Singled Out: Dashdown's We Gotta Fix It

hello, my first solo release Dashdown - Rock & Roll Vacation was a personal labor of love that really pushed me to expand my horizons as a writer, as a drummer, as a guitarist, and as a lyricist. There was no way it could suck, It had to be special. I tried to approach it with as much musically as I could bring to the table so I could, in one snapshot, have a little something for everyone.

The first single on the record is, based on tons of feedback from friends, the somewhat edgy "We Gotta Fix It". It's a funny choice in the sense that it was the very last song recorded for the cd, when I had thought it was already done. I was putting the finishing touches and final mixes together before sending to get her mastered and inspiration hit me in the form of the BP oil f-up.

I had never written anything even quasi-political or socially/environmentally-conscious so it's a bit of a departure for me. Usually I am too busy trying to turn a phrase or a funny observation. Plus, "We Gotta Fix" doesn't sound like anything else on the cd and isn't really the kind of music I listen to for that matter - it's almost, brace for it, a rap.

I wrote and recorded it in one angry morning and then had my wife's 4 and 6 year old niece's "sing" on it for a cool affect and some positive vibes to accompany the track; it is they that will be most impacted by our foolishness.