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

March 2, 2019March 2, 2019

The song “Home” Lyric Video

Home Lyric Video

Joey Grijalva and I wrote the song “Home” in 1992. The song lived on the album also named “Home” by our band Shoot The Moon. In fact Joey Grijalva and I wrote the entire Home album in a single evening.

If you owned a home studio in 1992 you could make a recording like this.

The Musicians

The musicians on Home are as follows, Joey Grijalva on guitars and vocals, Ken Hada, drums, keyboards, and backing vocals, John Horne Bass, and Julie Van Duren on backing vocals.

Joey Grijalva used a Carvin DC 135 through a Korg A3 for most of the rhythm guitar parts

John Horne used a Tobias Killer B bass plugged directly into the Studiomaster.

Ken Hada (me) used a Slingerland Maple drumset, with a DW wood snare drum. Ken hada used an assortment of Zildjian and Paiste cymbals.

For more information about how Shoot The Moon recorded their songs check out the Moon Studio section of this website.

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.