New Song & Video from The Idle Hours: "The Road"

Hey all! I know it's been a few months, and a heckuvalot of things have happened.  I feel like I always come to you, full of promises to be better, like a bad lover...alas, I have no great excuse, except the usual busy-ness of travels and teaching.

But the good news! I have a new video to share. If you've been following my previous posts, I have a project with Nashville producer Marc Lacuesta (newly Grammy-nominated for his work with Francesca Battistelli) called The Idle Hours. We released an EP in August, which includes a very special song to us called "The Road."  Yesterday we released a video for the song!  It's been 7 months coming, but with the talents of Austin Jose and John Enriquez at Homeroom Production-Creative, we've put together a lovely children's story to underline the feel of the song.

Also, keep your ears open for the legendary BJ Cole on pedal steel guitar. BJ was kind enough to play on our song during a recent stay in Nashville and we were very lucky to have him.  Enjoy!

 

A story of friendship forged across the universe.  This is the Official Music Video for "The Road" by The Idle Hours. Download the song at http://TheIdleHours.bandcamp.com // "The Road" is written and performed by The Idle Hours (Alfa Garcia/Marc Lacuesta), featuring B. J. Cole on pedal steel // Published by HD Music Now (Mission Viejo, CA) // Support The Idle Hours at http://www.Facebook.com/TheIdleHours
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Concept by: Alfa Garcia, Austin Jose, John Enriquez, Rob Bieselin
Illustration: Austin Jose
Motion graphics: John Enriquez, Kevin Weyrick Knowles
Direction: Austin Jose & John Enriquez
Producer: Homeroom - Production Creative
Executive Producer: Alfa Garcia
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from The Idle Hours (EP), released 26 August 2014. Recorded in Nashville, TN
Lead vocals: Marc Lacuesta
Background vocals: Alfa Garcia
Pedal steel guitar: B.J. Cole
Acoustic guitars: Alfa Garcia, Marc Lacuesta
Electric guitar: Mike Payne
Melodica, Maracas: Marc Lacuesta
Piano: Alfa Garcia
Upright bass: Vinnie Lu
Engineered and mixed by Marc Lacuesta
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"The Road"
(lyrics and music by Alfa Garcia/Marc Lacuesta)

If I had another eye, I'd see the whole world
two to keep me between the lines, as the road turned
one stayed on the setting sun behind me
if I had the eyes to see.

Alone I keep a steady keel, my conscience
timing like an idle wheel across the distance
ever-wishing you were here to give me grace
to fill the empty space, singin'

Ooooh... this wandering road.

This old North Dakota blue is an ocean
deeper than the fields we knew as children
and when I'm feeling very small and overcome
our song will guide me home, singin'

Oooh... Ooooh...
this wandering road.

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The Idle Hours are here!

Last week, Marc Lacuesta and I finally debuted our EP.  This has 5 songs, all written in 2011-2012...also known as the years when I got to learn about the general awesomeness of Nashville.  We are truly proud of these songs, and you can check them out here:  theidlehours.bandcamp.com.  They are available for streaming and download for $4.99, or $1 per song.  Not a bad deal for music, right?  You can also find the EP on iTunes and Amazon, AND...please don't forget to follow us on Facebook.com/theidlehours!

We were so lucky to have some incredible musicians on this too, so if you have the time, I encourage you to look through the EP info to see the names of some gnarly players who contributed to the effort.  Some notables (which I mentioned in an earlier post) include BJ Cole, who played on Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," as well as Sting's record "10 Summoner's Tales" in '93; and Jeremy Lister, whose group Street Corner Symphony won 2nd place on The Sing-Off in 2010.

The Idle Hours EP Track List
1. Wait for Me
2. Perfect Melody
3. The Road (feat. BJ Cole)
4. For Now
5. Third of December (feat. Jeremy Lister)

Thanks in advance for checking it out! :)

Ladies and gents... The Idle Hours!

Here I am, many months later.  I promised I'd be better about blogging, but the last few months have been kind of an overload of thoughts and things happening.  You would think this would be the impetus for more blog posts, but it's the opposite with me.  I start to feel the snowball effect; I get lost in the thoughts and ideas and, instead of getting them out here, I kind of roll along with the avalanche.  Sorry, truly.

But let me attempt it anyway.

I've had a project going on in Nashville for 3 years now with Marc Lacuesta.  He's the producer behind half of "World Go Blue," and has been the other half of a duo I've started called The Idle Hours.  We write songs that we love, and we've been aiming to have them placed in film and television.  Much of that is out of practicality - Marc isn't an artist in the traditional sense and doesn't have time to tour - but we also have been interested in exploring the outlet of licensing a bit more.  Nashville (also lovingly known as Nashvegas) is a town that is built heavily on the idea of publishing music, so it's a very tangible goal for us.  I could tell you so much about working with Marc... but it'd be a hefty novel, so I'll tell you about the product of our work instead.

We are releasing our first-ever EP next week.  Not a lot of clamor or publicity about it, but we're OK with that.  We are quietly going out into daylight.  I feel like we're letting these songs escape into the world with the thought that doing so is accomplishment enough.

These songs have been benchmarks of our time as friends and collaborators, co-conspirators and penpals (2,000 miles of distance! Oy!)... there's lots of great nuggets in there, including one song that features Jeremy Lister from Street Corner Symphony, and another with prominent pedal steel genius B.J. Cole.  We tried to get Marc's bestie Ruby Amanfu in there, but her rock star schedule wouldn't allow.  :)

I learned so much in 3 years of writing and recording with Marc. The project has been half the reason for my 7 trips to Nashville since 2011 (the other being my last solo record, of course). It's also seen me and Marc through a lot of life changes.  When we first met each other he was single, and I was unsure about my own relationship; now he is engaged (to a very lovely person), and I am happily sure about my relationship (same guy; rough road, now behind us).

The good news is that even before these songs were really out in the open, we'd gotten "Bergenfield, NJ" placed in an upcoming indie film called "Old Fashioned," and have just been approached about placing it in another film as well (that one I will mention once it's final).  I guess it helped that this song was on "World Go Blue" as the final track.  During the week I spent in Nashville this past June, we were approached by a publisher about an exclusive pub deal, which means we may be on our way to accomplishing the goals we had for our songs (here's praying!).  After our EP comes out next week, we'll release a new music video, which I am producing alongside the guys at Homeroom Creative.  I'm really excited for this one, since it will be an illustrated video, with a story that is near and dear to me.

All good things.  But at the heart of everything, it's just amazing that Marc and I set out to do something and have completed it... or at least, gotten it rolling.  We've still got more music in store... but before I jump ahead of myself, I'm going to do what I'm not that great at doing: take a look at all that was created, and see that it is good. :)