Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried any more
You led me away from home
'Cause you didn't wanna be alone
You stole my heart, I couldn't leave you if I tried
—Rod Stewart, Maggie May
Have you ever wondered who Maggie is? Don’t google it, trust us. Just know that she’s a real person who inspired a Hot Rod song. It’s amazing how songs are birthed. Our Bonus Track guest witnessed a well-known band write one on the spot. Music, man…
Before you hear the story, check out three songs from Jonathan, Ben, and Kody.
Hope by ИF (Jonathan)
Nate Feuerstein, known by his initials ИF, is a phenomenal rapper and songwriter whose last album hit number two on the charts. I wasn’t aware of him until last year, but I have really been enjoying his music. Feuerstein has been aptly compared to Eminem but doesn’t seem like a copycat. Slim has more popular songs than my pick this week, but Hope really gets me going right now!
Also available on Apple Music.
Down by the Water by Ocie Elliott (Kody)
When we first started the Swap, the idea was to give people Friday pre-weekend playlist songs. This song perfectly captures what I had in mind. It has a vibe - soft, peaceful, pure, and it’s called “Down by the Water” for crying out loud. Sounds like the ideal weekend to me.
If I close my eyes while listening, I’m driving down the Malibu coast with one of my best friends and we’re spontaneously stopping at a random Pepperdine baseball game. It’s crazy how music can take us back to (and into) happy weekends.
Also available on Apple Music.
While I’m Down by John Cragie, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings (Ben)
Cragie is a storyteller. In his new album, he teams up with TK & The Holy Know Nothings (who have a bar band feel) to make some fun and clever songs. Both artists thrive in live music settings so they make a good pair in the project. As Cragie says in this song, he tries not to sound like every other man.
Also available on Apple Music.
Bonus Track: The Birth of a Song by Zach Mabry
In my last year in college, I lived in a house with a bunch of guys, 2 of whom were Zach Williams and Brian Elmquist. After college, we all went off in different directions and most of the guys in the house wound up pursuing music in some way or another to various degrees of success. For Zach and Brian, their paths came back together in Brooklyn where they formed the band “The Lone Bellow.” We’ve stayed in contact the whole time and whenever they would play a show nearby they’d call and invite me out.
During one of their tours, they were going from Asheville to Chattanooga (or something like that) and they decided to bring the band and come stay at my house along the way, but they needed a place to rehearse before their next show. No problem, I work at a Christian camp and we have a building with a good sound system so I hooked them up. And that is when I got to see a song come into existence. To this day it was one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever witnessed.
The band spent the morning practicing all the songs for their show and it was going great. I just sat in the crowd (I say “crowd” but it was just me) and soaked it in. Then they decided to take a break, but instead of everyone heading outside, Zach asked Brian to listen to something that he was working on and he pulled out his journal and started singing a little tune that he’d written for his daughter Loretta. And that’s when it happened.
At first, Brian was sitting at the piano (keep in mind, he usually plays the electric guitar) just fiddling around trying to find the tune that Zach was singing. Then they started to hit a groove and Zach picked up the acoustic guitar. Well, then Kanene came in, (who usually plays the mandolin) saw what they were doing, picked up the bass, and started jamming along with them. Not to be outdone, her husband Jason walked in (and since Kanene was playing his bass), he sat down on the drums and jumped right in seamlessly. It was amazing.
They played through the verses and got to the bridge, built up the volume together, got to a climax, and then dropped out for a split second only to come back in perfectly together. It was crazy. I was dumbfounded.
They got to the end of the song and they were all so excited they were glowing. Then Zach pulled out his phone and told everybody to run it back real quick before they lost it. It was so impressive. They played the new song again so they could record it, and then again one last time using their normal instruments. And it was done. A song had been born and I got to watch it.
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Zach Mabry works at Snowbird Outfitters (Andrews, NC), the best camp in the world. He’s a camp director, worship leader, speaker, and retreat leader. He’s married to his wife Rocky and they have four kids. The first concert he ever went to was Steven Curtis Chapman’s, Great Adventure Tour!
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Has anyone ever had an experience like Zach’s? Share it with us! Have a great weekend, friends.
-TheMusicSwap
This... isn't a song you probably know, but the bonus track reminded me of my brother (arguably) witnessing a song being born.
Sandwich is one of the biggest bands in the Philippines—respected veterans, reliable for really crunchy power pop. They once performed at an evening thing at my siblings' high school many years ago (I was in uni by then) and the students used their mobile phones as lightsticks. As I recall, the band's vocalist, Raimund Marasigan, was so inspired by the sight... and it ended up being a song off a later album.
It's naturally called "Let Your Cellphone Shine".
https://open.spotify.com/track/1YsTEKjp5h6O3aWeqi6mS1