Newfound Heroes

Around the age of twelve my Dad used to take me to the seaside town of Torquay every Saturday to go shopping. It was one of those weekends when I came across two very special music related DVD’s at the now deceased Virgin Megastore that changed my life forever:

Jimi Hendrix & Metallica

“A Film About Jimi Hendrix” documentary and “Metallica: Cunning Stunts” concert film.

To this day I couldn’t tell you what made me purchase these particular DVD’s. I had no real passion for music, Mum had tried to force me into piano lessons a few years before and I hated it. But when I got home and watched these two films they completely and utterly blew my mind. The next thing I did was beg and plead my very supportive parents into buying me a guitar so I could start learning the instrument and begin writing songs like my newfound heroes Jimi Hendrix and Metallica.

Due to the nature of my voice and how my brain works I gradually came to the realisation I could never be a carbon copy of the great musicians I started listening to. Eventually over a period of a few years I started to develop my own style that in hindsight was heavily influenced by the folk music my Dad would listen to in the car.

‘In Praise Of Shadows’ was one of the first tracks I ever wrote. It’s a laid-back, mournful acoustic track with simple lyrics that I’m quite proud of. I have remade the song on many occasions due to getting better at recording and upgrading my gear. I don’t have the first sketch at hand anymore to show you, but my shy teenage signing voice from that time really wasn’t anything to marvel at, trust me. The current version of the song is still faithful to the original.

Take a listen to the track via my Bandcamp link (recommend using headphones):

spotify
t-shirts
youtube
bandcamp
TWITTER
Advertisement

Published by

George Blamey-Steeden

Songwriter from the UK with First-Class BA (Hons) in Creative Music Technology. Searching my name via Spotify will allow you to stream my music.

24 thoughts on “Newfound Heroes”

  5. You changed your icon & site name. Making some life changes?

    Many people have wanted to be the next Hendrix. He was brilliant but, he was also messed up, personally. Metallica is quite the difference from Hendrix. They are a bit darker.

    Never compare your talent to others. It is an effort in futility. You diminish your own star in the process. Every musician I have ever read about wanted to be like another musician they followed. Everyone is a pioneer in their own right. No. You don’t sing like Jimi. No. You don’t sound like James (thank goodness). You sound like George…as you should. The only difference between them and you is…record companies. All they see is dollar signs. They only view talent as a method of making money. Read about Taylor Swift battling to regain control over her music? Independence is a beautiful thing. The good news is, you live in an era where you get to market yourself, directly to fans.

    Keep doing what you are doing. You are grand.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks. The time is right to reinvent myself and you’re right about the music business. The only killer is that streaming never pays royalties, only downloads pay the wages these days. It’s a curse all musicians are stuck with, so – as you say – direct marketing is the key. Thanks again ~ George

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. Well done on the revamp, it feels good to make a change, reinvent yourself and let the real you shine. Wishing you every success in the future, you are sure to sparkle and although we may not like self promotion, it is how things appear to be done these days. The more you do it, the easier it becomes xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. This is very good..I’m a cranky musician married to a cranky musician..I like your orchestration/mix of instrument sounds. Getting heard by people who can move your career forward..that’s the rub. I hope it happens for you. I wish you luck because it’s all crazy hard work and being ready for the luck when it hits. I listened to the stream for quite awhile. Gonna try to go back to sleep. 3 am in the morning wakeups are the worst.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. I like the new look of your blog site. I read this post for a second time and thought about Hendrix. He was my era. I remember hearing of his death on the radio driving to university. All my classes that day were a blur. Most of my mates were also pretty numbed by it. Good to know you were inspired by him. Being a creative artists is a tough path but I wish you all the best.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I love this story of how you came to be! The beginning resonates with me in massively personal way. “Around the age of twelve my Dad used to take me to the seaside town of Torquay every Saturday to go shopping. It was one of those weekends when I came across two very special music related DVD’s at the now deceased Virgin Megastore that changed my life forever”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s