Published in the July 8-21, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Mark Fenichel
Mark Fenichel
I wasn’t always a singer-songwriter. In fact, I wasn’t always a songwriter, and I never thought I could be a singer. Even though I could carry a tune and sing harmonies, it was just in the past few years that I’ve stopped hiding behind my harmonica and began the process of learning to write and sing… one note, one chord, one line and one song at a time.
It all began a few years ago when my bass player friend Bob Gonzalez from the band Syndicate of Sound (“Hey, Little Girl” — 1966) took me aside and said “Fenny you need to learn to sing. You will be a lot more valuable as a harmonica player and you will get more gigs if you can sing.” He proceeded to hand me two songs and said, “Learn these and when you do I will give you two more.”
He said, “If you can learn 10 songs you can be the front man at any jam or with most bands and that will give you the ability to do an entire hour-long set.”
I tried those two songs over and over again but didn’t feel very comfortable. So I decided to pick a couple of songs that I was more familiar with and that I could play on the guitar. Well two songs led to three, then five, then 10. And within a year I had about 30 songs and three or four of them were completely original. Now I feel comfortable in front of a band and confident I can pull it off.
Singing and using your voice and harmonica to express yourself is one thing, but songwriting is something else and not something that always comes easy. What do you do first? Write the music then fill it up with words? Write the words and then make up a tune that fits? Where do you even start? For me, songs seem to come in different ways and, yes, all the above.
Mark Fenichel on stage.
I have been into writing radio and TV ad copy, lyrics and poetry most of my life, so writing words often comes easy. And sometimes they come at the most inopportune times.
Once I woke up in the middle of the night with a song in my head. I do keep a pen and paper by my bedside just in case and this time as if a dream at three in the morning I popped up and started writing the words one verse after another.
When I had a series of verses I went into the living room, grabbed a guitar and started playing the tune I heard in my head. I played the song over and over numerous times. At 4:30 a.m. I went back to sleep and when I woke up I couldn’t remember the tune for the life of me. I had the words on paper but the tune was gone. All day long I kept thinking about the song and trying to remember the tune. Suddenly, while driving home it hit me. When I got inside I pulled out my guitar and phone recorder and laid it down. Then I typed out the words and wrote in the chords — and there it was, a complete song.
I will sometimes have song ideas driving in the car (I keep a pad and paper there, too), sometimes at a restaurant (and write it down on a napkin), and other times it might take a while and I do a little bit at a time. I have even found some of my old poems and wrote tunes to them like … “the tree on the mountain sings a sad song as the wind goes by, it feels like winter coming on and so am I. This trip has got to end, I’ll find another friend, summertime is just around the bend.”
My song book has now grown to more than 60 songs including about eight originals that I am comfortable performing. Now my next hurdle is memorizing the words to all the songs I play. In the meantime, I will just continue to carry my book and use it as a crutch to get me through each gig and open mic… one word at a time, one song at a time, one set at a time.
If you want to see what I do, stop by the Downtown Amphitheater Aug. 28. I will be the opening acoustic act at the final Friday Night Music series here in Morgan Hill.
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On another note… my friend Kaye Bohler will sing her blend of rhythm and blues at The Hill Bar & Grill July 10 and at 88 Keys Cafe July 24.
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It was an honor performing for Morgan Hill on the Third Street stage at the annual Freedom Festival celebration Friday evening July 3 with my friend singer-songwriter Janet Thompson and her husband Mike (bass guitar). We all felt extremely patriotic representing the music community and performing in the heart of downtown Morgan Hill.
Got a music tip? Contact Mark “Fenny” Fenichel at [email protected].
