‘The Without Words EP’ is a small collection of instrumentals I am putting together that are folky and orchestral and are meant to give a sense of story without using words. No vocals, no nothing. There will be more soon, maybe enough for an album eventually.
I wrote ‘The Lazy Banjo Shuffle’ around some loose banjo recordings using lots of guitar, an organ and even some uilleann pipes.
folk, country rock
‘Without Words’ is a little tune I originally wrote for acoustic guitar. I thought it might have some vocals to go along with it, but it didn’t work, so instead I tried to say something using only music. An instrumental without words.
Although it is short and sweet ‘Without Words’ includes a small orchestra of backing instruments including woodwinds, a mandolin section, strings, various percussion and even a juice harp.
folk – acoustic guitar, orchestra
While watching some Buster Keaton clips I noticed the similarity of the film’s accompanying music to what I was doing with ‘Without Words’. Not so much the acoustic guitar but the woodwinds and the orchestra sounded similar. It got me thinking of a music video featuring a silent movie star and the one and only Buster Keaton seemed perfect.
Since making this video I have become a big fan of his. He was a master of visual humour but not always recognized for his film making abilities. For much of his career he worked independently in Hollywood and was an early innovator. This video only shows a quick sampling of his large body of work that includes early visual effects, tracking and panning cameras and breaking the forth wall. Most importantly he did not need any words to make people laugh.