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| Lyle King has been described as a passionate and refreshing contemporary acoustic-pop artist. Official site includes news, downloads, videos and more! | |
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A New Way to Enjoy Lyle's Music
Saving the Fall Wins the MTV OurStage.com Pop Music Competition!
"What Goes On" (Live at Higher Ground, 2003) Recently unearthed from the archives here's a song from my 2003 performance at the original Higher Ground in Winooski, Vt. I'm not sure why the thumbnail looks so bad - the video doesn't look like that (but on the other hand it does have kind of a '60s Richard Avedon thing goin' on which is cool). Facebook Fan Exclusives
In The Spotlight Album Free for 15 Days!
Music.LyleKing.com Launches
Why BandCamp.com? I love the interface and their approach. BandCamp.com makes it simple for me to manage the content and easy for my fans to enjoy the music including features like lyrics, sharing songs with your friends via social networks a la Facebook/MySpace/Twitter and downloads of lossless audio formats such as FLAC (for the audiophiles out there). Their business model is also very fair meaning more of your money goes to supporting my music. Don't worry - my official releases will still be available via iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, CDBaby, and others. Music.LyleKing.com just provides me with another way to quickly and easily share my music with you. Swing by and check it out - why not share your favorite tune via Facebook or MySpace while you're at it?
New Web Site Design It finally happened... a new web site design! This baby's sleek and to the point. The idea was to make it easy to maintain and surf. Common links are available in the header, the sidebar features various multimedia, tour dates, links, and even my Twitter feed. And this main section features all the news and gossip you've been dying to know (dare I say in more detail than you'll ever find elsewhere). I hope it makes you feel all warm and toasty.
Lyle's New Band Saving the Fall
Last fall I teamed up with a good friend of mine, Aaron Ritchie, on a new music project. You may recall that Aaron co-wrote One Way Street with me and played bass on Left Standing. Our new band's name is Saving the Fall and we've been building a catalog of songs together and recording some demos. It's been a lot of fun and a bit of a departure from my usual stuff. But acoustic fans need not worry - I'm still writing and pursuing my solo work. However, I encourage you all to head over to the band's official site or Facebook page to check it out. For those too fatigued to click here's a few of the demos we've been working on:
Snap Out of It (Demo) by savingthefall You Don't Wanna Know (Demo) by savingthefall
10 Year Anniversary: WCAX Morning Music Showcase In recognition of the 10th anniversary of my first performance on WCAX Channel 3's Morning Music Showcase here's the video on YouTube. Thanks for the opportunity WCAX!
In honor of this momentous occasion I figured I might as well share more about the experience with you. For starters, I was young and needed the mon... oh, wait. Well, following my first real solo performance at the Access Benefit Concert in 2000 I decided to pursue another gig in early 2001. I must've been feeling particularly invincible at the time because I figured I would dive into my solo pursuits with a live television appearance at sunrise on Groundhog's Day. I was fortunate enough to have Ana Jesse join me which not only helped to calm my nerves but also brought up the level of the performance (in fact, I would later base the cello charts for the studio recording of Turn Around on the improv work Ana does in this performance). My morning began with me waking up at 4am and singing for a few hours to try to warm up my voice. I then hopped into my freezing station wagon to head to the TV studio at 5:30am for sound checks. Did I mention that I'm not much of a morning person? After some brief sound checks during a commercial break Ana and I waited in the lobby for forty-five minutes or so while I slowly let my nerves creep up on me. About five minutes before show time I suddenly became very lucid and thought to myself: "What am I doing?! I'm about to play to thousands of people on live TV!" At that exact moment Ana and I were ushered in to sit on set. I vaguely recall that as I was playing my song I found myself focusing on an empty chair in the shadows toward the back of the studio. It was a convenient time to discover I wasn't quite comfortable singing into the big cameras. I likened them to Terminators with the glowing red lights. I hoped if I ignored them and just played my song they might go after the weatherman instead. I wish I could say I was wondering how many people were watching, what they may have been doing at the time, or how many of them were in their underwear, but alas I was too busy thinking "don't forget the next line!" However, I slowly started to find myself settling down toward the end. The lyrics were flowing, my voice was responding fairly well, and there was no big hook attempting to yank me off stage. Show business... now that's the ticket! I somehow avoided seeing my shadow that Groundhog's Day and survived to play another show. All kidding aside it was a great experience and opportunity and the WCAX folks were very gracious and inviting hosts. After that my first solo gig at The Village Cup in Jericho the following weekend was a walk in the park.
Lyle's Music Now on GrooveShark
Chris Titchner Talks About Lyle's Music
Lyle Plays at Holistic Education School Benefit
Earlier that afternoon I was afraid I wouldn't be able to play the show after cutting open my knuckle on a broken glass four hours before show time. Fortunately I ended up being able to play without much discomfort. But it was a very different kind of "Band-Aid" than I expected [cricket... cricket... taps the mic: "Is this thing on?"]. Sorry. This is why I try not to speak at shows!
"Made to Fit" Web Single This has been kicking around for a while now but for those who may have missed it here's the web-exclusive single Made to Fit. This was one of those roller-coaster tunes; I wrote and recorded the entire song in one evening. It took on a life of its own while I was laying down the different instruments and the final version is very different than the original concept I had. I have a lot of fun on these kind of projects; There's no pressure or expectations because the song is so fresh and the entire arranging/recording process is very unrestricted and organic. You start to just follow the song rather than trying to dictate the outcome. I listened to a rough mix of it a few times then finally revisited the recording a few months later where I replaced the vocals and spent a little time trying to mix and master it as best I could. I spent another few months absorbing the final version before deciding to release it for free as a single on the web.
"Almost Fell In Love" (Live 2003)
This performance offers a nice contrast to the stripped-down version featured on 5 A.M. If I ever re-record the song I will likely draw influence from this arrangement. |
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In honor of the 10th anniversary of my first solo cassette, In The Spotlight, the digital download version of the album is now free for the next 15 days at 
Sunday my friend and colleague Chris Titchner discussed our musical history on his blog. He had some kind and generous things to say and even posted a few of my songs for his readers to listen to. Are you wondering what album of Chris' I helped to record? Curious which of my lead guitar parts he felt was most significant to his music? Pondering which of the harmonies he's most proud of contributing to my album Left Standing? Okay, you're probably not typically lying awake in bed speculating about such things... but I bet you will be tonight! Why not put your mind at ease and check out his Blog to read all the juicy details (trust me, you'll sleep better tonight):
I came out of hiding last evening to play some music at a benefit for the Bellwether School, a small holistic education Pre-6 school from Williston, Vermont. I've done this charitable gig for a few years now and I'm always touched by how friendly and thankful the audience is. I'm regularly approached with kind remarks and have had many warm conversations with folks. I always leave feeling inspired by how generous and caring everyone is as they eagerly support this school, its students, and its community.