Sidewalk Appraisal showed up on February of 2019. We’ve gotten to know each other quite a bit since and it has turned out to be a lot of fun to play.
The song was one of the first I punched into my new recording suite. Despite this, it languished in digital limbo for quite a while – and a variety of reasons. First and foremost, my chops needed some work – both on the guitar AND my new recording equipment. This is still true in both cases but I am getting there. Finally, just sculpting the song into workable shape kept me busy, too.
I’m still not happy with the guitar sound and find that aspect of this demo to be the one I like least. I have a lot of homework to do when it comes to home recording. I probably also need to upgrade most of my guitar equipment. Heh. Suuuure.
My musicianship is also not quite up to snuff here but I really like some of the “mistakes” and think I convey the idea well enough.
Sidewalk Appraisal
No, it’s not about a contractor, insurance adjuster, or anything like that. As the shapely legs in the title card would suggest, the song is about finding someone attractive.
More to the point, it’s when you find yourself involved in an unexpected and mutual “up-down,” as they say. My wife even suggested that as the name: “UpDown.” I like the sexy connotation – but the idea, as I meant it, could also cover recognizing a previously unknown “comrade,” too.
Both feelings are pretty goddamn fabulous and that’s what I was going for here.
On a completely unrelated tip, in the 11th hour I almost retitled the song “Magic Marker Mustache.” Most of my song titles are random bits of wordplay/tomfoolery or sounds I like. Only occasionally do I find myself compelled to find a title that fits the song’s feel. Sidewalk Appraisal is one such case and, in the long run, that’s the title I stuck to.
All drum programming, samples, bass, and guitar by CAE
