Connection Song: Stories

A couple months ago a bride to be named Brie - from Buffalo - emailed me that she and fiance Jim were to be wed in the Keys at the end of May, (this week).

She was interested in a customized wedding song and she directed me to their wedding web site for some information about the couple.

Now, usually I interview a couple, but after reading through Brie and Jim's site, an interview wasn't necessary.

There were a number of wonderfully poignant things on the site that prompted me to write the song the very next day.

One of the first quotes from the website was "I always prayed I'd find someone who thanked God for me", which prompted a big "AWWW".

I hope you'll take a listen by clicking here. Thanks and enjoy.

Interviewing Brian and Su from the heartland of the U.S. for their wedding ConnectionSong was extremely fun and full of unusual findings, like how she found him in the Yellow Pages, how he plays fetch with felines, (no, he doesn't throw his cats).

Much of the story they shared with me centered around food and golf... huh? I'm off to play their ConnectionSong for the soon-to-be-weds and their guests on a cruise ship. I'll post the song right before the wedding as it's not likely their guests will have web access prior to the maritime marriage, (and we want to keep up an element of surprise with the final composition). Stay tuned the first week of September...

In addition to the ConnectionSongs I write for weddings, memorials, graduations and businesses, I've begun posting free downloads of songs I'm either writing for and/or have already written for specific holidays. Its been a regular theme of mine over the last few years to write songs that happen to correspond with holidays, and frankly, posting them is just another possible way for people to find me on this amazing internet.

Videos too??? Yep, I've stepped into the "YouTube" decade by including a couple videos of living room performances of some of the songs focused on the specific holidays. (Soon to be a few of live performances - they've been shot, just not edited yet.) Take a look at the home page and you'll see what I mean.

A free download around the time of a holiday, a video, some lyrics... Hey, it's almost like KwanzaHannaMas in May! Enjoy and thanks very much for stopping by. BTW, if a particular song moves you, please be sure to forward the link to a friend or to someone you feel the message will be a great fit for. Music is a wonderful gift.

Last week I wrote a song in honor of my dad who passed away in 1999 on St. Patty's Day. I performed it to close my set on Saturday night at World Cup Espresso and Wine in Seattle and the reception was strong.

I'll put up a copy of it for downloading although I think I may add an upbeat section as the song was prompted by a sweet vision I had after my dad passed away. The vision was he and some old friends - ones I'd never seen - dancing on the rooftop of the Nursing Home; doing a jig, free from physical bonds. (I'll likely add my son on bagpipes, a fiddle and anything else Chieftan-esque.)

It was a sweet vision and I'm pleased my muse threw that up there on my screen to write about this St. Patty's Day. "May you dance like a slave who's been freed!"

Thanks to friends Ann Corbett and Sherrill Sparling, I'll be writing a ConnectionSong for the class of 2007 at Shorecrest High School just north of Seattle over the next two months.

Ann had bid successfully on my donation of the ConnectionSong last year and in talking with her friend Sherrill, they suggested the graduation song. As I've typically written ConnectionSongs for weddings along with large organizations and non-profits, the challenge of a graduation song should be new and certainly have a few challenges.

I'll be interviewing a cross section of 8 to 10 seniors and working with that information along with other inspiration to hopefully tell their story in a way that translates for one of their classes singers or choirs at some of the graduation festivities. More to follow.

I'm so excited to continue my musical journey this year. It's been both rewarding and challenging in the last few years to build my repertoire, regular gig locales and songwriting skills, (not to mention websites).

I'm looking to creating 2007 as a wonderful year including all of the above with as many new and wonderful connections as possible.

If you or anyone you know of is looking for or knows of what you consider to be excellent writing and performing opportunities, I'd love to talk with you.

For more information about my more commercial music and live performances, click here.

Also, if you'd like to learn more about what I do with music in the corporate world, e.g. team building workshops, corporate meetings, etc. click here.

