John Carroll - Updates

🌩️ "Hurricane" is a Big, Loud, & Passionate Release

Hey Friends!

My new single "Hurricane" is out on all streaming platforms!

This is a song about struggle. It's about the endless fight to overcome day after day in all of the mounting pressures that threaten to overwhelm (much like the vocals are almost overwhelmed by the constantly building arrangement). How that struggle pushes us to new heights that were previously unimaginable....and how you truly are the hero of your own story.It's meant to go big, rock out, and inspire you. Keep making the world a better place friends. - John (:

Subscribe with iTunes RSS feed Download

How Songs are like Time Machines...

Hey Friends!

This month’s release is a song I’ve wanted to write for a little over a year and a half now. Its based on a couple of real encounters I had on back-to-back nights.

The first night was on St. Patick’s Day. I was playing at a tiny but well-known-to-locals bar in downtown Chattanooga. The parade was just finishing up and 2 older couples in their green hats and beads walked in together for a round. Before they left, one of the men approached me and asked if I could play “Sweet Caroline” - it was for his wife, he said, it was their 53 wedding anniversary, and her name was Caroline.

He went over to help her up as I started playing. The patrons becoming aware of the situation, helped push some tables and chairs back (we were crammed in there). They slow danced. Both had tears in their eyes. “50 years”, I thought, “a lifetime passed between them during that chorus.”

The next night was at a Tequila bar/restaurant that actually happened to be right around the corner. Two young parents came in with their three year old daughter. “Do you know Sweet Caroline?” they asked, “our daughters name is Caroline.” This time when the tables were pushed back, a circle formed. Patrons ran to join from other tables, waitresses and waiters, complete strangers, all held hands with little Caroline. They let her lead the circle. Swung her around on an endless wheel.

And it felt like I was seeing the same Caroline on different nights of her life. Like skipping a stone across time. Crowd after crowd, hands touching hands, reaching out, touching you, touching me… (: -John

Subscribe with iTunes RSS feed Download

"The Ground Above Us" Announcement

The day you've all been waiting for!

Go listen to/download the new song "The Belly of a Whale" off of The Ground Above Us by following the link:

The Belly of a Whale

I'm so excited to get this project started!!! This project is not only new music for you, but represents a new chapter in my music creation process. That sounds about as crystal clear as the person in the photo up above, right? (although, I'm 95% sure that's me (: ) So let me tell you about it in the same words I so eloquently wrote for the website announcement:

So what is The Ground Above Us?

The Ground Above Us is going to be a collection of songs that takes a close look at our self-narratives. Who do you tell yourself that you are? Who do you tell others that you are? Who do other people tell you that you are? The answers to those questions tend to become so ingrained in us that we think of them as a permanent part of our identity: "I am who I am." But in recent times these narratives have been given an incredible amount of power(social media anyone?), and it has changed everything in tremendous ways. I thought now would be a good time to write some material that shines a spotlight on these stories and to re-think how we use them to relate to our own self and others around us. I call these stories The Ground Above Us.

The Ground Above Us also represents a new approach to my music that I'm really excited about sharing with you. I'm going to be releasing singles through monthly emails. These singles will have an over-arching theme that will be announced every 6 months. At the end of six months, I'll bundle the songs as an EP and also put them out to be streamed on your favorite streaming service. It will be like a serialized concept album or rock opera that takes a new turn every six months. This is exciting because it will give us more time for discussion around the art as it is being created and released. How cool would it be if your input could influence the work of your favorite music artist?!!!
(end of website announcement)

So cool, right?! This is going to be a work in progress as I figure out this new method of music writing and story creation, but I love the idea of making it ongoing and keeping things fresh and new and open dialogue (for you and for me). So plenty more to come because I've been hard at work - there's artwork coming up for the project, more photos to be released, a performance video, behind the scenes, etc..A lot to be excited about!

Also, I wanted to mention that the amazing string parts that you're going to be hearing on the tracks of this project were played by Tammy King who (along with many other credits) is the fiddle player for The Steeldrivers. I was VERY lucky to have her play, and I absolutely love how the tracks turned out.

