You Crazy Dreamers

We all know that us Canadians love our Presidents, we are the true, north, strong and…er, hold on, I am Canadian, we don’t have Presidents! Now why would I betray my own country and support the push for Presidents this election year? Why for the September release of the 3 disc box set for the Compilation: “Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 Presidencies” from Standard Recording Company.

To get an idea of the magnitude of this release (I have been waiting over 2 years!!) - you can visit the actual blog page for the writers (whom are listed in this post title) that are the life blood of the compilation. Don’t let names like Mark Kozelek, Denison Witmer, Bill Callahan and even Jamie Stewart ( Xiu Xiu for those who are not aware) woo your ears from the true prize. The real talent for this release lies in the storytelling and writing of Kiefer, Pitcher and Gerken on each of the 43 presidential vignettes. For a little background on the trio you can do your homework here - Christian Kiefer / Jeff Pitcher / Matthew Gerken, there will be a test on this later, believe me.

This all started back in 2006, during the February Album Writing Month in which the FAWM organization brings together songwriters to write an entire album of new songs during the shortest month of the year. So get this, everyone has to write (and record) a minimum of a full album within the month and submit for judging!! Truly a feat if I ever heard of one (although I consider myself the furthest thing from a writer, it is altogether impressive no matter how you look at it). Now, we find ourselves 2 and a half years later and we are getting a 3 disc release with some amazing artists and I am absolutely foaming at the mouth to receive my pre-ordered copy.

So now that you are all heading over to pre-order your copy of the release [hint, hint], let me highlight for you the roots - nay, the heart of this entire project with original songwriting and delivery from Kiefer, Pitcher and Gerken. The three tracks below are the original recordings, so we will see in a few weeks when we get a chance to review a “Before and After” scenario;

There you have it, forget Obama and McCain, support some real talent in ‘08!

~Smansmith