Ukulele cover – ‘I’m on Fire’

I’ve been sporadically playing the ukulele for a few years now since David Newland got me hooked on it, and I’ve been singing since I was a kid, like most people.  I’m starting to learn more about my singing voice, and how to do the things I want to do (like stay on key and not sound like a vocalist I wouldn’t want to listen to), and one of the methods that really helps is to hear myself recorded. Nothing really hammers home the flaws like listening to playback of your own performance!

I recorded this last weekend, as I was recovering from a bad headcold; I can’t tell if that added to or detracted from my performance. I’d recently gotten advice from my old friend and mentor Ian Osborn that I should try getting a little drunk and recording myself, to get used to my voice and to quiet that internal censor that pops up whenever I do anything that isn’t perfect.  I figured being that sick was roughly equivalent to half a bottle of wine, and it worked out all right, in addition to being a great way to shake loose some of the congestion in my head.

I recorded it using my Yeti Blue Microphone and Audacity recording software; my knowledge of recording is pretty minimal, but months ago at Shelter Valley Folk Festival I got some good advice from friend, musician, and radio producer Laurence Stevenson, who told me to set myself and my mic up in a closet full of clothes, which works really effectively as a baffle.

Having spent most of my life around some of the best professional musicians in the industry, it’s always been hard for me to put anything musical out there – but I’m going to try to do it more often.