One-Take Songs - Ghost of Brian Craig

Attempting to capture the magic moment of a song's performance

I’ve been quiet over the past few weeks and it wasn’t because of not composing or creating. In fact, it’s been a very productive time period for me. Earlier I invested into a field recorder to record my live performances and have been extremely happy with the results. It became a missing puzzle piece that has helped record my shows so I can later publish live one-takes that are worthy of entering their way into a playlist stream.

The journey began after my pop-up show at Big Story Bookstore where I decided to record my show. I ended up learning how to produce a vinyl album copy and delivered it to the local record store and gave the bookstore host a copy. I also submitted a song to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. After getting some local press for the creative efforts I decided to get a bit more serious on my recording efforts while performing.

There was also a lot of good lessons on getting the music gears rolling so early in the year. The press helped me earn credibility as I started booking out my summer show gigs when I booked out my spring and summer. For the first year ever I was able to secure a full schedule instead living the stress from getting last minute gigs each month.

After getting my new recorder I started tracking out my performances, starting at Campfire Hotel then onto River’s Place and the latest gig at Bledsoe Family Winery. River’s Place I had a technical issue but was able to pull out a great one-take song. Campfire and Bledsoe’s were full of magic and gave me many songs to release.

During this process I edited each song and mastered the sound using SoundCloud’s Dolby services. Then I discovered another service that helps you quickly distribute your songs to all the streamers and stores. Now, I’ve always been shy on releasing music. It seems that when I’m releasing a song that I think is worthy I end up pulling it down a few months later because I think it could be better. My mindset has changed a bit though on this subject. I’m now releasing live-versions of the song that are great one-takes. This opens up the possibilities for growth or even later doing professional studio recordings while keeping the version of the song as it is, a time-stamp; or what I’m calling a ghost.

I’m convinced that the magic of music requires something that is bigger than the artist. There is an energy created while a performer is doing their thing and while the audience is enjoying it. During that moment the artist is delivering and the audience is within the vibe and a magical experience surfaces. And… that’s what I’m trying to capture.

Every song that I’ve released so far I experienced that magical moment. Either by glancing at a person enjoying the vibe or feeling the tingle from the vibe. I can’t wait for my upcoming shows this summer to enjoy a dance with the ghost.