Blessings to you and yours for a beautiful year, Steve

For years I've been writing songs for people and their various types of celebrations in life. The most obvious is for weddings, and I absolutely love sharing a couple's story through music for that special occasion. Others include memorials, anniversaries, engagements, birthdays and even corporate events.

The following are background stories that have prompted a number of the ConnectionSongs I've written. From time to time, there will be entries about my CD's, special projects, performances and/or events.

To listen, I've created links within the text, or you can just go to the "ConnectionSongs" button on the left.

Call or email if you or someone you know is having a celebration or other event anywhere in the world, (including Seattle, Washington where I'm based), for which you feel a Custom Song would fit well. Thanks for reading and listening and I wish you the inspiration I felt in learning these wonderful people's stories and putting them to music!

If you're interested in my more commercial recordings and public performances please visit "www.SteveMasonMusic.com".

Technorati Profile

I just sent off the first draft and recording of a Connection Song to an engaged couple in Seattle. They're leaving the country to get married in a week and a half, and as always, I'm excited and nervous at the same time that I told their story well through their own customized wedding song. I typically follow up in a couple days to make sure I take care of any changes and or refinements as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it may seem like too big of a "to-do" for a couple with a lot of other things on their minds.

Sincerely, "Fingers crossed in Seattle"

My step grandmother passed away a couple years ago at the age of 90 years old. For her last couple months on this planet she kept saying the phrase "Time to go, don't wanna' be late" She apparently was referencing a party of some sort.

She was a very sweet woman who left behind my step mom, brother and sister who have helped to make my life wonderful.

I'm sure the party goes on and on and Nanny is laughing somewhere in the midst of it! If you'd like to listen, please click here

I interviewed a newly engaged couple in Kirkland, WA this week. The process of writing a custom wedding song for a couple begins this way. (Note: I keep these entries anonymous until after the couple's song has been played so as to maintain any of the surprise factor for the attendees of the ceremonies.)

It is so energizing to hear the stories of how people found each other in this world and what they find that's so special in each other, i.e. "their" story.

This couple truly is the prototype for "head over heels" couples all over the world. Now that I've interviewed them, I'll go through the pages and pages of notes I took and begin to cull and organize them based on the chronology and themes that begin to show up. Some of the key items that show up so far include how they met in a store when of course neither was looking; a trip they took together after dating for about four months in which they started to learn how to lean on each other; and their fairy tale engagement in the mountains. The theme of leaning on one another is what has come up so far in their story many times. (So, don't be surprised if that's repeated in the chorus or part of the title.)

Finally, after refining the words in a way that honors this couple and their wedding, I'll put the song on my site for people to take a listen to so you can experience the whole cycle and process.

From my perspective, it's very exciting and yet I'm a bit wary each time I start a new custom song. The opportunity and responsibility of telling someone's story is something I'm both very grateful to do while at the same time I'm cautious because of my desire to make sure I do justice in honoring each person, their values and ultimately the unique beauty and love that's created in the world through their coming together.

Thanks to this couple and all people who entrust me with communicating their story through a custom song.

Well, Jen and Ben were married Saturday night the 30th of September. And I was honored to play their custom wedding song for them at the end of their ceremony which was held in Redmond, Washington, (just east of Seattle).

It was wonderful to see the smiles and the tears and hear the laughter as people quickly caught on that I was singing their story.

Take a listen by clicking here and I hope you enjoy. Let me know if you're interested in a Custom Song as it's one of my biggest passions. I'd love to help you tell your story with music. Steve

THE FOLLOWING IS AN UPDATE OF AN ENTRY I BEGAN JUNE 1ST, 2006:

I'm getting excited to suprise Ben and Jen's guests with their custom song this coming weekend. I met with Ben and Jen almost two months ago to discuss writing and performing a custom song for their wedding scheduled for September of this year. We chatted over beverages and munchies. (As an audition I had played “Babe and Angel” for Jen at her office awhile back to demonstrate what I typically do for couples.)

I asked a bunch of questions from a list I've used for quite some time, but didn't get to all of them. The process is described a bit below and the song will be posted this weekend after their wedding ceremony.

