Mono Lake, CA Wearing the Infamous "Shitbird" Teeshirt

The Ram | Press Kit

September 22, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music, News, surf Lifestyle

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

About

The Ram is a North County, San Diego artist, filmmaker, designer, producer, & composer. He’s been an active musician and visual artist since the late 80s exhibiting work and performing in & around the East Coast Tri-State area (Philadelphia, New Jersey, and NYC). In 1999 he relocated to San Diego to embrace surf culture, the desert, and the culture of the Sierra Nevadas. Over the years he has performed with different instrumentation, arrangements, and personel across a wide range of band formats. His comfort zone is the unknown, improvisation, flying by the seat of his pants without adhering to rules governing any specific genre of music. Rules are meant to be broken.

The Creative Process

All of the music created by the Ram is a celebration of the freedoms available in the “DIY: Do It Yourself” age we are living in today. All aspects of recording, creative direction, film, social media, website front end, website backend, writing & communications are from the Ram’s desk. The reason this is important is to provide a unique picture of the creative process and evolution of his artistic voice. All of the Ram’s collective work is independent, registered through ASCAP, and managed via his record, media & production company OD Soul Inc.

What Does “the Ram” Even Mean?

“I’ve always been a black sheep. My brothers and siters in the water mean the world to me. Sometimes you’re given a nickname and it sticks, I’ll take it ’cause it’s street cred.”, the Ram says about his given name. The subject matter of his songs are biographical in nature and inspired by life experience. Good music & improvisation has always been about acting without hesitation, moving fearlessly, empathy, and being hyper-aware & in-the-moment to listen to your surroundings. With a little work, the music achieves this.

Wild Fire, a new album coming out on January 10, 2020.

Link to Media for use in publications

Pictures

Songs

Press Kit Demos

No tracks founds...

Introducing the Ram & the Wolf, Live

September 22, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music

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One of the beauties of life in San Diego is the local music scene. It’s loaded with down to earth powerhouses & cool characters that inspire songwriting. A friend of mine asked me to come to sit in with her, so I brought a lightweight music street kit and headed down to meet up on a hot Sunday afternoon. A week later I went through the footage and I’m really happy with what happened.

It’s loose, free, and informal. The type of vibe you get when you take your guitar over to a friend’s house to show them the song you wrote the night before. That, my friends, is something priceless.

Here are some of the highlights…

Come Easily | The Wolf & The Ram

Love is a Terrible Thing to Waste | The Wolf & The Ram

Yo Mamma Rap | The Wolf & The Ram

Looking at the Moon | The Wolf & The Ram

Keep Warm | The Wolf & The Ram

if you want to learn the songs, here are the links to a few of them…

Come Easily (A)

Terrible Thing to Waste (D)

Looking at the Moon (Am)

Keep Warm (A)

The Yo Mamma Rap was actually an extended version of this song…

Don’t Matter Much Now (G)

Motor Kine @ Coomber Craft Wines Oceanside, CA 2019

September 15, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

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This video is about Motor Kine Open Mic With Marco

Motor Kine @ Coomber Craft Wines Oceanside, CA 2019 with Marco @marcothebassmansavoia @coombercraftwinesoceanside
By The Ram (Key of G)(Harmonica Key of C)

I am your Motor Kine,
I know you’ve seen me riding
greased back I shine like lighting
leg up mamma and take a ride

race down the pacific ocean,
run down those Mexico sands
just for nothing babe, just cause I want to
Gonna fly all across these lands

yeah

your desert is of the rarest beauty
I’ve never seen the like
your sands they give me water
your sun keeps me alive

dusty roads through the canyon gorge
like a bullet baby how we run
steer me babe with a gentle hand
on into that old boy sun

yeah

Motor Kine dont take low octane
throw down some money & give me premium fuel
Motor Kine don’t run on that cheap stuff
Ease your hand mamma Keep me cool!

race down the pacific ocean,
run down those Mexico sands
just for nothing babe, just cause I want to
Gonna fly all across these lands

yeah

One more time
race down the pacific…

Here is a link to the song page on my site…
https://www.theram.io/albums/motor-kine/

Here is a link to the iRealPro backing tracks I just made…
https://www.irealb.com/forums/showthread.php?21974-The-Ram-(Band)-songs&p=54562

Open Mic Night @ Coomber Family Wines Oceanside

September 5, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music

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A funny thing happened last night when I played open mic at a friends wine tasting room, I fell back in love with local music. It’s a place I’ve been absent from for a few years.

