So I challenged myself write a song about watches. Why not? I run – again, now – a watch blog. I hit the since-sold piano and played some chords I’d been messing with for over a decade. With my eldest daughter Rachel by my side, we worked on adding the lyrics. She put them with the chords and ba-bam! Only not really . . .
We sent the song to our producer, my childhood friend Patrick Dreier. Pat owns Encore Music Academy And Recording Studios. The musicians musician didn’t see Watch Out as a Toots and the Maytals-type deal. He changed the rhythm, then set to work making the music.
That’s Pat on all the instruments. I asked my favorite Masshole to add my favorite instrument of all time: the Hammond B3. God’s keyboard. Pat soloed on both organ and guitar. Done! Only not really. Rachel added background vocals and we both thought the solos were too long.
Pat killed the organ solo. A few more tweaks and yes, finally, it was done! More than a year from the start. Rachel asked me to take a picture of a watch to accompany the song. I immediately reached for my Ball pocket watch and started snapping. As you can see, I went for happy hands (10:10) – and kept shooting. Close enough for rock and roll?
Something was wrong. Rachel wasn’t uploading the song. Pat and I kept after her, month after month. I still don’t know why she hesitated. Rachel is a trained opera singer turned voice actor. She’s released plenty of material on YouTube, Instagram and now TikTok. There was something stopping her from letting this one go.
No clue. Anyway, TA-DA! There it is: Watch Out. A song about watches featuring my BFF and my daughter. I hope you enjoy it. And Ball watches are the bomb. If only it wasn’t T-shirt weather in Austin all the damn time. Just sayin’ . . .
She’s got vocal chops… and as my dad would say, “easy on the eyes.” 🙂