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Odd Years

by Erich Collins Carey

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about

I'm excited to share "Odd Years," a new song for our crazy times with a pretty good backstory.

I had the inspiration to write this song during that reflective period of time between Christmas and the New Year (at the time going from 2018 to 2019). Maybe it's just me, but I always find things a touch more unsettling when we go from an even numbered year to an odd number. The future's uncertain enough; maybe, just maybe, it's a touch neater when the calendar year is divisible by two without an awkward remainder.

As 2019 approached, a friend in a message exchange spoke about greeting the New Year with optimism in spite of the mathematical incongruence-- "even odd years can be good!" she concluded.

The phrase stuck me as a funny hook and I set about writing a song around it under the cover of a cold December night while staying at my cousin's cabin in Vermont. Shortly thereafter, I recorded a demo of the song-- but by the time I finished we were already into January 2019; at that point it felt too late to share a song about the calendar turning to an odd number. Surely though, i thought, "this odd year change will happen again-- not next year, but the year after!" And so I envisioned sharing the song I wrote instead as 2020 turned to 2021. Plenty of time to prepare.

And so I recorded the song, saved it on my laptop and there it sat for nearly two years...

Then along came 2020: a year unlike any other. What a ride. From an ongoing pandemic, to global and national social unrest, to economic distress, to political chaos to just the plain old fact of putting another year on the clock, it's been a loaded moment in time to say the least. 

At some point in October of 2020, I remembered the song I had written and my well-intentioned plan to share it as the year turned to 2021. I re-listened to the song I had recorded with the benefit of added time. At once it seemed both totally changed and perfectly relevant. I decided to try and record a clean version to share as originally planned.

Recording the song then became a challenge in and of itself. In spite of my best efforts, trying to get my band The Constituency into a recording studio proved too challenging in the age of Covid-19. 

Nonetheless, in true 2020 fashion, we found a way to piece the song together remotely. With the help of my dear friend and expert Producer Matt Shane, we made some some tweaks to the original demo, then layered on top of it, first with drum parts recorded in Nashville, then bass from a roving RV (believed to be somewhere near Ohio), to saxophone tracks from Oregon, to percussion from Indiana and of course a healthy dose of guitar and vocals from Brooklyn, NY. 

In spite of the complexities of getting together locally, we were able to get the job done with a cross country effort. And in a way that ultimately seemed fitting as a snapshot of our most unique moment in time-- at once further apart and closer together than ever.

Incidentally too, this is my first studio release since 2013-- and in keeping with the theme of greeting uncertain times with optimism, I'm hoping to have more songs to follow shortly behind it.

All a long way of saying... Happy New Year and best wishes for 2021, in spite of (or perhaps even because of) our very odd times. Sincerely hope you enjoy the track and stay tuned for more!

Thank you for listening,

ECC

#HindsightIs2020

lyrics

This isn’t my first trip around the sun
I’ve learned a thing or two,
I guess I’ve had some fun
But I’ve brokered my intelligence
For a job that takes experience 
And I know that change will come


But something always stops me
Haunts me like a spirit out of body 
Nightmares until January 
About the math of your asymmetry 
If you take an even number and add one
 

But I’m conquering my demons
And changing out my sequence 
Gonna trust the source I should 
Feelin so fearless
Now that I realize  
Even Odd Years can be good

I don’t get superstitious, I don’t have the time
Or fear the supernatural, it’s all super fine
Anxious ‘round uneven numbers
Like a summertime clap of thunder 
Distracts my distracted heart and mind 

But some things you know you can’t control
As they say you gotta learn to go with the flow
It’s just a stupid number 
I know I should stay calmer
Gotta take these petty things and let it go

There might be things in the past
But no the past don’t last 
I’m done with singing the blues
Ain’t nothin holding me back 
And as a matter of fact
Even Odd Years can be good


1-2-3-4-5-6-7’s my lucky number now everyone 


Take 5-6-7-8-9-10 thousand reasons

And add one…


We’re roundin the corner 
I see good things to come  
There’s nothing odd about an optimist
If it makes me one

So I cast out the shadows
And stare down the barrels
Got a date with fate in 2021

I don’t rely on miracles
Or restorative spirituals
But so I’m not misunderstood 
I’m grabbing life by the steering wheel
It’s beautiful the way I feel

Even odd years can be good… 
Even odd years can be good…
Even…
Odd years…
Can be good.

credits

released December 30, 2020
***
Written & Composed by Erich Collins Carey, West Dover, VT (Dec. 2018)

Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Matt Shane at Joe’s Garage NYC

Mastered by Alex DeTurk at Bunker Studios in Brooklyn, NY

Band Personnel:

Erich Collins Carey - Vocals, Guitars & Keyboards (recorded at Joe’s Garage, Brooklyn, NY)

Aaron Steele - Drums (recorded at The Holodeck TN)

Elizabeth Edwards of Lizzie and the Makers - Vocals (recorded in Brooklyn, NY)

Jeff Kerestes - Bass (recorded aboard The Admiral (somewhere near Ohio))

Ben Dobay - Saxophone (recorded in Oregon)

Ben Handel - Percussion, Vocals (recorded at BTown Sound, Bloomington IN)

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about

Erich Collins Carey New York, New York

Erich Collins Carey is a modern day rock'n'roll troubadour.

An NYC native, ECC fronts band The Constituency and for many years toured with D.C. outfit Rock Creek Kings.

But his roots are as a singer & songwriter with a vibe that owes much to the heyday of Dylan and the Dead.

Original music from ECC's album "Could've Gone Either Way" is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music.
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