Christmas is so near to my heart, and in the spirit of love this year, half the proceeds from not only this EP, but from all my music during the month of December, is going to families in need this Christmas. Ambient pads album included, as well as the two free projects, for those of you who are super kind and actually pay for them even though they are free. You know who you are, and I love you. In fact, when you feel strangely warm embraces in the middle of the night, that’s me hugging you with my mind. But I think this is going to become a tradition, to release this EP with maybe a couple new songs added each year, and to half half the proceeds from all music I have out go to folks who need it. Here’s the link to the album on Bandcamp:
http://karlverkade.bandcamp.com
So here’s a couple of the new songs. There are three original pieces, and three traditional songs (public domain) with new arrangements. And fair warning…I just kind of wrote what was in my heart without paying too much mind to style. So apologies to those of you looking strictly for the ambient genre; it’s a little different than that. But it was a joy to record it.
That one is very textural, and I actually like the sporadicness of it and how nothing seems to quite fit until about halfway through the piece. Kind of feels like a kid on Christmas, or maybe the first Christmas.
That one is actually just the camera mic for the audio, but it is the actual recorded take of ‘First Snow.’ What happened is that right at about the 3 minute mark, the camera fell off it’s secure perch leaning over the cabinet propped downward by The Joshua Tree book. But I was doing kinda good on the take (very few clunkers 😉 ), so I just kept going, and then turned the video into a quick promo for the EP a couple weeks ago. But that’s all the video of ‘First Snow’ that there is. lol
Okay, this next one is very much not ambient. Sorry. It’s like Ireland with a faux choir and about 37 layered guitar tracks. I kind of like it though. 🙂
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F29558896 The World in Green & Red by Karl Verkade
There is also a version of ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’ on this project, and that song is really the heart of Christmas for me. The lyrics are a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written on Christmas Day, after his wife had passed, and he had just received a letter that his son had died in the war. It’s a very emotional piece, and when looked at the lyrics in the light they were written, with the conclusion Longfellow comes to, it’s a very emotional song for me.
So once again, if you’d like to get the EP:
http://karlverkade.bandcamp.com
Lastly, a little one take with the Prairiewood:
Splendid.
Karl.
Karl Verkade 