Jeremy Shorter - Distance & Thyme

Release Date:  December 2003

     After purchasing my first laptop in 2001, and Cakewalk Music Creator not long thereafter, I began experimenting with digital music tracks to try and build songs.  Not having had any music theory lessons, I did the best I could with what I knew and created bass, guitar, drum, and piano tracks, blending whatever else sounded cool to me at the time (sawtooth, square, and other sounds).  So, my songs began to take on an experimental electronica rock sound.  This was the original basic concept at its core, whether I wanted it to sound like this or not (and I definitely did NOT!).

     I always wanted a band, but since I couldn't pull one together, this was the best I could do with what I had.  Not a terrible attempt, but also not what I wanted.

     Not desiring to damage any of the "good" songs I'd written, I literally made up the names of the songs in one sitting and wrote the lyrics around whatever floated through my mind that rhymed.  Then I built the music based loosely on how the song sounded to me in my head.  Some songs pulled together nicely.  Others, not so much.

     There are some really great songs, but as with the latter, this album is no longer available.

 

01  Ring Solids

02  Walking Through Eternity

03  Gold-Star City

04  Possible, Deliberate Light

05  Please, the Future

06  Nine Seconds of Shine

07  Pull Me to Safety

08  Song Powder

09  Mist Track

10  Punch Buttons, Sting Name

11  Place Me Senseless

12  SHINE!

13  Take You Higher

14 (Listen to the Walls)

Jeremy Shorter - Recharged

Release date:  April 19th, 2004

     After learning about the limitations of digital music in rock format from my previous album, I tried really hard (maybe too hard) to overcome those limitations by taking the music into a studio.  The Engineer, and now a good friend, Jason Watson helped me organize the individual tracks, giving me guidance as to what sounded good, and helping me flesh out some of the tracks so they sounded a little more like what they were supposed to sound like.

     While I still held a ton of creative control, I think I would have been better off giving him the reins.  Nevertheless, this album came out pretty well, and has some of my favorite tracks.

     The artwork was completed by John Moore at www.enki3d.com.  He did an outstanding job, and put up with a lot of junk from me.

     Justyn Horner, who played an even bigger role on later albums, deserves enormous credit as well.

     Also helping on the album were my mother, Sally Shorter, my sister S. Rebecca Shorter, and our cousins Tammy Huffman, Christen Jones, Charlene Huffman, and Daniel (D. J.) Mitchell.  My very good friend, Sean Dawson, helped scream on the 2nd track, and produced "The Search for My Missing Rib".

     This time, I actually paid for the rights to record "Ad America".

 

01  Wall of Drums

02  You and I

03  Ad America (Breakfast with Amy, (C) 1991 Doll Light Publishing, ASCAP)

04  Power O' Love

05  Light Bright

06  Jesus Christ Super-Store (faux-mercial)

07  The Search for My Missing Rib

08  Somebody Else (Today)

09  Love Circle

10  Hooked 09.06.01

11  What It's For

12  [Blank Track]

13  Firelight (Digital Christmas Gothic Rock ... yes, you read that right) / Alpha Wolf!

manna - Working for the Lord EP

Release Date:  December 29th, 2003

 

     I was once in a band.  We originally called ourselves "manna" (yes, with a lower-case "m") before changing our band name to 41st & Memorial (cross-streets in Tulsa, OK where a bus we were on broke down).

 

01  Part of This World

02  God Bless

03  Surprises Me

04  Amazing Grace

05  On My Knees

06  Dry your Eyes

Bonus Track:  Party (On the Day Before Eternity)

41st & Memorial - You Are Here

Release Date:  May 27th, 2005

 

     ...And then, some really nice guy at the church where we performed (mostly) gave us a bunch of money to produce an album.  So we did.

 

01  Part of This World

02  God Bless

03  Surprises Me

04  Blue Bird

05  On My Knees

06  Dry Your Eyes

07  Restore My Soul

08 Amazing Grace

09  Psalm

10  Why Do...

11  There's a Reason

12  Restore My Soul (Reprise)

Jeremy Shorter - Strong Christian Overtones

Release Date:  November 26th, 2006

     I worked on this album for almost two full years.  At the time, my computer capabilities consisted of Cakewalk Music Creator, Cakewalk Pyro, Sony Sound Forge, and PhotoStudio.  All the tracks for this album were originally designed in the first three, while the entirety of the album cover was done in the latter.