And other news,
I have some shows coming up in South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia, and we are already looking at more areas, so check out my calendar here if those areas are close by! Or just go check out the snazzy new web page layout with some new photos taken by the amazing Stephen Byrum who runs Young Blood Films on My Home Page

I know this is a huge post, so I'll end here. I just didn't know how to tell you everything that's going on without brimming over (with joy/excitement!)

Songs and Stories from Nashville

Hey Everybody!

I hope you've been having a great summer. It's definitely my favorite time of year. I grew up in southern TX around Houston and developed a taste for sweltering heat. So I kinda love this stuff.

Also, I just recently got back from a quick trip over to the mid-South and had a blast. For those reading this who made it out to those shows, I just want to say that I really enjoyed getting to meet everybody. Also, thanks for coming out - the concerts definitely blew away my expectations (in Lawton ya'll packed the room plus some!), and that's solely based on your kindness.

On to the news:

For the Nashville area:

I get asked a lot by my friends in the Nashville area if I play in town (where they wouldn't have to travel crazy distances to see a set). I've been putting a lot of my efforts into playing in neighboring areas and haven't had a lot of options for you. But good news! I'm now one of the regular performers at Cafe Lula (in the Ryman). The August schedule should be posting in the next couple of days, so I should have some local gig times posted soon. Stay tune-d.

For the East Coast:

We've got a really cool project going on where me and 3 other songwriters have put a show together called Songs and Stories from Nashville. This is a project my buddy Dave Minninburg organized, and it's something I'm excited to be a part along with Dave, writer Eric Haines, and Marc-Alan Barnette. We'll be playing our songs in the Nashville Writer's Round style. This is going to be our first few shows, but we were excited by the interest it has generated so far and plan on keeping the project going. Here's a quick video to give you a little more info:

https://youtu.be/1E_GTY6eP98

Here's our current dates coming up:

7/22 Sat. 1-4pm @the Salamander Resort & Spa (Middleburg, VA)
7/27 Thu. 7-9pm @the Bright Box Theater (Winchester, VA)
7/29 Sat. 4-6pm @the Villain & Saint (Bethesda, MD)

This is our first run out of what we hope to be many. So let me know if you would like us to head to your area! And if you're close by to these venues, we'd love to see you. I can say of the other 3 writers that they are top notch. It's going to see a great show!

For Fun:

I love playing music - but my favorite part of the gigging and the traveling is meeting new and really cool people (if it was just music, I could do that in my studio :) ). In Dallas about a week and a half ago, I got to talk to Edward after my set and he was telling me about his own love of words (I mean, check out his blog title :) ) and how he likes to rewrite lyrics to popular songs. He shared one with me on his blog called "Getting Old" (written to the tune of "Letting Go"). I thought it was fun and that I'd share just to help spread the word that there are amazing, creative, and cool people creating art all the time around us. It's one of things that keeps me optimistic about life. Thanks for sharing Edward! Check out the link:

https://edwardantonym.com/2015/04/22/getting-old/

I have exciting stuff brewing that I hope to be able to share soon. Until next time!
John

Sunnymeade Live Recordings

I had a cool opportunity come up to play out a house concert series called Sunnymeade Live. The audience there was spectacular that night...and I even had a bit of heckling there that night (all in good fun! :P ) that just made it one of the more fun times that I've had playing songs for an audience. The other cool thing about the show was that one of the host is a working audio engineer in the Nashville area, and he made a live recording of the live set. So I wanted to share that with you! Here's a link to a file with the mp3's:

Sunnymeade Live Set

I just want to thank Ed and Melissa for letting me come out to play, and for the people who came to support. This is a monthly concert so check their facebook page for future shows of other great artist. I'll list that link below along with a link to Ed Brussa's info for those of you looking for a talented music producer/sound engineer for your own projects!

Sunnymeade Live FB page

Ed Brussa and StopGo Recordings

"Heart to Heart" Music Video on VIDEO NATION

I wanted to share with you some cool news that's come my way this holiday season. Before the band I worked with Man & the Mountain had decided to do other things, we recorded a music video of "Heart to Heart". The guys graciously agreed to let me use the video if opportunity arose. And I'm excited to say that opportunity arose!

