for, and more supportive of, this... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He's always made it easy to be his parent/friend/musical partner... He's wise and personally accountable beyond his years, has always gotten excellent grades, and has stayed out of trouble throughout his teenage years... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e3d46cb22dda9012562f9673039d27f59df4222f/original/2021-06-01-tue-3.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But as his fellow Widetrack member, I feel a significantly increased sense of creative urgency... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Recently, we discussed the future of the band, and, knowing that college time was looming, we agreed that the future of this band has to take a back seat to his future potential options being as open and maximized as possible... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He's got so much going for him, and I don't ever want to get in the way of that; I only want to support his path upward and onward... whatever that may end up being...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b2d46e61221cb4a0660f39b142f120740d5a5849/original/2021-06-12-sat-zach-dte-11.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> </span>And so, we've talked extensively about where Widetrack goes from here, led by our life philosophy of , "We'll see..." </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What I can say is this: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We have agreed on and committed to making the fifth Widetrack album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Specifics are still developing, but we've given its completion a deadline of June 2022, on his high school graduation date... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This gives us just less than a year from the writing of this blog entry... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We believe this will give us plenty of time to come up with what we are determined to be our best work to date, especially since we've already finished <a contents="Connivance" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-74" target="_blank"><strong><em>Connivance</em></strong></a>, <a contents="Seeksorrow" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-75" target="_blank"><em><strong>Seeksorrow</strong></em></a>, <a contents="Heretic" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-heretic" target="_blank"><em><strong>Heretic</strong></em></a>, and the soon-to-be-released, <em><strong>Virtue</strong></em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">These songs, a well as others we've got in the works, have our creative fires absolutely stoked, and as the picture of what this album's going to look like begins to come into focus, our confidence in the future of Widetrack has been given a much-needed boost of optimism... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b258057b0f62e95dcd9e6e6e9549ca95afe3dd1e/original/2021-06-13-sun-6.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />We realize that it would be a shame if this was all we ended up doing together, and that bodes well for the future of the band's existence... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">That said, again, as a parent, I want nothing to stand in the way of Zach's flourishing as a musician and human being; not even Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, we look to the future with optimism, yes; but an optimism tempered by, "We'll see..." </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And the ticking clock reminds us of life's eternal transience... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So <strong><em>onward</em></strong>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8ec6c1ed3e337b94d297dc12efc5cbfc32ba1fe1/original/img-9816.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Official Website/store: <a contents="https://widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Spotify: <a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>YouTube: <a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Apple Music: <a contents="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Facebook (page): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Facebook (VIP group): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Twitter: @widetrackband </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Instagram: @widetrackband </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Soundcloud: <a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Bandcamp: <a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></strong></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/66390122021-05-24T18:34:33-04:002021-05-24T18:34:33-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 80: Update<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8bc40bcee1862dd528d0caec903ac026c8649d0c/original/widetrack-logo-resized.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b517b95bd451f2e2c1a0a6015c5b60782df38b83/original/2021-05-18-mon-2.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The Widetrack Chronicles 80: Update</strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">It's been a while since we sent out an email update, but rest assured we've been keeping busy as ever... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In case you missed it before, we released a "new-old" E.P. called <a contents="Lineage" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.hearnow.com/lineage" target="_blank"><strong><em>Lineage</em></strong></a>... It's comprised of 6 songs that I wrote and recorded back in 2012, but never released... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Since the pandemic, I've been listening back to some of the older unreleased stuff, and felt the time was finally right to get these songs out to the public... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach added bass and guitar to my pre-existing tracks, then he mixed it all... I'm really proud of the work he did on it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">If you haven't heard it yet, you can check it out here:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.hearnow.com/lineage" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a178b8d4b7665dad5ad25d066535d80579bce941/original/00-lineage-00-front-final-1000x1000.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">Since the release of Lineage, we've been gathering ideas for our fifth album, which we're giving ourselves the next year to complete, as we really want it to be something extra-special... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach will be graduating high school, and with all the activities he's currently got going on - not to mention all the live shows we hope to be playing over the next year - we're hoping this will give us adequate time to develop the best music we possibly can create... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Speaking of Zach, he's been crazy-busy with school band activities, playing drums in his jazz ensemble, "Shrimp Java", as well as the marching band...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/560714aa18b07df7eb16628deac2d882e58cfd32/original/186561409-312487947001239-3838639482399221890-n.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9815796ee102897bba9d57894d33a188e52a73ea/original/317bef8a45eb62e4c9632120ebbe4f5d7d289c22.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">But even with all his high school work and activities going on, we've still managed to keep our live setlist rehearsed for that glorious time when things open back up and we begin doing shows...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/dc44b774ec83b87c1c8c438a4846fad919725dd8/original/0e80ac7ae52c6a98f81af4f3fbb9ca708b3aaabf.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We did have one setback, though, when I tested positive for COVID last month... It wasn't fun, but I eventually got through it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As I started coming out of it, my confidence in playing/singing was still pretty rattled, so I decided to play some acoustic versions of Widetrack songs and post them on YouTube... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I still wasn't 100% by any means, but thought it'd be a good thing to push myself to get out of the rut I was in for those three long weeks of pandemic purgatory...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lwcZi60CF_E" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now that I'm past all that and Zach & I have been fully vaccinated, we've been picking back up on our Widetrack tasks; the first of which is a brand-new song we'll be releasing as soon as its accompanying video is finished... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Speaking of which, the video will be done by our friends from Purple Otter Sunrise Productions, the wonderful Jim Tietschert and Alannah Hoffman...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ffd564aad55283fbaaa4442bd4cb91b4f6116ba2/original/21a26a8fa35889783020b44f1c3b9a35f76b39ea.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />As far as the song itself, we're incredibly stoked about this one... Honestly, we feel it's one of the best things we've ever written... Can't wait for you to hear it!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0374288a19ec0512f09830a2823a1473e878035c/original/e526bf40838ae38b9f06f42a42b09c65391b9478.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This brings us up to date for now, I believe... It's crazy how fast time is flying these days... Zach's already 17... He's got his whole life ahead of him, and I couldn't be prouder of him for how hard he's worked at becoming the musician he is today... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This time in life is so special... I'm trying to savor it for all it's worth... I really feel this next album we've been making will be a wonderful experience for us to share together... Who knows what's after that, once Zach's graduated and figures out where he's going to college...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c4544acd0ac4acd5e1e4ee561171e9280a718aea/original/22bbb07bc68dd405c07c3f34e42dae3e27811a7c.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Whatever will be will be... For now, we're seizing onto the present and making the most of each and every instant that comes; whatever may happen... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Thank you for your support and encouragement as we take this journey... We really appreciate your friendship and hope you're doing great these days... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Talk with you soon! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">ROCK ON!! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron and Zach</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/46cafe55a1cab32a641642e565ae8f66478cb5f6/original/82addfcb4518fad6dd3e1656e280e90357849e3a.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Official Website/store: <a contents="https://widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Spotify: <a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">YouTube: <a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Apple Music: <a contents="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031 </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Facebook (page): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Facebook (VIP group): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Twitter: @widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Instagram: @widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Soundcloud: <a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Bandcamp: <a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50LnNpdGV6b29nbGUuY29tIn0=/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/65535282021-02-19T16:02:41-05:002021-02-19T16:03:13-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 79: Update<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/969982f5ecb6d651ddf906de85d9f1a6d6f5da44/original/2021-promo-logo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 79: Update</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Whew, been a busy past couple of weeks... Sounds like a good reason for an update! Here are some bullet points for your convenience: </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">*As always, we are very much looking forward to playing live again. We've been rehearsing and refining our set during the entirety of the pandemic, and are feeling really good about it at this point. Therefore... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">*We plan on shifting into writing mode, beginning work on our fifth album, which we're projecting will be completed by the time Zach graduates high school (June, 2022). Where things go from that point are not 100% certain, so we really want this one to be something special that we can be proud of on every level. As always, there will be updates as things progress, but in the meantime... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">* Zach 's begun mixing an unreleased Widetrack album, recorded in 2012, (title TBA), that we'll be putting out in the next few months. The reason it was never released is a story for another time, but suffice to say, it's coming together nicely so far. He's even adding some bass and guitar parts, so it'll be more of a team effort, rather than just a "Zach mixes some pre-Zach-era Widetrack songs" kind of project. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/db0f3794c5e285615c1c22c7a2de7d3ee08a9a9b/original/2021-02-15-mon-7.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">*After that, there is one more unreleased "pre-Zach-era" Widetrack album, recorded in 2015, that we plan on getting out soon after the first one. This will bring us up to date with all our unreleased material, (for the most part, lol), and clear the way for what the future holds. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">As always, we want to extend our deepest thanks for all the support and encouragement you continue to give us. We hope to continue with Widetrack for many years to come, but Zach is still young, and we want to be able to keep our options open for whatever path he ultimately decides to take. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But even if things were to come to an end today, it's been a phenomenally amazing journey so far. Definitely no complaints or regrets! </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">That said, the plan is to keep going,. Happy to say that we're still here... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Blessings to you and yours from </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Ron and Zach</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2a53e441dccfda5f3d9b5cf45ade08bf54b2f7f3/original/2020-11-04-wed-1.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Subscribe for updates/exclusive content: <a contents="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackmusic.com</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Official Website/store: <a contents="https://widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Spotify: <a contents="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3lR4TQZT2bQd0nS2rauQwP</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">YouTube: <a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Apple Music: <a contents="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/widetrack/255327031</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Facebook (page): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Widetrackband</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Facebook (VIP group): <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Twitter: @widetrackband </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Instagram: @widetrackband </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Pandora: <a contents="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw </a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Soundcloud: <a contents="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/widetrack </a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Bandcamp: <a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com</a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/65134692021-01-17T01:43:10-05:002022-02-06T18:32:46-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 78: Heretic<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEYWSvfmYFI" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles: Heretic</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron here... Zach and I are extremely please to present our newest song, <a contents="Heretic" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEYWSvfmYFI" target="_blank"><em><strong>Heretic</strong></em></a>, to you...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Just wanted to share a few thoughts about the lyrics to this one...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>*TRIGGER WARNING: The following message may offend the religiously militant. </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When I was young, church on Sunday was mandatory... I was baptized at 11 years old...</span> <span class="font_large">My indoctrination continued all through my childhood, and well into my teens... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I learned many wonderful life lessons from my religious upbringing, to be sure... But terrified of the consequences of questioning the things I was being taught, I never even considered it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Still, as I grew and gained more life experience, stark inconsistencies began to penetrate my religious bubble... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I saw the way people who presented themselves as “Godly” would talk to/treat others... More often than not, there was a rhetorical sanctimony I found to be deeply nauseating... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But even more distressing were the ones who actually identified with these “authority figures”... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I could see them relishing in the “fire and brimstone” no-mercy approach... They were yearning to find meaning in their suffering, and these “leaders of faith” provided them the scapegoat that others should suffer even worse once “Judgment Day” arrived... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I soon began to loathe this hypocrisy; to the point where the things I’d been taught began breaking down on the most fundamental levels... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I always saw Jesus as a compassionate figure; the ideal embodiment of unconditional love... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This was clearly not that... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once I became aware of these moral inconsistencies and began demanding evidence for the things I believed, my so-called “faith” (fear, at the end of the day) was replaced with the freedom to grapple with life’s deepest questions in a far more objective, nuanced context... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The shift was a profound one... I was labeled a sinner (aren’t we all?); lost (oh, the irony!); a liberal (I’m not); a heretic... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">OK, this one fits... </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Presently, I observe the so-called “morally righteous” of the modern age... In the smug, self-assured certainty of their so-called faith, they’ve swallowed and spread these lies without ever once stopping to question their validity...<br><br>No consideration whatsoever for whether or not their sources of information are fact-based... Their burden of proof is non-existent... Their threshold for conspiracy theory, beyond all reason... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">They’ve made it so easy for demagoguery to infiltrate the public discourse... All these false prophets have to do is tell them what they want to hear and pander to their fear of “the other”, and they are <em>all-in</em>; as if they were already looking for someone to tell them it was OK to believe these things... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And now they’re hopelessly lost in the raptures of this cult-delusion of lunacy... A bubble of toxic, aggressive ignorance where my kind is their sworn enemy... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">The infidel... The lost soul... The heretic... </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Better to demonize our kind, lest we begin raising (perfectly valid) questions “in the effort to deceive them and lead them astray”... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Better to strive for our annihilation before truly understanding where we’re <em>actually</em> coming from... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Because God forbid someone not have the answers to the mysteries of life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Yes, I do indeed reject their faith in false messiahs and joyful division between people... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Their relishing in the eternally tormented demise of their earthly brothers and sisters... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Their insufferably prideful arrogance in presenting themselves as “the chosen people” among human history... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Please. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And now, their cause has become more political than ever... They choose to follow literally the least Christ-like figures imaginable, to their Promised Land of a world inhabited only by their kind... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">How could enlightenment ever reach truth-haters such as these? What do they honestly and objectively know of humanity, of love? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Their motives of “moral” cleansing are plain for all to see... They don’t even attempt to hide them anymore... They wave their flag of hatred highly and proudly... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">Jesus wept.</span></em></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/65123682021-01-02T20:43:35-05:002021-01-02T20:43:35-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 77: Takeaways and Lessons Learned<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/969982f5ecb6d651ddf906de85d9f1a6d6f5da44/original/2021-promo-logo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 77: Takeaways and Lessons Learned</strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">With every album cycle of write-record-release that we’ve undergone, valuable takeaways and lessons learned have shaped our ideals in regards to the next strategies we’ve chosen to take... </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The first album: Widetrack (2007)</strong> <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8361aee85c17b77f3110a40c6258aa07a1b488f2/original/widetrack-cd-cover-4-75.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">The debut Widetrack album was born out of pure, innocent desire to create my own music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Most of these songs were written on acoustic guitar (as this was the only guitar I owned at the time)... </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Takeaways/lessons learned:</strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once the album had been released for a period of time, I began losing a bit of the spark I had for some of the songs I had initially been more excited about… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This showed me that I couldn’t simply show up with just enough songs for an album… I had to write more songs than needed, and then choose the best ones… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Also, once I took these songs to the stage, many of them didn’t possess the kind of energy I wanted to convey in a live setting, being that they were all acoustic-based... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/38973e5e7249c0fadddf248194012e3463b90e5d/original/widetrack-2008-05-10-ron-2.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />This led me to writing songs by way of jamming out on the drums, mimicking how I wanted to play live, and then writing guitar over those drums, resulting in a much more powerful feel and sound… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The second album: Widetrack II (2009) </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/810056795812cbca49d2bcb20aba60d1c5cb7fe9/original/widetrackii-2020cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></span></strong><span class="font_large">Two years of constant writing, rehearsing and playing with these initial lessons in mind had passed, resulting in greatly-improved skills and ideas for the second release... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I’d written enough music for two records, and chose the songs I felt best flowed together at the time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This particular period had the added benefit of having a relatively stable live band that I was able to play more shows with this time around... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6ceeddd6a32816884899a0bdc20d7a8d78512163/original/widetrack-hayloft1.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></span><strong><span class="font_large">Takeaways/lessons learned: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Having written more songs proved to be a successful factor in terms of taking what I felt (and still feel) was a giant step forward for Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This material was much more powerful onstage, and has stood the test of time more so than that of the debut...<br><br>Writing on drums and electric guitar increased the rock in our sound many times over... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/12c7acaf94200fe6c91e27ddc8531f6a795ac2fc/original/ron-01.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />But having more shows’ opportunities to assess the songs revealed that, while this album was a solid effort, I still had a considerably long way to go... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Note: It was during this time that I consciously set out to see how much heavier I could make the Widetrack sound without veering into the metal genre (I love metal, but never considered it to be my #1 musical forte)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The third album: Widetrack III (2018)</strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e82c2da7b2eefe4defddf965ce233388ae1e81b0/original/01-widetrack-iii-front-cover-a.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />The second album was released on the last day of 2019, so, for all intents and purposes, it was 2010 before we got to playing shows for it, which we did for the next year and a half... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Meanwhile, I knew I would have to raise the songwriting bar even higher for the third album, so I decided to allow myself a bit more time to come up with even more songs than I did for ‘Widetrack II’... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then, 2012 arrived and my divorce happened... This put my musical world on hiatus for literally the next couple years... Writing was pretty much all I accomplished during this time... The live band broke up... It was just me again, back to ground zero/square one... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3c03be784151799efac921ef35663acdb8a08c26/original/2015-04-13-ron-002.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />So I did the only thing I could do at the time: I wrote, wrote, and wrote some more... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then in 2016, I was reacquainted with my lost lost high school buddy, Brian Burleson, and we began our collaboration with a remake of Pink Floyd’s ‘Welcome to the Machine’... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Things were coming together, but then Zach joined... This was an amazing, game-changing development, but it took some time to get him acclimated to the band... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4b9223cec72e1a6e80a58cf8bb119146b441597a/original/2018-02-04-sun-010-edit.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />By the time we recorded, I’d written 60 songs of which to choose from for the album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Takeaway/lessons learned: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I love the third album... Making it was a bonding experience with Brian and Zach that will last forever... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I thought that writing so many songs really paid off in terms of having even better songs on this album then on the second one… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The next logical step to me coincided with my overall feeling the I’d really come to a place where I needed to collaborate with someone on the writing of the next Widetrack album… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As it so happened, Brian decided that he wanted to pursue his phone band, and Zach decided that he wanted to be my co-writer and have just the two of us make the fourth album… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach was only 13 at the time the album was released, but his musical growth was accelerating at an insane pace... He literally went from barely being able to get through our live set to passing up my guitar skills in mere months... I’ve never seen anything like it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1f3e27835d504d02a45558af7278917a62d5bbd1/original/zach-bass-colorb.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />Note: It was at this point that Widetrack became the partnership of Zach and myself… This marked a profound milestone in the band’s development… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">The fourth album: The Unwakening (2020) </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cf11b2d5918e3be53a55467957f71fc7be358a86/original/0-cd-a-cover-3000x3000.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></span></strong><span class="font_large">In the effort to adjust to a more modern method of releasing music, we decided to write, record and release one new song per month, then compile the 12 songs at the end of the year and release them as our fourth album… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Having acquired a considerable amount of skill with using Pro Tools software, Zach decided he wanted to record and mix the album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bac4436477de19a008e14eace1da883b19282293/original/2018-01-02-005-335.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />As we began writing, we shared duties on coming up with guitar/bass ideas… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But right around month 6 or 7 of the process, Zach’s musicianship went through the roof, and we both quickly realized that he was going to be the main guitar/bass writer of the music, in addition to sharing song arranging/producer duties, as well being the recording engineer... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As a result, there was a bit of a stylistic shift with those last few songs we wrote, as it marked the pivotal moment when Zach began coming into his own unique songwriting style… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c5d983181d25d2f2f5036eae85d881ef2b107c0c/original/2018-01-04-001-64.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><strong>Takeaways/lessons learned:</strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We were/are extremely proud of ‘The Unwakening’... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But releasing one song every month was a draining experience, to say the least… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This was a lot for a lifelong musician to take on, much less a 14 year old... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Though happy with the results, making the album really pushed us to the point of needing to get away from the studio for a good while... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4794c539dfadd2fabe4369c2506d1142fc6ba5c2/original/2020-08-29-sat-42b.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />And so, our initial plan was to just play shows throughout 2020, in the effort to promote our new album to as many existing/potential fans as possible… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Being that we’d only played two Widetrack shows together ever at that point, we were pretty psyched to bring this new music to the stage, and got to rehearsing for an extensive live date schedule with eager anticipation... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/540c04ae8ee1af6a3f1bf64efed1092065cd23b9/original/2019-12-23-mon-3.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" />Then the pandemic hit... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our plans for playing shows in 2020 thrown into disarray, we once again seized onto the wise words of the great John Wooden: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_xl">“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, we focused on rehearsing, writing and recording new songs, and playing livestream concerts... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As it turns out, 2020 provided us with four new songs that we otherwise probably wouldn’t have written…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>But that's another story for another day...</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/24a3c76bd558a6bffbc8a34fff0e58c8b49ac8d8/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-16.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></em>In summation, the biggest lesson/takeaway from this journey so far is that we never know what's around the corner... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Making plans is absolutely necessary, but at the end of the day, life is going to throw at us what it's going to throw at us, and all we can do is adapt and keep going...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Godspeed to you in 2021 and beyond...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/37365653a4b50396bc70ad9276e3e9a10c5bc5d0/original/b258a738-fea5-4569-a1c4-b05a5afb18a9.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! <br><br>Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <br>Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/64716952020-11-06T19:28:15-05:002021-04-21T13:02:11-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 76: Activism of Consciousness<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/02254b8b2531c390beae52f279891f81e6d39b35/original/0-promo-2020-01-logo.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 76: Activism of Consciousness</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">2020’s been a game-changer year thus far... Many plans come to naught, much uncertainty taken root... The good, the bad, the ugly... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Looking at the world today, it's hard to remain positive about what lies ahead... but the alternative is far worse, in our opinion... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Like many people, we have our political/religious/lifestyle positions in regards to why things are the way they are... But we know how counterproductive it is to push those ideas onto people who would otherwise remain our friends... It’s an issue of common respect... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Absolutely, we’re always willing to talk with our friends, family and acquaintances about life's "Big Issues", so long as they're committed to having productive, truth-seeking conversation... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the fact is, there’s plenty of noise in the world already without further adding to it... So instead we try to focus more on improving ourselves, our musical creativity, and, at the risk of sounding slightly pretentious, our <em>consciousness</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The old term, <em>“Garbage in, garbage out”</em> holds a great deal of validity, in our opinion... One must be mindful not to feed the brain with junk and trivial things in this day and age... It’s all too easy to let the garbage just roll on in and corrupt one's consciousness... which all too often ends up compromising one's dreams...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We have this one life to self-actualize into the people we desire to be... And this life goes by so very fast... The time we think we have to do what we dream of doing isn’t as limitless as many of us would believe it is... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I think of how Zach joined Widetrack at age 12... He’s 16 now... He’ll be graduating high school next year... That time flew by at hyper-speed... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the biggest things that helps us come to terms with such a stark reality is the ways in which such elapsed time has been spent... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For us, knowing that we've gotten music written, recorded and <a contents="released" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/music-digital" target="_blank">released</a> helps us to feel better about the fleeting years...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Because there are few things as tragic as a life not having lived one's truest purpose... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I (Ron) remember when I first wanted to become a musician… I felt like I needed permission to do it, for some strange reason… But once I became a drummer who played real gigs, that initial fear slowly became more and more laughable to me… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Years later, I decided I wanted to become a singer/songwriter… That same fear entered my consciousness once more… I took a lot of hits to my ego and to my heart… A number of people told me to "just keep doing what I do" as a musician, and not try to creatively evolve beyond the limited perception they had of me... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But I instead decided to ignore those voices, and slowly over time, once again, that initial fear became a faded memory… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As a result of such experiences, I try to never forget how that fear can initially be all too real for some people… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And that has become one of our biggest messages that we try to put out there as much as possible: the idea that <em><strong>no one has a right to tell you who you are and what you‘re here on this planet to do…</strong></em> </span><strong><em><span class="font_large">Your self-actualization is your birthright… </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is our “activism“ if you will… an <em><strong>“Activism of Consciousness"</strong></em>… The desire to encourage others to stay true to their journeys of self-actualization and creative evolution… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Life is too precious a gift to squander...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s totally up to you... Don’t wait... Start now.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/20e7fc5a07661d3cdaede926390b50673edd5778/original/2020-07-14-tue-widetrack-rehearsal-4.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you!<br>Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <br>Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Store </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/64270952020-09-07T23:19:44-04:002022-02-06T13:11:36-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 75: Seeksorrow<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 75: <em>Seeksorrow</em></strong></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I’m going to go on the record right here and now: <a contents="Seeksorrow" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/single/20683/seeksorrow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Seeksorrow</em></strong></a> is my current favorite Widetrack song... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To say that we worked hard on this one would be a severe understatement… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The fact is, when Zach first presented his initial guitar parts for the song<b><i> </i></b>to me, my first reaction was, <em>“How in the hell am I going to come up with something for this??"</em> 😂 </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/579bae9fcb2db397f89cf605bd079c0a79e6315c/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-4.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>But then that wonderful line from the late, great John Lennon came to mind, as it often does: <em><strong>“There’s no problems; only solutions.” </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, I got to work on endeavoring to catch up with this latest level that Zach had ascended to in his rapidly developing musical journey… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">More and more, since he joined the band, I've been rediscovering my love for the drums… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Drums were always my main instrument, growing up... But over the 15 years prior to him coming onboard, I’ve relegated them to a back-up instrument of sorts, in terms of my overall musical tool kit, in favor of songwriting, singing and playing rhythm guitar... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7652a6e752aa5f0322e81a289bde7c3f4902bc44/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-15.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>But he really pushed me to get back to the drum kit, and I’ve been absolutely loving it, rediscovering a passion that had been lying dormant for far too long… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s strange when you’ve set aside something for a considerable period of time, that you used to do so much… It can really bring a whole new perspective to things… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After focusing singing and songwriting for so long, now that I‘m getting back into the drums again, ideas of what I should be playing are so much clearer than they once were… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/865496106073fbacbc224338ba1e1ad3091051c9/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-8.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>But the physical aspect is as big a commitment as ever, so I knew I was going to have to really put in the time to make this stuff groove in the way that it needed... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Which only makes sense, knowing that Zach is playing pretty much 24/7… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the time that I really spent on this one was with vocals and lyrics… I must’ve come up with 10 different versions of this song… I’m not complaining, though; it truly is a labor of love... definitely one of the things I enjoy doing as much as anything else in life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/aa808919b22ed8ba83896c825b1dae527b495164/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-6.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>Once <a contents="Seeksorrow" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/single/20683/seeksorrow" target="_blank"><em><strong>Seeksorrow</strong></em></a> was finished, we decided that in order to relieve Zach of the pressures of recording, we’d once again employ the services of our good friend, Andy Patalan, and record these latest two songs at his world-famous Michigan studio, The Loft... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As always, Andy got some fantastic drum, guitar and bass sounds… It’s always a fantastic experience, getting to record at such a great studio with such a creative, capable engineer at the helm… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cfb7f559d935e65396a2d37fbcf929ebb62f5667/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-13.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fac370fdd4f240091cfaffb2fd1859c90a746e37/original/widetrack-video-shoot-seeksorrow-12.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_large">It was everything we’d hoped it would be, and more... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We took a day for each song, and then brought the tracks home for Zach to mix… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All in all, this process worked out wonderfully… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, without further ado, we present to you...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="wHBKBC1Y9Pw" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/wHBKBC1Y9Pw/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wHBKBC1Y9Pw?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Store </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/64271172020-09-07T23:12:11-04:002022-02-06T13:12:15-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 74: Connivance<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 74: <em>Connivance</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Connivance" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/single/20682/connivance" target="_blank"><em><strong>Connivance</strong></em></a> was the first new song we wrote together after finishing <a contents="The Unwakening" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank"><em><strong>The Unwakening</strong></em></a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It continued the game-changing point that came during the making of the album, when Zach took the reins as primary guitar/bass composer - which is to say, his playing and writing had surpassed mine by such a wide margin that it just made more sense to let him have the lion’s share of that responsibility... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/94bd313defd42b659225e8c3c5902686ce2a8031/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-11.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>Going back to when Zach first joined Widetrack, it was to play bass on our third album, <a contents="Widetrack III" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/album/750809/widetrack-iii" target="_blank"><strong><em>Widetrack III</em></strong></a>, which had already been written, and mostly recorded... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Immediately upon its release, he and I began writing our first songs together... The initial ones - <strong><em>Voyeurs</em></strong>, <strong><em>Requiem</em></strong>, <em><strong>Gone Dark</strong></em>, <strong><em>Drones</em></strong> - still had me writing guitar parts... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But that all changed once Zach’s skills as a guitarist surpassed mine; and it happened surprisingly fast... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Soon thereafter came the songs <em><strong>Martyr</strong></em> and <strong><em>Tribal</em></strong>, in which he wrote guitar and bass to some drum grooves I’d recorded... It was immediately apparent that this was going to be our new direction of putting songs together... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4c3a068329f1aa724427df2e434e4def4ae79cd2/original/connivance-cartoon-stills-49.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But nothing could have prepared me for the musical growth spurt he underwent that resulted in the final few tracks we came up with for <a contents="The Unwakening" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Unwakening</em></strong></a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>Terra</strong></em>, <em><strong>The Rift</strong></em>, <em><strong>Unveiled</strong></em>, <em><strong>The Chosen</strong></em> and <em><strong>Cursed</strong></em> took things to an entirely new level... I could see something quite special was happening before my very eyes... It was when I knew that he was going to be the main composer of guitar/bass parts for the foreseeable future... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so this brings us to <a contents="Connivance" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://widetrackband.com/single/20682/connivance" target="_blank"><strong><em>Connivance</em></strong></a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now, I’d be lying if I said that coming up with songs after our experience with <strong><em>The Unwakening</em></strong> would be easy… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As I’ve said before, the experience of writing one song per month in 2019 proved to be a double-edged sword of sorts for Zach… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bb8acc394a426aaac964cbad98ea5b1d09ea557d/original/connivance-cartoon-stills-55.