ZeCoop:
It's nice to have a really fun song come out... a song that made me smile and move and really get into playing. I was excited to write and play every instrument. Well, except when I realized that my awesome idea to have a big epic ending meant I needed to play a big epic ending on the drums, with eight straight fills, LOL. ARGH!!! (I don't think I even KNEW eight drum fills!!!)

But I did it!! It was fun, but hard. It made me mad (because I screwed up a lot) but I kept going until I got better. And the thing is, that this is what life is kind of like right now. The driving beat of this song made me think of walking. I don't jog or run, so walking fast is my exercise. We have over a mile of hallways in the basement where I work and I'm out there every day, whether just for exercise or to go to a meeting.

I walk down the hallways (briskly) and see some people I know, and some people I don't know. Within those people I know, some know of the recent tragedy in my life and some that don't. And there's the inevitable... "Hey how are ya?" Well.... That depends on who you are and how much time there is. Most of the time, I get to put on that fake smile, say "Great, how are you?" and keep walking. The smile fades as I get past them.

But I keep moving forward.

Gear Time:
Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro
Danelectro DC59
Fender Jazz Bass
Traynor YGL-3 mkIII amp (1973)
Ludwig Hollywood drum kit (1973)

KARL
Well my all time fav Collabee sent me the most fun, rocking, popping , riff tastic song to play with. So even though i now back in merry England I did most of this out in sunny Thailand so i finished it off in my studio, but still with just the iphone. John had the title Fake smile club so i went with that for the lyrics and went off into a tangent about how giving a smile makes us all smile, including one verse where i tried to come up with random things that made me giggle ( and also had to rhyme 😉 )
Thank you so much again John for being such and inspiring FAMM shining light for us all. WOOOHOOO
PS see if you can spot the Alan Partridge random reference 😉
PPS I added a random acoustic turned into distorted guitar solo from my hammock !!

AND MASSIVE CONGRATS ON SMASHING THE WIN!!!

ZeCoop:
As always, Karl was able to completely capture the vibe of my song and lift it to new heights. As my third song, still recovering from a very somber first song, writing it really made me smile and he’s truly captured the nature of the song with his wonderful lyrics. I learned a few things about the comedy he grew up with, and had to Google a few things (although I’m a huge fan of John Cleese). 😂🤣😂🤣

I called it Fake Smile Club because it's kind of annoying/painful to *HAVE* to smile when you don't feel like it, but once again, Karl has given me something to think about... My fake smile might mean something to someone who needs it and I don't even know. Thank you Karl for helping me stay positive and remember try to spread happiness. Even a fake smile can help. You never know. 😃