An organization called Video Invasion is creating a show dedicated to music videos from Indie musicians, and the "Heart to Heart" video was picked to be a part of it! Video Nation has partnered with hotel companies such as Wyndham, Sheraton, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton, and others to broadcast the show to over 600,000 motel rooms across the US. They're also working with online services such as SmartMed Plus to show streaming videos while people wait to see the doctor. The shows will be available to most smart tv's including Chromecast, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. So, you can see that it's a great opportunity.

I have to say a really huge thank you to Jeff Swafford who took on this project as director/producer and made all of this possible. I also wanted to give a shout out to the guys from Man & the Mountain. This video is a reminder to me of how much fun we had playing together.

And now if you're wanting to see the video, there's more good news.

Hard at Work

Quick update:

These past couple of weeks have been exciting ones. Music in general is great, but some moments are more gratifying than others. I've been experiencing one of those peaks these past couple of weeks watching these songs that I've written come alive with the arrangement and polished sound design that Dean and I have been laying down. It's kind of like finally seeing an idea that you've scratched out on a napkin turn into a full fledged painting. You think..."that's what I really was creating!" So we've been hard at work in the studio making it happen. We've only got one more session for mastering, and then the songs are ready to go! It's hard to believe the moment has finally arrived.

Also, with every project comes artwork. I'm excited to say that I'm working with Jacob Hansel again for the album artwork. He was the artist who created the Man & the Mountain artwork for the Songbird EP, and we loved it. This album is different, but the artwork is shaping up to be equally as awesome. I'm very excited about this whole project from cover to cover....literally. :) Here's a preview using a scratch idea that was later fleshed out for what will be the some of the album art. Keep in mind this is a scratch pencil idea...I can't show you everything and ruin the surprise!

So very soon, you'll see the finished version of everything up and ready for you to experience. I'm counting down the days!

EP COMING!!!

Big News!!! I'm so excited to tell you that my solo EP is happening! I've worked hard writing material, getting the right producer, and everything else that goes into making an EP. And now it's ready to track. This is a huge step for this process, and it means that this is going to be ready to roll out very soon.

I'm working with producer and songwriter Dean Payla, Jr. for the tracking, recording, and mastering of this project. He's a great songwriter as well as producer, and I really believe he's going to help complete the vision I have for these songs. Here's a video of Dean doing a cover if you're curious about this guy:

Also, I encourage you to go check out his web page

http://deanpalyajr.com

If you're not following me on FB and/or Twitter, I encourage you to do so to get more updates on day to day activities of this process.

Again, I am super excited that the ball is really rolling. I can't wait to share it with you.

Two Step Texas Girl

I wanted to drop in and update with this recent bit of cool news. I co-wrote this song "Two Step Texas Girl" a couple of months ago with songwriter friend Bob Pennington. We had it demo-ed and I mixed up the tracks here at the home studio. I've been meaning to post this song to the blog anyways for ya'll to check out for some time now, but I received a call about a week ago that it was picked up for rotation by Hamilton Radio which, of course, is amazing news. Big thanks to Paul Mac for spinning the song!

Well, I was really excited to let you all know. Stay tuned for some new really exciting news shortly! Now without further ado - here's "Two Step Texas Girl".

Last Band Release of "Man and the Mountain"

Sad news. The band I fronted, Man and the Mountain, has broken up. It was a smooth band break up as far as band break ups go. We were just moving in different directions and thought that we would end it before things became difficult. Which means we're all still friends...so you may yet hear them on future recordings! That being said, it is sad to no longer be meeting with that great group of guys. It was really awesome to be able to say that I really liked and am friends with every member that was in the band. I've been told that doesn't happen often. We wanted to leave everybody on a high note with one of our favorite songs to play out...and we always opened with this song. This was actually a co-write with a former-former member of the group Eric Landshaft. He'll be releasing an EP soon himself so watch my FB page because I'll be spreading the word when its ready. The song is called "One Day Dreamer":

This does not mean you won't be hearing more for me, however. I've been writing new material for a solo EP and have been talking to producer's around Nashville to get this project out. So there will be new material as soon as I can get it to you!

So there's the happy news with the sad. We really hope you enjoy the band's farewell track. I know I'll remember the time with the band as a really awesome and formative time of my life.

Your Blog Title