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>This was his first foray into the world of professional music, and by the end of that crash course in writing/recording/mixing a song a month, he was pretty much toast… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I can’t say I blame him… We certainly learned that this isn’t how we want to do things… For better or for worse, in 2020, even though people are releasing music on a much more frequent basis, we‘ve learned that our most effective method of creating music is to allow songs more time to evolve into what they can ultimately be… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The downside of that is, obviously, we may possibly be releasing music less frequently than other artists… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4b0ee06c3e92d9e87d778ab0b881fda4958e2984/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-15.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the upside is that we (and you) will know that our songs are every bit as good as we can make them, and that ample time has been given to each one to allow for optimal development… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now, I’m not saying we‘re going to approach our music with the same insane indulgence of time allotment as a band like, say, TOOL, for instance... but if there’s one thing we’ve learned it's that there are few things more depressing than listening back to a song and thinking, “God, I wish I would‘ve taken just a bit more time for my ideas to develop on that one…“ </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Yeah, we’re not going to let that happen again if we can help it… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/443723199fcba86cf4b8b7975cdede958f0a2add/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-16.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>That said, there is a instinct artists develop over the years for knowing when a song is as complete as it can be, given the resources one might have to invest in its creation… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Or, as da Vinci so aptly put it: <strong><em>"Art is never finished; only abandoned.” </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, without further ado, we present to you... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="_cK4XvBxZDk" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/_cK4XvBxZDk/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_cK4XvBxZDk?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Store </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com/store </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/64248062020-09-04T11:40:45-04:002020-09-04T12:34:43-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 73: The Process<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 73: The Process</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With the completion of each new album cycle, there are a wealth of important lessons learned that we apply to the making of the next one... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To us, creating music is a continuous process of artistic self-actualization, and all aspects of bringing our songs to life - from woodshedding our playing skills, to learning more about recording production, to crafting better lyrics - are subservient to that principle... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0f5573ca3cca86377e9c9267ff3109250aa0ca18/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-16.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />More often than not, we can only see where we’ve failed or succeeded in our goal of bringing a song to life by reflecting upon it in hindsight... When we’re in the heat of creating, the blind spots can be extremely difficult to identify... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">How often we’ve listened back to things we were 100% convicted in releasing, that, once a bit of time had passed and some distance from a song had been acquired, we thought to ourselves, “What the hell were we thinking with this one??” LOL... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the simple truth is, we've not found a better way to create music… Because that’s life, isn’t it? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7242532d5209385d6e65941a9bba9f562fd32324/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-4.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />How often have we wished for a redo? It’s the human condition, to wish we could go back and correct our mistakes before we had to live with them… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then again, our mistakes are an integral part in bringing us to where we are today… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4b0ee06c3e92d9e87d778ab0b881fda4958e2984/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-15.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />And, all things considered, we‘re OK with where things currently are… Could some of our stuff be better? Of course! But we do have work we‘re quite pleased with, despite the few songs here and there that we wish we could take back from public exposure… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But even then, it’s always surprising how certain songs we might at first have been dismissive of come to have new relevance once some time has passed and they gain new contexts and significances… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, over time we’ve learned to just place our faith in The Process… Exploring new ideas… Getting into the zone… Staying with the flow… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c826faac045b904d6d8c96f70ee84a927e6df3e3/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-2.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />And once those hairs on the back of our necks start standing up and the chills begin running down our spines, we know we’re on to something… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so we follow it… Not pushing too hard... Staying with it… Letting it come… Allowing the ideas to develop and be what they want to be… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Getting out of our own way… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/043026e2a3f3bccb382646ae0050a11154dc7913/original/widetrack-video-shoot-connivance-9.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />The Process doesn’t guarantee great songs every time - in fact, maybe one out of 5 or 10 will actually develop into a track which becomes a permanent staple in our live setlist… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But trusting The Process gets us to the next “aha! moment”… The next insight of what to do/what not to do... The next lesson to apply to our artistry… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Indeed, some songs become milestones… But most songs end up being stepping stones toward those milestones… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The trick is to welcome both... The journey then becomes the destination... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The Process...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ff78a9754c4eb5b1f9f00ebcdd59d3416ed2b07a/original/2020-08-29-sat-39b.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <a contents="Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><strong>https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </strong></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>Official Website </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>Store </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><strong>http://www.widetrackband.com/store </strong></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>YouTube </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><strong>https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </strong></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>Twitter </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>@Widetrackband </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>Instagram </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</strong></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></strong></span></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/64039832020-08-06T20:26:11-04:002021-10-20T10:45:34-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 72: Widetrack featured on Killer Rabbit podcast this Sunday<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 72: Widetrack featured on Killer Rabbit podcast this Sunday</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We're going to be featured on the Killer Rabbit podcast this Sunday, August 9th, at 7 PM (UK time)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here's a link tree for you to choose your preferred means of podcast listening: <br><a contents="https://linktr.ee/KillerRabbitPodcast" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://linktr.ee/KillerRabbitPodcast" target="_blank">https://linktr.ee/KillerRabbitPodcast</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Feel free to tune in if you get a chance! :)</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/63866362020-07-17T22:11:24-04:002020-07-19T16:41:17-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 71: Return to the Studio<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 71: Return to the Studio</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As previously stated, we’d planned on spending the summer of 2020 playing as many shows as we possibly could… Unfortunately, the unforeseen reality of the pandemic threw those plans to the wayside, so we started rehearsing and writing new songs… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The upside to this development was that, Zach’s been in a stunningly rapid period of development, and coming up with guitar/bass/song ideas that far exceed the level he was at when we were writing our most recent album, <a contents="The Unwakening" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Unwakening</em></strong></a>… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/74ae9936cd2dcc223a723f22cbd8c96db900c7b5/original/2020-07-14-tue-21.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />But even though 2020 has brought a few disappointments to him, it’s looking like his 16th year is going to be pivotal in terms of his development as a musician/songwriter... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Which brings us to the two new songs we’ve just finished… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><em><strong>Connivance </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This was the first song we started working on when the pandemic hit… Zach brought in all the guitar ideas, and I added drums, vocals and lyrics… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It was quickly apparent that I was going to have to put in some serious time practicing my drums in order to do this one justice… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b0125aea66beef7bc9372b0d107d781f3a74c97b/original/2020-07-14-tue-16.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />More than ever, I realized that Zach’s and my sense of rhythm slightly differ, and it made putting this one together very exciting, as it’s only now dawning on me how much I enjoy being surprised with music he presents to me in Widetrack, being that I was the sole composer for the first three albums… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In this way,<strong><em> <a contents="The Unwakening" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank">The Unwakening</a></em></strong> was very much a game-changer for the band, stylistically and musicianship-wise, but it's already aging for us, due to the aforementioned rapid development of Zach’s skills… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so,<strong><em> Connivance</em></strong> further delves into our love for balancing elements of “unconventional-but-(hopefully)-catchy”, “heavy-as-possible-without-veering-into-full-on-metal” and “progressive-without-the-overly-technical-wankery” music… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c2c5e9248f132a30457f56a4a0a4ed3fa32775d0/original/2020-07-14-tue-4.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />It also became immediately apparent that Zach was going to take the reins on this one, in terms of deciding in which direction the song would ultimately go… And I was more than happy to let him have that freedom and responsibility, as many of my initial ideas were politely rejected in favor of much better ones… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To explain this more clearly, I always encourage him to not hold back when I throw ideas out to him, with the condition that he’s cool with me presenting a <em>lot</em> of ideas… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I was actually pleasantly surprised to hear him say, <em>“No, that’s not what the song needs…”</em> so many times, as it made me dig deeper and deeper for better ideas as I came to realize that he had a clear vision of where the song needed to go, even when the ideas were not all yet conceived… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2c6a2e56d737a915fd1bcdb188ef21f63dc48f58/original/2020-07-14-tue-14.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />And this became ever more apparent once the song was recorded, and I said to him, <em>“This vocal’s not working, is it?”</em> And his reply was, <em>“Unfortunately, no…" </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">Back to the drawing board… </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Fortunately, the pressure brought out an even <em>better</em> vocal/lyrical idea, and this is what I just love about healthy creative collaboration: The instinct for knowing something can be better gets easier and easier to tap into… And the music always benefits from setting the bar higher and higher… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But mostly, this has become about following Zach’s lead and adding what I can to his ideas… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5694fdb155f3c8debf606607978b9186bc98c50d/original/2020-07-14-tue-15.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_xl"><strong><em>Seeksorrow </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This song started with just the title, a term I came across when I was reading about Stoicism… <a contents="Seneca" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger" target="_blank">Seneca</a> wrote of these types as "<em>people</em> <em>who are melancholy and bewail everything, who find pleasure in every opportunity for complaint... Such a companion</em> <em>who is always upset and bemoans everything is a foe to tranquility.” </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The person in <strong><em>Seeksorrow</em></strong> can’t take yes for an answer... “Going all-in” is their only way out of their unhappiness, and they know that will never be attained, so instead of counting their blessings, they bemoan the fact that they don’t get 100% of the things they want… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, we both very much liked the title/idea, and one day when Zach was strumming away on the guitar, I heard him play something that I thought would be a perfect way to start the song… I asked him to play it again so I could get a quick phone recording of it… That initial idea was just a couple chords with a swing kind of rhythm… He took that recording and wrote the rest of the song, and then brought that to me… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/dd1c57140729e8f50dcc336e9785fce05a8660de/original/2020-07-14-tue-25.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />To say that my mind was blown upon hearing what he’d written would be the understatement of the year… I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing… My first response was something along the lines of, <em>“How am I supposed to write a drum part to this??”</em> LOL </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Indeed, it was quite a challenge for me… but I loved it… As a drummer, my goal is to make odd time signatures flow and feel natural… I very much like the way bands like Soundgarden, Radiohead and TOOL employ odd time signatures, often making them feel like standard time signatures… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When progressive bands get too far into the technical side of this, focusing more on displaying musicianship than conveying a deep feel, it more often than not loses my interest, personally speaking… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b6f155eedcc531d5f940e28878df03257f8a9af5/original/2020-07-14-tue-28.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, it was definitely a challenge to achieve this on <strong><em>Seeksorrow</em></strong>… It took me a lot of practice to find something that felt natural and blended well with the intricate rhythmic patterns Zach had come up with… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Vocally, it was a similar story… Many rewrites came into being on this one… Every time I finished something, I found myself going back to the beginning to see if I could better it… For two weeks straight, I must have written and recorded 20 versions of the vocal/lyrics… It kept revealing deeper emotional layers and continued evolving until the final version was reached… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It was a wonderfully challenging process… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Studio</strong> <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0a45a815e28cff55b2725ddbb938b6d786fb1029/original/2020-07-11-sat-the-loft.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As previously stated, we decided that we wanted to use the benefits of an outside studio/engineer on these songs… Writing and recording <a contents="The Unwakening" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank"><em><strong>The Unwakening</strong></em></a> put a lot of responsibility on Zach’s shoulders, and he wanted to see if we could achieve raising the bar on our recorded sound with a bit less of a strain on him, being that he’d co-written, recorded, mixed and played guitar and bass on the album... A lot to take on for a 15 year old putting together his first batch of original songs, to be sure… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As I’ve always been immensely pleased with the work that Andy Patalan did on the first three Widetrack albums, we opted to go with him again on these two songs…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So we booked time with him at his world-famous, award-winning studio, <strong><a contents="The Loft" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Loft-159576127483748/" target="_blank">The Loft</a></strong>, located in lovely rural Saline, Michigan… <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fda380dc375e4622f3629f9d66a0cb684a1b2030/original/2020-07-10-fri-2.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />I was excited for Zach to record with Andy at <strong><a contents="The Loft" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Loft-159576127483748/" target="_blank">The Loft</a> </strong>for the first time, and the experience was not disappointing… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Being that it had been roughly five years since we’d last worked with Mr. Patalan, it was wonderful to hear how his skills as a recording engineer had continued evolving… We got some fantastic sounds this time around… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We began by recording the drums, along with a scratch guitar track of Zach playing along with me, for a good feel and vibe… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5b58be3a7c6efb5d5bbccfc98ad83019c12c27ec/original/2020-07-10-fri-4.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />I’ve recorded drums in <strong><a contents="The Loft" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Loft-159576127483748/" target="_blank">The Loft</a></strong> many times in the past, and am always blown away at how good the sounds come out, but this time… wow… Andy really dialed things in nicely… Just <em>LOVE</em> my drum sound on this one...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Next up was Zach laying down his bass parts… I was so proud of how quickly and efficiently he got his parts recorded… Andy was pleasantly surprised at his professionalism and skill as well, I think… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9366ece004a2e5264ec67ed24d663efce25a2188/original/2020-07-10-fri-13.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Lastly, Zach laid down the final guitar tracks to be used… These also went rather quickly, which just goes to show how preparation can mean so much when the studio clock is ticking… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cc59b3141387821817db30ff9d8b4ac327f8dbab/original/2020-07-11-sat-the-loft-10.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />What a wonderful experience putting these two songs together has been… As of now, I’ve just finished my vocals, (recorded at my home studio), and we’re at the final stage where Zach takes all the tracks and mixes them to the final versions of the songs… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then we present them to you… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Can’t wait for you to hear them... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a88fdbc10dbbd987699960c4a1f9a9d18b605b05/original/2020-06-28-sun-84.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span><br> </p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/63605812020-06-20T16:52:47-04:002020-06-20T16:55:47-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 70: New songs on the way<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 70: New songs on the way</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">(Ron here...) </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Before the pandemic hit, Zach and I had been spending the better part of 2020‘s first half rehearsing Widetrack material for live shows to be played in the spring/summer of 2020… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">During the early days of the pandemic, like many others, our plans were thrown into obsolescence… And so, we decided that we'd broadcast some acoustic shows on Facebook live, in the effort to raise a bit of lost revenue from our cover band shows… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We also played a couple online shows - one for each of our birthdays - just to test-drive one of the new sets… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then came the idea that we would swap instruments, allowing Zach to play drums, while also satisfying requests for older Widetrack songs that I played guitar on… A total win-win!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/62b3e70edda86d0de3d5526851d5a3f866edc21d/original/2020-05-19-tue-18.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">2019's one-song-per-month demands took a lot out of us, so we’d been recovering and reevaluating our method since then... But it really did sneak up on us, how six months since we‘d last recorded any new music had passed so quickly... So we got to thinking that maybe the best way to spend this "downtime" would be to start writing again…… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This was not at all the original plan, being that we had just released an entire album of new songs... But on the other hand, we realized that even though we've now got 4 full-length albums worth of material to draw from, we're just now getting into this new phase of Widetrack, where Zach has become the primary writer/player of the guitar and bass parts; which means that he's the one coming up with the initial "seeds" of new songs, generally speaking…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9ab81cb637e746d3eb18adf0157ce93ac05fc75b/original/2020-05-19-tue-4.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">How do I explain my excitement about these two (hopefully three, by the time we enter the studio) new songs? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Well, first off, as a drummer, this is not easy stuff to play... As mentioned in a previous blog, drumming had become a bit of an afterthought for me since putting together the first Widetrack album... But once Zach came onboard and began coming into his own as a songwriter, it became apparent that I was going to put in some serious practice hours in order to do his musical ideas justice... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Which is just fine by me... I absolutely love being pushed to new levels of playing ability like this, knowing that our music is evolving towards something I never could have taken it to on my own...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/420e6dedde98a18c84ebfc55b723e7a933183d54/original/1930-05-04-063.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Anyway, it's official: We're going into the studio on the weekend of July 10th and 11th... And we're pleased to announced that we'll be returning to The Loft in Saline, MI, to reunited with longtime Widetrack music recroder/co-producer, Andy Patalan, most known as the current guitarist for Detroit grunge band, Sponge... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The decision to go back to The Loft, rather than having Zach record these new songs, as he did with The Unwakening, was one of the number of re-evaluations to our method, learned from 2019... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach just felt that he wanted not to be so stressed about the recording side of things, so he can devote more of his efforts towards writing the best music he's capable of writing.. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Taking his various school/etc. activities into account, we agree that this is a a good move... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/37bd928aca269b26b12146aff97f81b50eafc14e/original/2020-05-07-thur-4.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Speaking of which, if you'd indulge me for just a moment, I'd like to report a couple proud parent moments... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Firstly, Zach has been in the high school marching band for the past couple years, and really enjoys it... But this year (he's going into 11th grade) promises to be something special, as he's been appointed <strong><em>drum section leader!</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It's been great, working on drum rudiments together, trying to outdo each other, and he's already giving me a run for my money... (lol)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Another really, really fantastic thing to report is, <strong><em>Zach's received the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award!</em></strong> As the photo says, this is only the 6th time the award's been presented since 2001... <strong><em>So proud of him!</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/79d1546aaafe0348a627b4d313e3b4ce76e95fb2/original/00-zach-louisarmstrongaward.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Needless to say, he's a busy fella, and so when we get together to work on Widetrack music and tasks, we try to make the most of our time... It's not always easy for an older guy to keep up, but as I said, I love it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And that's the thing about all this... We're on a journey where the road ahead isn't always clear to see... Just taking things as they come, while planning for the things we <em>can</em> map out ahead of time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the reality is, I want him to have wings to pursue the life he desires, so if that means he'll one day leave the nest, then I have to be prepared for that... I suspect we'll always do this together on at least some level, but what that ultimately looks like remains to be seen... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So for now, we focus on the pursuits right in front of us, and there's indeed plenty to be excited about... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">Onward...</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gz3vPflj-eo" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/63229352020-05-19T19:43:15-04:002020-05-19T20:08:26-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 69: Post-Pandemic Update<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/314bfe4b7c22cd47d48e1933e888a9c5d3528683/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-withlogo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 69: Post-Pandemic Update</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Friday, March 13, 2020 was the day it hit home... This wasn’t just some minor blip on the radar; it was a worldwide pandemic... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In one moment’s realization, our plans for the summer of 2020 went out the window... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Hang on, let me back up just a bit here... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In January, we announced the full details of our fourth album, <em><strong>The Unwakenking</strong></em>, which was released on Zach’s birthday, April 23rd... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">At that time, the plan was to release the album and then begin a heavy live show schedule, beginning with the album’s release party... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Well, as we now know, the pandemic has made live shows an impractical prospect for the foreseeable future, so we had to resort to live streaming in order to play for people... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">While it’s no substitute for the electrifying energy of a live show played before an in-the-flesh audience, live streaming has at least given us the opportunity to perform stuff from <em><strong>The Unwakenking</strong></em> for people, and we’ve been getting some wonderful reactions to these songs... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We’ve done two live broadcasts thus far: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron’s birthday (a pre-release run-through of the new set): </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s1cHTdOr7qQ" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And Zach’s birthday (the official release performance of the new set): </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iOjd-NHPkgo" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We were really looking forward to playing the show we had planned, celebrating this milestone and Zach’s 16th with friends and family, but that said, it was nice to receive so much positive feedback from people on the live streams all the same... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so the new plan is to use this time to begin writing and recording new songs, while continuing our live streams when it makes sense to do so... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Speaking of new songs, we’ve already gotten one written, and a second begun as of this update... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">(More on that to come...)</span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the meantime, thanks to all who’ve purchased, listened to, reviewed, and/or shared links to, the new album... Your support means a lot and is deeply appreciated... 😊 </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">If you’d like to help out by purchasing the album, you can get it <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank">HERE</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/album/1480334/the-unwakening" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c1ac3f16ab14506e10a5c5e5b1e00273fe3d7d6d/original/0-cd-a-cover-3000x3000.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Or, if you’d just prefer to stream the album, you can do so by clicking any of the appropriate links here: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Spotify" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4A1Xd8tuRLI91vY6vhYKhW?si=9tnH56xARMSi26YQ-F9iWQ" target="_blank">Spotify</a><br><a contents="Apple Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-unwakening/1498129806" target="_blank">Apple Music</a><br><a contents="YouTube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBwFBFbUzZYXQRxGXPpBP81K" target="_blank">YouTube</a><br><a contents="Soundcloud" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack/sets/widetrack-the-unwakening-2020" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a><br><a contents="Amazon Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B084KSK24D" target="_blank">Amazon Music</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Please feel free to subscribe to our channels and share the music as much as you’d like... We can always use the help to spread the word about Widetrack... 😉 </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Thanks, so much! Stay safe and we’ll talk with ya soon! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron and Zach</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b84b7673ebaae85fecd5e0c36d0c90e0595632ab/original/2020-02-24-mon-photoshoot-14.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <br><a contents="Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://mailto:%20Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Widetrack@widetrackmusic.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br><a contents="@Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2fa2d000210ac2a99a28bd26bed65b3c990c36bb/original/donate-support.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/62286592020-02-26T14:49:58-05:002022-03-27T12:26:10-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 68: What is "Alterna-Prog"?<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4510940065d9f8a60fb4bc168d38bf7fb8a097fc/original/2020-02-22-mon-logo.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 68: What is "Alterna-Prog"?</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Wihile preparing for the release of <a contents="our new album" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-chronicles-64-the-fourth-album-full-release-details" target="_blank">our new album</a>, we’re now at the stage of figuring out how to promote it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This phase is always the most challenging, as expertise in this area is typically in short supply with musicians like us... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But we’ve come to embrace the reality that if we want people to be aware of our music, we need to figure out how to raise that awareness... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s 2020, and the realities of the digital age are what they are... We can either find a way to use them to our advantage, or we can fade into obscurity... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e5e1bac840f4b6a8e1683f2324b08688f3ed63ed/original/img-3796.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Let me just say that I've always had a hard time with labels… They do seem very limiting to the scope of one’s potential appeal… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">There are some bands that I wouldn't consider certain simple genre names such as “Rock”, etc. to be sufficient... Their musical artistry encompasses far more range than one simple label could ever convey... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the reality is what it is, so artists must try their best to narrow down describing their sound as simply as possible... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, in the process of doing everything we can to learn how to describe our specific sound most effectively, we’ve coined the term, “Alterna-Prog”... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/726fd9d5c347a71afd4a21f68b6b119dd3cb3414/original/img-3841.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>For those who might be put off by this seemingly silly, possibly pretentious-sounding term, it’s pretty simple and self-explanatory: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our music is rooted in the marriage of the Alternative and Progressive Rock genres... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>BUT...</em></strong> (And this is a crucial “but”)... Neither of these genres in their common form really apply... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For instance, the “Alternative” genre has become so mainstream that the term’s pretty much now an oxymoron... What was once regarded as truly "Alternative" is now a mainstream genre...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">There was a time back in the ‘90s, though, when it did actually represent an alternative to the mainstream sound... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And this is more in line with the context of where we’re coming from with our usage of the term, “Alternative”... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0b638c2a2f03c580ee0982757a32f8fe9193c1fa/original/img-3751.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Legendary artists such as Soundgarden, TOOL, Radiohead, Queens Of The Stone Age, etc. have all been dubbed “Alternative” at one time or another, and they each embody the true spirit of that term (for us, anyway)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And “Prog”... Where do we even begin? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s no secret that we’ve long been fans of Progressive Rock bands like Rush, Yes, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel/Genesis, The Mars Volta, Porcupine Tree, ELP, etc., etc..</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><em>BUT...</em> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the major criticisms with a lot of other bands who have these same influences is that their music is pseudo-intellectual, pretentious, overly-self-indulgent, meandering, etc... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We don’t disagree with this assessment of 95% of the “Prog” that’s out there... and we shudder to think that we’d be lumped in with music like that, where its audience is literally 99% male who are there to see some soulless display of endless masterbatory musical tangents, all for the sake of reducing music to a sport of skill over substance... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Sure, some people may put the above “Prog” bands in this same category... But for us, the difference is that these bands wrote great <em>songs</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/77a28ff0d1512c0b16a4aed5b840008eb3676d40/original/img-3761.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />But if the length of songs and excessive flexing of musicianship are issues one might have with the above-mentioned bands, then fair enough... We don’t completely disagree with that, either... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, these are a couple of the other distinctions we’ve sought to apply to our music: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">1) Keeping the lengths of our songs as concise as possible, and </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">2) Using technique to serve the song, rather than engaging in the wankery of showing off how pointlessly skilled and clever we can be on our instruments... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So, yeah, we absolutely don't regard ourselves as being a “Prog” band in this sense... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We’ve always strived to strike the right balance between feel and ideas, without sacrificing the potency of either; always seeking our sweet spot where art and science intersect... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/42a551068e462d14460c6f00fc339e2b0dc66fef/original/img-3855.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />And through writing albums and evolving over time, we’ve found that the two are not mutually exclusive... Indeed, the better one is at the theory of their craft, the more tools they will have to express ideas, artistically... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But much can be done with limited tools as well... And perhaps it is more about making best use with what any of us has... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We each have our own unique recipe of balancing the elements which constitute our artistic expression... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our mission is to harness that and find a way to bring it to the people that are waiting for it specifically, so that we may inspire them to embrace and cultivate their own unique gifts and skills… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/59cd329a4510f233b84453317eec2d52c626e363/original/img-3838.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">When we discover a new band we really like, we sometimes become consumed with a feeling of <strong><em>“I can’t believe I’ve been living without this!“</em></strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It really is a profound sense that this band is speaking directly to our hearts and minds… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is really the essence of it all, regardless of specific genres, and it’s the kind of connection with our listeners that we are striving for as a band… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We used to get hung up on "converting people to our cause", always attempting to appeal to the greatest possible number of potential fans, but the further along we go, the more we realize that it’s important to trust our creative impulse and not compromise our music and presentation in any way, shape or form… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">That way, the right audience will find us… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9a94a2abe1b067c10fa1f68cb20fa37e4f20d1bd/original/img-3733.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">An audience who appreciates the very fact that we don’t compromise our intrinsic values… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">An audience who embraces our specific uniqueness… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">An audience who says, <strong><em>“I want them to do what they want to do because I like what they do when they are free to do whatever they want to do”</em></strong>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Just like we are with our favorite bands… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, rather than going with such play-it-safe labels as, <em>“We’re an Alternative band”</em>, or <em>“We’re a Rock band”</em>, or <em>“We’re a Progressive Rock band”</em>, etc., we’ve opted for our own genre term... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>“Alterna-Prog”</em></strong>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/993180cc585b8159b4c6f8e979b0a02e4c63ae4f/original/youtube-thumbnail-1280x720.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <br>Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband<br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/62219312020-02-20T15:11:31-05:002020-02-20T15:11:31-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 67: Official Video for 'Tribal'<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/46ab96a27ee845d088f6cb6368fef09953c26b58/original/header-youtube-thumbnail-1280x720-logo.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 67: Official Video for <em>Tribal</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We are most pleased to present to you the first official video from our forthcoming new album, <em><strong>The Unwakening</strong></em>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong><em>Tribal</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wTLJCy4WgpQ" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The clip was filmed and directed by Jim Tietschert (Purple Otter Productions).... Thanks, Jim!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We had a blast making this one... Here's a few photos from the day...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4de31972c7eb81fe2c8d81555af45b28d7f8ed93/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-14.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1fa5214b893354a3a207b9b8e9d6ae1491e20fae/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-15.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/14a01646fd953221b1427a43c24f76c189c12578/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-8.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3ddbfec0465e6a1c60c2ac6e6ed9b9ebbdbf7265/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-11.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e140e248c86bf888e6452d19019746f7ebca9e16/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-20.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d8314858b6f1478da878f45543a6dc873b09ada0/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-7.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e986c6bbc7909d449c2fa97d4cf4534ccb7db4ff/original/2020-02-09-sun-ronscamera-1.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Can't wait to make the next one!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/aba1df3efa9b78e5f3008087fd7958eae8e42b2b/original/img-3793.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <br>Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Official Website <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Store <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/62084882020-02-12T21:10:00-05:002022-05-10T16:47:18-04:00Widetrack Chronicles 65: Tribute to Neil Peart (by Ron Tippin)<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2f2e999640eda99538fd070e8a8f00b709503291/original/7515658b-22d8-44c8-beb2-3155c34e8896.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 65: Tribute to Neil Peart (by Ron Tippin)</strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">Neil Peart passed away on January 7, 2020 at the age of 67... He is survived by his second wife and his 10 year old daughter... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For most of my life, this man has been one of my biggest inspirations... As a young drummer growing up in the 80s, “The Professor’s” influence was practically inescapable... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Upon first hearing <em>Tom Sawyer,</em> I was irreversibly spellbound by his intricate drumming and thought-provoking lyrics... I immediately set out to learn whatever Rush songs I could at my then-novice level... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8dab315d141c816bbc437508a41f18d93c759338/original/neil-pw-era.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>And learn I did... Neil became my undisputed drumming and lyrical hero... My bandmates and I spent countless hours learning Rush songs, and then subsequently applying our perceptions of their musical formulas to our own original songs; to such an extreme degree that their influence often probably weighed a bit too heavily in our sound... </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3254c15e4d6f3affee147906edaaed5533eb0a74/original/f4d947dc75e4757c913b4a03ad8b46d5.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>We didn’t care, though; we knew this band deserved our worship... As evident in Neil’s lyrics, this was music guided by profundity, artistic freedom and personal integrity... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/65e8d116e35d2b72ae80ab5e6a981d43d0053859/original/14853220-589922631191237-3006987492381940855-o.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It didn’t even matter much that I began losing interest in the music they began making as their era of working with longtime producer Terry Brown (1974-1982) came to an end; I was still going to support them, regardless of how much I might have personally disliked their newer music, because, to me, they represented the ideal of how a band should operate, in virtually every aspect... </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/69ac3058bdbf1ba576aa8f762221068a95320a63/original/hle7hk6s68a41.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>And so, beginning with their <em>Signals</em> tour in 1982, I saw them every time they came through Michigan, all the way up to their final show in 2015: the <em>R40</em> tour… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After seeing them for so many years and hoping they would play certain rarities I’d never seen them perform, that last tour boasted the holy grail setlist I’d been waiting all those years to see... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It was near perfection...<br><br>I can’t think of a better way to close out a career than the way they did... They never degraded as musicians; they finished at the top of their game... </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2899b46135e910fdda2064dafbf53d7ebe09b830/original/2015-08-15-012.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><br><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">I honestly could go on about Neil Peart and Rush for hours... Anytime he ever wrote an <a contents="article" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.moderndrummer.com/article/december-1983-the-art-of-soloing/" target="_blank">article</a>, I couldn’t wait to devour it... I labored over his drum parts to Rush’s songs and his fantastic drum instructional videos… </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mu0u_YJdV-A" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6wSqbS4HsY" width="560"></iframe></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AQGCqVvJMbE" width="560"></iframe></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">And his historical drum solo on Rush's second live album, <strong><em>Exit...Stage Left</em></strong>, to me, has to be the greatest drum solo in rock history...