Photo By Bobby Aazami of ourfavoriteday.com

I travel a lot and find myself playing in solo or duo formats much of the time, so it’s no surprise that the acoustic side of my material has plenty of chance to blossom over the last few years. A lot of people have asked me why I don’t have a recording of some of these songs, so as I make the transition from studio rat to performer, an EP of stripped-down acoustic tracks seemed to be a natural place to start. I’m proud to give you my first recording as an artist – ‘Sparks.‘

The EP consists of three songs of my own and three covers, performed with acoustic guitar, vocals, bass and drums – and a few other subtle elements thrown in. The musicians were members of my longtime band that gigged around LA for years as Heliotrope, so the musical chemistry between us was as relaxed and intuitive as ever.

THE SONGS

‘Unseen Hand,’ (endearingly referred to as ‘Unsigned Band’ by a fellow band mate) is a song I wrote back in 1997 as I made the first steps to getting off the road as a sideman and focusing on my songwriting career. I’ve never gotten tired of this one, because it came from a real place in my life… I was going through a huge transition and the song seemed to help me through it. Whenever I sing it during my shows it seems to strike a similar chord with the audience.

‘One Of These Days’ is a song I wrote with KC Porter and Carlos Santana for the 2002 Santana album ‘Shaman.‘ It’s a cool story – I was in a deep Nigerian Afro-beat phase at the time, and I noticed Carlos had every Fela Kuti album on vinyl. So rather than try to write Carlos the proverbial pop hit, we went for something much more raw, political, and in line with the Afro-beat feel. We even had the guys from Ozomatli come down and lay down the bass, percussion and horn parts, which created a pretty monstrous sound. Our song was a bid for a large 6-minute chunk of real estate for a commercial Santana album… and the record company hated it! The only reason it made it onto Shaman was that Carlos loved it so much he went to bat for us, dug in his heels and insisted it stay on the album – with my vocals! So for this EP it only seemed fitting to re-imagine it and come up with an acoustic version which I could perform on my own (sans 12 Piece Afro-Latin Band). It definitely acquired a unique vibe through the process of acoustification… I hope Carlos digs it…

‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ is one of my favorite songs of the 1980′s, which while I admit to being my least favorite decade of all time musically and otherwise, still had some great songs. So when this bluesy groove came out of my guitar one night, I figured it was time to let the healing begin. Obviously nobody can mess with Annie Lennox, but I think I snuck through by being a guitar player… and a dude. Girl, you know it’s true.

‘May This Be Love,’ usually known as ‘Waterfall,’ is from the first Jimi Hendrix Experience album. There are a lot of versions out there, and as a HUGE Hendrix fan, I’m always glad to see Jimi get his due as a songwriter (in addition to being the Greatest Guitarist Ever). It’s a gorgeous song that is about daydreaming, or love, or spirituality or whatever that ‘waterfall’ may be. My version is inspired by Brazilian guitar music — through my Euro-Canadian hands, of course.

‘New Creation’ is a recent song that comes straight from the overwhelming feeling I get when I contemplate the Unknowable Creator of Everything Ever (including quasars, blue whales, the Grand Canyon etc.). I’ve always had a hard time imagining myself being transformed by Divine forces, but… that’s the whole point of life, right? Anyone who’s ever stopped to try and deal with that, especially as a flawed, floundering human being, might relate to this tune. (Anyone else can imagine it’s about cooking.)

Lastly, my take on the old Johnny Mercer tune made famous by Frank Sinatra: ‘Summer Wind.’ I first heard it as a teenager in the movie ‘The Pope Of Greenwich Village,’ and it’s been in my head ever since. I wanted my version to carry a sort of haunting feeling to it so I married the lyrics to these dark, romantic chords that remind me of a faraway place… it’s one of those songs I wish I’d written. So I did the next best thing!

Next Episode: The Sessions…

***UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. YOU CAN FIND OUT THE RESULTS BY CLICKING HERE***

I’m thrilled to announce the official launch of Sparks, my acoustic EP. It’s taken a long time to get this far, and it feels great to finally share it with you today. I want to get Sparks into as many people’s hands as possible… but in order to spread the word, I need your help. To reward those who dig my music enough to share it with their friends, I’m giving them my new EP for FREE! All you have to do is log into Twitter and tweet the message you see below (or click the message to do it automatically):

@JBEckl+'s+new+EP+and+it+is+awesome!+Time+to+share+the+love:+Retweet+this+to+win+a+copy!+http://su.pr/2VMgz1" target="_blank">I just listened to @JBEckl ‘s new EP and it is awesome! Time to share the love: Retweet this to win a copy! http://su.pr/2VMgz1

Because this might get a bit overwhelming (i.e. massive amounts of retweets) I have to limit it to those who extend their effort early on… so:

The first 50 tweets will receive: A physical CD of Sparks.
(Mailed to their doorstep)

The next 50 tweets will receive: A Digital Download of Sparks
(Emailed within 72 hours)

My team & I will be tracking the posts so if you tweet it we should see it… We will post all the winners below once the giveaway has ended. If you don’t see your name listed below within 72 hours of tweeting (and you know you’re among those who tweeted it)… please leave me a comment below. We’ll check the time of your tweet posting to see if it qualifies, and update accordingly. Make sure to follow me @jbeckl so I can DM the winners of the contest. Good luck, Thank You, and Happy Tweeting!

P.S. Take a minute to join my email list (in the left sidebar) so I can contact you directly once the giveaway is complete… Lets stay in touch!