Mary Kissed The Ground

Mary Kissed The Ground, a musical memoir of my days in the Kennedy High School Marching Band. Transporting me back to the energy of the 1980s. I recall the creativity that fueled the genesis of this series of songs. Next, with both intuition and attention to detail, I crafted the arrangement and chords. Lastly, I will lay the foundation for what will evolve into my musical journey.

I recorded the basic tracks in the 1990’s. And capture the essence of my musical vision in its rawest form. I left out the words to save myself from facing them.

essentially 2 songs

“Mary Kissed the Ground” emerges as a multifaceted narrative, encapsulating two distinct chapters of my journey. The first part, a lyrical flight from Scotland to Ireland, embodies the boredom of intercontinental flight. The melody soars across vast expanses of sky, it carries the echoes of the band, color guard, and drill team. And that we were all moving farther away from our hometown.

In the second part, the focus shifts to the poignant moment of landing at Shannon Airport. Where a Drill Team officer kissing the ground serves as a poignant reminder of the transition. The transition from a world governed by rules to one defined by us. It wasn’t just time away from our home lives. It was time away from the world that formed us.

I originally this work “The Epic,” and later titled it “March.” Rooted in the shared experiences of the Kennedy High School Marching Band. These songs serve as a musical testament to the camaraderie and the spirit of adventure that unite us all.

“Mary Kissed The Ground” is but one chapter in this unfolding saga. Alongside other finished songs such as “Band Bus Ride,” “Parade,” and “5th Move.” Together, they form a symphony of memories. A melodic journey through the triumphs and tribulations of youth. Finally, a timeless testament to the enduring power of music to transcend time and space.

Mary Kissed The Ground

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019

All You Feel

All You Feel a song written by Joey Grijalva and Ken Hada

All you Feel was not in my mind before a few days ago. In the first place John Terby posted a clip of my old band playing this song at a live show. Then Blake Rehling responded with some kind words about the song. Later on Blake text me and asked for both additional info and a mp3 of All You Feel. And this request set me off on a quest for this song.

Analog To Digital transfer

I eventually found a digital multitrack of the original recording. Previously I had transferred the audio from its original cassette tape four track machine. Next I remixed the song in Logic Pro. And created both Blake’s MP3 and a AIFF. I then created a Lyric Video in Davinci Resolve. It was during this process that I realized the impact of the words from this song. And that thought led me to the subject of songwriting.

songwriting

All you Feel is a song that I wrote with Joey Grijalva. When we played together in our band Shoot The Moon. And Im sure this song started with some chords from Joey. And some words and melody from me. Now that formula changed as our writing evolved. But right or wrong that’s how I remember this songs creation.

Songwriting is something I did because I thought it might one day pay off. And it was fun to do since I had zero training in the process. In fact most times I was just trying to finish songs so we could put out a tape or play a gig. Deadlines are such good things for artists.

The meaning of the song is in the opinion of the listener. Therefore I don’t like to define songs that I have written. So when I wrote the words for All You Feel, at that moment they came out of thin air. In other words I did not feel at the time that these words were important. Or that these lyrics pertained to me. Although I will say that I must have needed some of the advice this song gives. Or maybe it was advice for the future me?

June 4, 2018

i Had a conversation podcast by Ken Hada

Words Push Things Around

I few months ago I decided to give podcasts a try. You might think why podcasts? They are so stark, no pictures, no video, and no text. Instead of all the stimulating visual things that make the internet so fun podcasts rely on sound alone. Thats right, but sound can be very interesting. And why not sound? If I were you I would not underestimate sound. Sound is glorious and the sound of words are not to bad either.

As a matter of fact words have propelled this world forward for a long time. People have used words to do really great things and really bad things. Words can change a student into a doctor, and a single person into a spouse. Words push around so many things in our world. And if you use your words at someone else they might use some towards you. Sort of like a conversation.

Conversations can be very interesting to listen to or participate in. Im not talking about conversations on Reddit, a newsgroup or your favorite web forum. Im not even talking about conversations on text or dm. Im talking about real conversations (the in person type). Conversations that have no reason, nothing to sell, and nothing to prove. Conversations that talk about art of all things. That thing we do or admire that somehow makes sense. That art thing that makes us feel a feeling or elevates us. Art conversations on things like photography, skateboarding, music, poetry, or acting.

If you made it this far you might like to listen to my conversations with my friends. Friends I like and respect. Friends that I believe in. I think they have interesting things to say and you might think so too. I hope you will enjoy a series of podcast I create called “i Had a conversation”

http://www.ihadaconversation.com/i-hada-a-conversation-with-john-stamos/

skateboarder Lizzie Armanto Part 1

Every Dance Is Too Long Michael Weber part 1

Photographer Rob Johnson part 1 Decisive Moments

February 19, 2018June 4, 2018

Shoot The Moon, ten years of video recordings

popular shoot the moon video clip

doesn’t really represent what the band was

This is a clip from my old band named Shoot The Moon. We wrote songs, played live and lived our lives together for 10 years. For me, this clip sort of lacks what the band was actually about. Im putting it up because it is (as of this writing) the most popular video.

And speaking of video wow did we create a lot of it. I have been spending the last month transferring all of this video to youtube. A task that has resurrected many feelings both old and new. I think my generation were some of the first to have a moving picture record of our daily lives? It was a expensive thing to have a camera back in the late 1980’s. Now with each generation of smartphone being cheaper and better, everyone will have a moving-picture-record of their life. I wonder if it will as strange for my son or daughter to see 10 years of their life so many years after they lived it?

For me, it is a bit strange to see 10 years of your life on video. I sometimes wonder if this is a good or bad thing? I really loved that experience and those days are so fun to watch. But video also reminds me of how scarce time is. And so I feel guilty about looking at life as opposed to living it.

If you want to see all the Shoot The Moon video go here https://www.youtube.com/kenhada

If you want to see the official Moon website go to www.shootthemoon.com

July 17, 2017July 17, 2017

The best of Shoot The Moon “different but the same”

December 24, 2016January 11, 2023

Christmas Land by Shoot The Moon

Christmas Land by Shoot The Moon. In the first place, I was at a point in my life where the feeling one gets from the Christmas Season began to fade. For the purpose of, remembering a good holiday season I decided to write a set of Christmas songs. Equally important, I asked my friend and bandmate Joey Grijalva to join me. Ultimately, we called our Christmas Album Moon Christmas.

Furthermore, the working title for this song was Christmas Land, looking back I probably should have called it Christmas Show. As a matter of fact, my original intent when writing this song was to make a story about remembering and hanging on to the good parts of Christmas. Furthermore, to sort of go back to that person you were when you really loved the Christmas holiday

As far as I remember, I composed this in Studio Visions (one of the early DAW’s). I remember mapping out the song with keyboards. And asking Joey and John to play along to the recording. In fact, they are amazing musicians because many of these tracks did not have click tracks. The wonderful backing vocals are Julie Van Duren.

Cover photo was made by Dave Sparks. Cassette sleeve created in Pagemaker. And we had this album pressed at Rainbow Records.

Recording gear used

Christmas Land by Shoot The Moon was recorded in my (home studio) garage, on an Akai MG1214 aka Akai 12 track (the same unit used to record the U2 album Rattle and Hum). Additionally, used an old Studiomaster mixing board (I bought off Chad Wackerman or John Wackerman), Studio Visions DAW, Quadra 650, assorted 421, 414, sony, and Shure mics, Alesis compressors, timecode machine, assorted keyboards, Yamaha spx90.