</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong><em><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YTUaMg0_MMQ" width="560"></iframe></em></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">Not to mention, of all my formative lyric-writing musician mentors, he was the one I could most relate with, in terms of where he was coming from on a philosophical level... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/87b22ba37b067808d06fd83da88ef552e4a5696a/original/2015-11-19-2015-11-18-001.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>Consider some of these thought-provoking quotes: </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">“I stopped having my picture taken. I stopped being a public figure because I don’t want to have a famous face. I spent all my life learning how to play drums and loving it. Having famous hands is okay, even though that carries its own set of pressures and insecurities. But having a famous face? That’s nothing. I mean, what’s your face? I didn’t work all this time for my face. I don’t think about writing songs for the sake of my face. And I didn’t spend the last 17 or 18 years playing drums to make my face famous. I resent that whole mentality.” </span></strong></em><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/22e902eee993f2de5c8efbe097286ac537fcc49c/original/np-1.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em><br><em><strong><span class="font_large">“What is a master but a master student? And if that's true, then there's a responsibility on you to keep getting better and to explore avenues of your profession.” </span></strong></em><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3234948cf3c63edffd82f2c1ac17a5f28ccfd1b6/original/mp3.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em><br><em><strong><span class="font_large">“I've heard the stories. Like, Eric Clapton said he wanted to burn his guitar when he heard Jimi Hendrix play. I never understood that because, when I went and saw a great drummer or heard one, all I wanted to do was practice.” </span></strong></em><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/78bcca9534c4131cfa55df8290b86751da1d3052/original/16707448-192670534549146-1910642893886891863-o.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><em><strong><span class="font_large">“I always thought if I could just put something in words perfectly enough, people would get the idea, and it would change things. That's a harmless conceit. With people, too, you constantly think, 'If I'm nice to people and treat them well, they'll appreciate it and behave better.' They won't, but it's still not a bad way to live.” </span></strong></em><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3e99f64b4deeaf4808040e435ef2e8139d7130d6/original/1962688-516515681802776-1545692755-n.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em><br><em><strong><span class="font_large">“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” </span></strong></em><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/33d901db63ea3bd23efacb1ae4ad0ef9030a2141/original/008-008.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em><br><em><strong><span class="font_large">“I saw that it was plain wrong to evaluate people according to race, for it was clear that culture was the real divider among peoples.” </span></strong></em><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4436b03788def3a5a9e7a3cce4b8fa8cd286ce6b/original/acfe1ad3f8d9c13993373178cde053dd.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">…and on and on… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Often, when people use the word, “hero”, they are actually speaking of an antihero… a person of somewhat flawed character who is just too cool to dislike...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But with Rush, and Neil Peart in particular, there was a certain level of un-coolness about them to fall in with such prototypical rock icon mythology...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">They never partied too hard, never took to groupies, never had band drama, never got huge egos, regardless of how much success they ever attained, etc.; they were all about the music and being the best players, performers and composers they could possibly be... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As a developing musician, this was such an invaluable influence to have... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It still is. </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/307cb60cd37736c241877310ab72c4c7b2937550/original/12967935-10208942875917600-703903477952244168-o.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>All this aside, the worst tragedy of all is that, after losing his 19 year old daughter to a car crash in 1997, followed by his first wife’s death 10 months later, Neil had finally found happiness again with a new wife, and the birth of their daughter in the early 2000s...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He planned on making the most of this second chance, and, once Rush finished their final tour in 2013, he began that next, possibly best, chapter of his life; only to be given the devastating news of his brain tumor shortly after the final Rush show... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The tragedy of it all, to know that his young daughter will have to grow up without him... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And to know that, of all the people this world could do without, we lose someone like this person... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To say that life isn’t fair sometimes just doesn’t cut it; life can be excruciatingly unjust at times like this...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But what a wealth of music, musicianship and wisdom he left behind...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I feel so very lucky to have had the gift of his influence.</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b9ed20724bb1584843e3c8ed714d441669341648/original/83691169-2943767215636512-969721865029287936-n.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/61992572020-02-05T22:56:04-05:002020-02-07T23:37:00-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 66: The New Album: Post-Creation/Pre-Release Thoughts<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9c33a2f85d35a6cabc02915205e0d2c71193b2cd/original/widetrack-header.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 66: The New Album: Post-Creation/Pre-Release Thoughts </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The final step before sending a completed album to the digital distributor is the mastering process, which is, basically, getting all the songs the same volume, EQ, etc. so they all sound like they are from the same album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For the last week or so, we've been trying to get that right, and as this is the first time we've tried to tackle mastering ourselves, we've come to really appreciate the people who do it for a living... lol </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, we finally decided to enlist a friend's help, (more on that to come), and I'm currently listening to the (hopefully) finished product, and feeling really good about this album, especially all things considered... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9c185128e8523a09652f4c58cb0582d331056026/original/1930-03-08-245.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">(Pictured: All drums for the new album were recorded in my living room)</span></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I asked Zach how he felt about it, and we had a nice conversation about how one's ideas and standards often exceed one's time/financial/energy resources, and that can sometimes leave music makers like us a bit dejected about how good we imagine an album could've been... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But as I sit here and listen through this album for one of the last times before it's released, I am overcome with such deep gratitude for this experience with my son, and that we have a new collection of songs we wrote and recorded together, and they were conceived in the midst of so many good times and wonderful memories shared... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And the fact that this album was Zach's baptism by fire/learning curve/introduction to the craft of musical production/etc. drives home even further the point that what was accomplished here really was above and beyond what I even remotely expected (and then some)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c5d983181d25d2f2f5036eae85d881ef2b107c0c/original/2018-01-04-001-64.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><em>(Zach recording guitar tracks for the song 'Cursed')</em><br><br><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">This was the first time I ever collaborated with another person while writing Widetrack music... It really enabled me to focus on less things than I'd done before, and I came to realize how much any </span><em style="font-size: 1.4em;">one</em><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> of the myriad musical roles requires... And so, focusing </span><em style="font-size: 1.4em;">more</em><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> on </span><em style="font-size: 1.4em;">less</em><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> things has been a really nice luxury that each of these roles has greatly benefitted from... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With Zach taking on the guitar playing, bass playing and writing, as well as recording engineer, I feel that, as a drummer/singer/writer of lyrics/composer/music producer/recording artist, this experience has stretched me in the above roles considerably beyond where I was before we began... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7a744a311cf389c0b4ff461effc29bb872bbead6/original/img-3294.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_regular">(Ron recording vocals for the song, 'Unveiled')</span><br><br><span class="font_large">It's deeply exciting see such potential for better and better music on the horizon... I really do feel inspired by the lessons learned from the making of this album... And it's inspiring to come to the finish line on a project and know that all the ideas are 100% recorded and released, and one can freely allow the new creative wheels for future music to begin turning at will... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But presently, it's all about getting out and playing shows, and we are feeling *really* excited about how playing these songs as a two-man live configuration has been going... We've put together a 30-minute set that is really high energy, with little time to catch our breath... It's really gonna be a lot of fun, I believe... ? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/540c04ae8ee1af6a3f1bf64efed1092065cd23b9/original/2019-12-23-mon-3.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_regular"><em>(Rehearsing our 2020 live set)</em></span><br><br><span class="font_large">Thank you so much for supporting and encouraging us... It really means a great deal to have you in our corner... To know that it's not just us who cares about our music... That we can share all these things with you and you are still here with us... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Hope to see you soon!<br><br>Ron and Zach</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0948773e5dbf667b5669b8c1616eb5906c5927f7/original/hipstamaticphoto-597287189-751988.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a><br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store</a> </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband <br><br>Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband </span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/60072592020-01-27T22:14:51-05:002020-08-13T21:14:25-04:00Widetrack Chronicles 64: The Fourth Album (full details and artwork)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9c33a2f85d35a6cabc02915205e0d2c71193b2cd/original/widetrack-header.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 64: The Fourth Album (full details and artwork)</strong></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It pleases us greatly to announce the official release details of our fourth album... </span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Widetrack</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_xl">The Unwakening</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Zach Tippin: bass and guitar <br>Ron Tippin: vocals and drums </span><br><br><span class="font_xl">Written and produced by Zach Tippin and Ron Tippin <br><br>Lyrics by Ron Tippin<br> <br>Recorded and mixed by Zach Tippin at Widetrack Studios, Michigan </span><br><br><span class="font_large">*Dave Humphreys: additional guitar on Requiem, Drones and Voyeurs <br>*Kurt Harms: additional guitar on Requiem</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c1ac3f16ab14506e10a5c5e5b1e00273fe3d7d6d/original/0-cd-a-cover-3000x3000.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/94d7b48fed80103046bcce1e8ccd0c9fd2f0b7ac/original/0-cover-b-back-3000x3000.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Artwork: Albert Goodwin's <em>Apokalipsa </em>(1903)<br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The official release date will be on Thursday, April 23rd (which also happens to be Zach’s 16th birthday)… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Pre-orders for the album will be on Tuesday, March 24th (which also happens to be Ron’s birthday)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The official album release party will be on Sunday, April 26th, 2020, 5:30-9:30 PM at <a contents="Motor City Guitar" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Motor+City+Guitar/@42.661939,-83.389385,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8824bd70f1e95c39:0x85bf26419e2d080f!8m2!3d42.661939!4d-83.387191" target="_blank">Motor City Guitar</a> in Waterford, Michigan… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In regards to further live dates in 2020, the plan is to play at least one show each month; hopefully more (info on additional shows as bookings are confirmed)…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This one's a major milestone in the band's history... Written and recorded between December 2018 and December 2019, this is the first Widetrack album to feature Zach as a writer, guitarist, bassist, recording engineer and co-producer... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">These songs were originally released monthly throughout 2019, but have since been given a new polish for the full official release...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We are extremely pleased with the giant step in our musical evolutionary chain that this album signifies, and would like to thank you for taking part in this journey with us... Your support and encouragement was so incredibly helpful to us during the creation of this album, and we couldn't be more grateful for it... <strong><em>YOU ROCK!!!</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">See ya soon!!<br><br>Ron and Zach</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0948773e5dbf667b5669b8c1616eb5906c5927f7/original/hipstamaticphoto-597287189-751988.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section below, or by email: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a></span></strong><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Official Website <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Store <br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">http://www.widetrackband.com/store </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/59861082019-12-01T01:35:42-05:002019-12-13T00:03:24-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 63: Oblivion<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0e0ef1efe050151a2288647943e94dac15e9209d/original/add-a-subheading.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 63: Oblivion</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">At last we come to the final track of our 2019 monthly songs... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>Oblivion</em></strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rxhk-KKWcY4" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We’ve been excited about this one ever since its humble origins in late 2018… A ton of hard work went into getting it developed into the version you're listening to now, what with its various sections and musical movements… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Can’t wait to bring this behemoth to the stage… We’ve been rehearsing it together, and it’s quickly become one of our all-time favorite songs to play... It's certainly the most ‘dystopian’ thing we’ve ever done... a deeply intense, dark atmosphere in the moods and lyrics…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Looking back at the work we've done throughout 2019, the process of writing, recording and releasing a new song each month has been an invaluable challenge and learning experience for us... And having four full-length albums’ worth of material to draw from will now allow us to focus more on getting <em>that</em> music out there, and then writing, recording and releasing new songs at a more natural, agreeable pace in the future... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/68f036afdd332864dc48db0bb328d7245fe81d00/original/1930-11-11-004.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>As far as the new album goes, there will be a few small fixes, track re-recordings and overall cleaning up, remixes, etc. to the songs as we prepare to compile them for the official release date (which will be announced, along with the full release details, in the next blog)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for joining us on this year's amazing journey… Your feedback and encouragement kept us going through the ups and downs of following through on this commitment… It was harder than we thought it’d be, but your wonderful responses to the songs inspired us immensely… THANK YOU!!! ? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/475773fce6108a0ae0cbef517004d2d7594c8e1a/original/34abd338-2586-4d88-8ccb-42f2108a7a3c.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><br><span class="font_large">My personal thoughts and feelings about sharing the writing of this music with my son over the past year will remain with me to the end of my days… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As a father, I couldn’t be prouder… As a bandmate and creative collaborator, I couldn’t feel more satisfied and fulfilled… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">These were the first Widetrack songs I ever co-wrote with someone, and the fact that it was with Zach - along with the fact that the results feel like such a major step forward, musically speaking - is a blessing beyond words... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And as Zach grows and develops as a player, recording engineer, performer, and all-around musical force, his future is wide open… As time passes and his future opportunities present themselves, it’s anybody’s guess where he will ultimately wind up... Hopefully we’ll continue on together, but, being his biggest fan, I’ll be happy to see him thriving and flourishing, regardless of if we play together or not... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In any event, whatever may come, the making of this album will remain such a wonderful shared memory… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(That is, once we’ve had a small break from these songs… lol)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/34b688b90817d2fbc2665029f0bf388cc671bd24/original/originalphoto-596416600-226483.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><br><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond in the comment section<br>below, or by email: Ron@widetrackmusic.com <br><br>And if you’d like to join our VIP Facebook group, we’d love to have you: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Official Website </span><br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com </span></a><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Store </span><br><a contents="http://www.widetrackband.com/store&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">http://www.widetrackband.com/store </span></a><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube </span><br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></a><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter </span><br><a contents="@Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></a><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram </span><br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/59459752019-11-01T00:29:01-04:002019-11-02T22:36:36-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 62: Cursed<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e3c1a5dbb137ea552571784a85c0c67b911b4ecf/original/the-widetrack-chronicles.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 62: Cursed</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our 2019 monthly song for November is called Cursed and will be track 11 on the forthcoming fourth Widetrack album (title TBA)... (One more to go... ?) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bWSsgl0bDHc" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This song came together at the last possible minute... Originally, Zach presented three riff ideas for it, but more was needed to have enough in which to put together a complete song... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then, he decided he wasn’t happy with one of the riffs, so even more parts became necessary in order to get a full arrangement we were both happy with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1decc8e3a720fd3816dc656e9d1e48ed3d9baed2/original/7b602d1b-9275-4bfa-886a-c507d8dbb201.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>Meanwhile, I took full advantage of the time to try out various ideas until I came up with the vocals you hear on the finished product... This is another one that didn’t come easy... I think I wrote about 5 different versions, each with their own lyrics... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A lot of work, to be sure, but I personally find it an incredibly reassuring thing to know that I’ve exhausted my reservoir of different ideas and approaches before committing to the final version... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s not always easy to get a song right... Many factors will ultimately determine its creative success to the songwriter’s vision... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/902f0c12a6057dd3f406fbb89edf5e4ea394d295/original/615f20a4-209a-415f-86d1-cc011d38eee6.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our particular method is to shoot for the hairs on the back of our necks standing up, so to speak... (But if we’re being completely honest, there are times when we’ll settle for simply not disliking what we’ve come up with... lol) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And then there’s the fact that we spend so much time working on each of these songs, that, by the time they’re finished, we seriously need to get the heck away from them for a bit before we get burned out on them beyond the point of actually never wanting to hear them again... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(Apparently, a lot of songwriters experience this...) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, we are happy with the results of this one, all things considered... And now we’ve got just one more to go, and the fourth Widetrack album will be complete... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This will take us through December, when we’ll be taking that much-needed respite from listening to these tracks, so that we can come back to them in January to make the final mixing and mastering tweaks for its official release... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Speaking of which, we will probably do the official release of “Widetrack IV” (working title) on April 23rd, 2020... Zach’s 16th birthday - just past the three-year anniversary of his first-ever show with the band... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0de5229a4421318de9be2a25a64581f27d595095/original/17499071-10211301323520675-2131605769090160714-n.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>The album’s official release party will be two days later, on Saturday, April 25th (location TBA).... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, beginning in January, we will be shifting our focus and energies towards promoting the album through playing at least one live show per month, media coverage/reviews, video show appearances, etc... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This campaign of getting out there in public and promoting our music on a live, grassroots level will likely continue for some time to come... We’ve spent the majority of Widetrack’s existence as a studio band, and while that’s been a necessary and creatively fulfilling thing, we’re long overdue for getting out there and playing this stuff for people... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">An additional benefit that this will provide is that we’ll be able to try out new songs on the live stage before committing them to their official recordings... This is something we’ve never had the luxury of doing before, and we really think it will make a huge difference in how our music comes across once we feel it’s been road-tested adequately enough to finally record... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9fb2198d8c2d9c64685c5cdf907b2e3f99cc14ed/original/32e95642-0246-45e4-8802-1120f04b8e9b.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>Plus, there’s the point that music is being less and less delivered in the typical album format... As 2020 approaches, it’s clear that fewer and fewer people are listening to albums all the way through, what with streaming/playlists being the primary way music is consumed anymore... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Absolutely, we will be releasing new music at shorter intervals than the typical album cycle of every couple/few years... But, at the same time, we’ve come to learn throughout 2019’s undertaking that releasing a brand-new track every month is a bit too much to commit to, as well... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so it remains to be seen what our ideal timeline of releasing new music will be... Best bet is that we’ll let our creativity dictate the frequency of writing/recording/releasing music from this point forward, as we now have four albums worth of music to play onstage that most people have never heard... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f62d590fe3179aaf16346a6d264404416c182062/original/6f976c2d-b79b-47ce-af29-bac55e915a5f.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We’re excited about getting out there in sharing our music with people… Zach is at that age where performing live is so deeply enjoyable and gratifying, and we really have spent an inordinate amount of time in the studio these past couple years… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Balance has always been the key for us, and it is well past time to balance out our studio output with some kickass shows… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And of course we will need all the help we can get to spread the word about our Murr music, so we will be finally organizing our official digital street team, and hope you will join up if you’d like to lend a hand... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">More to come and all this as things develop… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As always, thank you for your support! Hope you enjoy the new song! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Rock on! ? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach and Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/637b62cab3e4fee4281852dbc5d35cf2f96477ac/original/fe4a9d7d-b09f-4368-8a05-46e047feae15.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/58946452019-10-01T21:42:16-04:002019-10-01T21:42:16-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 61: The Chosen<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7f9c36bd237b9d982a6f5696dea87689b8a868f0/original/the-widetrack-chronicles.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 61: The Chosen</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">October... Halloween season... our <strong><em>favorite!</em></strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And with it comes our new 2019 monthly song...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><em><strong>The Chosen</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jU5zMbgMiDk" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Throughout the making of this album, we've been telling <a contents="a tale" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" target="_blank">a tale</a> of an ordinary everyday average guy who, upon getting on social media, soon discovers that he is quite adept at building his online presence... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the thing is, this online presence is quite aggressive and angry... So much so, that his lifelong friends are taken aback at how extreme and negative they find this digital persona to be... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the empowerment he feels from gaining so much popularity in such a short period of time is too much to resist, and so he decides to shut out his friends' voices of dissension...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And o</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">ver the course of a remarkably short period of time</span><span class="font_large" style="font-size: 1.4em;">, </span><span class="font_regular" style=""><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">he</span><span style="font-size: 23.52px;"> </span></span><span class="font_regular" style="font-size: 1.4em;">becomes </span><span class="font_large">a wildly popular and successful modern-day "thought-leader" to an ever-growing, diehard, online following</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Eventually, as his numbers virally grow into a massive semi-mainstream audience, he begins developing an online TV show of sorts, where his most loyal supporters/volunteers (AKA <a contents="'Drones'" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-57-drones" style="" target="_blank">'<strong><em>Drones</em></strong></a>') engage in a highly aggressive campaign of "crime exposure" and voted-upon public shaming, and subsequent "social exile", of fellow citizens (<a contents="Our blog on&nbsp;the song, Voyeurs" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-54-voyeurs" style="" target="_blank">for more on this, see our blog on the song, <strong><em>Voyeurs</em></strong></a>)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e8bb9ec22c7d0a9dec3ee0802fa6785a4c542da0/original/img-5652.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">While writing this song, we were thinking a lot about how one of the strongest, most basic human drives is the need to feel unique... and each of us <strong><em>is</em></strong>, which is a good thing... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But figures like the person these songs depict are exceptional at using this to their advantage: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><em><strong>“You are special; that’s why you were selected to be here... Only a Chosen Few may join us”</strong></em><strong><em>... </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The danger is when people believe that their way is <strong><em>the</em></strong> way, and that they have divine support for this belief...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Cults, tribes, movements, etc., are full of people who are driven by such "ideals of grandeur" - that their particular way of perceiving the world is <strong><em>the only correct way</em></strong>, and that the soul of humanity is lost, should they choose another...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To varying degrees, we are all drawn to role models... But far too often, many of us surrender our autonomy to the feelings of belonging and validation that tribes/cults/movements/political parties/etc. bring...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This song is written from the perspective of such "thought-leader" figures, and the common tactics he/she uses to draw in his/her followers... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And, in addition to playing on people's need to feel special and unique, they play on people's sense of social responsibility...<strong><em> "Few are called to this mission... It's your honor and duty to accept it..."</em></strong>, etc...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">From the outside, such blind allegiance may seem crazy... But it's unfortunately far more common and difficult to resist than people realize, given our culture of toxic, click-bait marketing, consumerism and extreme tribalism...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It raises the questions of how sustainable all this is, and, ultimately where it all most likely leads...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/72e17361460d78d6f86b04a50b83838a8824869e/original/thinkforyourself.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/58945382019-09-20T21:40:08-04:002019-09-22T02:31:07-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 60: Progress Report<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e3c1a5dbb137ea552571784a85c0c67b911b4ecf/original/the-widetrack-chronicles.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 60: Progress Report</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Fall 2019 is here... Wow, this year has <em>flown</em> by... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">All the same, it’s a really cool new thing to have marked it by way of these <a contents="monthly songs" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzk-GjlFz-1kZF4noA7qfrw" target="_blank">monthly songs</a> that will comprise our fourth album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Really gotta give it up for my main man Zach for his thriving perseverance throughout this process... He’s really kept all the irons in his busy life’s fire going... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fcdd884657c240f7c8904dcafb91e58081f76ae4/original/2019-xx-489.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_xl">Down to these last 3 of the 12 songs, I must admit that we’re both chomping at the bit to get out there and play this stuff in a live setting... Particularly in light of the fact that, even though we've already racked up a couple years' worth of gigs with our cover band, <span style="display: none;"> </span><strong><em><a contents="The Vintage" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thevintagerocks.com/" target="_blank">The Vintage</a></em></strong>, we've ironically played only one actual full <a contents="Widetrack show" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-52-our-first-show-of-2019" target="_blank">Widetrack show</a> so far...</span><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE5l8rBN7OM&list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxS5UrHF1Q0KA3EoSPD0f6i&index=3" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6a4786d6b4a266cd8e30eb2d03da46dbaf5d7d07/original/widetrack-2019-03-09-sat-billys-videoshots-14.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a>But, unlike in the past when we were at the mercy of being able to hire other musicians in order to perform all the recorded parts of our songs onstage, we’re determined to find a way to get out there and play<b><i> </i></b>these songs as much as possible in 2020... even if it’s just the two of us presenting this present version of Widetrack in whatever workable configuration we can come up with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/545b281b2a96c5beb83b9674fa71bff8d614f923/original/71374632-427179921489028-8540290954811146240-n.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">And so, just this past Sunday, we began rehearsing a set of our current favorite Widetrack tunes with just the two of us, to see if we could even consider that as an option... </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Being that it was the first time we’ve played these songs together since we began recording them in January, it was a bit rough around the edges... a lot to remember! lol</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">But the energy was definitely there... We'd almost forgotten what a blast these tunes are to play... It really lit our fire to get the live side of the band together!!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/34d5c35300710fbe53876275e62abc706e51088b/original/70768208-2408624749172907-5923965610173136896-n.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_xl">So now we know we can play in just about any situation,<br>from one to five band members... Whatever the situation might call for/allow... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Absolutely, it will be great to do shows with four to five players,<br>as we did at <a contents="the Billy's show" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-52-our-first-show-of-2019" target="_blank">Billy's last March</a>, but getting all the planets aligned may not always be an option... So, it's good to be able to employ some of our favorite wisdom:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a4e6345cab83fb86f192d34b9727e4f1620ab1ec/original/john-wooden.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></em>In the meantime, there's the matter of actually getting the new album packaged and released… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Here's all the info we have to report thus far:</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">“Widetrack IV” (working title) <br>Release Date: (circa January) 2020<br><br>Personnel:<br><br>Zach Tippin - Bass and guitar</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Ron Tippin - Drums and vocals<br><br>Dave Humphreys - additional guitar on Requiem and Drones</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Kurt Harms - additional guitar on Requiem</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Tracklisting:</span> <span class="font_xl">TBA</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">All songs written and produced by Zach Tippin and Ron Tippin </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Lyrics by Ron Tippin </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Recorded and mixed by Zach Tippin </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">More info to follow in the coming weeks, not to mention, another new monthly song at the beginning of October… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">So, until then, feel free to reply and say hi! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Talk with you soon! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a0ffb46b35fe7968c4d54ab264037a0fb67d8f13/original/2019-08-17-sat-kimpressons50th-1.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/58593332019-09-02T23:28:28-04:002020-01-09T02:06:50-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 59: Terra<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 59: Terra</strong></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_large">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</span></strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="mgGIDa-37R4" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/mgGIDa-37R4/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mgGIDa-37R4?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large"><strong>"The usage of 'Terra' as a name for the planet Earth is particularly common among English-language science fiction writers. 'Terra' had been the official name of Earth for many centuries in the scientific community due to the use of Latin as international science tongue." <br>-Wiktionary</strong></span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Mythology holds such timelessly profound lessons for us all to benefit from... The stories of our ancestors, discovering and developing... Striving to learn about, and harness, the meaning of our existence... and with such primitive means to do so... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Science fiction was always one of my favorite mediums in this regard... Books, movies, music, art... The actual format mattered little; I always found it to be the coolest stuff in the world to be engrossed in as much as humanly possible...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When Zach and I first started coming up with musical ideas for this album, I was immediately inspired to think in that context, as the bass and guitar parts he was coming up with really struck the chord of that cool sci-fi vibe, right from the get-go...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/213b6203d3a28b2875c2777b611c02e39022d4cd/original/img-5387.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>Once we got going, we really became immersed in that whole Twilight Zone/Black Mirror/etc. type of vibe... And so, it was no surprise that once I started working on the lyrics, my mind was drawn to the writings of the late, great <strong><a contents="Rod Serling" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling" target="_blank">Rod Serling</a></strong>, and how his stories always had such profound twists and hard-hitting lessons to ponder... That existential tension between the divine spark and the fatal flaws of humanity... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the biggest takeaways I learned from Mr. Serling was that you can dress up a story any way you like, root its themes in any time or place - past, present or future, and yet the moral is always the same: <strong><em>Human nature never changes</em></strong>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f8994dcd41ac04524e754f80e4dba16d2c405a80/original/apocalypse-albert-goodwin.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>The songs for this new album attempt to analyze this fatal human flaw as it applies to our specific point in history...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We are here... We have more information at our fingertips than ever before... We have the ability to heal and fix these recurring problems of humanity and finally start getting it right... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And yet, we keep making the same mistakes over and over; generation after generation...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And even those who find themselves on "the right side of history" continue to handle things the wrong way and only succeed in little more than exacerbating the problems that we face... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The song <b><i>Terra</i></b> views this tribal struggle of humanity from the perspective of a loving mother who helplessly watches her children engage in ever-escalating conflict, knowing from her experience of history that the trajectory of this path inevitably leads to one place...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c91e802f4a09fcf9136d4096e7b3bc1552196f7a/original/mushroom-cloud.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Perhaps this all seems a bit alarmist and overdramatic... But there just seems to be something especially dark about this particular age we're living in... Something that says, <em>"The time to figure this out and get it right is now or never..."</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Some believe that it's completely within our power to choose a different path and begin to heal anew... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I encounter such beautiful souls from time to time, and they fill me with a hope I can't quite rationalize, but it feels real and possible...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Others believe that the momentum of our differences has become too great a force to reverse at this point, and the end is a forgone conclusion...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I tend to fall in with the people who think this way, for whatever reason... There is certainly enough evidence to support this mindset, if one just simply takes a look around at the current state of world affairs... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I ponder the perspectives of people like this, and all I can come up with in response is that I hope they're wrong... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/39a37903855f81d9770de33a6449b60551e6bb88/original/000-rodserling-1.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"> </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/58160412019-08-01T02:22:26-04:002019-08-15T18:42:50-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 58: The Rift<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 58: The Rift</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c_yGYQwm0-Y" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All too often, we find ourselves breaking off from friends and family, telling ourselves “I don’t need that person in my life” in the heat of the moment… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We get so ultra-focused on “dealbreaker” instances, that we forget the big picture that <em><strong>no two people think the same, and if you go deeply enough with anyone, you’re likely to find “dealbreaker” elements to any person’s belief system... </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And the more “us and them”-minded people get, the more they look at “the other side" in the worst possible light, while looking at the ones “on their side” with rose-colored glasses; regardless of the fact that we are all flawed human beings in some way or another... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Even on the side of righteousness, people far too often react negatively to "the other side", rather than implementing more positive, reasoned strategies which actually move towards solving the problem... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">This is how we stay divided. </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1694252f03978bc94dc65cdff5c43a45542959d5/original/cover-america-bullets-1355x858.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And choosing the insular anonymity of social media, rather than face-to-face (or at least voice-to-voice) discussion only serves to exacerbate the problem and assure that the divide runs an ever-increasing risk of growing to the point of no return... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">People like the character in this story love this... </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">True peace is not what such a person is interested in; his kind thrives on dissension and having an “other” to forever be at war with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Like all demagogues who rise to power, all he has to do is keep convincing people to join his cause of “us vs. them is a good thing” until his followers reach a critical mass of numbers, and war between “us and them” becomes a viable reality for his movement... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, in order to avert this crisis, the good people who see the bigger picture need to be the bigger people… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Will they? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b7c1b01c0da7ddb18ee91adf5dadc35d00ec7cf9/original/jg9vgmukzjdab-j6yv2ycxi2wd-sdwes0ys-ci67iw8.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below, or at: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/58025982019-07-08T00:37:31-04:002019-07-08T00:37:31-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 57: Drones<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 57: Drones</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our new 2019 monthly song for July: <strong><em>Drones</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach Tippin: bass, guitar and keyboards <br>Ron Tippin: vocals and drums </span><br><span class="font_large">Dave Humphreys: guitar solo</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Recorded and mixed by Zach Tippin at Widetrack Studios, Michigan </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Written and produced by Ron and Zach Tippin </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Lyrics by Ron Tippin</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OsaT82rchlo" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here:</span><br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>At this point in the story, the man <a contents="previously described" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">previously described</a> has built up a sizable online army of faithful cult followers to do the dirty work of his digital bidding... </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>He programs their minds with his message that they are exceptional, and that if they stay strong and prevail in the “coming war”, they will fulfill their destiny as the “chosen people”... </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>The usual promises that cult leaders make (glory, changing the world, etc.) apply here... </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>History is full of similar examples of these shameful demagogues who exploit the lost souls that buy into their rhetoric and pledge their allegiance to these cult-armies... </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>Their power resides in the projection of their confidence in the righteousness of their cause... </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>Meanwhile, these cult leaders sit back in smug comfort while their “drones” set upon the task of destroying the reputations of their enemies by way of infiltrating their private online groups, using false identities, gaining their trust, learning their personal information, and then using it against them in strategic campaigns of character assassination... </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>Your thoughts?