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Basement Suite

by Matt Sommers

I spent May - June 2009 in a basement apartment, living out of a suitcase. Armed with only a borrowed acoustic guitar, I began writing little one minute songs, heavily inspired by R. Crumb's excellent "Heroes of Blues, Jazz, & Country" book and CD. I also realized that my laptop computer probably contained infinitely better technology than what was used to capture those 1920's blues field recordings. Using Apple's Garageband® software and only the computer's built-in microphone for input, I attempted to produce my own acoustic subterranean blues album. The ten tiny songs were woven together into a single piece as a musical suite, capturing the mood of the space where I found myself existing.