Tim Rutherford’s Music Page

This is a song that RJ Robertson and I put together in April 2009. The concept of the song is his idea and he wrote the majority of the lyrics. I did the music. The music, until two days ago, was rough and I never knew what I’d do with all of the instruments during the guitar solo and bridge. Then I was playing around and said, “I think that this is it!”

I ran down to the basement studio and whipped it together in about an hour. That version, after listening to it a few times, seemed too fast. I re-recorded it this morning, but it seems a little too slow. I don’t know if I’ll try it a bit faster or not… faster seems to make the electric/chorus parts muddy, but it seems too slow for the verse.

Who knows…?

Here it is:

Mix Tape

(click the “play direct from…” link)

Lyrics - RJ Robertson and Tim Rutherford
Acoustic - Tim
Electric - Tim
All vocals - Tim
Bass - Tim

Recording/mixing - Tim

This is an interesting song. Over Memorial Day Weekend 2011, Sara and the girls went out-of-town. Being alone for a few days, I set aside the entire weekend to try and record as much as I could. I made a rule, “No new music.”

What did I do first? Write a new song, of course.

While I was putting my song notes/lyrics together before recording, I came across alternate lyrics for a song I had written a while back. I read the lyrics and thought to myself, “Did I really write that?” I Googled the lyrics just to be sure. Funny.

But wait, there’s more… I had been playing Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon” and my acoustic was tuned to one of his funky tunings. I picked up my acoustic and this song came out. I believe that I wrote it, played through it –once? twice?–and then recorded it (with a fair amount of improvisation to fill it out) all within about 45 minutes.

It’s unlike any other song I’ve recorded. Where does it fit?

i don’t want it anymore

Lyrics/Melody/Recording/Mixing/Performance - Tim Rutherford

I’m not sure where the thought process for this song came from, but it’s about a woman close to a man (husband, brother/ ?) watching him get older/sicker/dying. At this point I’ve worked out the lyrics and arrangement but haven’t charted it out or recorded a completed version. I can, however, tell you that it’s a combination of the following two songs:

Deep Inside

I repeated the lyrics twice just to get a feel for the song. After this part it runs into this song:

Mandolin Jammin’

It’s slow during “Deep Inside” and then fast in “Mandolin Jammin”. It’s capturing the feel of pre-death vs. those first few days post-death. The world is moving quickly around her and all she can think about is her brother/husband. It goes back to that first part after this–as she settles into a life without him. Yeah, pretty sad. Not sure where it came from.

For all:
Lyrics/melody - Tim Rutherford
Vocals (all) - Tim
Acoustic Guitar - Tim
Piano - Tim
Mandolin - Tim
Bass - Tim

Recording/Mixing - Tim

This song was written by a friend of mine. This is an interesting look at the evolution of a song. He had the basic rhythm part and the lyrics written when I first heard it. We played through it twice before recording the first version (below). As you listen, you can hear that I’m still learning the song–several “oops!” throughout. However, it was during this original recording that I improvised the kickass lead guitar part.

The later recordings include my added “flava” to the rhythm part, I wrote the rhythm electric, and solidified the previously improvised lead part.

I’m not one to speak highly of my stuff–in fact, most of the time I think I’m pretty critical about what I write and play. However, I must say that the lead guitar part is pretty cool.

Here are three versions of Leave:

Leave - Original Recording

Melody/Lyrics - RJ Robertson
Vocals - RJ (listen to his comment at the end)
Acoustic Guitar - RJ
Electric (improvised)- Tim Rutherford

Leave-April 2010

Ah, my vocals… My major weakness.

Leave - Nov 2010-w/harmony

A rough recording trying out a vocal harmony. Not as EQed or FXed as the April 2010 version.

The last two recordings:
Basic melody/lyrics - RJ Robertson
Vocals - Tim Rutherford
Acoustic Guitar - Tim
Electric Rhythm - Tim
Electric Lead - Tim
Bass - Tim

All recording/mixing - Tim

Wrote a song a few hours ago and was able to sneak in an hour to record a rough version of it. Still working out some of the parts and I only have some of the lyrics together (why I sang the same thing twice). Quite curious where I’ll go from here as it’s currently fairly repetitive.

I came up with the lyrical idea after considering the word-play of “vain” and “vein”. I’m punny.

Enjoy this super early, rough recording, of a new song!

Your Vains (Rough Demo)

Words and Music - Tim Rutherford
Electric Guitar - Tim
Acoustic Guitar - Tim
Bass Guitar - Tim
Vocals - Tim

This is a rough draft recording of a song I wrote earlier this year. I’ve recorded it before but earlier versions were more freestyle working out the parts. This time I actually mapped it out and have the timing down for all instruments.

This is also the first time I tried singing into my small diaphragm condensor mic. You can hear some mic noises throughout–guess I should have done a sound check!

This song is interesting as it’s the one and only time that I’ve heard it in my head, recorded it, and it sounds exactly like I heard it in my head.

Enjoy!

Tippy Toes
- Music / Lyrics - Tim Rutherford
- Vocals - Tim
- Acoustic Guitar - Tim
- Bass - Tim

Tim

- - - - -

1-11-11 - After recording this, letting it sit, and now going back and listening to it again I’ve realized two things 1) the vocal mix is off in some places and 2) the tempo is too fast. Be on the lookout for a re-recorded version at a slower tempo! T.R.

Natalie!  It’s your first birthday!

Attached are the songs that your mom, Lucy, and I recorded for your 1st birthday.

Your mom’s voice is beautiful and I’m looking forward to her singing more songs with me!

Baby Mine - Your mom always sings this to you when you’re crying
- Vocals - Sara

Twinkle Twinkle - Your sister sings this to you when you’re crying
- Vocals - Lucy

Let’s go up to the Moon - Your mom and me
- Music / Lyrics - Tim Rutherford
- Vocals - Sara
- Acoustic Guitar - Tim

Natalie - Me
- Music / Lyrics - Tim Rutherford
- Vocals - Tim
- Electric Guitar - Tim
- Bass - Tim
- Drums - Loops

Enjoy!