</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/db7f4a3f73c7726f8cd75b60dfaf64e32fc133ec/original/drones.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></strong>(Artwork by Aurina Garbovitz)</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below, or at: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Other links: </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</strong></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/58024792019-06-24T18:03:30-04:002019-11-01T19:48:36-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 56: The Concept of Our New Album Revealed<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 56: The Concept of the New Album Revealed</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Well, it's taken a bit of time and work, but we've finally fleshed out the concept to our new album...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is some heavy stuff, to say the least, so feel free to read no further if you'd rather interpret the songs for yourself... ;)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c9e99b7b42597d9b23cc5a7201cd5fb349100f6a/original/2019-06-xx-258.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />OK, here we go...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is a story about a seemingly normal, everyday man whose addiction to social media spirals out of control, causing him to become severely radicalized... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Isolating himself from his friends and family, he begins systemically building a cult following of like-minded fanatics... These fellow zealots faithfully follow his instructions of infiltrating key areas of the Internet in order to unleash his dystopian politically-religious agenda upon the world... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/919ea66188a06e76d79cebdfb517001666b2067e/original/aa.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>His only remaining tie to the sane world is a lifelong friend who tries to appeal to his sense of reason and de-radicalize him from his toxic, extremist views... But unfortunately, he's come too far along his path of megalomaniacal impact to go back... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">His friend's side of the equation now has only one move now, and that is to deal with this budding demagogue's movement in a sane, strategic, effective way; lest he make the crisis even worse… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But "taking the high road" and "doing the right thing" are not always so easy... And that, specifically is the main point of we're trying to make here...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Or, in the immortal words of the great Friedrich Nietsche...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b7c1b01c0da7ddb18ee91adf5dadc35d00ec7cf9/original/jg9vgmukzjdab-j6yv2ycxi2wd-sdwes0ys-ci67iw8.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, in a way, this is a <a contents="Christmas Carol" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Themes" target="_blank"><strong><em>Christmas Carol</em></strong></a> type glimpse at a plausibly possible dystopian future we could quite likely be moving towards… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">Hopefully it's not too late to avert this potential nightmare-reality... But, again, the main thing here is that the sane among us need to respond to this crisis </span><em style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong>in the right way</strong></em>,<span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> in order to avert the devastation that possibly awaits us… </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">If our ultimate goal is peace and true justice for all, then history has many examples to show us that succumbing to our outrage - however valid it may be - is not likely to get us the results we seek... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A wise man once said, <strong><em>“The one who sees the bigger picture needs to be the bigger person.”</em></strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, the question is: <strong><em>“Can those of us ‘on the right side of history’ set aside our outrage and righteous indignation, and focus on solutions that will actually work? Or, will we get swept up in the heat and hate of our toxic tribalism, and lose all?" </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">If we’re going to turn things around, we need to set aside our anger and come together as one people with the common interest of building a better world for future generations… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Appreciating our differences through a paradigm of synergy is the only way to counter this unnecessary division...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, the most fundamental question here comes down to, <strong><em>“Is this even possible at this point in history, or are we doomed as a species?” </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f8994dcd41ac04524e754f80e4dba16d2c405a80/original/apocalypse-albert-goodwin.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below, or at: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/57703382019-05-31T21:52:07-04:002019-07-06T18:13:20-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 55: Gone Dark<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 55: Gone Dark</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our new 2019 monthly song for June: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach Tippin: bass, guitar and keyboards <br>Ron Tippin: vocals and drums </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Recorded and mixed by Zach Tippin at Widetrack Studios, Michigan </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Written and produced by Ron and Zach Tippin </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Lyrics by Ron Tippin</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K9w_k-mA0l0" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a><br><br>Crazy how fast the time goes by... We’re already halfway through our new album, with our sixth monthly song of 2019: June’s ‘Gone Dark’... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This one definitely lives up to its title... Some deep stuff here... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This song was originally inspired by a friend of mine who I had to block on Facebook because his non-stop pushy political comments on my posts became increasingly rude and unwelcomed... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I had sincerely hoped that we could have kept all that stuff separate from our friendship and stay focused on what is most important in life… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Unfortunately, this guy, like many others out there right now, is completely enthralled with shoving his political and religious opinions down others’ throats… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s just as alarming as any type of disturbing cult-thinking I’ve come across… People are willing to throw away lifelong relationships over this newfound platform of rhetoric spewing on their social media profiles... They just can’t help themselves... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the biggest problems I have been seeing with all this is the bad-faith, “straw man” approach so many of these people opine from... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For instance, this guy assumed things about me that were by no means entirely true, but they fit his false narrative, so he posted them anyway, arguing with a fictional version of my true views... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This continued until I felt I had no choice but to block him... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Such a waste... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Because of this experience and other experiences like it, I have thought a lot about where these volatile conversations often go wrong, and I truly believe many of them could be fixed by way of the “Steel Man” argument approach... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The “Steel Man” argument approach is basically when one gets a clear understanding of what their “opponent’s” actual views are... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then, one reiterates their opponent’s position back to them in a way that causes them to say, “Yes, that is exactly my position... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then and only then, one proceeds to argue with <em>that</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Imagine how much confusion and misinterpretation we could clear up if only we took the time to make sure we weren’t projecting our doubts and fears onto others before we engage with their positions... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is difficult enough in person, but through the insular anonymity of social media, it presents an unprecedented challenge to human communication/connection... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Will be rise to this challenge and the better angels of our natures prevail?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Judging by the way things have been going, it's difficult to believe this will be the case...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/57260532019-05-01T00:00:04-04:002019-07-06T18:12:15-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 54: Voyeurs<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 54: Voyeurs</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our new 2019 monthly song for May:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach Tippin: bass and guitar <br>Ron Tippin: vocals and drums <br>Dave Humphreys: additional guitar </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Recorded and mixed by Zach Tippin at Widetrack Studios, Michigan </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Written and produced by Ron and Zach Tippin </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Lyrics by Ron Tippin</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Eof9OJhjMaY" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="For%20an%20overview%20of%20the%20entire%20album%20storyline,%20click%20here:%20https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Imagine, sometime in the not-to-distant future, that our justice system has been completely revamped, and trials are now done on social media... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A person gets arrested, indicted, and then, while they sit in a cell awaiting their fate, people vote on their guilt/innocence... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Is this dystopian world really so far-fetched an idea? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Throughout history, there have been countless examples of the "mob mentality" to observe... What is it about humans that make such an alarming many of us so bloodthirsty? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Cult-thought... "Us vs. them" tribalism... Relationship breakdowns... These are just a few of the themes that run deep in these new songs, all too apparent in our modern world... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What a terrible scenario to imagine, that so many have lost their ability to empathize with their fellow human beings who have opinions they disagree with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Is this the direction we are headed in? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What is the end-game of this possible future, and what can we do to avert it? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(For more background on this song, check out this video):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oI1bXfSkBYE" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/57049282019-04-02T22:37:57-04:002019-07-06T18:10:45-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 53: Requiem<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 53: Requiem</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our new 2019 monthly song for April.... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="WcdOzCAN3a0" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/WcdOzCAN3a0/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WcdOzCAN3a0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This one is a sad story about a girl who was the victim of a cyberbullying ruse where some cruel schoolmates pretended to be one person who befriended this young victim... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Slowly, she began to trust this manufactured person, revealing many secrets that she never shared with anyone... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When the sadistic truth of this cruel connivance was finally revealed via social media, she was so hurt and mortified that she took her own life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Sadly, these things happen far too often... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">#stopcyberbullying #suicideprevention </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Suicide Prevention Hotline: <br>1-800-273-8255 </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach Tippin: bass and guitar <br>Ron Tippin: vocals and drums <br>Dave Humphreys: additional guitar <br>Kurt Harms: additional guitar </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Artwork by Hayley Smith: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNbF... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Recorded and mixed by Zach Tippin at Widetrack Studios, Michigan </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Written and produced by Ron and Zach Tippin <br><a contents="www.WidetrackMusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.WidetrackMusic.com" target="_blank">www.WidetrackMusic.com</a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/56756772019-03-21T16:17:56-04:002019-03-21T16:17:56-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 52: Our first show of 2019!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 52: Our first show of 2019!</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What a blast our first show of 2019 was!! For those of you who couldn't be there, or weren't able to tune in to our Facebook Live broadcast, we wanted to share some photos, video and details with you about this wonderful night...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">The evening kicked off with a nice jam of covers, featuring members of both bands (us and Calling Marvin)... So much fun! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Then, at 10 PM, <a contents="Calling Marvin" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnC2w-6cR8HBGXTiawp7LvlLPBxWA6ZaV" target="_blank">Calling Marvin</a> took the stage... If you've never checked out this band, please do... they are <strong><em>fantastic!</em></strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2da7751c6a74b4f9f62bd9a60aef553a986293ee/original/1930-02-18-221.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">After Calling Marvin got the crowd all amped up, we took the stage at 11:45 PM, opening with the live debut of a brand new song called <strong><em><a contents="Martyr" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD_4xeSZCdo" target="_blank">Martyr</a>...</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">The first half of our set was as a four-piece, featuring Ron and Zach, with Dave Humphreys on lead guitar and Joe Smith on drums...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/541575238e30ca4a7c235b0dcf61a16bdcee9882/original/org-dsc09230.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After the opener, the four of us played <strong><em>Violet</em></strong>, <strong><em>Burning the Sun</em></strong>, <strong><em>Gift</em></strong>, and the debut of another new song called <em><strong>Tribal</strong></em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then we called up our friend Kurt Harms (the lead guitarist on the <strong><em>Widetrack II</em></strong> album) to play the second half of the set with us...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2973e70403839a892a070d18f3576da3c6959e3c/original/org-dsc09470.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">We kicked off the second half of the show with our remake of <strong><em>I'd Love to Change the World</em></strong> by Ten Years After... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">From there, we played a few from our second album, including, <strong><em>A Single Step</em></strong>, <em><strong>Fault Line</strong></em>, <strong><em>Venom</em></strong>, <strong><em>The Shrine</em></strong>, and a long-time fan favorite, <a contents="Star-crossed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE5l8rBN7OM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><strong><em>Star-crossed</em></strong></a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QE5l8rBN7OM" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">We finished up with the usual closer, our remake of Pink Floyd's <strong><em>Welcome to the Machine, </em></strong>whereupon, we were joined onstage by one more key member of the group: our mascot, Sir Thurston...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uK1-C6QAWwQ" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">What a fantastic night! special thanks to <a contents="Olivia Bauerle" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/Olivia-Bauerle-Photography-1676254836020056/?eid=ARDXjrhjVUBe0a742W_E15Iq7E6oEWahIHb6VoYg13p5E7-KTSARl6p_4PGDe6dBXCusZhDKnEUTfDc_&timeline_context_item_type=intro_card_work&timeline_context_item_source=100003974853955&fref=tag" target="_blank"><strong>Olivia Bauerle</strong></a> for taking some great shots of the evening, Tim White for hosting the event and running sound/lights, and all who came out to show us some love and support!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Can't wait to do it again!!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/65e82b2010c2f2d89117961d5d323d5fe265e20b/original/org-dsc09197.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/03b9583525e642f610c2af840d25477e391c35c4/original/org-dsc09350.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7b6447198854d3ae96cf0c41a788c584f1eb98f7/original/org-dsc09185.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5cfdbd8980cc0882c7bf7afd3891a99d8d5661bd/original/org-dsc08985.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/82acefb49b367e2d663fcc854f98b4f57b00146c/original/1930-02-18-417.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b05350426eec733f3ec72e258f1c54dc06360436/original/org-dsc09008.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0c51a9eeea3428bbe286e93fd18811b08ffc9e0d/original/8cefe730-5c97-49c1-a416-ea64b4365b1b.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5435c2c6cdb2cb70c6c6632d2ddeea7bff9a9718/original/img-4073-edited.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Afterthoughts:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">A little rough around the edges, playing-wise, but not bad for our first outing as a full band...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Zach did a great job handling the backing vocal harmonies... Good to see him giving it his all to make it work...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Playing with Kurt again after all these years was a lot of fun... Will definitely be doing more as things progress...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Really looking forward to playing more new songs as we get them recorded...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/49b0f0b5ca679b621fee5b35f9de928fd75f04ef/original/org-dsc09251.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/56438762019-03-04T21:59:58-05:002019-07-06T18:02:10-04:00 The Widetrack Chronicles 51: Tribal<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/333fafc337eb0299f1c0f507e32620e8c27fbe38/original/copy-of-widetrack.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 51: Tribal</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="t6D8NJa0BOg" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/t6D8NJa0BOg/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t6D8NJa0BOg?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Tribal" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6D8NJa0BOg" target="_blank"><em><strong>Tribal</strong></em></a> was one of the first songs Zach and I wrote together... It came together rather quickly... Basically, I sat down at the drums, he recorded me playing some beats, then I went and made some phone calls... When I returned, he had all the guitar and bass parts worked out... <em>Just blew me away</em>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once we found our groove, we realized we had a wonderful creative chemistry that allowed us to team up on the different aspects of these songs...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, it was decided that I would cover writing and recording all the vocals and drums, and Zach would cover all the guitar and bass... This song was a big moment in terms of figuring out that approach... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the cool things about this is that it's allowing me to spend significantly more time working on my lyrics... Up to now, I've been spreading myself kind of thin, being the only member of the band writing the music and recording the majority of the parts, save the occasional guest appearance by good friends who generously gave their time and creativity to past songs...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But now, with Zach handling half the duties, I can focus on putting more time and energy into <em><strong>less </strong></em>things... This is already paying off with the lyrics improving more and more, I feel... (But of course you will be the final judge of that, lol)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, as I began getting deeper and deeper into writing lyrics for these songs, I saw an underlying theme emerging... Thoughts and observations about relationships undergoing great strain in the digital age began to take shape...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I talked about it in more detail <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj5pDadQG50" target="_blank">here</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="yj5pDadQG50" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/yj5pDadQG50/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yj5pDadQG50?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Tribal" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6D8NJa0BOg" target="_blank"><em><strong>Tribal</strong></em></a> is a key song to this theme... Like many people, I am just trying to get a grip on how to navigate this new digital world we now spend a great deal of our time communicating in... I can't remember a time when we were ever so politically/etc. divided... As I said in the video, I don't have a lot of answers, but I do have some questions...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now, being naturally curious about what makes human beings tick, I try to gather information... And so, I read... a lot... lol... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Psychology books have always deeply fascinated me... Our subconscious motives... Our predispositions... Our biases... Our blind spots... These are things we all share, despite however many of us attempt to deny it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, an author of non-fiction books that I really admire is a man named <a contents="Jonathan Haidt" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Haidt" target="_blank"><strong>Jonathan Haidt</strong></a>, American social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business... His main areas of study are the psychology of morality and the moral emotions...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In 2012, Professor Haidt released a wonderful book called, <em><strong><a contents="The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Religion-ebook/dp/B0052FF7YM" target="_blank">The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion</a></strong></em>... This book is truly an eye-opening read, and has helped me better understand our motivations for segmenting ourselves into "tribes", and how to better understand other "tribes" besides our own...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="This fantastic TED Talk" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-_Az5nZBBM" target="_blank">This fantastic TED Talk</a> might be one of the best 20 minutes you could ever spend, in terms of understanding this issue... I can't recommend it enough...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D-_Az5nZBBM?controls=0" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, I am going to leave it at that and ask that you feel free to share your thoughts with me if you feel moved to do so...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Thank you for taking the time to read this, my friend... Peace and blessings to you snd yours...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d2c97b87b0e2bc380681993ee5dd7cb7481ea57f/original/2018-10-15-033.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/56200262019-02-01T17:03:52-05:002019-07-06T17:59:48-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 50: Unveiled<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here it is... The premier of our second new monthly song of 2019! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oHhXVIW_gek" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>~Story behind the song~</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A few years back, I had a friend who was a pretty nice, generous guy… We hung out a lot and had a lot of mutual friends… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then he got on Facebook, and, like certain individuals we’ve all known, he started to develop a pretty serious “god complex” of sorts… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">His “dime store wisdom” posts were incessant… and nauseatingly patronizing, to be honest… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And even though it was a rare thing for him to receive much more than one “like” for his posts, rants, memes, condescending comments on other people’s posts, etc., he never let up… It was as if he was on a crusade… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Well, come to find out, he was… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/258b18e15ff2b90fd60480b2090e2ec6cf1675f9/original/crusader-1600.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The guy went nuts… He really came to believe that he was some kind of prophet, chosen to save the rest of us from utter ruin... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It all came to a head when I happened across him commenting on one of our mutual friend’s posts… He was publicly criticizing her for being overweight, claiming that the Bible says it’s a sin, etc., blah blah blah… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">That was it; our entire circle of close friends un-friended and blocked him... Thankfully, that’s the last we heard of him… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But I’m sure he’s still out there to this day, raging on with his campaign of ignorance… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b25f6ac0cd3bf524004d17f9ddea8d836ea28327/original/pawal-public-speaker.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As I said, most of us have seen this person online far too often… It’s become a major obstacle to productive communication between people… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Social media has given everyone a platform to spread their messages… and, wow… some people’s messages are pretty hateful, aren’t they? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I personally find it interesting how certain people seem to feel that they couldn’t ever possibly be wrong about their ideas… There is no hope for an honest, good-faith conversation with such types; they seem only interested in being right, and force-feeding their perspective to others… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Perhaps these instances are symptomatic of a bigger picture… Lately, it seems we’re becoming more and more estranged from one another… I honestly can’t remember a time in my life when it was nearly as bad as what we’re seeing these days in the digital age… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It’s a bit like when people are driving, and how they interact with others on the roads… They seem to feel insulated from actual human interaction… The lower instincts take over and people begin to behave in ways they never would, face-to-face… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Can you imagine standing behind someone at the bank and yelling, "Hurry the *&^%$+ up and get out of my way!!!"?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And yet, when sheltered by the anonymity a computer or smart phone screen provides, people just let it rip with the rudeness and cruelty, much like when driving...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">How do we even begin to go about fixing this? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/45a3d6da0b9a7b50b20c6101597632def8eb5608/original/pawel-kuczynski-facebook-series-7.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://paypal.me/Widetrack?locale.x=en_US" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a180b9b8ebc09aa90075daee5a812c5715995d27/original/widetrack-1.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/56200782019-01-30T15:16:32-05:002019-07-06T17:43:43-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 49: Martyr<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As promised, here is the first song Zach and I have written together for Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD_4xeSZCdo" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/43bcf1aa53bbb397bafd709ed71dc07b3e95f1a1/original/49949258-287993598556070-2882261838341341184-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For an overview of the entire album storyline, click here: <br><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-56-the-concept-of-the-new-album-revealed</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As previously stated, this is the first of 12 monthly songs that we will be releasing in 2019...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This song concerns a person we've all dealt with from time to time... This person has an excessive need to feel their point of view in life is <em>the</em> truth... It's utterly inconceivable that they could even possibly be wrong...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And these people will often sacrifice relationships over this perspective being threatened...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Have you ever experienced a situation with a person like this?</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/55960682019-01-14T23:00:35-05:002019-06-24T17:43:49-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 48: Ideas for the New Album<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 48: Ideas for the New Album</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">During the time that Zach and I got to writing and recording songs for the fourth Widetrack album, (to be released on a one-song-per-month basis, starting tomorrow!), it quickly became apparent to me what the lyrics were going to be about... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It is 2019, and though statistics say that the world is improving in virtually every way, there is still a lot to be concerned about, as this improvement we see is never a guaranteed thing... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">First off, let me just say that I know a lot of people are turned off by musicians/actors/etc. expressing their political views... I can certainly understand this... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Rest assured, I have no intention whatsoever of doing that here (although I am always open to conversations about such things if you’re ever interested in shooting me over a private message)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Besides all that, I believe our problems actually come down to fundamental differences between people... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Differences in politics, religion, lifestyles, etc. can be navigated so long as people are committed to the big picture of doing so... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is precisely what I see breaking down in this digital/social media age... and this is what I’ve been writing about, to try and come to grips with in my own personal way... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To my mind, some of these problems include: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-TrollIng... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Being insulated from face-to-face, eye-to-eye interaction, from the shelter of one’s computer screen... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-The “God Complex” of having a social media platform to show all the “sheeple” how “woke”, cooler, smarter, etc. one is... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Families, friendships, once-positive acquaintances, etc. breaking down due to negative social media interaction... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">...and so on and so on... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, I’ve really come to believe that this is one of the biggest challenges we face, moving forward: these “tribes” and “echo chambers” that we are closing ourselves off into... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Is this the best path forward? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Again, this goes much deeper than politics, religion, lifestyles, etc.; it cuts directly to the core of who we are to one another as co-citizens of this world, at this particular point in human history, and the technologies it now has/soon will have, to offer... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Will we choose a zero-sum, Us vs. Them, “In order for me to win, you must also lose” reality, or will we seek to bridge the gaps between us? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I do not claim to have the answers... This is partly why I write... to seek out those answers, at least for myself... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The irony is, I do love the experience, efficiency and potential of social media... What a wonderful tool to enable us to be more connected than we ever would’ve thought possible... A “one-stop-shop” for staying in contact with friends and family, regardless of how far away they may be... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And now news and information happens closer than ever to real time, which is great... Even though, yes, there is more misinformation than ever gone viral...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A double-edged sword, to say the least... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Funny, though - it does seem ironic that, as close as social media has the potential to connect us, the flipside is that many of us feel more insulated from one another than ever… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, these are some of the ideas that are inspiring the moods and lyrics for the new songs we have written for the new album...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Your thoughts?</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/55941552019-01-13T19:04:30-05:002019-01-13T19:04:30-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 47: New song announcement and backstory<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f7348331ce72dce5dc7467858761d897600db2b6/original/widetrack-5.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 47: New song announcement and backstory</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It is not even halfway through January, and I can already tell that 2019 is going to be a monumental year for the band... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As stated in a previous blog, Widetrack is now the partnership of my son Zach and I, and, beginning in just a couple days, we are going to be recording and releasing one brand-new song per month… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then, at the end of the year, we will compile all the songs for our complete fourth album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We already have roughly 15-20 tunes to choose from that we are extremely excited about... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/618a504a8150db91128809378926614fbcd18c14/original/2018-12-08-16-41-01.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, as of today, I am pleased to announce that we have finished the first one, and, to show our appreciation for your support and encouragement, we will be releasing it to you first on Tuesday, January 15th (at which time, we will also be sending it out to be posted on all the streaming platforms; will let you know when it is available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc., etc)… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This marks the very first Widetrack song I’ve ever co-written with another person… 2 years ago, I never would have imagined I’d be doing this with my son… Kind of surreal, actually… lol </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All through Zach’s life, he never really showed much interest in music, and I never wanted to push him into it… I always thought that was a bit creepy when I’d see parents trying to force their children to follow in their footsteps… I just wanted him to be happy and find purpose in his life that he was passionate about… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But then, about two or so years ago, he convinced his mother and I that he wanted to be a musician… He even paid for half of his first bass… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a5ed2db53d5c7b57a990427516553ce4fd7c2d8a/original/img-1421.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Over the course of the next year, he developed as a musician at an incredibly fast rate… Faster than any young person I’d ever seen in all my years as a musician/music instructor… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">By this time last year, in addition to finalizing the recording of Widetrack III, he and I began writing and recording songs together… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It became immediately apparent that he was serious about music… He even took out a loan t(which he’s already paid off through playing shows with our cover band, The Vintage) to get all the professional recording equipment he needed so he could learn how to record and mix music on his own… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Fast-forward to January 2019, he’s not only developed insane skills as a bassist, guitarist, and even a pretty darn good drummer, he’s also become quite proficient at recording and mixing music… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bac4436477de19a008e14eace1da883b19282293/original/2018-01-02-005-335.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is wonderfully convenient, as it will allow us to pretty much write and record a song - typically with him playing guitar and bass, and myself on vocals and drums - and then mix it and release it practically immediately thereafter… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So, in other words, expect a lot more music to be released from Widetrack on a pretty regular basis… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now, I know we have been talking about playing live for a while now, and that is definitely in the works… We already have a drummer and guitarist/bassist who we will be hiring to play shows with us when we finally get out on the road (more on this to be announced very soon!)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The hope is that these two individuals will eventually become permanent members of the band… We will see how things develop… But for now, the songs on the new album will be written and recorded by just Zach and I… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Since starting Widetrack back in 2007, I have been pretty much a solo artist in search of a real band situation… Finding the right musicians has been incredibly difficult, but I felt that if I just kept going, writing and recording albums, I’d eventually get good enough to attract the rich people to lock down with… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now that Zach is in the picture, I am gladly following his lead… He wanted to play all the guitar and bass on the songs… I told him it was totally cool by me if this was what he truly was passionate about… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ce4ed5e9698ec2682d53877cc2fb7a50f972a2a8/original/2018-01-02-005-298.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One fringe benefit of having a partner in Widetrack was that it has enabled me to focus more on my vocals and lyrics… Not to mention, the things he’s coming up with on the guitar and bass have inspired some new approaches and ideas in my own ideas… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Not to mention, as indicated above, this new process has streamlined our writing method, and songs are coming together much fast now… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, then Zach told me that he wanted to record and mix the new songs… I was at first slightly skeptical about this, as I’ve been pleased with the way the first three Widetrack albums sounded, due to my good friend Andy Patalan and his excellent recording/mixing skills… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But then he played me the mix of this first song, and I was completely blown away… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I am still pinching myself, to be honest… How on earth did this all happen so fast? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Well, no time for thinking about all that… Much work to be done… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Stay tuned for the new song, coming your way Tuesday, January 15th… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Onward...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/94c6eafcd0bca51adab208a7624becd03342c803/original/2019-01-07-001-10.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <br>Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br><a contents="@Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>@widetrackband</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a180b9b8ebc09aa90075daee5a812c5715995d27/original/widetrack-1.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/55704192018-12-27T02:08:43-05:002019-01-01T12:43:10-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 46: Looking back at 2018 and forward to 2019<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d376caf5f90bf04cdcd929b911c2743630f77d30/original/widetrack-4.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 46:<br>Looking back ay 2018 and forward to 2019</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What a fantastic year it's been... Some highly significant milestones and goals achieved...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We began 2018 with the mixing of our third album, <em><strong><a contents="Widetrack III" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/product/268998" target="_blank">Widetrack III</a>... </strong></em>Meanwhile, Zach and I had already begun writing songs for the next one (more on that in a minute)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The album was finally finished and released on May 18th... Much to our joy, it was received very well, and even gained <a contents="a few really nice reviews" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/press" target="_blank">a few really nice reviews</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All the while, Zach's writing and playing was developing at an <em>insane</em> rate... It wouldn't be long before his guitar skills were leaving mine in the dust... The new songs were getting better and better with each one we'd put together...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Our search for a drummer continued... We tried out a few initially promising prospects, but alas... None turned out to be a good fit... This, unfortunately, kept us unable to perform live for the rest of the year...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So we focused on the tasks we <em>could</em> accomplish... First of which being the video for our cover of Pink Floyd's <em><strong>Welcome to the Machine</strong></em>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MHBhv-EbCg8" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We had an absolute <em>blast</em> putting this video together... With the help of our good friend, Enzo Duva, we were able to create something we are quite proud of... Hopefully it does justice to the majesty of the original...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Brian made a lot of headway with his blues band, <a contents='"Big B and the Actual Proof"&nbsp;' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://bigbandtheactualproof.com/index/" target="_blank">"Big B and the Actual Proof" </a>, while Ron and Zach kept busy with their "day job" cover band, <a contents="The Vintage" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thevintagerocks.com/" target="_blank">The Vintage</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Behind the scenes, the writing of the fourth album continued... We finally decided to release it on a "one-song-per-month" basis over the course of 2019, beginning in January... (Stay tuned)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And last but not least, as 2018 comes to a close, we've finally figured out our live line-up situation, and it will involve Ron and Zach sharing the drumming duties... How will we be able to accomplish this, you ask? By adding Ron's lifelong buddy, Dave Humphreys, to the lineup...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Dave is, in the opinion of pretty much any respected musician in our scene here in Michigan, one of the best guitarists this state ha ever produced... He's also a great bass player, which will come in handy on the songs Zach plays drums on, and Ron plays guitar on... Always nice to have flexibility and options!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5b5598ab94d7675fbaab86fd2a522a7c587922d1/original/2017-11-21-005.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_small"><span style="font-size: 1em;">(L to R: Dave Humphreys, Zach Tippin and Ron Tippin play a show with The Vintage)</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We will be reporting more on this once the four of us get together for the first time at the beginning of the new year...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Speaking of which, here are a few more things we'll be setting out to do in 2019...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Play shows (hopefully a lot of them!)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Start <a contents="our Patreon channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.patreon.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">our Patreon channel</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Film more music videos...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Release one new song per month...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-Get to know <em><strong>you</strong></em> better...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">Let's do this!</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/70b715d4b6a60fbe599aeeed80bc4ca5abe08fa0/original/48428780-10215866721755354-1036514481997348864-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/54866662018-10-25T21:03:33-04:002018-10-29T15:43:04-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 45: Exciting new updates!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6dbfa1facdba1b61a73f02c3510c9929746405cf/original/widetrack-2.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 45: Exciting new updates!