While learning to trust my own voice, I’ve met musicians from all sorts of backgrounds; from seasoned older jazz statesmen like Milt Hinton, Barry Harris, Curtis Fuller, Frank Foster, Milt Jackson and so many others that used to teach through NYC’s Jazz Mobile project. That’s just one small pocket of players. Many other country, rock, and folk legends, but I digress. One consistent trait across the broad range of people playing to countless genres in music is a humble approach to the disciplines which surround music.

It’s a brotherhood & sisterhood where arrogance leaves the room and acceptance and encouragement welcomes all. It’s funny, but being an arrogant prick or a dickhead in music is usually a true sign of amateur hour.

Now that I think of it, that truth is consistent across all industries. Another truth is how music thrives in tight knight communities. Go watch “Echo in the Canyon“.

For a Tuesday night, there was a good crowd that was building at Coomber Family Wines, O-Side. A local hero was ripping it on acoustic, which is always a good sign. I ordered a glass of Pinot at the bar, signed up, waited my turn until I was called up after a few jams.

Next up Ron…. Is there a Ron here?” Silence. A couple of awkward minutes. I raised my hand, “I’m the Ram bro.” “Correction, is there a Ram in the audience? You’re up!” Fuck yeah! Unpack my National steel, tuned it up and lay down a trusted original.

I started with “Do It Right” an older composition that was a 2 chord jam with a simple chorus & bridge. The guy running the event agreed to sit in and holy shit, what a badass. His name is Marco Savoia, check him out! His double-bass backbeat just about blew me off the stage, a veritable powerhouse of foot-stomping and string slapping. I felt super loose, and extended the song out in a manner that you do when you are enjoying the simple act of playing, I also was listening to the bassman add intricate runs that have never been put to my song in the bast. A bass solo, HOLY FUCK!

Overflowing with confidence now, the second song I chose was fresh off the notebook. I’d recorded a demo and a shitty music video of it but had yet to play it in front of anybody but fellow musicians at the home studio. “Keep Warm” was exactly what I wanted for the next song. The only problem came when I forgot my lyrics and chords.

Now we’ve all done it and know how badly it sucks, but it’s all how well you recover from the situation. Some people exit stage left never to perform again. I flubbed a couple of chords then said to the audience,

“Hey everyone, you know what, FUCK IT, I’m going to try this one more time with feeling.”

It came like a warm breeze. All the chord changes, the lyrics, the intensity of the first time I penned it to paper. There you have it hero to zero in two songs. I needed a closer. “Motor Kine” was a song that fit that bill. I also just noticed the place was filling in with some of the local music heroes. All the members of Shane Hall’s band were there along with Shane himself.

On the beach a few days earlier I was talking to a surfing buddy who is starting the trials for the Baja 1000, he was just starting to get back into it and I asked if I could make a music video to his racing footage. So “Motor Kine” was fresh on my mind and I let it rip. That’s when my mind transported me to the outer reaches of the Baja Peninsula all along the Pacific Ocean. The heart & the inspiration for the song.

Race down the Pacific Ocean.

Run down that Mexico sand.

Just for nothing babe,

just cause I want to…

Gonna fly all across this land.

That felt good, we locked into a nice groove feel and jammed that shit out. Got loose enough to put in a guitar solo with the bass was locked in so well. Damn, hand my guitar off for Shane to use and I’m done. Time to listen and take it in.

The real reason I felt compelled to write about the experience was the discussions that took place after everyone played. I’d never met Kaleo Wassman before, he was one of the warmest souls I’ve ever met. When I apologized for forgetting my lyrics, he told me how cool it was and that forgetting lyrics is a true sign of an artist. This was a place where a songwriter could share his new material in the company of friends.

This was heaven.

Ode to My Sisters & Brothers – New Music Video Added to My YouTube Channel

August 31, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, News

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

Ode to My Sisters & Brothers
By The Ram (Key of D)(Harmonica Key of G)
© 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – THE RAM / OD SOUL, INC.