     I hired a friend to take pictures of me at a park in Bella Vista, AR.  My engineer, Jason Watson, put me in touch with a couple of members from the local band, "Weeping Prophetic", whom I paid to do rock guitar tracks for the majority of the songs.  I paid a friend from the band "ShineLikeStars", Casey Booth to play drums.  On the final song, his sister Kendra, played bass and sang.  Also on the last song, the lead guitarist/singer for the band I was in (Daniel Newman of 41st & Memorial), played lead guitar.  Justyn Horner, the man who was mastering my albums (and later, my Mom's), played piano on the slowest track I've ever done: "Take My Breath Away".  My friend, Todd "Toad" Erickson, did the rap on the first song.  Another friend, Justin Lloyd, quoted his short monologue about America on the second track.  Two members of my church's orchestra came in to play on "People Making Time to Love" along with my mother while I played clarinet.  My mom Sally, my cousin Tammy, my engineer and his wife Jessica helped me out on backing vocals.

     This is easily my favorite album.  I flirted with a lot of styles here, mixing and mashing so many elements of so many styles few can tell where one begins and another ends.

 

01  Duplicative

02  The Eventual, Inevitable End of the World

03  Non-Compliant

04  ADICTA K

05  Ba-Ba-Da

06  People Making Time to Love

07  Quick Buzz

08  Take My Breath Away

09  On Par

10  Word Against

11  I Want to Be Like You

Sally Shorter - A Song In My Heart

Release Date:  August 8th, 2009

 

     My mom began working on her first album some time in 2007.

     While I was taking classes at a college in Phoenix, AZ, she was in Arkansas working at the studio I had introduced her to, with the same engineer.  Using all live instruments, she put together thirteen beautiful songs, procuring rights to the ones she didn't write.

     From Arizona, I recorded a couple of clarinet tracks and did the art work for the album based on what she wanted.  During a vacation trip back to Arkansas, I had the privilege of going to the studio with her and recording a few vocal tracks as well.

     She, Jason Watson and I all worked together to produce the album (well, mostly my mom).

 

01  Allelujah (aka The Shower Song) [by Sally Shorter]

02  Think On These [by Loretta Shields Meneley]

03  Echo (of Love) [by Sally Shorter]

04  The Lighthouse [by Ronnie Hinson]

05  Until [by Sally Shorter]

06  Beautiful Butterfly [by Loretta Shields Meneley]

07  I Belong to Him [by Sally Shorter]

08  Reflection [by Sally Shorter]

09  Do You Know My Jesus? [by William F. (Bill) Lakey & V. B. Ellis]

10  Joy Rises [by Sally Shorter]

11  Keep Me Close to Thy Heart (aka Mama's Song) [words by Elsie Mae Sharp, Music by Sally Shorter]

12  Chosen One [by Sally Shorter]

13  This Chance to Sing [by Sally Shorter]

Jeremy Shorter - Visible Force

Release Date:  August 8th, 2009

 

     My mom released her first album the same day I released this one.  It was "Gravette Days" 2009.  Hot.  Muggy.  Fun.

     This is by far my most complex album, using only MIDI data from Cakewalk Music Creator from which Jason Watson utilized live instrument files to create some rather lush and beautiful tracks.  A lot of extra time and energy went into this.

     I had officially reached the limit of what MIDI could do in music in 2009 (other people might say I had only scratched the surface, but I'm not other people).  With my rudimentary knowledge of other instruments, and trying to craft rock/pop songs from MIDI (instead of electronica/industrial), this was about as good as it was going to get with me writing all the tracks.  If I do another album, it will have to be with all live instruments.

    The usual suspects are on Backing Vocals duty.

 

01  A New Family Tree

02  T. Reaction

03  Not the Only One

04  Believe Again

05  Requisition

06  JC+R+SG+HL=TLW

07  Shock of Your Life

08  That's Alright

09  Up

10  The Key to Everything

11  Deny Not

12  Peace for Now

13  Warfare (Won't Back Down)

14  Heaven-For-Eternity Services (faux-mercial)