</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">It's been a while since we posted a blog on our website here, so we thought we'd take this opportunity to do so and fill you in on what we've got going on here lately...</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">First off, we'd like to thank everyone for all the wonderful feedback we've gotten on our first professional video, filmed by our good friend and colleague, Mr. Enzo Duva... If you happened to miss it, you can check out here:</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MHBhv-EbCg8" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">We are getting busy with the next one right away, so we'll keep you posted on that... ;)</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">In other news, Zach and I (Ron) have been writing new songs... This is very exciting, as it is the first time I've had a co-writer in Widetrack... I must say, he's a natural.... We already have 15 new tracks developing, and plan on releasing one song, with an accompanying video, per month, starting in January... This should put us at an album's worth of material by the end of the year... </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b521bc5cadf45a440c62d5403167e8202f1f9642/original/1930-07-03-004.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /> With all this writing and video activity, we haven't been focusing on our live shows so much, but that will soon change... Come the new year, we plan on getting out there as much as possible to play for as many people as possible, starting with our long-delayed CD release party at <a contents="Billy's Tip n' Inn" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.billystipninn.com/" target="_blank">Billy's Tip n' Inn</a> in White Lake, MI, on Saturday, January 5th, 2019... We of course will be filming the show for all of you who can't make it out, live too far away, etc., so we'll keep you posted on all that as the date gets closer...</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9339554ebc39efcb50e9ff9d7b58209c0fa47b1e/original/img-0391-edited.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong><span class="font_large"><strong>Speaking of 2019, we plan on finally getting our <a contents="Patreon" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/204606315-What-is-Patreon-" target="_blank">Patreon</a> page together, so we can document the process of recording our new songs in the studio and provide you with a ton of behind-the-scenes stuff to check out... More on that to come a well...</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>OK, just a couple more things...</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>If you haven't heard our "new" album, <em>Widetrack III</em>, we'd love for you to give it a listen... It is available on all the streaming sites and also for purchase, digitally and in physical form, on our website... </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/793596d872bcd894f5d9b56e5c51c07a244deffb/original/01-widetrack-iii-front-cover-a.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></a></strong></span><span class="font_large"><strong>Click on the photo above to purchase, or here are some links for you to listen:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><a contents="Spotify" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spotify:album:2xz8xB6tiqvywictXpipok" target="_blank">Spotify</a><br><a contents="YouTube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzaRlF1FlXZy5QEadkOWKde" target="_blank">YouTube</a><br><a contents="Bandcamp" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com/album/widetrack-iii" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a><br><a contents="Apple Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/widetrack-iii/1362335145" target="_blank">Apple Music</a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Also, we are extremely excited to announce that our music is now available on <a contents="Pandora Radio" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/widetrack/ARPh4gdrt6dnPpw" target="_blank">Pandora Radio</a>... If you use Pandora, we would love it if you'd let us know what other artists get played when you make a Widetrack station...</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>And lastly, we invite you to join our <a contents="Widetrack VIP Facebook Group" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">Widetrack VIP Facebook Group</a> if you're on Facebook and haven't yet done so... We post more frequent updates and such there, so it really is the best place so far to keep up with us on a more consistent basis... Here is the link: <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>OK, that's about it for now... Just wanted to say that, on a personal note, I'm really touched by the outpouring of support we've gotten lately with this crazy rock and roll journey... I am just so excited about playing music with my son and my friends... I really think there are going to be some wonderful experiences to come, and I can't thank you enough for being here, my friend... <3</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Keep in touch and let me know how you're doing... Talk with you soon!</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Ron</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ef031da1ae906417cb0a2f73fb7390d3bdf4922f/original/img-0387-edited.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></strong></span><span class="font_large"><strong>Always love hearing from you! Feel free to shoot me an email anytime: Ron@WidetrackMusic.com</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a180b9b8ebc09aa90075daee5a812c5715995d27/original/widetrack-1.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/54468322018-09-28T00:38:57-04:002018-09-28T00:38:57-04:00Photos from our first professional video shoot<p>A photo album of some shots from our first professional video shoot... The actual video is coming soon!!! :)</p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/pg/Widetrackband/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10160877656700484</p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/52009752018-04-25T00:55:23-04:002018-04-25T00:55:23-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 44: April 25, 2018 update (including Zach turns 14!) <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/383059012ec51a0c725f3cecc07078174f50d506/original/widetrack-blog-8.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 44: April 25, 2018 Update (including Zach turns 14!)</strong></span></h2>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It's been a busy couple of months!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As previously stated, our new album, <a contents="Widetrack III" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/music" target="_blank"><strong><em>Widetrack III</em></strong></a> is finished and available for pre-order!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/music" style="" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/91e0c43358868b8e44251d38bf4f6c479e4c051b/original/01-widetrack-iii-boollet-cover-a.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></a><span class="font_large">The album will be officially released worldwide on Friday, May 18th... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the meantime, it is now available for pre-order at:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Our official website</strong>: </span><span class="font_large"><a contents="https://widetrackband.com/music " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/music" style="" target="_blank">https://widetrackband.com/music </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>iTunes</strong>: <a contents="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/widetrack-iii/1362335145 " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/widetrack-iii/1362335145" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/widetrack-iii/1362335145 </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Amazon</strong>: <a contents="https://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/orde... " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/orde..." style="" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/orde... </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Bandcamp</strong>: <a contents="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com/album/..." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrack.bandcamp.com/album/..." style="" target="_blank">https://widetrack.bandcamp.com/album/...</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">*Pre-order includes automatic download of the song, <em>Gift</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(We are in the process of arranging the CD release party (to be held in early June, in our hometown of Waterford, MI)... Details to come!)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b1fcd735af5a18410ea64e81963574aae6156f58/original/1930-04-22-002.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">OK...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In other news, <em><strong>Zach turned 14 on April 23rd!</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We spent the day hiking in our favorite woods and talking about our plans for the summer... Some exciting things ahead... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(We made this video to say thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes...)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3SWh6Qpl0Ho" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the main things we talked about yesterday was our plans to book some shows in certain areas where people want to come see us play... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As stated before, we would love to play for you... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A big part of what we love about playing music is the kindred spirits like yourself we get to connect with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And as nice as it is to be corresponding with you through emails and social media, nothing beats <em>in-person </em>interaction...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So... if you or someone you know is interested in hosting a show where we can come rock out for you and your friends, check out the info <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/house-concerts" style="" target="_blank"><strong>HERE... </strong></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">OK, that's it for now, but more to come soon...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/16293df467365166ff2e6656f946e01fb0f111de/original/1930-04-23-033b.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" style="" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_large">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </span></strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Twitter: <br><a contents="@Widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></strong><br><br><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a180b9b8ebc09aa90075daee5a812c5715995d27/original/widetrack-1.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/51512372018-03-27T21:39:08-04:002018-03-28T12:38:42-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 43: Zach's first gig: One year later<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/48095c91115bb2b355a27635aa96e7c96fe9923d/large/widetrack.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 43: </span></strong><strong><span class="font_xl">Zach's first gig: One year later</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Wow, it's sure been a busy couple of months here! A quick recap of recent events...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-The new album is finished and will be released on Friday, May 18th! </span></strong></em><br><span class="font_large">So excited for you to hear it! Info on the pre-order coming very soon...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-We've already gotten a couple really good reviews on it...</span></strong></em><br><span class="font_large"><a contents="Here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://beemweeks.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/michigan-rockers-widetrack-return-with-a-brand-new-album/" target="_blank">Here</a> and <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/15LgGP0O90KeOm4XBTvC0n12FxIGW8ZdvZSzpers40eM/edit" target="_blank">here</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-For the first time, here is the CD cover...<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/91e0c43358868b8e44251d38bf4f6c479e4c051b/large/01-widetrack-iii-boollet-cover-a.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em><span class="font_large">In other news, we have just hit the one-year anniversary of Zach's first-ever gig! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As you may or may not already know, he made his onstage debut on March 24, 2017 (his proud dad's birthday!)... We played a house concert for a dozen or so close friends at the home of our guitarist, Brian Burleson...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He did a fantastic job for his first time before a live audience! :)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/286c0a89d9d1591e6585556910cc0ff276c98d6f/large/houseconcert.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">That being said, I'd like to take a minute or two to talk about the progress he's made in the year since...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">OK, so... following the house concert, Zach began recording his bass parts for <em><strong>Widetrack III</strong></em>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As he was constantly improving over the ensuing weeks, we re-recorded his parts 2-3 times before ending up with the versions on the album... He kept saying, <em>"I can do those better now... let me redo them!"</em> (LOL)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the meantime, I began taking him to play shows with my cover band, The Vintage... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Before long, he had played a dozen or so gigs, feeling more and more at home onstage...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/419aee7ef718656ec9e23154ce0916e11f8adcad/original/1930-03-08-010.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">Fast-forward to today, let me just say that he's <em>killing it</em>... His skills on the guitar have already surpassed mine <em>(seriously)</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">At the risk of sounding like the biased proud parent, he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he should be after only playing for a couple years... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It seems like the rest of us will have some good motivation to continue pushing ourselves... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/881b1b4c3e117e221bf47dbc63a6c036385e8593/large/1930-03-18-041.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">And as if all that wasn't enough, he and I have also been exploring writing together, and have already put together the music for 8 <em>new</em> songs... The pleasant surprise of this is, we've discovered that we have a writing chemistry that works really well (but more on all that to come)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, I just wanted to share that, as we approach the release date of our new album, after which we will be getting out to play shows everywhere possible, I couldn't be more excited about the future of Widetrack...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So many exciting things on the horizon... We are in the process of rehearsing our live show right now, and already things are flowing so well...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">11 years since the release of the debut Widetrack album, and we couldn't be more excited about what the future holds...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Thanks so much for your support! Just a reminder that we'd love to play for you, so if you have a place near you in mind, drop me a message and we'll see if we can add you to our touring schedule!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And once again: keep an eye on your inbox for the pre-order info, coming very soon!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Talk with you soon!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/81603e1e44b0bea3739f5f720c647dc14b47e909/large/2018-03-16-008.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br><a contents="@Widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a180b9b8ebc09aa90075daee5a812c5715995d27/large/widetrack-1.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/50311192018-01-24T21:53:01-05:002018-01-30T01:14:38-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 42: Still Here<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 42: Still Here</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here we are... The closing track of our new album... :)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When this title popped in my head, I was inspired by how many ways there are to interpret the term...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-It could be a positive statement: "We've been though a lot, but we've endured... We're <strong><em>still here</em></strong>..."</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">-It could be a negative statement: "Ugh... I can't believe we're <strong><em>still</em></strong> here..."</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It could be about finding a centered zone of tranquility in one's mind, despite there being chaos all around: "<strong><em>Here</em></strong> is where I find a stillness within my psyche..."</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It can be taken geographically, metaphorically, literally, etc...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It can be taken as a song of hope, sung to a companion in recognition of the moment of <em><strong>NOW</strong></em>; the only thing any of us really has...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bda8642ae2b9cbd34d114424de5c04ba90146df5/large/sunset-2880x1800-highway-4k-5557.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />(Some thoughts I wrote down during the writing of this one):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"</span></em></strong><span class="font_large"><em><strong>We believe that this new relationship, situation, etc., will change our worlds, even though we have not faced the truth about ourselves and what got us into the difficulties we've thus far experienced..." </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"And so, when the new becomes not-so-new, we begin to hit that same wall again..."</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"We're still here..." </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"We're still who we have always been..."</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"And so we shall continue to be, until we roll up our sleeves and do the work..."</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"To resolve once and for all to make a new commitment to fixing ourselves..." </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"We can't expect someone else to do it for us; i</strong></em></span><span class="font_large"><em><strong>t's up to each of us alone to fix ourselves..."</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"No matter what our circumstances, we will remain who we are, wherever we are... If you are messed up and dysfunctional and in difficult surroundings, you will be messed up and dysfunctional in ideal surroundings as well... There is no escaping our deep rooted issues... We must confront them and resolve them..." </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"Much like a person in recovery, we must want to change. We must be invested in changing. We must be committed to checking ourselves regularly and staying on top of our change."</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"We are works in progress... The balance is, we can never just 'coast', feeling we've 'arrived'... We must be present in our relationships... Show up... Stick... Never quit trying..."</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"The journey *is* the destination..."</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/cfb002a1223b028802c5dc640e3962083b1c7ec5/large/archonangels2.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Still Here </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Been driving for so long, and yet<br>No sign of any place to rest </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Horizon now farther still </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Day by the month </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Still there's no fix on when </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">One constant thought: </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl"><em>"Follow this..."</em> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And all I have not yet said, love<br>Just know I won't quit </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">One road meant for </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Two lives </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Two fallen lives </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Face down the storm<br>Hands on the wheel </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Must stay the course </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">That's been revealed </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">While life remains </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Hope exists </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And all I have not yet said, love<br>Just know I won't quit </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">One road meant for </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Two fallen lives </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">To hold this moment in time<br>Knowing we're still here </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl"><em>Now</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/025c943bf72f8e6d7d90d9bfcf69d0066a4217c6/large/2017-12-13-001.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank"><strong><span class="font_xl">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </span></strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" style="" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/50224292018-01-17T13:08:59-05:002018-01-24T21:26:03-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 41: Transcend<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 41: Transcend</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Track 11 of <strong><em>Widetrack III</em></strong> may be considered as a "love song" of sorts... The only one we've done thus far...<br><br>Sometimes it's incredibly difficult to let go and be vulnerable with another person... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As author <a contents="Stephen Covey" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey" target="_blank">Stephen Covey</a> said in his fantastic book, <a contents="The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People" style="" target="_blank"><strong><em>The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People</em></strong></a>:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><em>"Independence is a major achievement in and of itself. But independence is not supreme. Nevertheless, the current social paradigm enthrones independence. It is the avowed goal of many individuals and social movements. Most of the self-improvement material puts independence on a pedestal, as though communication, teamwork, and cooperation were lesser values."</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Communication... Teamwork... Cooperation... Getting out of our own way...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">That's where the good stuff is...</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/140f6eb0fb26c7a4bbe39ede29d50e79dd6c6e45/large/abstract-highway-speed.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Transcend </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Time has stopped<br>And I don't mind what else is </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">The window's arrived </span></strong><strong><span class="font_xl">again now </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Beyond the moments </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Where our former lives </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Have held us </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The world outside this shelter </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">So quiet and distant </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Your knowing eyes </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">To lift us </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">From my resistance </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">And now<br>There's something I </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Have failed too long at </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">That still longs to rise </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Above this</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Transcend the limits </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Of this opening </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Between us </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The world outside<br>this shelter </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">So quiet and distant </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Your knowing eyes </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">To lift us </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">From my resistance </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">To share a life<br>Like in our windows </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Rising from our time </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Wishing </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Fade to white<br>From my </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Cold, dark resistance </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Hold to my surrender </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">I know your mind </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">I won't forget </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">So hard to find this<br>So hard to find this </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Fade to white<br>From our guilt</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b1b6c22286dda68a8a33c9be7cf712f53aee536e/large/lovers-on-the-sun-arnoldrossa-port.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/50152722018-01-13T16:31:48-05:002018-01-13T16:40:00-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 40: Life Force<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 40: Life Force</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Track 10 of <strong><em>Widetrack III</em></strong>... We're almost through all the lyrics on the new album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the spirit of a song like <a contents="Say the Words" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWGt5Qnmzu4" target="_blank">Say the Words</a> from <a contents="the debut Widetrack CD" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">the debut Widetrack CD</a>, this one has a message of encouragement...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the more positive songs I've written... It came at a pivotal moment in recent times when I realized that I needed to make some hard changes if I was ever going to live a happy life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This world can beat you down... A sad many of us choose to become hardened and close ourselves off to the amazing possibilities that require us to be vulnerable and open to the great unknown... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We have to be strong and just keep going...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/feb198dbe5b489098634a7ea00565639c2a6a402/large/2017-09-17-019.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Life Force </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">This world spares no one </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">All will mourn their loss </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Some fight for their hearts still</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Save the talk of our<br>Life's untold windfall </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">And set the focus on results </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Flesh and bone<br>Will too soon give way to dust </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">This breath holds all our bliss </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Save the talk of our<br>Life's untold windfall<br>And set the focus on results </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Waste no more tears<br>Time waits for no man </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Solve this </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Life is calling<br>Face your moment </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Sink or soar </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Save the talk of our<br>Life's untold windfall </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">And set the focus on results </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Waste no more tears<br>Time waits for no man </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">Solve this</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5ea50083d4f58568aefb5b28171d73ad5bb62375/large/5.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/50052902018-01-09T16:32:37-05:002018-01-09T16:45:41-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 39: Hindsight<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 29: Hindsight</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is one of the newest songs we've written... can't wait for you to hear the music (soon, I promise!)... There is a breakdown section in the middle of this song that is unlike anything we've ever done...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As far as the setting of this one, imagine it's late at night and you're driving through a vast distance of desolate highway, recollections playing over in your mind... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Regrets and their lessons taking hold... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Perspective beginning to awaken... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The realization that you know what you need to do...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Is it too late?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/63b4b8f5036df7f65e79d82a4b5ddb966e21911d/large/2016-lonelyhighway.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Hindsight </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Drive<br>Straight into morning </span><br><span class="font_xl">Cold, dark tears </span><br><span class="font_xl">Falling </span><br><span class="font_xl">Hopeless in knowing </span><br><span class="font_xl">It’s all I feared </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">You said we’re almost there<br>It’s clear you will not arrive </span><br><span class="font_xl">In time </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Still<br>Onward through nowhere </span><br><span class="font_xl">Known I’ve been </span><br><span class="font_xl">Parted for good and all? </span><br><span class="font_xl">It’s out of my hands </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The threat of our own lives<br>Is where it all went awry </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">~The circle ends~ </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">No other exit<br>Progress or die </span><br><span class="font_xl">No other exit </span><br><span class="font_xl">The fault is mine </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">(BREAK) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">No other exit<br>Progress or die </span><br><span class="font_xl">No other exit </span><br><span class="font_xl">The fault is mine </span><br><span class="font_xl">No other exit </span><br><span class="font_xl">Progress or...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fb1cae11c9254fa9c7913990ef5b5253c531cac3/large/1930-01-07-014.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49989562018-01-03T01:13:30-05:002018-01-03T01:22:27-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 38: 2017 in Review<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 38: 2017 in Review</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron from Widetrack here... Happy New Year! Hope yours was fantastic!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">2017 was a pivotal year for us... Definitely our best yet!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here's a timeline of our highlights...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">JANUARY</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">Zach begins playing bass and joins the band! </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This changed everything... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/83bdbc3815b6613b99663f33ffd2520510a7f405/large/wovg6704.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></em></strong><br><br><strong><span class="font_large">FEBRUARY</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">Basic tracking for the new album complete!</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The basic tracks for the album have been recorded, and once again our trusty "Musical Handyman", <a contents="Andy Patalan" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://andypatalan.com/" target="_blank">Andy Patalan</a>, begins mixing our new album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cf0bff54472f03f841ef517d98878623907dd55/large/img-9776.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><br><strong><span class="font_large">MARCH</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><em>Zach's first show on my birthday at Brian's house!</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">What a blast this night was! Our first house concert... Zach did a great job! I opened the show with a short acoustic set featuring songs from the first two Widetrack albums, then Brian and Zach joined me for our first-ever performance of <strong><em>Widetrack III</em></strong> in its entirety... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We still had yet to find the right guy to play the drum parts I recorded for the album, so we ended up playing along with my recorded tracks... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A far cry from playing with a real drummer, but that problem would soon be fixed...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8a77319f39cef22407a34d6fc2c504144c112f57/large/img-3484.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><br><br><span class="font_large"><strong>APRIL</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>Zach's first recording session!</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Just two months into playing bass, Zach's abilities are already sharp enough to begin replacing my initial bass parts for the new album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ad6abecbaec099cdbd55fcb22237087416a6ce05/large/photo-4-3-29-h-11-09-03-pm.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">MAY </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><em>Ron and Zach begin "Influences", their weekly YouTube series!</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Zach and I decide to geek out on our favorite bands each week... We plan on eventually getting into featuring lesser-known bands and musicians we love... More to come in 2018!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a47ccyUEuGM" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">JUNE</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Zach finally gets to see TOOL live in concert!</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The anticipation for this one had been building up ever since Zach first got into them… As usual, they certainly didn’t disappoint! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5f41bf7736059e9c27e69675c313d85da765ce29/large/tool.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><br><strong><span class="font_large">JULY</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>We finally find our drummer! </strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The lineup is finally complete with the addition of 20 year-old Isaac Parsons! The youthful vitality of our rhythm section is a force to be reckoned with... Get ready!!! ;)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d39a3ab00d5a22ba128b976e9770a7588ee471a1/large/2017-08-08-002.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">AUGUST</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">Ron and Brian get a high dose of inspiration from seeing Roger Waters live in concert! </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Some good conversations about the kind of live show we'd like to present to the world followed seeing this show...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4034768c4164eb8120848af59a8c02225f953a45/large/roger.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">SEPTEMBER</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"> Zach begins playing in The Vintage! </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In just a few short months, Zach begins playing cover gigs with me at my "day job"... This will help <em>immensely</em> in terms of preparing him to tour with Widetrack when the time comes...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3cbe034052ab0d85755a6af2160cc1f5b5ac24ab/large/2017-09-27-006.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">OCTOBER</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"> Zach's first Queens Of The Stone Age concert!</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Another one of our all-time favorite bands... Needless to say, we had a <em>BLAST</em>!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6fcca9fb541b32788a955c2b98cd410af5d9626b/large/2017-10-17-064.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_large">NOVEMBER</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">And another great concert... A Perfect Circle live in Detroit!</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Due to the band's strict policy, these were the best photos I got of the night... Still, wow... what an <em>AMAZING</em> show!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f15754ee32a3a55cfbf00c118079a1cdd934eae3/large/2029-11-21-002.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/698aa83d1147fa420b8a3238622daa863a30ec3f/large/2017-11-21-015.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">DECEMBER</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">The new album is mixed and coming your way soon!</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Between Andy's heavy recording/touring schedule and our various life responsibilities outside of Widetrack, getting the album mixed took most of 2017... but we hope that when you finally hear it <em>(soon... I promise!)</em>, you will find that it was worth it! :)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/168b5d84ff97b76f7d5b6bafdbb1effd8532849e/large/2029-12-21-041.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5a7c319d66474a0975bf2559c8ee326ac867ee01/large/2017-07-10-mon-8.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here's to looking at 2018 being the year we break out of the cocoon... Thanks for all your support as we embark upon this journey... <strong><em>The best is yet to come!</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><strong><span class="font_large">Ron</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b73faacacf674e683cf921590aa17d3e76accf67/large/2029-12-24-001.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond:<br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49847812017-12-27T19:47:31-05:002017-12-27T20:03:43-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 37: Ghosts<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 37: Ghosts</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Have you ever felt you'd been wronged and there was nothing you could do about it? </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">That the one(s) who wronged you have no remorse whatsoever...</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">You imagine their self-satisfaction and seethe at the thought of them living a happy life while you suffer...</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Maybe you share in the blame, but just can't get to a place of clear perspective...?</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">If any of the above strikes a nerve, this one might be for you... </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2e229a24540f403afb7e9d014a528c8e825a5ec0/medium/2017-12-12-029.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Ghosts </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Don't try defending this </span><br><span class="font_xl">All your whys are known </span><br><span class="font_xl">It's how you failed </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">By your hand </span><br><span class="font_xl">Discarded </span><br><span class="font_xl">All that was sought </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">No fix for what you've done </span><br><span class="font_xl">Time won't fail to mark </span><br><span class="font_xl">This as your end </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Now in death </span><br><span class="font_xl">You fall in kind with </span><br><span class="font_xl">Them all </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Long and longer </span><br><span class="font_xl">So long </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Still </span><br><span class="font_xl">Long gone </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">(BREAK) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">No change since you left </span><br><span class="font_xl">All contact still broken </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">No shame for how you did this </span><br><span class="font_xl">Your true face revealed now </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">One final moment to grieve this </span><br><span class="font_xl">Our battle now faced alone </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Sold </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/adecf20514a9fc98691df8ff6294f90a3221bc5f/large/widetrack-hayloft1.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: <br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49740102017-12-12T17:21:19-05:002017-12-15T13:00:15-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 36: Loveless<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 36: Loveless</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Track 6 from the new Widetrack album is called <strong><em>Loveless</em></strong>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The music to this one is a bit haunting... Pretty dark stuff, actually... But (hopefully) seductively so...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As I said before, this is a concept album of sorts, inspired by tales of people I've known who've gone through breakups and divorces...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Some were amicable... others... Not so much...<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/38bc07065a1303a729eb9f045a18d0c60d17169c/large/maxresdefault-1.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Loveless </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">It’s been a while </span><br><span class="font_xl">Since I felt </span><br><span class="font_xl">Safe enough to talk like this </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Tell me now<br>Your heart longs </span><br><span class="font_xl">To be purged of </span><span class="font_xl">your darkest tears </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">It’s time for our talk </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Don’t be scared<br>I won't start </span><br><span class="font_xl">Anything till you've spoken </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Show the face<br>You hide so well </span><br><span class="font_xl">The one you can be </span><span class="font_xl">your true self </span><span class="font_xl">with </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">It’s time for our talk, love<br>To fill up with </span><br><span class="font_xl">Something </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">In your gaze<br>There’s no warmth </span><br><span class="font_xl">And there is no sign of us </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">All that we find </span><br><span class="font_xl">Is the same road </span><br><span class="font_xl">Nowhere </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And I don’t feel so bad, dear<br>And I don’t feel so sad </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">I could lie<br>And say I'm wrong </span><br><span class="font_xl">Thinking how you might take this </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">But just be still<br>And mind your mouth </span><br><span class="font_xl">The worst of it will be over </span><br><span class="font_xl">Soon </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">It’s time for our talk, love<br>To fill up with </span><br><span class="font_xl">Something </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">In your gaze<br>There’s no warmth </span><br><span class="font_xl">And there is no sign of us </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">All that we find<br>Is the same road </span><br><span class="font_xl">Suddenly gives </span><br><span class="font_xl">To our shadows </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Brought to light </span><br><span class="font_xl">Doomed</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6e74b8f0ee4037a49bd155d988cefadb7b1d25b5/large/26737829605-238159b25a-b.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond:<br><a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you:<br><a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel:<br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter:<br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram:<br>https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/05f584ec9c17f1e04f3d9b6bbb3c1d72dceb05b8/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49468802017-12-07T15:06:05-05:002018-03-27T19:54:19-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 35: The Other<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 35: The Other</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This brings us to track 5... <em><strong>The Other</strong></em>...</span><span class="font_large"> A song of deep-rooted fury...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Have you ever been in a relationship that seemed perfect, but then out of nowhere, some kind of switch gets triggered, and the next thing you know, a stranger emerges from the shadows of your psyche?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Nah, me either... lol</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/9510f00f1a646ce5031a14a62f946bf34dc2393f/large/2017-09-02-002c.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">The Other</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Dormant thoughts<br>Locked down now for years<br>Have awakened<br>From their silence</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Covered in blood<br>Genocidal<br>Recounting statements<br>That you've forgotten</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And now you come<br>To be forgiven<br>For those days that<br>You were not here</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And I could try<br>To ignore my fears<br>But that won't help<br>If you fight like this</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Careful, dear<br>There's no why here</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">(break)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And I could try<br>To ignore my fears<br>But that won't help<br>If you fight like this</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Careful...<br>Careful...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Careful, dear<br>There's no why here<br>Careful<br>Don't stay<br>Don't stay, long</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2b524db324d0827a840a032e699ac1c8249cee75/large/eyes-on-fire.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49467132017-11-30T16:22:23-05:002017-12-02T16:59:41-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 34: Unknown<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 34: Unknown</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Track 4 from the new album, </span><strong><span class="font_large"><em>Widetrack III </em></span></strong><span class="font_large">is one that we are very excited for you to hear... We think you will be really surprised with this one...