★ SONG LYRICS ★

= verse A
My guiding light
brothers & sisters tonight
I’ll tell you one thang
play some guitar sweet
baby move your feet
lord we’ll get this whole place swinging

= verse B
kiss of love to my sistaaahhhas
a shout out to my brothers right now
tell you right now
if it all went south
happy to be right here with you BABE

= Chorus 1
This road is heavy
but I’ll find my way
Nothing but Dangerous Highway

★ RELATED TUTORIALS ★

Here is a link to the song page on my site…

Ode to My Sisters & Brothers

Here is a link to the iRealPro backing tracks I just made…
http://bit.ly/TheRamiRealPro

★ FOLLOW ME HERE ★

Instagram – http://bit.ly/theRamInstagram
YouTube – http://bit.ly/theRamYouTube
Twitter – http://bit.ly/theRamTwitter
TeeSpring Merchandise – http://bit.ly/theRamTeeShirts

★ LISTEN TO MY MUSIC ★

New Music 2019 on My Site – http://bit.ly/theRamNewMusic
Tutorials Chords & Lyrics on My Site – http://bit.ly/theRamTutorials
Band Camp Site http://bit.ly/theRamBandCamp
Sond Cloud Site – https://soundcloud.com/therammusic

★ ABOUT & SPECIAL THANKS ★

The Ram is a traveling singer-songwriter based out of North County San Diego, California. Part of traveling means we play with musicians from all walks of life and exposure to all sorts of different genres, styles, and instrumentation. It’s the pure freedom a songwriter needs to pivot, working with a collective of musical talent as opposed to managing a working band in a specific genre or class of music.

This song just started with a lick on my es 335 that was infectious. Rolling bass string riff, add bombastic bass and it didn’t take long till I put down a vocal skat track to hone in a melody. After the skat track, I wrote full lyrics, cut a finished track but it DID NOT resonate like the original stream of consciousness track, so I muted the bitch and mixed in the original take.

As far as the video shoot, well it’s a place I surf so I’m not saying shit. I will say that I had given up on the idea of filming because I woke to a fogbank and just started drinking with my buddy, as the sun came out and I got food in my stomach, we took a bunch of beers up the beach and filmed bu a shipwreck that happened the day before. That coast EATs sailboats, and that my friends is all I am at liberty to say. All music is original, composed by the Ram and registered with ASCAP.

Come Easily – New Music Video Added to My YouTube Channel

August 31, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music, News, Projects

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

Come Easily
By The Ram (Key of A)(Harmonica Key of D)
© 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – THE RAM / OD SOUL, INC.

★ SONG LYRICS ★

= Verse 1
Makes no difference where I’m going
doesn’t really matter where I’ve been
When I feel her eyes upon me
I know, I’m exactly where I need to be

= Chorus 1
Home is where you make it
Sweet home should come easily
Could be on some distant beach where I’m a lying
Could beneath the shade of my baby’s tree

= Verse 2
I spent six years in NYC
like living in a penitentiary
Stole a motorbike rode it to the ocean
My broken heart finally came on back to me

= Chorus 2
Home lord, you’ve got to go out and take it
Sweet home should come easily
Could be on some highway that I’m riding
Could be left behind in those city streets

= Verse 3
I came to reside in California
Spend my days rolling at the beach
All the pretty girls there they let their hair down
they’ve got nothing on my sweet beauty

= Chorus 3
Home feels just like my woman
Does it fell good?! Lord you’d better believe
She comes & joins me anywhere I’m lying
She gives me shade beneath her tree

★ RELATED TUTORIALS ★

Here is a link to the song page on my site…
https://www.theram.io/albums/come-easily/

Here is a link to the iRealPro backing tracks I just made…
http://bit.ly/TheRamiRealPro

★ FOLLOW ME HERE ★

Instagram – http://bit.ly/theRamInstagram
YouTube – http://bit.ly/theRamYouTube
Twitter – http://bit.ly/theRamTwitter
TeeSpring Merchandise – http://bit.ly/theRamTeeShirts

★ LISTEN TO MY MUSIC ★

★ ABOUT & SPECIAL THANKS ★

New Music coming out in 2019, all footage shot on location in California, the Hawaiian Islands, and Indonesia. All music is original, composed by the Ram and registered with ASCAP. Tenor Saxophone id coordination with Duplex Music (https://duplexmusic.com/) and David Ondrick.

