Your Next Boyfriend - Cam Waters

After suggesting in my last post that music is universal and that melody is paramount, I'm going to do an about face. If you focus on catchy melodies and beat, you miss the emotion conveyed by the lyrics. Now, I'll admit that I'm not a "lyrics man." I almost never pay attention to song lyrics (about the only album I know all the lyrics to is Jesus Christ Superstar). But people who write their own songs generally seem to have something real to say - in a clever way. For example, read this lyric from Cam Waters' "Like Normal People Do."

And he said let's go to the living room and turn on the TV
And I won't speak to you and you won't even look at me
Then we'll be talking to each other like normal people do

Now isn't that a clever way to make a statement? Beautiful!

One of the things I enjoyed doing is (when possible) to pop into bars and listen to some local band. The best part of traveling in this country is that you can often find excellent singers in the smallest and pokiest bars and restaurants. These tend to be people who genuinely love the music and perform for peanuts. It just offers them a release for their pent up emotions. These are not the voices you're going to find on American Idol (Thank God for that!), but the music tends to be heartfelt. I'm not talking of the cover bands. I'm talking of the independent musicians - singers and songwriters who use music to express themselves - who don't perform to make a buck. Some are awful, some you feel sorry for, some are decent, some are great, but all are genuine.

So, I was in Rochester, Minnesota several years ago and stopped in a bar with Cam Waters. Not the voice that'll win awards, but he seemed to be enjoying himself while pouring his heart into his singing. I had such a great time that I could not resist buying his CD. Here are a couple of selections of pure American folk-blues from Mr. Cam Waters. The first song has simple, spontaneous lyrics with a catchy tune and the second also seems to have been written after a personal experience!

You can find Cam Waters' CDs on his web site http://www.camwaters.com. Both the selections here are from his album Shoetown. Unfortunately, when I checked his "gigs" page, it was empty. Sad.

1. Cam Waters - Your Next Boyfriend (2.01 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Cam Waters - Never Have Been Satisfied (3.11 MB; 128kbps MP3)