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Without giving too much away and interfering with your own personal interpretation of the lyrics, let me just say that this one has an element of bitter longing to it...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is the point in the album when things start to go dark...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4579338a089bf3032cd365ea1187eeb9d9b5c813/large/2029-11-24-034.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Unknown</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">This dark life unknown<br>Could break my will<br>And time is cut too close<br>To know when</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">A night like all the rest<br>You won't stay long</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_xl">Fight the thoughts forming<br>Hold on</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Dig down from this hole<br>Through grave heights lived<br>And bargain for enough<br>To build on</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Another month and yet<br>We're still unknown</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_xl">Fight the thoughts forming<br>Hold on<br>All in<br>Or not</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And now you're gone again<br>Away from us<br>To dine with all of them<br>While I'm alone<br>With my thoughts</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/79eafb99a300c82f08e0185f69b1e26fe9a5e097/large/total-solar-elipse-diamondring.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a><br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49267462017-11-23T20:57:59-05:002021-02-02T13:35:34-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 33: Gift<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/original/widetrack-1.png" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /><br><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 33: Gift</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><font>Track 3 from the forthcoming third album is a song you may or may not be familiar with... </font></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><font>We completed this one a few months back... The first single from <em><strong>Widetrack III</strong></em>... </font></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LjVz5cpNzBg" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The lyrics are in the video, but we'll post them here also...</span><br><br><span class="font_xl">Gift</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">So nice<br>The two of us here<br>Zoned off away from our cares<br>All odds against our new gift<br>Shared</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Something calls to our fiction<br>Something comes to life here</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">No one can know of this<br>Owned by the cost of our path<br>How long to walk in darkened bliss</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Something calls to our fiction<br>Something calls to our shared terror<br>Save us from<br>Us</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">(break)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Something calls to our fiction<br>Somethings calls to our shared terror<br>The way home<br>Calls to our shared terror<br>Save us from <br>Us</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/71ceb52f3ddd75797401fb26743b79fded59bd68/large/2013-03-17-087.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Would love to hear your thoughts on this one... Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/02c0bd69b0c658262b94d845a5c371682753678b/large/widetrack.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49251792017-11-15T16:20:10-05:002017-11-15T16:20:10-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 32: Zero Hour<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 32: Zero Hour</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As stated in <a contents="the last blog" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-31-2c47737a-0fd2-44e2-83a4-3c5903911e2f" target="_blank">the last blog</a>, we are getting close to having the new album completed and have decided to give you a sneak peek at the lyrics for the songs...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Track 2 from <em><strong>Widetrack III</strong></em> is called <strong><em>Zero Hour</em></strong>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Like a number of Widetrack songs, this one has a bit of a darkness about it...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Would love to hear your thoughts once you've had a chance to take it in... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Incidentally, we are looking for artwork, photos, images, etc. to add to the lyric videos of these in the near future, so if you have anything you think might fit to any of these lyrics we post, feel free to send it over... ;)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="font_large"><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/87b867ef5ac334ad76f378c9ca58821f209ad0a8/large/img-2461.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></em></span><br><span class="font_xl">Zero Hour</span></b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>Night falls on this vacant home<br>Cold and dark</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>Cries<br>Mourning something<br>More than why</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>Try not to get so lost in<br>Thoughts of fault</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>Pride<br>Holding something<br>More than all-out war</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>No plan<br>A long way to fall back</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>What is enough to wake yourself from this?<br>What is enough to break this spell of dread?</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>Just hold on for<br>One more long month<br>Or more</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>Life<br>Holding something<br>More than all that was</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>No guilt<br>No more talk</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>What is enough to wake yourself from this?<br>What is enough to break this spell of dread?</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><b>And all the long nights I've spent<br>Embittered in my own tears<br>Just tell me it's still worth it</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e65473bacb60e321a9ef1b90489ab0e45a9057a1/large/desolated.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a> <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><br><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://paypal.me/Widetrack" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6c504b34c44891b6f3a931c1e0c5a39ecb4a587a/large/widetrack-2.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/49229882017-11-07T20:59:57-05:002017-11-07T21:13:14-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 31: Burning the Sun<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 31 </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Widetrack III lyrics (part 1: Burning the Sun)</span></strong><br><br><span class="font_large"><font>Ron from Widetrack here...</font></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><font>As we near completion of</font> <strong><em>Widetrack III</em></strong>, I thought it might be time to give you some deeper insight as to its overall themes and influence...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As stated in a previous blog, this is our first "concept album"...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After the second album was released and we'd played a number of shows to promote it - including a slot at the 2009 Voodoo Music Experience (AKA "Voodoofest") in New Orleans - song ideas began to emerge for the next one...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5e8a07dc77534094de5741cbe1e088ebacd39f23/large/voodoo.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">Meanwhile, my 10-year marriage was coming to an end...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All at once, I started down the rabbit hole of divorce in the modern age...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I leaned on friends for support, only to find that an alarming number of them were going through their own divorces...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Helping one another cope and understand where things went wrong in each of our particular situations was a true blessing... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It really made a difference to my well being, having the opportunity to be there for friends who were hurting, as they were for me when I was at my lowest...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Eventually, many of our stories ending up inspiring the lyrics of the third album...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">There are bits of many different people in these songs... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">These stories began to form a narrative that runs throughout the album... A tale of two people and their journey towards the darkness and back into the light...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But for now, in the interest of allowing you to read your own experience into the songs, I will just post the lyrics and leave the explanations up to your personal interpretations...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Would love to hear your feedback of what they mean to you, though...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As always, thanks for reading, my friend... :)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/29e1a3353cb322d257f36b28b33d561921a61a53/large/pentopaper.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>Burning the Sun</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Still online<br>The vital time we hold<br>Signing off from life<br>To find the open road</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">It must end</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Burning the sun<br>On the lam<br>The soul that flies</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Far outside<br>The fates we've broken with<br>All we are so longs<br>To finally begin</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">It must end</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Burning the sun<br>On the lam<br>And the soul that flies<br>Is on the lam<br>Burning the sun</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">The last run<br>Before the darkness descends</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Seasons cycling<br>Through one constant frame<br>Only vices left<br>To relieve your wait</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Demons on your back</span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_large">Feeding off your faith<br>K</span></strong><strong><span class="font_large">nowing not for certain<br>If its real or feigned</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Feeling all the while<br>Nothing's bound to change<br>Knowing something more<br>is somewhere</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Burning the sun<br>On the lam<br>And the soul that flies<br>Is on the lam<br>Burning the sun</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">The last run<br>Before the darkness descends</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/40444ebf6bf9e832b2c63b43eb53b28f72754d97/large/2010-janstorm2.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack </a><br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband <br> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/48954182017-10-25T22:06:55-04:002017-10-31T03:23:31-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 30: Partners<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 30: Partners</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday." </span></strong></em><br><br><span class="font_large">When I started Widetrack back in 2006, I was just another musician writing songs, looking for the right musicians to collaborate with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Up to that point, I had experienced some amazing musical highlights throughout the years - writing, performing and recording with various bands - but only as a drummer who sometimes sang when the groups I was in couldn't find a singer...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/7d6b0655ed114b975b549c701d88d72ed7796598/large/ron-singing-at-red-dog-saloon.jpg?1508613545" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">But all the while, I was writing songs... I wrote and wrote and wrote... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In hindsight, so much of what I wrote was absolutely terrible... But back then, it didn't matter... I loved the process of bringing my ideas to fruition... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Still, I rarely played my ideas for anyone... I just didn't feel they were "worthy" of being heard... I guess that sort of makes sense - I did have a long way to go as a songwriter (I'm sure I always will, though, lol)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Having a creative partner to collaborate with would have been a great asset... But at the time, that person was nowhere to be found...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So I kept the wise words of <a contents="John Wooden" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden" target="_blank">John Wooden</a> as my mantra of inspiration: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"Do not let what you can't do interfere with what you can do."</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And I just kept telling myself, "Keep going... Don't stop, no matter what..."</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then, in April 2004, I became a father for the first and only time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5f042fcde35b2d6054ddf5be7680e94b7a5c12a8/large/zachary-james-tippin-2004-04-23-birth-pics-038.jpg?1508618312" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">Instantly, my priorities in life dramatically shifted... Being a good dad was the #1 focus from that point on...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Not long after, my own father got sick with a rare and deadly form of cancer, and by January 2006, he was gone...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I decided it was time to stop feeling "unworthy" of releasing my own music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Life is just too short and too precious a thing to waste on self-doubt and regret...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So I booked studio time and began recording the first Widetrack CD...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And in March 2007, the first 1000 debut Widetrack CDs were delivered to my door...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1135515b530c0f6377c280b50fa5e2173989bcb2/original/img-9579.jpg?1491073519" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">As Zach grew, I continued writing and playing... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">By the end of 2009, I had released the second Widetrack CD...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All the while, Zach never really showed much interest in playing music... He was busy being a kid... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">That was just fine with me... I resisted the idea of steering him towards playing a musical instrument... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I didn't want to be one of those parents who tried to relive their youthful dreams vicariously through their offspring...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But then just before turning 13, Zach came to me and said he wanted to get a bass for his birthday... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I was taken by surprise, to be honest... But he was quite persuasive...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So we went to our favorite music store, Motor City Guitar... He tried out a few basses and found <em>the</em> one...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/83bdbc3815b6613b99663f33ffd2520510a7f405/large/wovg6704.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After a couple weeks, it was apparent that he was hooked... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He played and played, learning from the greats: Tool, Rush, Yes, Queens Of The Stone Age, etc., etc...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Before long, we were discussing him joining Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Not long after that, he was playing his first-ever gig with the band on my birthday last March...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8a77319f39cef22407a34d6fc2c504144c112f57/large/img-3484.jpg?1490746494" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">After the house concert show, he recorded all the bass tracks for the new album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">During which time, we started a weekly music discussion show called "Influences" on <a contents="our YouTube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9v92pDo65Ply0zc9Z-7Vg?view_as=subscriber" target="_blank">our YouTube channel</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EkG6w-4cAW4" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As of late, in addition to being a member of Widetrack, Zach has begun playing gigs with my cover band, <a contents="The Vintage" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://thevintagerocks.com/" target="_blank">The Vintage</a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">His rate of progress as a musician has been <strong><em>insane</em></strong>... Much quicker than I was able to pick up on stuff when I first started playing...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, we have agreed to become partners in our musical aspirations, and are in the process of planning out some exciting things for the future...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/0747922acc0d223d0903c69371fdc9b87b48d41c/large/2017-09-05-002.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">Basically, what we're looking to do is begin this journey with finishing the Widetrack album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To fund this, we will be continue playing cover gigs with <a contents="The Vintage" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://thevintagerocks.com/" target="_blank">The Vintage</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once the album is finished, we will be setting out to get our music heard by as many people who connect with it as possible... Live shows, house concerts, meet-and-greets, radio spots, </span><span class="font_large">Internet/social media correspondence, etc. etc...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Hopefully, with enough consistent hard work and a little luck, we will be able to earn the ability to have Widetrack be the way we make the bulk of our living... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This would allow us to continue doing it on the level we desire, which would enable us to continue writing, recording, releasing and performing music on a first-priority regular basis...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Eventually, we plan on building our own studio/rehearsal/lesson facility where we can be our own "record label" and begin developing other artists, from starting them with lessons, to helping them write, release and promote their music to the world... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Throughout most of my life, music has opened up so many wonderful doors for me, personally speaking...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Connecting with kindred spirits though the songs I write has been one of my life's greatest joys, and h</span><span class="font_large">elping others achieve their musical aspirations has always given me a deep sense of purpose...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To be partnered with my son in these endeavors is an absolute dream come true...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I feel this is what my whole life has been leading to...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Onward...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e0551198e5820fc31153d7d70561ec8707247a5e/large/img-6009.jpg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@Widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@Widetrackmusic.com</a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you'd like to join our exclusive Facebook group, we'd love to have you: <a contents="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Facebook.com/groups/widetrackband</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_xl"><em>Other links:</em></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/widetrack</a></span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">@Widetrackband</span><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband" target="_blank"><span class="font_xl">https://www.instagram.com/widetrackband</span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/48678642017-09-28T15:32:34-04:002017-09-28T15:43:25-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 29: Update (2017-09-28-Thur)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 29: Update (as of 2017-09-26-Thur) </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">Ron here... Hope you had a wonderful summer!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Autumn has arrived... Hard to believe it's been 6 months since the house concert we put on which marked <a contents="Zach's" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-23" target="_blank">Zach's</a> <a contents="first-ever live performance, debuting as our bassist..." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-18-zach-s-first-show" target="_blank">first-ever live performance, debuting as our bassist...</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8a77319f39cef22407a34d6fc2c504144c112f57/large/img-3484.jpg?1490746494" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />So much has happened since then... Thought it might be time for an update...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As previously stated, we are in the final mixing stages of the new album with veteran musician/producer/engineer <a contents="Andy Patalan" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-18-zach-s-first-show" target="_blank">Andy Patalan</a>, who also happens to be one of the guitarists in the '90s rock band, <a contents="Sponge" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_(band)" target="_blank">Sponge</a>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Andy is a super-busy guy (rightly so!)... therefore, scheduling has been challenging at times... We get in the studio when we can and make the most out of it with the windows of time we can grab... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the results are always <em>SO</em> worth it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In any case, we are determined to have the album finished by the end of the year... Hopefully things line up schedule-wise to where this can happen...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This will be the third Widetrack album I've done with Andy, and he just keeps getting better and better at his craft of recording and mixing bands... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here are a few samples of some of the nearly-finished songs... As you can hear, there is a new heaviness to the music only hinted at on the previous albums...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zqrvQ-Al0b0" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Meanwhile, the band has been rehearsing the material and working the young rhythm section, <a contents="Zach" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-23" target="_blank">Zach</a> (13) and <a contents="Isaac" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-17-widetrack-iii-part-2" target="_blank">Isaac</a> (19)... Playing in a band with young people like this is a whole new approach for Brian and myself, but strangely enough, the chemistry between the four of us has thus far been wonderful... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I never imagined I would be in a band with my son, so this is like a dream come true, personally speaking... And watching him fall hopelessly in love with music has been such a cool thing... All he wants to do is listen to great bands, play and continue evolving as a musician... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Isaac is committed to his continued growth as well... <a contents="His YouTube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuPOj4ZItfgLtYKm6YFpNXw" target="_blank">His YouTube channel</a> features videos of him drumming to some really good songs, and he just keeps getting better and better... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;">Having a couple of under-21-year-olds in the group may prove to present its complications and occasional limitations in terms of the types of venues we can play, but we are approaching it all with a "let's make this work for us, rather than against us" attitude...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/b7763e53fc78a6cdaf2e5bc70b361e16d6c47425/large/2017-08-08-002.jpg?1506552824" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Throughout the years, Brian and I have each done our fair share of gigs that lead nowhere... At this stage of our careers, we know there will still be dues to pay, but that doesn't mean we can't map this out in a slightly different way from what a lot of other bands are doing... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For instance, one of the things we've been talking about is setting up a house concert tour once the album is released... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The idea would be to reach out to people in our fanbase to see who might be interested in hosting all-ages shows in their homes or venues in their towns... Perhaps with other young local bands from their areas... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This could be a really cool thing if we do it right, don't you think?</span><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/4d90e02df032b6d5e74b0a3d2a3309f8d72b6faf/large/2017-08-30-035.jpg?1506558930" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, that is something we'll be looking at for sometime around spring 2018... In the meantime, feel free to message over any feedback, ideas you may have for this... We could definitely use some help getting this off the ground... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In other news, Zach and I have been faithfully putting out new episodes of <a contents='"Influences"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" target="_blank">"Influences"</a> each week on <a contents="our YouTube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">our YouTube channel</a>... We plan on getting into some local-level bands, authors, filmmakers, etc. at some point in the near future, so keep an eye open for that... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And last but not least, if you're on Facebook and haven't joined our private group over there, we'd like to welcome you to do so... We usually post daily, so it's a good way to keep connected on a more regular basis... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="*Official Secret Widetrack Facebook Group*&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank"><span class="font_large">*Official Secret Widetrack Facebook Group* </span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">OK, that's it for now... Feel free to shoot over a hello when you get a chance, let me know how you're doing... Always love hearing from you... :) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/3f49d07df306d353779ad6c54d45d92e3c78954f/large/2017-07-31-2017-07-31-018.jpg?1506548616" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47929752017-09-19T16:23:46-04:002017-09-20T22:05:07-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 28: Bright Spots<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 28: Bright Spots</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"Ceaseless change is an unreliable basis for lasting fulfillment. Realizing this, many people begin to wonder whether a deeper source of well-being exists. Is there a form of happiness beyond the mere repetition of pleasure and avoidance of pain? Is there a happiness that does not depend upon having one’s favorite foods available, or friends and loved ones within arm’s reach, or good books to read, or something to look forward to on the weekend? Is it possible to be happy *before* anything happens, before one’s desires are gratified, in spite of life’s difficulties, in the very midst of physical pain, old age, disease, and death?" -Sam Harris</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">My grandmother, Loma Darling Tippin, was such an inspiration to me... She endured so much heartache in her 92 years... Grew up during the Great Depression... Lost her brother and father before she turned 10... Lost her first-born son when he was 27... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Throughout the next few decades, she lost her siblings, her husband... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And then my dad when he was 57... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">If anyone ever had a reason to give up on being positive, it was this woman... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And yet, life never broke her... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">No matter how much she might be suffering, anytime I'd ask her how she was doing, she always replied, "Just dandy, Ron; the only way to be!"</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">She was my hero. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e74a09e8be488fa627a14b3bd3ab03b44fcc07c7/large/1517621-10204186147588300-8584498478789983755-n.jpg?1501096909" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />I think of her often... We were very close and had many conversations which taught me some vital lessons about living a good life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Of course, she was just talking about her experiences, rarely "preaching"... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But her words have sure stuck with me...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">My son never got to know my dad, but he had a wonderful bond with his Great-Grandma Tippin... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I will be eternally grateful that she was able to give him her love and influence...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">She is deeply missed... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2b454b50b55a1eb793cc0c72ddeaa73308ced554/large/2012-08-08-247.jpg?1505851559" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />In recent times, I've been dealing with some personal crises and such, trying to ward off the demons that life can sometimes bring... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It seems that, just as soon as I start making some progress, something happens to derail everything, and I find myself set back all over again...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I've started to realize that maybe this is the way it might always be...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So, I have been focusing on the "bright spots" in my life and accepting things as they come, rather than how I "need" it to be in order to feel happy... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is an extremely difficult thing for a person like myself to put into practice... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But I am trying...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1bd12a14c17a9145ee2df1683ba8516e41c097c3/large/2017-09-10-022.jpg?1505852250" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Music has always been there for me... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">No matter how bad things have ever gotten, it's been my rock (so to speak, lol)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I've finally got three other people that I feel extremely excited about to play with... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of them is my 13 year-old son who is absolutely <em>killing it</em> on the bass... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We're making significant progress on the making of the new album... The songs are turning out far better than we expected... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The progression continues, and I couldn't be more optimistic in this regard... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And then there's <strong><em>YOU</em></strong>... The people I've been connecting with through this musical adventure... which is equally what it's about for me, personally speaking... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To know that there are others who "get" a side of life I've always been drawn to... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I look around at this world and I see a lot of pain and wrongness... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Some days it can be really difficult to muster up the optimism needed to keep moving forward...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the bright spots are there, one just needs to stay committed to seeking them out... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">Wishing you happiness and laughter, my friends...</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/59724658a9897afcaeb609353ebc2363607848f1/large/2017-08-03-003.jpg?1502327476" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"> Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/48303412017-08-31T17:42:25-04:002017-09-08T02:07:26-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 27: An Alternative Mythology<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 27: An Alternative Mythology</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"Many artists are addicts, and vice versa. Many are artists in one breath and addicts in another. What's the difference? The addict is the amateur; the artist is the professional. Both addict and artist are dealing with the same material, which is the pain of being human and the struggle against self-sabotage. But the addict/ amateur and the artist/ professional deal with these elements in fundamentally different ways." -Steven Pressfield ('Turning Pro')</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Sex, drugs & rock and roll.... A timeless cliche, to be sure... Rock music was meant to be fun and rebellious... Dangerous, even... <em>"Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse"...</em> The entertainment factor of this fantasy cannot be overstated or underestimated... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The self-destructive, decadent rockstar is one of music history's most enduring archetypes... Jim Morrison... Keith Richards... John Bonham... Scott Weiland... Sid Vicious... Keith Moon... Bon Scott... The list goes on and on... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To be sure, I was always attracted to such allures... The wreckless abandon of youthful exuberance... The unapologetic stance against repressive political correctness... The rebelliousness of sticking a middle finger up to "The Man"...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d38cd1b3c86a1712295243709116de17af1cf21d/large/finger.jpg?1504125901" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Indeed, there have been times when I took this mentality too far and had to learn the hard way... I've had my close calls and brushes with the law... I've bought into the mythology of rock a time or two...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We each exorcise our demons in our own ways... Some destructively, some constructively...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Personally speaking, what's been my salvation more than anything, is that I was always drawn by the allure of being a great <em>player</em>... I lived, ate and breathed artists like Rush, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, etc... Bands that, yes, definitely had their gimmicks, controversies and over-the-top images… But first and foremost, the musicians in these groups were skilled <em>craftsmen</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To learn the drumming, guitar and vocal parts of my favorite songs was true empowerment... You want to feel cool as a teenager? Bust out the drum beat to Led Zeppelin's <a contents="The Crunge" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7UpbD0toBI" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Crunge</em></strong></a>, a blood-curdling Bon Scott scream, or any Geddy Lee bass line... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">No feeling like it in the world... I was hopelessly hooked... And having this anchor steered me clear of a lot of trouble during my youth...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Years later, I found another productive outlet for immersing myself in the rockstar mythology by putting together various tribute bands to play in... This was tons of fun, and quite challenging... My friends and I would play an annual Halloween party where each year we'd perform a different tribute band for a rowdy crowd of screaming partiers... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We kicked off the first one as KISS... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e470d715ac8d0f8cb7ee32559fdc9b174c1279d8/original/tribute-kiss-halloween-1998-2.jpg?1504055000" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The next year, we went as Black Sabbath...</span><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e9bdc30497be2beceea480c7b3b2095f7a2f0172/original/0-electric-church-the-ultimate-black-sabbath-tribute-no-info.jpg?1504055096" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">Then it was Van Halen... (no photos available, unfortunately...)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><br><span class="font_large">The last year we played, we went as AC/DC...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PWohVm0NhTE" width="560"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A couple years later, I saw that there was going to be a Led Zeppelin convention called "Zepfest", to be held in Niagara Falls, New York... I called the arranger of the event and he agreed to let my friends and I play the opening night... We went as <strong><em>"Electric Magic: A Tribute to the Music of Led Zeppelin"</em></strong>... We modeled the band after Jimmy Page's stint with the Black Crowes, going as a five-piece and opting to forgo the costumes... <em>What a blast that weekend was...</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f079636cbffb94b8338c2fe527ddcb6beb1bb593/original/0117-electric-magic.jpg?1504055989" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_large">During this time, I was living in Georgia and was also doing shows with the last tribute band I ever took part in... This one was the grandaddy of them all: KISSTORY...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/64634b02bc64dff97cc7aab18798be8b373b557f/original/0-kisstory-new-collage-with-logo.jpg?1504056376" class="size_l justify_center border_" />KISSTORY made the earlier KISS cover band look like a joke... This was the real deal... a top-level production tribute band... We played all over the southwest, and even did a tour of Nova Scotia in 2005...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/soXKlmBYgY0" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">By mid-2005, I had grown weary of tribute bands and longed to write, record and perform my own music... But in hindsight, I see now that the time I had spent in all these different roles was well spent... It was a fantastic opportunity to learn the often difficult musical parts of some of rock's best...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It was also a great outlet to play the "rockstar" role with a healthier, less potentially tragic, approach... I could immerse myself in the dark fantasy of it all without the consequences that come with living that hard life in reality...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As much as ever, there seems to be an increasing number of rockers taking the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle far too seriously... The music has become secondary; practically an afterthought... It's almost as if a band isn't as valid if they aren't becoming liabilities to themselves and everyone else around them... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Is this the way rock and roll is supposed to be put out there? Some say yes...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But personally speaking, we reject this mentality... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To our band, this is not a race; it's a marathon... In our opinion, there is nothing romantic or cool about being burned out from addiction and hard living by the time you're 50... The truest, most vital musicians are able to keep their demons at bay and not become their own worst enemies... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Paul McCartney is in his seventies and still rocking his ass off... He's always separated himself from the destructive extremes of "extracurricular rock activities"... He's maintained a reasonably healthy lifestyle... All throughout his illustrious career, the music always came first...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fb37ac314e8fd05a4e9a12326661167102ab3460/large/maxresdefault.jpg?1504122439" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Bands like Rush, Yes, King Crimson, Radiohead, etc. had long, successful careers together, focused solely on their work... No drama... No breakups... No controversies... No tragedies or O.D.s... They consistently focused on writing, recording and performing their music...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Even Keith Richards himself said that when his addiction was at its worst, he realized it was compromising the Stones' music, and that would not do... So he cleaned up for the sake of his work...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The mythology is just that: a myth... Sure, it's fun and entertaining... but a true professional just can't be at his/her best living in the shadow of vices and addictions... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">There are far better ways to be a cool, vital artist, in my opinion...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Playing in this band with my 13 year-old son has presented me with the opportunity to make Widetrack about the work more than ever... And the energy that this has unlocked is attracting positive things... </span><span class="font_large">Everyone is energized by the excitement of what's possible with this team... There simply isn't room or the desire for self-destructive forces...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We've made a commitment to live out our rock fantasies through our creativity... It may not be the sexiest/coolest thing to some people, but it works for us...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/59724658a9897afcaeb609353ebc2363607848f1/large/2017-08-03-003.jpg?1502327476" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">And what better example to provide for my young son, who's just beginning his musical journey... Hopefully this work ethic will keep him on the straight and narrow path of fulfilling his destiny as a musician and avoiding the pitfalls which doom the potential of far too many developing artists... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, these days we are busy working on our new album, but there has been talk of putting together some more tributes in the future; most notably, Rock Floyd: our rocked-out version of Pink Floyd songs in the vein of our <a contents="Welcome to the Machine remake" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpI3CSGgdtM" target="_blank">Welcome to the Machine remake</a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We are looking forward to continue pursuing things which inspire us... Whether it be our own music, or paying tribute to our favorite artists, the work is its always own reward... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">Onward...</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/bf30b09d5b9a985963d6f5c2e0d3b92de52f1e37/large/2017-07-31-2017-07-31-021.jpg?1504125568" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></strong></span></em><br><strong><span class="font_large">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Twitter <br><a contents="@Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47965542017-08-01T01:47:11-04:002017-08-01T15:27:05-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 26: Updates, New Developments and other Miscellaneous Goings-on<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f0a61b1fd744c2be082a618dc53cc7cbd20618d2/large/widetrackmusic-com.png?1486857466" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 26: Updates, New Developments and other Miscellaneous Goings-on</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the effort to strike the right chord with our blog, I am going to try a bit different approach today and present various things here in the hope that you will find something interesting...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For starters, Zach and I have posted a new episode of <a contents="Influences" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" target="_blank"><em>Influences</em></a> on <a contents="Widetrack's YouTube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">Widetrack's YouTube channel</a>... This week features the mighty Led Zeppelin... Zeppelin is one of my all-time favorite bands, so we had to make this one in two parts, as there is just far too much to talk about with this legendary juggernaut to limit it to the usual one episode...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(Part 1 of 2):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m0jehtUk2yk?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" width="853"></iframe></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(Part 2 of 2):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z_w_IcCR3bI" width="853"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When we started doing these, Zach asked me what we would talk about... I told him that the important things was to just <em>start... </em>If we just talked to the camera like we do when it's just the two of us talking about our favorite bands, then hopefully people would connect with our passion for music, and eventually we would find our groove... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Well, we're still finding our groove with these, but it's sure been nice to hear the words of encouragement from those of you who have been watching these... And by all means, if you have any suggestions, please let us know! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In other news, we've been making steady progress on our new album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Last Monday marked the mixing of track 6 (#7 if you count <a contents="our recent remake of Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpI3CSGgdtM" target="_blank">our recent remake of Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine</a>) of 12 songs in all... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>Halfway there!</em> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">So far, we couldn't be more pleased with the results... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Master engineer and all-around musical handyman, <a contents="Andy Patalan" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://andypatalan.com/" target="_blank">Andy Patalan</a>, continues to blow our minds with his studio wizardry... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">Can't wait to play this stuff for you guys!!!</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The way we're approaching this final stage of making the album is a bit different from anything we've done before... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">All the music is finished and recorded, except for Brian's lead guitar parts on the final 6 songs... And so, the four of us will be getting together to rehearse each of these, one at a time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">By focusing on one song per rehearsal, we're usually able to get Brian's parts together and ready to record (he works really fast!)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This also has the added benefit of getting everyone extra tight and familiar with the music, which will make the live performances that much better once we get back out there...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here's a clip of a song from last Sunday's rehearsal...<em> </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As you can see, we are having a <em>blast!