Scored for: voice, piano, guitar(s), bass, and drums
I set out to write a “bubble-gum pop song” fit for a teen diva, and came up with Can’t Dance. The lyrics capture the awkwardness of high school nerds who lose themselves in each other and to the music. My friend and fellow composer Stephanie Meyers provides the “diva” for this one, accompanied by several of our talented friends.
This is a live stream VCFA internet broadcast recording from 12 August 2015.
Scored for: solo voice and guitar
I have two children who survived the unpleasantness of the divorce of their mother and I when they were young. This song is my apology to them, and reaffirmation of my love for them and my grandchildren.
This recording is a live stream VCFA broadcast to the internet from the Songwriter’s Festival concert on 12 August 2015. Reed Robbins accompanies on guitar.
Scored for: solo voice, guitar(s), bass, drums
This is a live stream recording of the VCFA Songwriter’s Festival concert on 12 February 2016, with me singing my original country-and-western song Don’t Give Up on Me (accompanied by a few talented friends).
I wrote this for my wife, who had to put up with me travelling to remote work locations every week for a few years before I retired.
There’s another version of this song here.
Scored for: solo voice and guitar
For one of my rescore projects, I wrote the music for an insurance company TV advertisement that featured the misadventures of a dim-witted small plane pilot. I wrote an original song for this spot (included in the compilation Adventures in Advertising).
I had the opportunity to perform this song live on 8 February 2017 with Reed Robbins on the guitar. This is a live-stream video of the event as it was broadcast on the internet from VCFA.
This is a “portrait” that I wrote in 1970 for one of two Lindas that I knew in college. Here it is transcribed for guitar.
(remastered 15 November 2017)
I reworked original themes I wrote in the early 1970s into a romantic trio.
This is a live 2012 video featuring Robyn Olichwier (flute), Sarah Walters (alto flute), and Christopher Alexander (guitar), recorded in concert at Shenandoah University. The video is from a cellphone in the audience, but the audio track was professionally recorded.
Steven K Sanford 