Looking at the Moon – New Music Video Added to My YouTube Channel

August 31, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, News

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

Looking at the Moon
By The Ram (Key of C Major Am)(Harmonica Key of Am)
© 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – THE RAM / OD SOUL, INC.

★ SONG LYRICS ★

= Verse 1-4
One solitary man
looking at the moon
looking at the moon

One beaten down dream
had the guts to stand
stand tall through it all

I saw her run
run into the night
run across the dawn

One single rose was thrown
it fell into my hand
it fell into my hand

= Chorus 1
I will ride across the midnight sky
I see you look up with your starlit eyes

= Verse 5-8
One solitary man
looking at the moon
looking at the moon

One look in those eyes
blew my mind
blew my mind

One heart rise above the rest
All the rest will fall
All the rest will fall

One look in those eyes
I decided to stay
I decided to stay

= Chorus 2
I will rideacross the midnight sky
I see you look up with your starlit eyes

= INSTRUMENTAL
= Chorus 3
I will rideacross the midnight sky
I see you look up with your starlit eyes

= Verse 9-12
One look in those eyes
blew my mind
blew my mind

One listen to her song
Filled my heart
it didn’t take long

One listen to her song
blew my mind
blew my mind

One solitary man
looking at the moon
looking at the moon

= Chorus 3
I will ride across the midnight sky
I see you look up with those beautiful starlit eyes

ALT
Sleep paralyzed dream
I couldn’t even move
I could barely move

★ RELATED TUTORIALS ★

Here is a link to the song page on my site…

Looking at the Moon (Am)

Here is a link to the iRealPro backing tracks I just made…
http://bit.ly/TheRamiRealPro

★ FOLLOW ME HERE ★

Instagram – http://bit.ly/theRamInstagram
YouTube – http://bit.ly/theRamYouTube
Twitter – http://bit.ly/theRamTwitter
TeeSpring Merchandise – http://bit.ly/theRamTeeShirts

★ LISTEN TO MY MUSIC ★

★ ABOUT & SPECIAL THANKS ★

Last year, October 22, 2018 to be precise, I bought front row tickets at the Hollywood Bowl to see the Outlaw Music Festival, with Sturgill Simpson, the Nelson Family, Phil Lesh, and Margo Price. Micah Nelson’s set was the opener and it floored me. I’d never heard his music, and two songs stuck with me. Hell the entire set stuck with me. A few days later after surfing, the phrase “One Solitary man…” came to me in the water, actually I thought it started with “One Solitary Tree, looking at the moon” I jotted it down and thought nothing of it. Fast forward a few months, after listening to Particle Kid’s discography on a road trip on the east coast I came home and the song just came out. Amazing how influential the Nelson Musical family still is, and will be for another generation. All music is original, composed by the Ram and registered with ASCAP.

Keep Warm – New Music Video Added to My YouTube Channel

August 31, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music, News, Projects

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

★ SONG LYRICS ★
= Verse 1-6
Looking down on the Rocky Mountains
on a jet plane flying over
peering out the window clouds pass me by

Well, I must have been crazy,
to love a wildfire.
A wildfire explodes then its gone.

= Chorus 1
And a change in the weather,
the wind changes direction.
Just a signal that the fires gone cold.

the times we spent in love
are the times that last FOREVER.
Sure gonna miss them when they’re gone.

= Verse 7-12
Wishing you were here with me
drinking my bourbon whiskey,
just one kiss of your lips would light up the sky.

Streets of Philadelphia
Golden Sun of California
freedom sings her song, the greatest gift of all.

= Chorus 2
Well Ive been around this world
this old world a few times
One thing I’ve learned I will explain

the times we spent in love
are the times that last FOREVER.
Sure gonna miss them when they’re gone.