</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uqTU3IMUw8o" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">On the reading front, h</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">ere are a few quotes from some of the books I've been juggling... Some good stuff here that's really got my wheels turning as of late...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"It’s only when we view the world within the finite context of our emotions and ego that it looks less than perfect. You can instantly become happy and free by deciding to leave the world alone and concentrate instead on yourself. By strengthening yourself, you serve all humanity. Each of us is linked to one another." </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="-Stuart Wilde ('Life Was Never Meant to Be a Struggle')" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KRY7BG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span class="font_large">-Stuart Wilde ('Life Was Never Meant to Be a Struggle')</span></em></strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"As we see, the priority stays with creatively changing the situation that causes us to suffer. But the superiority goes to the 'know-how to suffer', if need be."</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="-Viktor E.Frankl ('Man's Search for Meaning')" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009U9S6FI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-Viktor E.Frankl ('Man's Search for Meaning')</span></strong></em></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"Ceaseless change is an unreliable basis for lasting fulfillment. Realizing this, many people begin to wonder whether a deeper source of well-being exists. Is there a form of happiness beyond the mere repetition of pleasure and avoidance of pain? Is there a happiness that does not depend upon having one’s favorite foods available, or friends and loved ones within arm’s reach, or good books to read, or something to look forward to on the weekend? Is it possible to be happy before anything happens, before one’s desires are gratified, in spite of life’s difficulties, in the very midst of physical pain, old age, disease, and death?" </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="-Sam Harris.(Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion)" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Spirituality-Without-Religion-ebook/dp/B00GEEB9YC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501365006&sr=1-1&keywords=waking+up+sam+harris" target="_blank"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-Sam Harris.(Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion)</span></strong></em></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"I compounded the elements, watched them boil and smoke together in the glass, and when the ebullition had subsided, with a strong glow of courage, drank off the potion. </span></strong></em><em><strong><span class="font_large">The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine." </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="-Robert Louis Stevenson&nbsp;('The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde')" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Case-Dr-Jekyll-Hyde-ebook/dp/B01MU3BNZW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501365043&sr=1-1&keywords=the+strange+case+of+dr.+jekyll+and+mr.+hyde" target="_blank"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-Robert Louis Stevenson ('</span></strong></em><em><strong><span class="font_large">The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde')</span></strong></em></a><br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the movie department, I just gave Zach a screening of the film, <a contents="Unbreakable" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217869/" target="_blank"><em><strong>Unbreakable</strong></em></a>, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, directed by M. Night Shyamalan... I remember seeing this one in the theater when it first came out, as I'd liked Shyamalan's <a contents="The Sixth Sense" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Sixth Sense</em></strong></a>... I didn't much care for this one at first, though.. But then I revisited it when it came out on DVD (remember those days? lol), and slowly, after a couple more viewings, its dark mood and "quieter" vibe began seeping into my consciousness until I eventually came to like the film very much (Zach liked it first time through)... This ever happen to you?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d4e5f68e1c8052b8308bdd0aaa8ac58f6d749e8f/original/wpid-unbreakable.jpg?1501566759" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And finally, in the music department, I've been trying to keep up with Zach's ever-expanding listening repertoire of music... Currently, he's been immersing himself in the classics: Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, Queens Of The Stone Age, etc... I played him some Jimi Hendrix Experience the other day, but the jury's still out on if he connected with it or not... We'll see...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As far as my own listening goes, my album of the last couple weeks has been the recently released <a contents="Until The Hunter" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxpRNq5SCAvJ2pgPINAZiJwwrMqso6gF9" target="_blank"><strong><em>Until The Hunter</em></strong></a> by <a contents="Hope Sandoval And The Warm Inventions" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Sandoval_%26_the_Warm_Inventions" target="_blank">Hope Sandoval And The Warm Inventions</a>... <a contents="Hope Sandoval" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Sandoval#Mazzy_Star" target="_blank">Hope Sandoval</a> is the former singer of the '90s band, <a contents="Mazzy Star" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazzy_Star">Mazzy Star</a> (you might remember their amazing semi-hit, <a contents="Fade Into You" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImKY6TZEyrI" target="_blank"><em><strong>Fade Into You</strong></em></a>)... Dark and dreamy is typically in my playlists somewhere or another, and this album is no exception... I just can't seem to get enough of it, but absolutely, judge for yourself...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLxpRNq5SCAvJ2pgPINAZiJwwrMqso6gF9" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Looking ahead, we will be focusing intensely on finishing the new album, so stay tuned for developments on that front... Maybe if there's enough interest, we'll put out a few works-in-progress sound clips... ;)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">BTW, if you haven't joined our Facebook group, that is definitely the best place to get day-to-day info on what's happening with the band... If interested, you can do so at this link: <a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">OK, that's probably enough for now... Appreciate you letting me share this stuff... As always, I can't thank you enough for your support... We are just getting this going with the new lineup and new album, etc., and it's so great to have you along on the journey with us... THANK YOU!!!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Stay in touch and talk with you soon!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a319a3ed118df3c2947f04f59e688c90326a2e53/large/2017-07-31-2017-07-31-018.jpg?1501564811" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a> </span><br><br><br><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47824562017-07-17T18:29:55-04:002017-07-18T10:48:22-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 25: 'Widetrack III' (Part 2)<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles 25: 'Widetrack III' (Part 2)</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><em>"Life, holding something more than all that was..."<br>-'Zero Hour' (from 'Widetrack III')</em></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="As previously written," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-17-widetrack-iii" target="_blank">As previously stated,</a> we have returned to the recording studio to resume the mixing of our third release, 'Widetrack III' (yes, this will be the last one to have a Roman numeral title; I promise!)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As of this writing, the album is nearly halfway complete... As with <a contents="our first two CDs" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/music" target="_blank">our first two CDs</a>, there will be 12 songs, all centering around a theme of "life's crossroads and the choices we make"...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Meanwhile, we have been trying to find a drummer to play this stuff... From day one, this has been a constant struggle, as I (Ron) have had to write and record all the drum parts for the albums... And so on the few occasions when the band has played live, we've had a few "hired gun" types on board, but no one who ended up being into it for the long haul...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But as of the last week or so, we are excited to announce that our search has come to an end...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">Enter: Isaac Parsons...</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6dfe6f7595dc03ec30eddd431a070dcb9684f487/original/2017-07-12-2017-07-14-006-isaac.jpg?1500328273" class="size_l justify_center border_" />I became aware of Isaac through our guitar player, Brian... Isaac was actually present for <a contents="our first house concert show, which also happened to be my son Zach's first show as our bassist, as well as his first show ever" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-18-zach-s-first-show" target="_blank">our first house concert show, which also happened to be my son Zach's first-ever show, as our bassist</a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I met Isaac that night, but had no idea at the time that he was a drummer... When we started getting serious about finding someone,</span> <span class="font_large">Brian said, <em>"Oh yeah, he's really good... he even has his own YouTube channel where he posts videos of himself playing songs."</em>...</span> <span class="font_large">I said that sounded intriguing, and s</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">o I gave Isaac a call and he agreed to come to my place for a try-out jam... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">Once he arrived and we started talking, I was instantly taken by his demeanor... <em>"Wow, this was a really nice guy!"</em>, I thought to myself... Then it was time to see how he sounded on the drumkit...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"> As all of this happened rather quickly, our song <em>Star-crossed</em> was the only one he knew... But he did a fantastic job on it... And so I asked him to come out and play with the band the next chance we could get everyone together...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A few days later, Isaac tagged me in a Facebook post... I clicked on the link and was led to this video:</span><br><br><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qR8Fzauts0I" width="853"></iframe> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">OK, now my excitement level was really though the roof! We scheduled a rehearsal for the next day...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once everyone was in the room together, I was relieved to find that there was a really laid back, easy-going vibe in the air... No egos whatsoever; just 4 music lovers meeting up to play some original music and embark upon a new chapter in this ongoing story...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We focused primarily on only a couple songs: a new one called <strong><em>The Other</em></strong> and <a contents="our cover of Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpI3CSGgdtM" target="_blank">our cover of Pink Floyd's <em><strong>Welcome to the Machine</strong></em></a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large"><em>Wow, what a rush to finally hear all four members playing this stuff!</em> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After playing, we sat down and discussed our goals as a band and individuals, and our plans for the future... It was wonderful to hear that everyone was on the same page in terms of attitude, hopes and dreams... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I thought to myself, <em>"Surely things couldn't be coming together this painlessly easy..."</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And then I began remembering all the hard times, setbacks and disappointments that I'd gone through to get this far... Through that perspective, I realized what a miracle it is that Widetrack even exists at all... I've been doing this a long time... I'd almost given up... The death of my father... Divorce... hardship after hardship... Setback after setback... It's often seemed that life never lets up... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And I'm under no illusions that it will be all inspiring, good times from here... As the ebb and flow of history has certainly assured us all, anything can happen at any time...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But one thing I have learned is that when inspiration comes, one must grab it and savor it for all it's worth... And maybe, just maybe it'll get us through the next wave of hardship that life will most surely bring...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Having my son Zach choose to take this journey with Brian and I" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-18-zach-s-first-show" target="_blank">Having my son Zach choose to take this journey with Brian and I</a> has been such a blessing... His youthful energy and perspective is a constant source of motivation for us... Seeing the world and hearing music through fresh young eyes and ears is a vital asset to our moving forward in a positive direction...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Likewise, at the young age of 19, Isaac is just beginning to come into his own as a musician, and is completely committed to making a positive impact on the world with his talent...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As we get closer and closer to the completion of this new album, we are solidifying plans for bringing our music to anywhere and everywhere there is a demand for it... Having two under-21 band members might seem like a limitation to some, but we view it as an asset that is giving us some really cool ideas, in terms of the types of live presentations we can put together...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">More on that to come... ;)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For now, o</span><span class="font_large"><em>nward!</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1c7f40bba9aef59f06cc7cbdfe5bd642c6959a13/large/2017-07-12-2017-07-14-005.jpg?1500330382" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com </a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Twitter <br><a contents="@Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband</a> </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></strong></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47615552017-07-05T19:40:44-04:002017-07-13T16:04:29-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 24: Specific Meaning<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 24: Specific Meaning</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="Zach" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-23" target="_blank">Zach</a> and I had a pivotal conversation last week...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He was telling me about his audition/consultation at School of Rock... He felt that he'd played poorly... He said he really wanted to impress the instructor, which led him to trying too hard, and so he choked...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This carried into a conversation about musicians' need to stay humble and keep our egos in check...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I told him that it's perfectly normal for musicians to want to impress others with their skills, but eventually they need to realize that the only competition they should be engaged in is against themselves… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He confided that he was still searching for his path… I told him that, from where I stood, I saw a young musician who has immersed himself in rock history to a degree far beyond that of the average musician from this generation…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/13494a3b65cc94a59e85acdd062d4e08396c6b7e/large/img-3452.jpg?1498772288" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"But the most important thing for us to always keep in mind,"</strong></em> I said, <em><strong>"Is that we need to be doing this for something bigger than ourselves... an ideal...."</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">From there, we had a wonderful discussion about the bands we love, and, more specifically, why we love them... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Of course, with each and every one of these bands, it was their amazing MUSIC which first drew us to them... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But as we became deeper lovers of that music, we began identifying with certain traits and messages of those bands... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For example... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With <a contents="TOOL" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_(band)" target="_blank">TOOL</a>, it was their reaching for higher consciousness, <a contents="thinking for oneself and questioning authority" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIsXZVhvvGs" target="_blank">thinking for oneself and questioning authority</a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With <a contents="Radiohead" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead" target="_blank">Radiohead</a>, it was about how they are the epitome of "Progressive Rock"... Always evolving... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With <a contents="Rush" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_(band)" target="_blank">Rush</a>, it was about their being the ideal example of how a band should operate... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With <a contents="The Beatles" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles" target="_blank">The Beatles</a>, it was about doing the work and holding oneself to the standard of writing the best songs one can possibly write... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">And so on... </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To us, the thing these and many other bands like them have in common, is that they're the <em><strong>real deal</strong></em>... They are reverent followers of the greats that came before them... History's gifts to all of us, if we just take the time to investigate... (Insert your all-time favorite legendary figures here)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/155d11cb4b12e59422a6a9ca8cf73d74121dcff2/large/10615533-10203845525912971-3866083717197150112-n.jpg?1498773557" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I believe we are at a crossroads in this ongoing history of rock music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, etc. came on the scene, originality and musical risk-taking was highly valued... The '60s and '70s produced arguably the most ground-breaking, innovative and imaginative rock music of all time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But once the era of MTV replaced the age of radio, and the music business became increasingly corporate-controlled, being a "risky" type of band became a liability... And though the '80s, '90s and '00s brought us some absolutely fantastic music, the stuff of legend became increasingly shorter in supply and more a reaction to the norm than the norm itself, as more and more, record labels have come to demand "the sure thing"... and this means bands which sound similar to other bands that have proven track records of financial success... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And, as a result, much of what gets marketed to the record-buying public by the big labels anymore is risk-free, easy-to-digest, derivative, disposable, "commercials between commercials" music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">(In our opinion)...</span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/1a07ce856501a289fba053b63a84c4f7feb0f2ef/large/2012-11-09-033.jpg?1499299646" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></em><span class="font_large">But the upside to all this is, now that the Internet has freed artists to connect directly with their fans, the record labels are not so much a necessity anymore... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This finds us in the early stages of a musical revolution at this specific point in time, and many bands are taking full advantage of it... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">A rising number of the bigger bands who have been on major labels for most of their careers are now opting out of renewing their contracts, knowing that the dinosaur model of record label control has seen its day, since they can now release their music directly to their fans... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And for independent bands like Widetrack, the age of the <a contents="Musicpreneur" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.tommydarker.com/musicpreneur/" target="_blank">Musicpreneur</a> has begun... We do everything ourselves... We live and die by our own blood, sweat and tears... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">The artistic freedom of this is absolutely exhilarating. </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But make no mistake, the labels are pushing their brand of "music" harder than ever... They want the world to believe that their paradigm is what's most real... They put millions and millions of dollars into backing the idea that what's generic is what rises to the top... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But it's all b.s.... They have little interest in the artistry of unique self-expression; they just want to make money... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">They reinforce their model with supporting glorified Karaoke game shows like <em>The Voice, American Idol, X-Factor,</em> etc., (shows that our idols would never be caught dead on), perpetuating the myth that this is what music's really about... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Personally speaking, there is absolutely nothing bands like us connect with this type of thing... On the contrary, we are more inclined to agree with rockers like Mr. Grohl on this point (except the Internet part, of course... lol):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/93bcb0d58546f29f38a1af1fa81c9e170ec81694/large/2013-08-16-148.jpg?1498765257" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Or the legendary Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/112ebb92b9e67cbf56f310879b76db44b5b29a9e/large/2012-10-08-053.jpg?1498765709" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When I see Zach immersing himself in figuring out complex instrumental passages of bands like TOOL, Rush, Queens Of The Stone Age, Yes, etc., etc., my faith in this regard is restored... It is where all of us in the band see eye-to-eye: we are in this for the love of continual musical and artistic development.... It's never been about money or fame for us; we just want this to be what we do with the majority of our all-too-brief time here on this earth... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, Zach is now focusing on just being the best musician <em>he</em> can be, while raising awareness to all these amazing bands he's discovering, lest they be forgotten in time...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, as our conversation came to a close, we realized that we just need to keep working on what we do, and everything will work out for the best... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It is my hope that the idea of this will provide you with some inspiration to let go of living up to others' expectations at the expense of <a contents="following your own bliss" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DhmQvLV9JQ" target="_blank">following your own bliss</a>, and to believe in the path you feel most strongly drawn towards...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Believe in that voice you hear deep inside, the voice of your own unique artistry... it will never steer you wrong... People will try to silence it... Some intentionally; some because they believe they know what's best for you... But only you know what your soul needs to feel truly <strong><em>alive</em></strong>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/32942d2570c732e9d7dbca2a4e9a93dd1f19877e/large/meaning.jpg?1499296920" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Other links: </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong>Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</strong></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47540152017-06-22T20:26:35-04:002017-06-22T21:10:32-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 23: Zach<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong><span style="font-size: 2em;">The Widetrack Chronicles 23: Zach</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday." -Kahlil Gibran ('On Children' from 'The Prophet')</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As you may or may not already know, my son Zach has recently joined the band as bassist...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/776e9a68679ec6bbed9289d77ba32c59bd750d88/large/img-6967.jpg?1498160609" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /> </span><span class="font_large">When he expressed a desire to play music together, it put a whole new perspective on my plans for Widetrack... This was something I'd never even considered... All at once, the missing pieces of this musical adventure fell into place and the road ahead seemed much clearer...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Back in 2003, when my ex-wife told me that she was pregnant with him, I immediately started negotiating… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"Will I have to stop playing music?" </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"There's still a lot in life I want to do..."</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"The leash isn't gonna tighten too much, is it?"</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so on...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But once Zach was born, all that instantaneously went away... It was as if everything I had been and done up to that point suddenly paled in comparison... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I distinctly remember thinking, <strong><em>"This is what life is about for me now."</em></strong> (I'm sure most parents out there know what I'm talking about.)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Due to my ex's secure job, we decided that I would be a stay-at-home dad... For the first decade of Zach's life, I got more time with him more than anybody else, and we bonded deeply... Those years were just so amazing... I will be forever thankful for that kind of time we had together… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/67a211a776f41fc1f6c82941b4f576eb4e8c93d8/large/bbitw.jpg?1498173717" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><span class="font_large">When his mother and I divorced, we were very fortunate to preserve a core family dynamic, with a cooperative shared custody arrangement...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Since day one, it has been about him before anything else… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now that he is a young man and wants to play music with me, I feel so amazingly blessed for this opportunity… </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">His mom and I are adamant about him going to college when he's 18, so we will have to see where things lead... But for now, we've got 5 years to really make something happen with this...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">I want to make the most of it... </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We set off on a high note, and he played his first show ever as bassist for Widetrack on my birthday this past March... He did a fantastic job!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8a77319f39cef22407a34d6fc2c504144c112f57/large/img-3484.jpg?1490746494" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We previewed songs from our third album, which we are currently mixing and hope to have out by summer's end/mid-fall... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He sounds great on the new stuff... a perfect fit... It's all very surreal, to be quite honest... I never would've imagined this would be the path we'd be on... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">His interest in music is in full bloom right now... Every day, he's playing for hours on end - constantly improving, discovering new bands to learn from, finding out things about himself that he didn't know he could do... He's already playing things on guitar that I struggle with... Being a part of this journey he's begun has just been so amazing... I feel like my own musical journey has been reborn... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Recently, we started a YouTube show called <a contents="Influences" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" target="_blank"><em><strong>Influences</strong></em></a>, where we discuss bands, movies, TV, books, etc. that have influenced our music... He always approaches it with a completely professional attitude, and a reverence for the topic of any given week... I've gotten a number of messages from people noting how mature he seems for his age (I happen to agree, but have no idea where he gets that! lol)...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f2e3f94ce5f395f32f65a741bc1527e86be2000d/large/bqoe5218.jpg?1498179853" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">Anyway, I appreciate you letting me gush a bit about my son... just so excited for the things ahead... I plan on documenting as much of it as I possibly can... ;) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once we finish the new album, we plan on getting out there to play it for you... I really believe this is our best stuff yet (even though I know bands always say that, lol)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With your support, we can make some kind of mark on the music world... Personally, my dream is to one day have earned the ability to write, record and perform Widetrack music for a living... I believe it can be done, but I know it's going to take a lot of hard work... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And that's all cool by me... :) </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Hope to see you soon! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ron</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e0551198e5820fc31153d7d70561ec8707247a5e/large/img-6009.jpg?1496798122" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below or at: <br>Ron@WidetrackMusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br><a contents="@Widetrackband " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47368852017-06-13T15:47:02-04:002021-04-21T13:04:45-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 22: Life Force<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Windetrack Chronicles 22: Life Force</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">Last week, in <a contents="our private Facebook group" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">our private Facebook group</a>, I posted a question: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"What's your opinion: Is the world getting better, or worse? Feel free to explain why you believe this way..."</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I was a bit surprised that the majority of the people answered, <strong><em>"Worse"...</em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I've been thinking a lot about this over the last few days... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I remember that magical time of childhood when life for most of us is so full of possibility... For me, it was superheroes... I absolutely worshiped <a contents="Spider-Man" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a>, <a contents="Daredevil" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daredevil_(Marvel_Comics_character)" target="_blank">Daredevil</a>, <a contents="Ghost Rider" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider" target="_blank">Ghost Rider</a>, <a contents="Batman" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman" target="_blank">Batman</a>, etc... The storylines that accompanied these characters' amazing artwork would stir my imagination to reach beyond the boredom and frustrations of pre-teen suburban life...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then, at 8 years old, I discovered <a contents="KISS" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_(band)" target="_blank">KISS</a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c75f2c958ec6153b0636f5e6db5dd1e96810dd09/large/2013-11-10-158.jpg?1496862543" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" />Nothing could have prepared me for this... Rock stars and superheroes <em>combined???</em> For the next two years, <em>this</em> was what it was all about for my friends and I... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then adolescence hit... All at once, there was nothing more <em>uncool</em> than KISS... My heroes were now the rock bands I was hearing on popular rock radio: <a contents="Led Zeppelin" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin" target="_blank">Led Zeppelin</a>... <a contents="The Rolling Stones" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones" target="_blank">The Rolling Stones</a>... <a contents="AC/DC" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC/DC" target="_blank">AC/DC</a>... <a contents="Black Sabbath" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbmn6X14bE8&index=6&list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" target="_blank">Black Sabbath</a>... <a contents="Rush" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_(band)" target="_blank">Rush</a>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">These bands, and many more like them, gave my life a sense of meaning... I realized that I <em>had</em> to become a musician... I knew in my bones that this was what I was born to do...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then I started playing in my own bands... What a fantastic youth it was to have rock and roll be such a big part of my life... The future was so full of possibility... I really believed all my dreams were going to come true, just as I imagined they would...</span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f781da1bbda0a7a0eb7d22fb4b8308490994e761/large/ron-at-keirs-1982.jpg?1496957431" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But as youth passes into the trial-by-fire of "growing up", life throws so many ups and downs at us... The personal victories and tragedies one goes through... The love and loss... Dreams and disillusion... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Little by little, many of us start to believe that the magic isn't real... We've seen how the trick is performed... It's all just misdirection and sleight of hand... The world starts taking on a less colorful hue... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, we seek other escapes... Sex... Partying... Drugs... Buying things... Whatever it takes to escape from this nagging feeling that the magic has faded... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">We then seek out evidence that our cynical worldview is accurate... Such validation is easy to find... One scroll through the newsfeeds of our preferred social media platforms shows us all the proof we need of just how insanely off-track things have gotten...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"> </span></span><span class="font_large">When viewed from this perspective, I don't know... maybe things are getting worse... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/87b867ef5ac334ad76f378c9ca58821f209ad0a8/large/img-2461.jpg?1497384017" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_regular"><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">In many ways, things are seriously bad out there these days...There's no guarantee that this planet will even survive another generation... or another second, for that matter... </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I remember when my father passed away at the young age of 57... My "life anchor" of believing that only good things happen to good people was suddenly gone... It became horrifically clear that life really isn't fair... There are zero guarantees; anything can happen at any time...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For a time, this messed with my head in a big way... I became deeply cynical about the future... The negativity and "why even bother?" attitude began eating me alive... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Something had to change... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I realized that I had to begin making a serious effort to form the new habit of diverting my thoughts from the things I can't do anything about, and focus on the ones I can influence... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey talks about Proactive Focus vs. Reactive Focus, and working within/expanding our Circle of Influence...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/384ccb964274a04202a813bf2cd550b3116f3367/large/proactive-reactive.gif?1496967846" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Proactive behavior involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than just reacting. It means taking control and making things happen rather than just adjusting to a situation or waiting for something to happen...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Covey writes: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"We each have a wide range of concerns—our health, our children, problems at work, the national debt, nuclear war. We could separate those from things in which we have no particular mental or emotional involvement by creating a “Circle of Concern.”</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"As we look at those things within our Circle of Concern, it becomes apparent that there are some things over which we have no real control and others that we can do something about. We could identify those concerns in the latter group by circumscribing them within a smaller Circle of Influence. By determining which of these two circles is the focus of most of our time and energy, we can discover much about the degree of our proactivity." </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern. They focus on the weakness of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink." </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">"As long as we are working in our Circle of Concern, we empower the things within it to control us. We aren’t taking the proactive initiative necessary to effect positive change."</span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"> </span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">This idea served as a major theme behind one of the key tracks that will be on the new Widetrack album... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e0fa36c673a0e53219cac2ad451abab8c1395f92/large/lyrics-life-force.jpg?1496971288" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Like many other times in my life, music saved me... Maybe it's not music for you... but I'd be willing to bet that there's something positive and fulfilling you want to do with this all-too-brief time each of us has here on this earth... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="As previously stated" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-14-mission-statement-1-0" target="_blank">As previously stated</a>, besides the creation, production and performance of our music, one of the main missions of this band is: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"To build a network of true friendships, cooperating towards spreading the influence of excellent things - whether they be music, art, movies, writing, coaching, etc. - and thereby do our part in helping make the world a better place..."</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">For the purposes of this particular blog, I would like to emphasize the last sentence, <em><strong>"...and thereby do our part in helping make the world a better place..."</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The things we do <em>can</em> make a difference... This starts with resisting the urge of accepting that things are only going to get worse...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Keep fighting the good fight, my friends... ;)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/deb9e395b830740dfadf86ec6e27d322be5c3d41/large/2012-11-24-290.jpg?1497401289" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span style="font-size: 2em;">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: </span><a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" style="font-size: 2em;" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a><span style="font-size: 2em;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br><a contents="@Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband </a> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47085892017-05-31T16:00:32-04:002017-06-06T20:50:30-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 21: Influences<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 21: Influences</strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">It's been a while since the last entry in The Widetrack Chronicles, but not without good reason... As you may or may not already know, we recently began a weekly segment on <a contents="our YouTube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9v92pDo65Ply0zc9Z-7Vg" target="_blank">our YouTube channel</a> called <a contents='"Influences"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" target="_blank">"Influences"</a>, where we delve into discussing some of the bands whose music has had an impact on us...</span><br><br><span class="font_large">The first week was </span><span class="font_xl"><strong>Queens Of The Stone Age</strong>... </span><br><br><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a47ccyUEuGM?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" width="853"></iframe><br><br>Followed by week two's discussion of </span><span class="font_xl"><strong>TOOL</strong>...</span><br><br><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fJDqMdxdBzU?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" width="853"></iframe><br><br>Week three, just a couple days before <a contents="the tragic passing of Chris Cornell" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-20-r-i-p-chris-cornell" target="_blank">the tragic passing of Chris Cornell</a>, we delved into our fandom of </span><span class="font_xl"><strong>Soundgarden...<br><br><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hMsGNxK3bm0" width="853"></iframe></strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">Week four was </span><strong><span class="font_xl">Radiohead...</span></strong>
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<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YrmA-0pZtfc?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" width="853"></iframe></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And that brings us up to the latest episode, where we discuss one of our biggest musical influences, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Pink Floyd...</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R6wnVY75Aa4?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBxRFL03crI5AyuyLm0DuC--" width="853"></iframe></p></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The main point of these segments is to spread the word about bands that inspire us, so we're starting off with bigger groups, but plan to eventually cover local/indie artists, in the effort to shine what light we can on some of the lesser-known musical brilliance out there... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Anyway, that's it for now... As always, your support is appreciated, and we welcome your correspondence... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">More big news on the making of our new album coming soon... Can't wait to share! :)<br><br>Talk with you soon!<br><br>Ron</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/13d5c0b93971234c8c2c514fc3abedbccc1525dd/large/img-5356.jpg?1496260514" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<p><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: <a contents="Ron@widetrackmusic.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://Ron@widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank">Ron@widetrackmusic.com</a> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </a></span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br><a contents="@Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband</a> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></p>
