You just dropped a new holiday EP out – A Santa that plays guitar! Tell us your favorite song on the EP.
I am very pleased with this little Christmas record LOL. I think there are several compelling songs that are great fun to listen to, but I would say I always work hard on the songs I write, so in this case, that is the title track “Santa That Plays Guitar”.
It has been getting a lot of air play and great reviews and people really seem to connect with the whimsical nature of the track. However, I also really enjoy my arrangement of “O Holy Night”, another song that is quickly becoming a fan favorite.
You have had such a successful career. Share with us what continues to inspire you to create new music.
That is an interesting question and one that I could answer for about an hour and a half LOL, but I won’t do that to you.
Basically it is a natural extension of my spirit to create music. It is just who I am and what I do.
I do believe that telling stories is a very important part of how we understand what it is to be human and that art is just as important as food and water. Without art, you can’t even begin to understand or comprehend the universe and your place in it.
I have lived a very full life of incredible experiences, both good and bad, but I try to let everything that I have been through become a positive experience as I can learn and grow from living and surviving. In this way, life and music have some rather handy, not to say synchronistic core functions. In music, we speak of consonant and dissonant melodic structures. I’ll over simplify here for brevity, but consonants are stable tones, often major chords, that allow you to produce a pleasing sound where you can rest forever. There is no impetus to change. Dissonance is more jarring and less pleasing to the ear, especially the untrained ear, so you don’t want to play those sounds for a long period of time. You are compelled to play them and then move on to a consonant sound. Life is much the same way. If everything were positive you would have no need to grow and learn. Why leave the garden of Eden LOL? Bad times, on the other hand, are a state of being we like to avoid and so we try to get through them and back to happier times. So, while you might not like the bad times, and you shouldn’t, you can appreciate that they serve a purpose and if your heart and mind are open to learn and grow they can serve you well.
Do you have a favorite song to play live?
It depends upon the day LOL, but generally we love to play my original song “Truth Is A Misty Mountain” and our version of “Whippin’ Post” by the Allman Brothers.
Tell us what music you are currently listening to.
I just heard music by Bebe Rexha. Yeah, I know, how have I missed her? So loving that along with Tayler Swift’s ”Lover” record, a true must for anyone that is studying music production, which I teach at two universities.
I also just finished reading Billy Idol’s autobiography “Dancing With Myself” and it was amazing. So I am going back and completing my Billy Idol catalog of CDs!
I also just got my Prince 1999 remastered/reissued boxset, which I plan to dive into shortly and also the Beatles “Abbey Road” remastered/reissued boxset as well—again, a project for a day when I can just sit in front of my stereo and get lost in the music.
Finally, my wife and I just love the musical “Book Of Mormon” and have seen it on Broadway three times now—the last time back in mid-October while in NYC. So we are still listening to that and also, we saw for the first time, “Frozen” on Broadway. We hadn’t seen the movie and our first experience was on Broadway and I am so glad it was! What a wonderful cast and production and I have a bit of a crush on Ana. But my sweet wife, Jennifer, says it is okay just this once LOL!
Anything else you want to share with our readers?
Thanks for all the support and Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
Please come and visit me on social media or at www.joeystuckey.com and check out the fan zone where you can sign up for my mailing list and also get some free music!
Where can we find more about you and your music on line?
YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/SenateRecords
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Jstuckeymusic
IG https://www.instagram.com/jstuckeymusic/
FB https://www.facebook.com/JoeyStuckeyMusic/
End of Interview