★ RELATED TUTORIALS ★

Here is a link to the song page on my site…

Keep Warm (A)

Here is a link to the iRealPro backing tracks I just made…
http://bit.ly/TheRamiRealPro

★ FOLLOW ME HERE ★

Instagram – http://bit.ly/theRamInstagram
YouTube – http://bit.ly/theRamYouTube
Twitter – http://bit.ly/theRamTwitter
TeeSpring Merchandise – http://bit.ly/theRamTeeShirts

★ LISTEN TO MY MUSIC ★

★ ABOUT & SPECIAL THANKS ★

New Music coming out in 2019, the song was originally written and recorded over Christmas 2018 break while visiting the family farm in Pennsylvania, a stone’s throw from Philadelphia. All footage shot on iPhone 8 Camera at the Ram’s house or studio. The mountain shots and self-portraits from an airplane were shot from a NetJet X flight from Mammoth Mountain, California to Orange County Flying over the Sierra Nevada mountains after a spring break snowboarding trip. The snowboarding footage was shot by the one and only Spencer B in Breckenridge Colorado Jan 2019. All music is original, composed by the Ram and registered with ASCAP.

Mixing Business with Friends is Good Business

August 31, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music, News, Projects

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

Contrary to the street wisdom I’ve heard advising us to never mix friends with business, life experience has shown me that it’s quite the opposite. It all depends on what type of friends you choose to work with, or if you’re even able to distinguish friends from acquaintances. I’m going to assume that all of those sayings about working with friends, love interests, or family come from the negative underbelly of the lives we lead. Let’s take a look at it from the “glass half full” vantage point, it’s the Friday before Labor Day, so I’m keeping it light-hearted.

Meaningful friendship is tied to personal growth, challenge, trust, and being able to learn from failure. Surrounding oneself with good people who make us feel good about ourselves to a point which never goes close to “blowing smoke up the ass” is a motivator. Having the ability to call me on my own bullshit by a trusted friend and advisor is valuable to me as a human. Friends that both trust us to fail as part of learning while instilling in us a drive to go beyond our limited perception of ourselves are pure gold.

I’m only as good as the person next to me. This is a fact and understanding as such is one of the keys to a good life. It’s applicable at work, at home, and with the family. In music, art and any form of self-expression it is MISSION CRITICAL. Perhaps it’s different for others, but my abilities are tied to my mental and spiritual state when performing. Listening takes compassion and empathy and a willingness to put yourself out there with no safety net. That’s not a thing you do with people that would use what they learn in that type of situation against you.

Performing is also similar to what I’d imagine a seance would be like, a journey into the spirit world to attain knowledge or across another plane of existence. Abso-fucking-lutely if you are doing it right. Any psychic negativity results in pulling everyone out of the creative zone, the vibe, or the groove. People have always been my connection to that source being referenced. The more I feel it, the more I get to stage infallibility, my confidence in the music grows to a fever pitch where all else disappears. Who else better to share this journey with than friends and loved ones?

At the end of the day, I believe the cliche I quoted earlier is taken from people who’ve gotten burned. I get it. I was kicked out of my own band, the band I founded when I was in my twenties and it broke my heart. If given the chance I would do it all over again because the experience was worth it. When you have to be fearless, its best to do it with people that have your back, with people that help you become more than yourself.

Music Section Added

February 25, 2019 by The Ram

Creative Process, Local Music, News, Projects

Americana, Creative Process, DIY, Folk-Rock, Home Recording, Home Studio, Indie, Local, Local Music, Original, Recording, Roots, Support Local Music

We recently added a section to browse original songs. A step beyond just chord and lyrics, each entry will be a compilation of early recorded demos & video sketches to help better illustrate the creative process.

The overview page URL is …
https://www.theram.io/?page_id=6056

and a great example to start with is the song “Motor Kine” which imagines the singer as a motorcycle raging to surf breaks down through the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Three recorded demos are available in the media player. The chords and lyrics are available as well. At the bottom of the page are 3 videos from the YouTube channel which follow the songwriting process in a friends garage, all the way to the first public performance of the song. In the earliest video, you can see me reading from a notebook the lyrics that were scratched down hours before hashing out word emphasis, diction, and rhythm. The following recording flows with more confidence as the rhythm section locks in and finds the groove, then when we open for a friends band in Encinitas, CA we blow out all stops.

Here is the URL for the song Motor Kine by the Ram…
https://www.theram.io/?album=motor-kine

If you want to have a backing track to the song, you are in luck. Use the mobile or Desktop app iRealPro and download the charts here for your use…
https://www.irealb.com/forums/showthread.php?21974-The-Ram-(Band)-songs

As with the rest of the site, updates are taking place regularly. As each original song profile is completed, it will be added to the learn page for future reference. Enjoy.

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