</div>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/47145842017-05-18T21:04:13-04:002017-06-27T02:43:12-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 20: R.I.P. Chris Cornell<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_xl">Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964 – May 17, 2017)</span></strong></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/fe608cf94e45d9474595a10ad2f8fb1746dbe9b2/large/lowlands1.jpg?1495140656" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong><em>"In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn... <br>All I want for you to do is take my body home..." </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><strong><em>-Led Zeppelin ('In My Time of Dying')</em></strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">I attended the Soundgarden show in Detroit, MI last night, Wednesday, May 17, 2017... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I had planned on taking my son, but it was a school night and he missed two days last week, being sick... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em>"We'll catch them when they come back 'round in support of the new album they're working on"</em>, I told him... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I picked up by buddy John and we headed downtown... This was to be our 6th Soundgarden show together: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">1) 1994-06-12: Clarkston, MI </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">2) 1996-11-12: Auburn Hills, MI </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">3) 2011-07-16: Chicago, IL </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">4) 2013-01-27: Detroit, MI </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">5) 2014-07-06: Auburn Hills, MI </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">6) 2017-05-17: Detroit, MI</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/556651d2ba1af57cfaea5801b6a9ccdaed006a34/original/rsby8654.jpg?1495154940" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Upon arriving at the venue, we met up with our other friends, grabbed a beer and got seated as the band was taking the stage... They opened with the first track off their <em><strong>Louder than Love</strong></em> album, <em><strong>Ugly Truth</strong></em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(Here's a short video clip I took of that song):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lM-SMBFHweg?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After the opener, Chris Cornell greeted the crowd by expressing his appreciation for "Detroit Rock City"... Then he immediately began getting the audience pumped up by saying,<strong><em> "You people have a lot to live up to with a name like 'Detroit Rock City', so no sitting down... Stand up!!!" </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then he turned his attention to the main floor: <strong><em>"Give the people in the balcony a round of applause!" </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The entire theater was suddenly lit up with pure rock exuberance... It was quite a moment, and I found myself immediately swept away in the positive vibes...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">They resumed the jams by kicking off with <strong><em>Hunted Down</em></strong> from their 1986 <strong><em>Screaming Life</em></strong> EP... Then it was on to <strong><em>Non-State Actor</em></strong> off 2012's <strong><em>King Animal</em></strong>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But little by little, I began thinking to myself, <em>"Wow, Chris isn't sounding so good tonight..." </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">"Well... maybe that's just my usual overly-critical musician ear..."</span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But by the time they had gone into <em><strong>Black Hole Sun</strong></em>, the four of us were looking back and forth from the stage to each other, saying, <em>"Wow, he sounds really bad tonight... Maybe he's just having an off night?"</em> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(A short clip of<strong><em> Black Hole Sun</em></strong>):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J8I41oT4P3g?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">With every song the band played, we could see/hear more and more the struggle Chris was so obviously going through... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>The Day I Tried to Live</strong></em>:</span></p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5P2aZFdJkBo?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>My Wave:</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/di5f9AC9g9c?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>Fell on Black Days:</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-jdpDQoW6aI?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong>Mailman:</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><em><strong><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Smf8PjuQBkY?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The last song before the band left the stage for the first time was the classic, <em><strong>Jesus Christ Pose</strong></em>... the ultimate jam... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But even though the band played it with tight gusto, Chris' vocals were in really bad shape... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">(<em><strong>Jesus Christ Pose</strong></em> clip):</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hjSMj3tUWwY?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <span class="font_large">As the song ended and the band went backstage, my friends and I were in relatively good spirits, despite the sad state of Chris' vocals... Even a "compromised" Soundgarden concert is a true wonder to behold... We grew up with these songs... This was our band... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">My buddy Steve said, <em>"All I need is to hear <strong>Rusty Cage</strong>... That's all I'm asking for..." </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As the band returned for their encores, he got his wish...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9RwFCVyJ0hg?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then it was on to the final song of the night - and of Chris Cornell's all-too-short life: <em><strong>Slaves & Bulldozers</strong></em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This song has long been a staple closer in Soundgarden's live history... and for good reason... <em>What a jam</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Ever since its live debut way back in 1991, the band would break it down after Kim Tayil's guitar lead, whereupon Chris would ad-lib some lyrics to whatever song he was feeling at the moment... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He's referenced everything from <em><strong>How Now Brown Cow</strong></em> to Pearl Jam's <strong><em>Alive</em></strong>, to <strong><em>Earache My Eye</em></strong> by Cheech and Chong... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But for the past couple years, it's been the Led Zeppelin classic, <strong><em>In My Time of Dying</em></strong>...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/98oF1ldq39A" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">When he referenced this song last night, my friends and I looked at each other with nods of<em> "F*** yes!"</em> approval... I mean, it's Soundgarden referencing Led Zeppelin; how much better does it get than that ? </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This was the high point of the show... It's as if one final injection of rock and roll lava entered his soul, and he gave it his all... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">And the final applause was deafening... </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Then the band exited the stage to the sound of Kim Thayil's orchestrated guitar feedback, which lasted for well over two minutes past the final bows...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DZEEFh2HmUM?list=PLhDkp5P7dwBzh2pgG0qo0nyRSLy6R_r5h" width="853"></iframe></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <span class="font_large">After the show, the four of us went next door to Hockeytown for a nightcap and to talk about what we'd just witnessed... Such mixed emotions... This was definitely the most unsatisfying Soundgarden performance we'd attended... I had been texting my son the above clips throughout the performance, and his response pretty much summed it up for me: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">"Ouch... That's a favorite of mine... he may need a glass of water." </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">My friends and I said goodnight and went our separate ways... Then, upon arriving home, I got to the top of my stairs and was struck with the strangest sensation... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Now, let me first say that I am the least superstitious/religious person you're likely to meet... I would say I'm more "spiritual" than anything else, but definitely not prone to flights of supernatural/mystical/conspiracy-theory/etc. fancy... So I ask you to please bear this in mind when you read what I'm about to say next... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As I reached the top of my stairs, I was struck with the awful speculation of, <strong><em>"Man, what if Chris Cornell died? He's one of our only remaining active classic rockers who's still putting out excellent work... What a loss that would be!" </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">I actually thought this. </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"Time for bed"</em></strong>, I thought to myself... It was 3 AM... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">After only a couple hours of fitful sleep, I awoke at 5 AM with a terrible, strange feeling of anxiety and restlessness... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, as I often do, I got on my iPhone and began scrolling my Facebook feed (bad habit, I know)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It was then that I saw the news... So horribly surreal... <em>So wrong</em>... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As of this writing, the official cause of death is suicide by hanging... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">What??? </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This just doesn't add up... He left behind a wife and three young kids... By all accounts, he was a happy, blessed man... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span class="font_large">Why did this happen? </span></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Perhaps as more concrete facts surface, a bit more light will be shed on this question... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In the meantime, at the risk of sounding a bit over-dramatic, this world will never be the same for those of us his music touched so deeply and profoundly... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Personally speaking, he was one of my all-time top artists, and definitely one of my biggest influences... There was no one who could sing like Chris Cornell in his prime... He was a true force of nature... A masterful songwriter as well, and a totally underrated guitarist... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">He still had some great work in him, I feel safe in saying... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><span class="font_large">So sad... </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Thank you, sir... Your legend is secure... The world is now a better place, having had you and your gifts in it...</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">"Please, mother of mercy <br>Take me from this place <br>and the long winded curses <br>I keep here in my head <br>Words never listen <br>And teachers, oh, they never learn <br>But I'm warm from the candle <br>Though I feel too cold to burn..." </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-Say Hello 2 Heaven</span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/620ec7a65179ac2d3e6dcbb7609c25b5d5ef3530/large/2014-08-30-010.jpg?1495140645" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"> Please feel free to respond at: <br>Ron@Widetrackband.com</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/46489492017-04-17T22:08:43-04:002017-07-15T21:06:02-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 19: Kindred Spirits<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><div style="text-align: center;">
<p><span class="font_xl"><strong>The Widetrack Chronicles 19: Kindred Spirits</strong></span><br><br><em><strong><span class="font_large">"</span></strong><span class="font_large"><strong>The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do."<br>-Sarah Ban Breathnach</strong></span> </em><br><br><span class="font_large">Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of getting acquainted with some of you, and it continues to blow my mind, the common interests we share...<br><br>I can honestly say that some of my favorite conversations in recent memory have been with people I've connected with through our music (and, of course, the conveniences of modern technology)... <br><br><a contents="As previously stated," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-14-mission-statement-1-0" target="_blank">As previously stated,</a> besides the creation, production and performance of our music, one of the main missions of this band is: </span><br><br><span class="font_xl"><em><strong>"To build a network of true friendships, cooperating towards spreading the influence of excellent things - whether they be music, art, movies, writing, coaching, etc. - and thereby do our part in helping make the world a better place..."</strong></em></span><br><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/e003f3735c5ac1f3d9a59bf093ae06813c7a4fdd/large/img-8164.png?1492481688" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br>This isn't just empty talk... These things are deeply important to us... And, going by some of our conversations, I suspect they are to you as well... <br><br><em><strong>So... Where am I going with this?</strong></em><br><br>Well, to put it simply, I'm just reaching out to see if I can get to know your story a bit better... <br><br>Tell me about yourself...<br><br>What's your life like?<br><br>What would you like to achieve before you leave this planet?<br><br>What's holding you back?<br><br>Is there any way I can help? <br><br>Would love to hear from you...<br><br><em>Let's talk...</em></span><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cde0488a47f82d814459c9665698073aa1cd7ed/original/2015-04-12-254.jpg?1492482535" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Feel free to respond: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">And if you’d like to join our all-access Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br>https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Other links: </span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">YouTube channel <br>https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></strong></p>
</div>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/46522382017-03-30T17:27:29-04:002018-10-25T21:06:38-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 18: Zach's first show<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><strong><span class="font_xl">The Widetrack Chronicles </span></strong><br><strong><span class="font_xl">18: Zach's First Show</span></strong></em><br><span class="font_large"><span style="font-size: 16.8px;"> </span></span>
<p><span class="font_large">As you may or may not have heard by now, on March 24, 2017, I celebrated my birthday by playing Widetrack's first house concert... Hosted by and at the home of my good friend and Widetrack lead guitarist, Brian Burleson, the show was a smashing success... We had a nice group of attendees for whom we previewed 9 of the 12 songs from our soon-to-be released new album, <a contents="'Widetrack III'" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-17-widetrack-iii" target="_blank">'Widetrack III'</a>... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">As if this wasn't already enough to be crazy-thrilled about, the night also marked the debut of my son, Zach Tippin, as bassist for Widetrack... It was also his very first time ever playing in a band before a live audience... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">To say that this was my best birthday ever would be the understatement of the century...</span></p>
<span class="font_large">But let me back up here a bit...<br><br>It still amazes me to think that Zach came to me only 3 months ago, saying that he wanted to start playing bass... I wasn't sure how serious he was about it, but then he offered to pay for half... So, his mother and I paid for the other half as his birthday present...</span>
<p><span class="font_large">From the moment he brought it home, the thing barely left his hands... And the progress he went on to make in just a few short weeks was nothing short of amazing... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was really blown away... Each week, he would show me the newest bass lines he'd learned from bands like Rush, Yes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, etc... I really couldn't believe it..</span></p>
<span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c3efaa761bd12f7588799fe1ffee70206a8d4274/original/tswe9488.jpg?1490906173" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span><strong><em><span class="font_large">Oh, and did I mention that he also learned most of the Widetrack repertoire? </span></em></strong>
<p><span class="font_large">This unforeseen development really got my wheels turning: "Wow, he can already play our songs... Hmm... I wonder... Is it in the realm of possibility that he could join the band as bassist?" </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I began exploring the scenario in my mind... <br><br><em>"Am I crazy?" <br><br>"Is this just wishful thinking?" <br><br>"He's not even 13 yet..." <br><br>"He just started playing the bass..." <br><br>"He's never even been in a band before..." </em></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">And yet... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Something told me that he can do this... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><em>"How cool would that be?"</em>, I thought... <em>"Playing in a band with my son!"</em></span><br><br><span class="font_large">I talked it over with Brian and we decided to see how playing a gig with Zach would go... Something low-pressure, with just a few friends and such... I suggested a house concert... Brian suggested doing it at his place... <em>It was on...</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">This was to be Zach's debut gig, and I was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of sharing the experience with him... We began rehearsing like crazy, 2-4 times a week... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Meanwhile, I started putting the word out about what we were up to... I was curious how people were going to react to the idea of him joining the band... But everyone was incredibly supportive... I received a heart-warming amount of positive messages of encouragement and well-wishes to Zach on his first gig...</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">It all touched me deeply - not just as a father, but also as fellow band member, because by the time the day of the show arrived, the three of us had already decided that he was going to be in the band... <br><br>We were a bit concerned with having to use my pre-recorded drum tracks, being that we are still making the final determination as to who our drummer will be (we have a couple people we are looking at who are really good, so it shouldn't be long now)... But by the night of our final dress rehearsal, everything seemed to be working pretty well...<br><br><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7cuHDAnEuvU" width="560"></iframe><br><br><em>Then the big night came... </em><br><br>Being that we were going to be playing mostly songs from the new album, I thought it might be a good idea to start off with a short solo acoustic set of songs from the first two albums...<br><br>The acoustic set went really well... I opened with a solo rendition of 'Violet', then my friend, Rylee Dingman joined me for 'Star-crossed', playing violin and singing back-up...<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/2370c52d1ce3a08d9401f7c77e906f277fee7fd1/original/img-3491.jpg?1490909000" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>Then, my friend Renee Sanger came up and sang back-up on 'The Promise' and 'The Shrine'...<br><br>They both sounded fantastic (as always!)...</span><br><br><span class="font_large">The plan was to broadcast the entire event on Facebook Live, but unfortunately, we had some connection issues and the video failed...<br><br>I did manage to get the first song of the opening solo acoustic set, though:<br><br><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zO8a-7S6PoY" width="560"></iframe><br><br>Then it was time for the band to play... I was feeling so good about things... I just knew he was going to nail it... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><em>And, wow, did he ever...</em> :)</span><br><br><span class="font_large">The reaction was unanimous: Zach did wonderfully... I was so proud of him... He really enjoyed himself, too...<br><br>Of course there were the typical minor mistakes that come with most any show, but overall, one couldn't have asked for more... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Like I said: <strong><em>Best. Birthday. EVER.</em></strong> </span><br><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8a77319f39cef22407a34d6fc2c504144c112f57/original/img-3484.jpg?1490746494" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Our plan now is to record him playing the bass parts for the album in place of the ones I've already done... This should put <a contents="'Widetrack III'" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/the-widetrack-chronicles-17-widetrack-iii" target="_blank">'Widetrack III'</a> out by mid-summer, at which time we will be playing everywhere and anywhere there are people who want to come see us...</span> <br><br><span class="font_large">From there, we will see what the future brings... Logistically speaking, there are certain limitations with where we can play, having a teenager in the band, but we will deal with all that as it comes... There is still a lot we can do, and we've got some really exciting ideas (more on that to come)... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I must say, I am feeling a new level of inspiration in my own musicianship… He’s reminding me of why I began playing all those years ago… The pure excitement and sense of accomplishment in reaching ever-new plateaus of technical skill… The wonder and discovery of each new song, and each new band these songs introduced me to… The sense of finding my place in the world as a musician, and bringing my ideas to life...</span><br><br><span class="font_large">More than ever, this is what I want to be doing with my all-too-brief time here on this planet... And now I get to do it with my son...<br><br>How far we can take this is anybody's guess, but for now...<br><br><strong>O<em>nward!</em></strong></span><br><br><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/45k0H3VAzV4" width="560"></iframe><br><br><span class="font_large">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below or at: <br>Ron@WidetrackMusic.com </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br>https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Other links: </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">YouTube channel <br>https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>
</div>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/46113312017-03-08T15:22:35-05:002017-07-17T16:39:50-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 17: 'Widetrack III' (Part 1)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="font_xl"><strong><em>The Widetrack Chronicles<br>17: 'Widetrack III' (Part 1)</em></strong></span><br><br><strong><em><span class="font_large">"The soul that flies is on the lam..." <br>-'Burning the Sun' (from 'Widetrack III')</span></em></strong>
<p><span class="font_large">When 'Widetrack II' was released in December 2009, I had a group of musicians assembled who played some shows around the Detroit area on and off till late 2011, at which time I</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> started writing songs for the third album...</span><br><br><span class="font_large">Over the previous couple years, the experience of playing live on a more frequent basis had really paid off in terms of inspiring ideas for the direction I wanted to go this time around... The writing started taking off... Things were moving along nicely... <br><br><em>Then life happened...</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Lo and behold, my 10-year marriage had come to an end... My wife and I sat down and discussed the logistics and feelings of this realization... Fortunately, we were pretty much on the same page - especially in terms of how to make it work as best as possible for our son... Thankfully, we've remained close, and still even regard one another as family... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">But obviously, this life change put everything else in a secondary-priority perspective for a while... In many ways, it was a completely new beginning, and it took some time to get on solid ground again...<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/d3a43fe5666ef2bab95e541e36ae7b94d5e9f739/original/2014-10-22-015.png?1488961141" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Divorce can be a humbling experience, to say the least... Coming back from it all can really show you what you're made of... It brought into sharp focus all the divorces I saw going on around me during that time when I, too, found myself on the flip side of the 50/50 statistical coin... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">All at once, I began seeing how many of my family and friends were going through the same thing... It seemed like every time I turned around, there was somebody telling me that they were getting a divorce... It was almost like an epidemic... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Many of the separations I heard about were not quite so cooperative as mine ended up being, though... People were angry, hurt, bitter, confused, scared... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Then there were the friends of the formerly-married... I would hear stories of abandonment... Stories of judgmental opinions showered on the newly-separated...The loss of long-cherished support from those who didn't approve of their friends' decisions to/methods of, divorce... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">And so it came to be that these stories, combined with my own personal experience, started creeping their way into the themes of the new songs I was writing... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">A concept was emerging...<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/c018b693fe5571ef49474b206dc9b74fa129425a/original/img-1690.jpg?1488961147" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">With a strong theme developing, the task was now to come up with the best music possible... I already had about 10 songs written, but something told me this wasn't going to cut it... I needed to find a way to raise the bar to a whole new level... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">With <a contents="the debut&nbsp;Widetrack&nbsp;album" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">the debut Widetrack album</a>, I learned that writing songs on acoustic guitar didn't always convey the intensity of energy I wished to put out once it came to performing those songs in a live setting with a full band... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">And so, when I started writing songs for <a contents="the second album" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/store" target="_blank">the second album</a>, I made a conscious effort to go for a higher energy level, generating many initial ideas through intense drumming workouts, followed by the subsequent addition of electric guitars through Marshall amplifiers, etc... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Applying these lessons really paid off in terms of the overall energy and electricity of the second album; especially in a live setting... So once I started coming up with rough ideas for the third album, I kept these things in mind... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">But there was one other lesson that going through this process twice now had taught me, and that was: <br><br><strong><em>Raise the songwriting bar...</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">So this time around, I decided that my M.O. would be to take advantage of my newly-found "downtime" and come up with as many songs as I could... Then I could choose only the ones that were "hell yes" songs as prospects for the new album... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I started putting the ideas down, naming the songs by their respective numbers:<em> "Song 1"... "Song 11"... "Song 39"... Etc... </em></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once again, aided by the healing ritual of songwriting, I continued piecing my new life together... Meanwhile, the years passed... 2012... 2014... 2016... </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">By the time I was finished, I had over 50 songs... out of which, 12 were chosen for the new album... A slow, time-consuming process, to be sure... but hopefully you will find that it was worth it... Time will tell! :)</span><br><br><span class="font_large">Speaking of which, as you may or may not already be aware, we have one song from the new album completely finished and posted to <a contents="YouTube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjVz5cpNzBg" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and <a contents="Soundcloud" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/widetrack/widetrack-gift" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>...<br><br>Consider it our "Gift" to you...<br><br><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LjVz5cpNzBg" width="560"></iframe><br>As of this writing, we plan to resume mixing the album</span> <span class="font_large">in April, in the hopes that we will have it finished and released by mid-summer...<br><br>In the meantime, don't forget to mark your calendar for the <a contents="house concert" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/shows" target="_blank">house concert</a> we're having on March 24, which we will also be broadcasting on Facebook Live for those who can't attend in person... <br><br>Well, that's about it for now... As always, I really appreciate your support and ask that you will let me know what you're up to as well... I hope you're pursuing things that please you and make you feel <em>alive</em>... Please don't hesitate to reach out if you think there may some way I can help... <br><br><a contents="As stated in a previous blog entry," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-14-mission-statement-1-0" target="_blank">As stated in a previous blog entry,</a> this is not just a band; it is also a means to connect with kindred spirits, in the effort to build a network of true friendships, cooperating towards spreading the influence of excellent things - whether it be music, art, movies, writing, coaching, learning, etc. - and thereby do our part in helping make the world a better place...</span><br><br><span class="font_large">Thank you for being here, my friend. </span><br><br><span class="font_large">Look forward to catching up soon! </span><br><br><span class="font_large">Ron</span><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/076c2472ebdc6e31020f42dc1be118c4b1a65d25/original/img-4173.jpg?1488868950" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below or at: <br>Ron@WidetrackMusic.com </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband </a></span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</a></span></p>
<p><br><br> </p>
</div>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/46023972017-02-23T19:16:11-05:002017-03-04T17:56:31-05:00The Widetrack Chronicles 16: Celebration <div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" />Chapter 16: Celebration </span></strong><p><span class="font_large"><em><strong>"Life is too short not to create something with every breath we draw." <br>-Maynard James Keenan</strong></em></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 1.4em;">As February comes to a close, it suddenly hits me that I will be turning another year older in a few short weeks... Personally speaking, I'm not one for putting much focus on my birthday, (<em>maybe if I just ignore it, the time won't pass so quickly! lol</em>)</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">, but with the work we've been putting in towards getting the new album finished and released, I thought this year it might be a good opportunity to celebrate the fact that </span><span class="font_large"><em><strong>Widetrack still lives...</strong></em></span>
<p><span class="font_large"><a contents="As previously written," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/home/blog/widetrack-blog-14-mission-statement-1-0" target="_blank">As previously written,</a> I have resolved to find a way to continue writing, recording and performing original music, however difficult it may sometimes be to sustain... At this stage in my life, it's not so simple as just deciding to do it... Sweating out a living as an independent musician means I give lessons, play cover band gigs, freelance, work side jobs, etc., etc... Original music is more a labor of love, and therefore, finding the time, money, connections and resources to keep it going is a constant challenge...<br> </span><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/5bb5f068750bdb0ad159b13932acb2f8ec3e2b1d/large/img-8893.jpg?1487821124" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">But any time I am faced with the demons of </span><strong style="font-size: 1.4em;"><em>"Why even bother? This is just too damn difficult..."</em> </strong><span style="font-size: 1.4em;">that most artists, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, business owners, etc. have faced, I always come back to the same bottom-line realization:<br><br><strong><em>I would always look back and regret not leaving behind as much music as I can possibly make while it still lives and burns inside of me...</em></strong> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">And so, this March 24th, on my birthday, we will be</span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"> playing </span><span class="font_large"><a contents="our first house concert..." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/shows" target="_blank">our first house concert</a></span><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><span class="font_large"><a contents="our first house concert..." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://widetrackband.com/shows" target="_blank">...</a></span> It will be held in Davisburg, Michigan at Brian Burleson's residence (limited seating, invitations to come), and we will be broadcasting it on Facebook Live...</span><br><br><span class="font_large">I will be joined by <a contents="Brian Burleson" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHqBZASYjb8&t=2s" target="_blank">Brian</a> on lead guitar, and my son, Zachary, will be playing <em>his first-ever gig</em>, as bassist...<br><br><em>I can't imagine a better way to begin another year!</em><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/a8a53adbd95447b2e25b580ded4cb8834e5ecb83/large/img-1851b.jpg?1487893836" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>Anyway, I'd like to hear from <strong><em>you</em></strong>... What is it that <em>you</em> want to do?<br><br>Imagine the end has come... Looking back on your life...<br><br>What, do you imagine, will bring you peace in knowing you've accomplished?<br><br>It seems to me that all any of us really wants is to be able to say, <strong><em>"I was here. People noticed. I did what I did, and it made a positive difference. I mattered."</em></strong><br><br>This is not self-absorption/narcissism/ego... This is <strong><em>living authentically</em></strong>...<br><br>We only get one shot at this...<br><br>There is so much possibility awaiting each of us that should not go to waste while we are here, living and breathing...<br><br>All we need to do is defeat the demons another day and get to work on what it is that truly makes us come <em><strong>alive</strong></em>...<br><br>Then we can make a difference, and, with any luck, make this place just a little bit better than it was before we came...</span><br><br><span class="font_large"><em><strong>Let's do this.</strong></em><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f7204457ef341bbdea02f9099f5fd0f28fc24a22/large/dsc-4183.jpg?1487820756" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl"><em>Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond below or at</em>: <br>Ron@WidetrackMusic.com </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl"><em>And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you</em>: <br><a contents="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/</a> </span><br> </p>
<p><span class="font_xl"><em>Other links</em>: </span></p>
<p><span class="font_xl"><strong>YouTube channel </strong> <br><a contents="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack</a> </span><br> </p>
<p><span class="font_xl"><strong>Twitter</strong> <br><a contents="@Widetrackband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">@Widetrackband</a> </span><br> </p>
<p><span class="font_xl"><strong>Instagram </strong><br><a contents="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband" target="_blank">https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband </a></span></p>
</div>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/45864052017-02-16T17:59:52-05:002019-03-20T15:15:50-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 15: Turning Pro<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.widetrackmusic.com" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/f0a61b1fd744c2be082a618dc53cc7cbd20618d2/large/widetrackmusic-com.png?1486857466" class="size_xl justify_center border_none" alt="" /></a><strong>Chapter 15: Turning Pro </strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">I've been playing music since I was 12 years old, but as early as age 9, I worked for my dad, putting up fences... This was some pretty hard work, and it wasn't really how I wanted to spend my days for the rest of my life, but it taught me a lot about having a good work ethic and being a "responsible adult" (as much as musician is capable of being, anyway! lol)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I remember my youngest brother and I working our butts off with our dad in the hot sun 5-6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day (seasonal work demanded that one took full advantage of the good Michigan weather months)... Our dad was a great boss, but he was not an easy act to follow... He worked harder than any of us, and was the kind of person that commanded great respect, so one really felt the need to please him... Looking back on those days, I feel eternally grateful for the work ethic he instilled in me, even though my career as a fenceman eventually came to an end... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/ee9bde4bb595cd37da76b92c325b6cae49346428/large/untitled-8.jpg?1486954102" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span><span class="font_large">In those days, I would usually come home feeling ready to collapse... But there was no time for rest - I still had band rehearsal... So I would shower, eat dinner, and head right back out the door to pound my drums to loud, intense rock music for the next 3-4 hours... Then it was home and to bed, as I would have to be up at 7 AM the next morning for work... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This went on from the time I was a teenager, all the way through my twenties and into my early thirties... All the while, I did my best to keep up with the band duties... Looking back, I really don't see how I was ever able to keep up with such a schedule... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the truth was, I was spinning my wheels... Hiding... Afraid to take the necessary steps to begin my <em>true</em> journey... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"> Different versions of this same scenario played out for the next few years until my dad got sick and passed away at the age of 57... Up to that point, I really didn't get the urgency of life... I was relatively happy, but it always felt like something was missing... Every so often, that nagging feeling in the back of my mind would creep up out of nowhere, only to be quickly pushed back down by the more immediate concerns of life's responsibilities... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But all that changed once my dad was gone... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As the months after his passing began rolling by, I was left with a feeling that shook me to the core:<strong><em> <br><br>"This is it... This is the one chance we get... It will all be over far too soon... It's time to stop procrastinating and face these fears that have been holding me back! The time is NOW!" </em></strong></span><span class="font_xl"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/6eac3551f2077e2e455f18ef5ba3d06d65f2259b/large/joseph-campbell-quote-564731.jpg?1486954038" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Fast-forward to today, I wonder why it took such a life-changing event to motivate me to "turn pro"... In hindsight, none of the things I feared were nearly as bad as I had imagined they'd be... Getting started was the hardest part... But once I began, things took on a momentum of their own...<br><br>Do I struggle to make ends meet these days? Absolutely. But things are moving forward, and I know that if I keep working every day, things are going to be alright... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">In his fantastic book, <a contents="Turning Pro" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Pro-Inner-Power-Create/dp/1936891034" target="_blank"><strong><em>Turning Pro</em></strong></a>, author Steven Pressfield says: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence." </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"It took me a long time to come to terms with the idea that I had ambition. I felt guilty about it. Who was I to aspire to 'rise above' my brothers and sisters or to aim to be 'better' than anybody else?" </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This describes my situation exactly... Installing fences... Playing cover band gigs... Writing music with what little energy I had left at the end of a day, but only when I really felt in the mood to do so... These things were what Pressfield calls a "shadow calling"... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"Sometimes, when we're terrified of embracing our true calling, we'll pursue a shadow calling instead. That shadow career is a metaphor for our real career. Its shape is similar, its contours feel tantalizingly the same. But a shadow career entails no real risk. If we fail at a shadow career, the consequences are meaningless to us." </em></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">The way to begin is with our habits... We have to walk our talk... "Fake it till you make it", people often say... I believe this is absolutely true... Decide to become a professional, and then simply behave like one until you are one... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">You have to trust yourself... Trust in the path that really brings your heart to life... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">You got this. </span><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/113e035e0ee2a5c268d2b8f46a4419a6f2c0a210/large/ron-2012-06-01-01-edited.jpg?1486953900" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br>https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">YouTube channel <br>https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband </span><br> </p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/45824862017-02-08T23:05:17-05:002018-10-25T21:07:16-04:00The Widetrack Chronicles 14: Mission Statement 1.0<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><br><span class="font_xl"><strong>Chapter 14: Mission Statement 1.0</strong></span><br><br><span class="font_large">I was inspired to share this today... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">One of the things I love most about playing music is connecting with kindred spirits... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">To find a shared love for certain bands and making new friends through music is one of the things that restores my hope that things will ultimately be OK in the world... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">More than ever, I've been feeling the desire to engage with people who seek something deeper out of life... The experience of knowing that they are doing what they are on this earth to do... The experience of feeling alive... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I can always recognize these kindred spirits when I meet them... It doesn't really matter what their walk of life may be... there is invariably something they have a deep passion for... I can see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices, read it in their words... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">This same kind of passion led me to form Widetrack ten years ago, and put out my first two CDs... The excitement of having my own music out there in the world, and knowing that there are people who care about it, inspires me to no end... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/33914c8140c0b3c9b03036f29190b636e930a600/original/2015-04-12-252.jpg?1486612972" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But not very long ago, I thought I had reached the end of my rope and almost gave up on original music altogether... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">As many independent musicians will tell you, this is not a path for everyone... The work-put-in/financial-reward ratio doesn't always line up as favorably as in other careers, and it is all too common for a good band to languish in obscurity until finally losing steam and breaking up out of disillusionment and frustration... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But the simple truth is, I know deep in my bones that what I'm on this earth to do is to write, record and perform original music... Quitting is just not an option at this point, however hard it may sometimes get to survive as an independent musician... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Sometimes that means playing cover songs... which can actually be a lot of fun, depending on the circumstances... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">But I learned a long time ago that making a living playing covers is far easier than making a living playing original music... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And as fun as playing covers can be, people like myself have a difficult time accepting the notion that the vast majority of folks out there would rather hear hit songs they already know, than songs they've never heard before, from bands they've never heard of before... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">This is just not the musical world I want to spend the majority of my all-too-brief time on this earth living in... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">Hence, Widetrack... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/adecf20514a9fc98691df8ff6294f90a3221bc5f/original/widetrack-hayloft1.jpg?1452061525" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"> So once I realized that this was indeed the path I wanted to be on, I began asking myself a question... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><strong><em>"What, specifically, is my mission?"</em> </strong> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Here are a few answers I found (I'm sure more will be added as this journey progresses)... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-To write, record and perform music that makes me feel passionately alive in my creativity, and is of as high in quality as I can possibly make it... </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-To present this music in ever creatively evolving ways that move and inspire those who connect with it... </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-To have writing, recording and performing original music be how I earn my living, so I can remain focused on progressing as an artist and therefore stay true to what I believe I am on this earth to do... </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-To inspire, influence and encourage others to develop their own unique talents, and help their creative spirits to flourish in whatever ways I can... </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><span class="font_large">-To build a network of true friendships, cooperating towards spreading the influence of excellent things - whether it be music, art, movies, writing, coaching, learning, etc. - and therefore do our part in helping make the world a better place... </span></strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">It's taken a lot to get to this point, and if there's one thing I've learned so far, it's that no one does it by themselves... those who help along the way are absolutely vital to the overall equation... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And so, I want to thank you for being here... You are among the first to show support for this music, and it truly means the difference between it flourishing, or just being something I do as a hobby in my spare time... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I invite you to use this music as one of hopefully many influences that propel you onward towards your own mission... </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I must ask: Have you been dancing around the idea of doing something you would absolutely love doing? Please, give it a try... The world needs your gifts... What you do matters - don't ever doubt that! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">I am always here... Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Wishing you the best, </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br><span class="font_large">Ron </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/991de3ab3a42e7150d5a59f57bf2ba96c7f30777/original/img-2230.jpg?1486613051" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: Ron@widetrackmusic.com </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: <br>https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Other links: </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">YouTube channel <br>https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Twitter <br>@Widetrackband </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Instagram <br>https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband</span></p>Widetrack tag:widetrackband.com,2005:Post/43888142016-09-24T16:58:11-04:002017-02-23T19:42:21-05:002016-09-22-Sat: 'Welcome to the Machine'<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/139609/8cb32323d6833a5be992f42ae5ef10ecbb93fec7/large/widetrack-1.png?1487896847" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /><strong>Exciting news! We have just finished the recording of our remake of Pink Floyd's classic, 'Welcome to the Machine'! </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Once again, master studiosman <a contents="Andy Patalan" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://andypatalan.com/" target="_blank">Andy Patalan</a> has outdone himself by capturing our remake of this iconic song, and we couldn't be happier with the results! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Track credits: <br>Ron Tippin: lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar, drums. <br>Brian Burleson: lead guitars, pedalboard, intro sequence programming. <br>Dave Humphreys: bass. <br>Andy Patalan: additional backing vocals. <br>Kurt Harms: additional guitar. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Engineered and mixed by Andy Patalan at The Loft studios. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_large">Co-produced by Widetrack and Andy Patalan. <br><br>*Download the song in the "MUSIC" section.</span></p>Widetrack