1st a Custom Song is typically not written like a "pop" song as it's more important that the story be fairly literal so the listener can understand the story with only hearing the song one time. The following are some of the items they told me about and a few thoughts on where I may go with the song.

B4 they knew each other they were both enrolled at Kansas U, but neither attended. Also, they both attended Washington State University, but again didn’t know one another there. They met through Match.com and Jen was most attracted because Ben included at the end of his description of himself the words, “Go Cougs”! Because both are such big fans of their alma mater, that clinched the deal… at least for the first date.

They met for dinner at the Rainforest restaurant in Tukwila, WA and each shared pictures of their respective loved ones, (Jen’s dog, Stella, and Ben’s ‘68 Beetle, Dimples).

They love U2, their first kiss was Ben’s first, they never miss a Cougar football game, they have a plethora of people named Sue in their lives; Jen’s mom, step mom, Ben’s mom, Jen’s middle name, etc., Ben makes dinner, Jen cleans, Jen sleeps through movies, Ben keeps piles of stuff everywhere as his organization method, (and he knows what’s in every pile).

He asked her to marry him at a Cougar football game in which he’d just gone to get some clam strips and tartar sauce, (Jen hates sauce and seafood both). He pulled her aside with the ring in one hand and the clam strips in the other. It sounds sweet and awkward, but he asked her if she was going to take the ring as he didn’t have another hand to place it on her finger, due to the clamstrips.

Bottom line, they both think of the other as their best friend and they’ve travelled paralell paths at times. I’ll probably focus on one or both of those items in the chorus. Their wedding is the end of September '06, at which time I'll post and link to the song if you'd like to take a listen.

In Charleston, SC lives a couple who've been through the relationship ringer. He had been in a long term marriage that ended up in a bitter divorce, and She had lost her husband due to a freak auto accident.

Needless to say, they were extremely cautious when entering into their relationship. They contacted me a week before getting married and we went through an immediate interview process to see what I could come up with in a short amount of time - typically I work on a 45 to 60 day schedule for interview(s), writing, revisions and refining.

The story they told had some sweet metaphors. The one that came out was one of each other carrying the light of hope for the other after such turbulent years.

She was moving into his house which looks out over the water and was a late 1800's light house; the kind where soldiers would carry lanterns out to signal ships and guide them home.

After a couple refinements that involved making sure the chronology worked, the song "By Your Side" was completed and emailed from Seattle to Charleston for playback at their wedding, (the evening before the celebration).

Here's to the couple having the courage to push through their fears from the past. Click here to hear their song - "By Your Side".

May 2005 - Angie and Todd live in Chicago and asked me to write them a song although they weren’t sure what I’d have to write about. They are self-professed un-romantic individuals. I told them it would take probably 45 minutes to an hour on the phone, and they assured me the call probably wouldn’t last more than 20 minutes due to their un-romantic nature. When we got on the phone, they were almost giddy after answering a few questions because I think they were surprised at how much they had to say.

An hour and a half later they’d gone on and on about all the great gifts they’d given and received over their four years together, e.g. a trip to San Francisco, the way he asked her to marry him, etc.

During the conversation it came out that they only call each other by their pet names, Babe and Angel, how they met, they both love to win, they love to travel the world and hope to have some angels of their own someday. (They’re actually pregnant as I type this entry, (about a year after their wedding).

I sent them some lyrics and sang them a nearly finished version over the phone one night. They loved the song and made it a part of their wedding reception ceremony. They asked if I’d perform it live at their celebration in Charleston. It was a wonderfully hot evening in Charleston, and the wedding and reception were outside. When it was time for the song, everyone gathered around and I’d convinced Angie and Todd to kiss each time the words Babe and Angel came up in the song… that was a lot of kissing.

It was so fun writing the song because in learning some of their story as a couple, it became so apparent that each of them was the best gift the other had ever received. Here’s to Babe and Angel! (To hear the entire song Click here .)