We write a new song every week and have been doing so since March 2015. We belong to a rough collection of musicians and song writers who are provided a phrase every Monday (sometimes Tuesday, and a few times on Wednesday, if someone misses the deadline) and we submit our composition on the following Sunday night (usually early Monday morning... ya know... jobs and family and other life stuff takes priority...). On a few occasions we've written 2 or 3 songs in a week, and once we managed 6 songs in a 5 day span.
​
Prior to that we wrote songs based on the inspiration that struck at any particular moment.
​
Check out the "5 and 15" page for new songs on the 5th and 15th of each month and also check out the "PTACK's Picks1" page for a intro to some new stuff from musicians around the globe as well as a listen back to some classics from the past.
​
10-05-18
Steppin' off the Song Machine train with this one... and going with a song from a 5 Song in 5 Day Challenge that we participated in from September 10th through the 14th... Pretty cool challenge where we were given different prompts each day and had to come up with a song each of the 5 days... Day 1 we were given a list fo ten words and haad to use a minimum of 5 (we used all ten). Day 2 we had to wrtie a song including references to all 5 senses (sight, smell, sound, taste and touch),,, that one was easy... and Day 3 we were simply provided 4 photos... a dim silhouette of a pretty girl with long hair, a crisp fall scene, a small bon fire, and a morning mountain scene with a crystal blue sky... piecing all of those together, we came up with "Tremble" Krause gets a sensitive and Leonard brings the musical passion.... Check out the song in our sixth entry to our "5 and 15" page.
​
09-15-18
OK, we're pullin' in a new one here, well... relatively new one... it's from July 23, 2018 and the phrase was "Unity Candle"... and Krause's first thought was huh... how can we NOT write a weakass wedding song? Right? and well... given the current political climate with so few of our overpaid politicians having ANY clue as to what's going on... Krause had to go down the lines of disunity... and while nearly always writing true to the phrase (i.e., using the specific phrase in the song), this time he he uses the concept of failing unity and a nearly burned out candle... and digging down into their political side here... Krause gets a little raspy and Leonard brings the crunch.... Check out the song in our sixth entry to our "5 and 15" page.
​
09-05-18
Going back again, but not quite as far... the phrase is from November 30, 2015 when we were given "Obserative"... and Krause says that's not even a word, but he took some "inspiration" from from one of his favorite song writers Matt Johnson of The The fame and came up with Drip Down... Listen to the opening four lines of Slow Train to Dawn off The The's 1986 album "Infected" and you'll hear the inspiration... and this was also one with MORE COWBELL!!! or rather mando as noted below. Check out the song in our fifth entry to our "5 and 15" page.
​
08-15-18
Another step back to the early days of our involvement with the "Song Machine"... the phrase is from April 27, 2015 when we were given "Holding Out For Less"... Krause provides the lyrics, music structure, vocals, percussion and electronics on this one with Beckley dropping in the bass... but then what really brought it all together was when Krause and Leonard met.... after that... WE NEED MORE COWBELL!!! but is wasn't cowbell... it was mando... and Krause got a "little" carried away with adding mando to about a dozen songs in the pipeline... and although the basis for this song is to simplify... Leonard would need at least six arms to crank out the mando in the intro to this tune. Check out the song in our fourth entry to our "5 and 15" page.
​
08-05-18
We're going back to the beginning with this one... "Angel". It was the first song that brought Krause to Gremlen Studios in Aurora, IL and his introduction to owner Sam Beckley and the follow-up introduction to upstart engineer (and musical genius), Chris Leonard. Check out the song in our third entry to our "5 and 15" page and our lyric video on the videos page.
​
07-15-18:
Our second post is from the phrase/word "Audition", and takes aim at a band struggling for success... a shot at stardom... through the opportunity of a lifetime... the Audition of a lifetime... until Billy goes too far...
​
07-05-18:
The inaugural song was based on the phrase "Dirty Feet", which we initially thought was as bad as "Peter Parkas" or "Lava Lamp", but somehow we managed to write a pretty song about a young couple walking in the rain in mid-July... and more...
​
​