hey everyone…

Matt here writing from windy Waco, TX. I just wanted to pop in & give you a bit of an update. The last couple of weeks have been quite crazy with finals, moving and a new job all in full swing. So, I haven’t had as much time to work on music. However, I did take full advantage of my downtime yesterday to work on mixing the next batch of four songs!

They’re all coming together nicely & we hope to have them posted very soon. My wife, Laurel, makes her return to singing backing vocals on the song “On A Wire.” She really took this song to a whole different level. Another new one that I’m really excited about is a great song that Chris wrote the music for..it’s called “Hoping For A Miracle” & I had a lot of fun playing slide guitar on this one! We have a couple of others (“Tick Tock”, “Quarters On The Floor” & “Genesis”) that are nearing completion as well. “Tick Tock” is a new/old song of mine….the bluesy riff is old, but I re-wrote the lyrics for it.

Like I said, we’re moving into a much larger place & one of the benefits of that is that I’ll have my own music room! My gear is spread all throughout our current house (mainly in the dining room…yup. the dining room!) and I’m really excited to have everything centrally located. Chris is moving as well & he’s getting a music room too! So, we’re both really happy about our moves!

We’ll try to get these posted as soon as they’re ready. In 2 weeks, all of the finals/moving craziness will be over & i can’t wait!

Hope this finds you all well & thanks for listening/reading,

Matt

Hey all

Quick update from the Cluthe & Lee music world. We have posted 3 new songs this morning!

Hands Now Clean

Matt: Lyrics/all vocals, slide guitar, j-bass and lead electric guitar
Chris: Acoustic Guitar, all percussion and lead electric guitar

This one was written the same day as “In A Corner” back just after the new year and was worked up during a flood of tunes at the time. It was all but forgotten until I wrote Matt and asked him about a file I had that sounded incomplete. He sent back the version of this song that is posted now and said we had pretty much worked it up, but totally forgot about it. Matt plays a rockin’ slide and bass on this one. I had been on a Zeppelin kick at the time and I think there’s a definite influence in the song.

Abbreviated

Matt: Lyrics/all vocals, lead guitar, j-bass
Chris: Acoustic guitar, piano, drums/percussion

Written March 30, 2010. We both think this is the most upbeat, happiest song we’ve done together. It started with some happy C and D chops on the piano and grew quickly from there. When Matt sent it back with vocals/lyrics I could tell he had some real fun singing! He sent the lyrics and before I listened to the playback, I read them. There lying in the first few lines was the word “abbreviated” and I wondered how the hell he was going to sing such an unusually long word. Matt says he remembered this when he titled the song, ha! The guitar work he added is really awesome (thanks chicken salad!)and the bass matches that upbeat piano. We both joked quite a bit about the upbeat/happy feel to this one and how it was a refreshing change from some of the darker stuff we’d been doing the last month or so.

Simple

Matt: Lyrics/all vocals, main rhythm guitar, j-bass, effects
Chris: Lead guitar

Last week Matt sent me 3 new songs in one day. This one came complete with lyrics and a driving/rhythmic guitar track. I think the main guitar has its own percussive quality to it and so we elected not to do any drums, etc., on it. It has a very atmospheric tone to it thanks to Matt’s awesome mixing work! This song came together VERY quickly. Maybe the fastest ever?

We are both really stoked to continue writing songs and getting to share them with all of you! These 3 songs are all very different and I think represent an obvious diversity of musical taste/ability. On my end I know that this is one of my favorite things about playing with Matt. I just never know what is coming next!
These songs are up on MySpace for you to enjoy and will be posted on ReverbNation along with all 52 completed songs. Thanks for all your support! You know who you are!

Love and all that,

Chris

www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling (listen to the 10 most current tunes, read blogs!)
www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling (listen to everything we’ve done thus far!)
www.twitter.com/clutheleemusic (follow us on Twitter!)

Hi everyone!

Chris here again to update you all on the latest news from the Cluthe & Lee music world. As of this morning, my iTunes library says Matt and I have completed a total of 52 songs together! This past week saw two new tunes finished and forgotten oldie that was never posted. They have already been posted on our MySpace page and will also be up on ReverbNation shortly. Matt informs me that our debut album artwork is nearing completion and we’re looking at a June 2010 release of “Here We Are.” Good things are happening and we are so very excited to be getting closed to releasing the LP digitally.

Ok, now onto the new tunes. “Hands Now Clean” is a song that was written the same day as “In A Corner” and was a song that was edited/mixed and forgotten in the flurry of tunes that were happening at the time. I was combing through my files and saw one I didn’t recognize called “Open A song.” I e-mailed Matt thinking we hadn’t finished it because the file I had sounded unfinished. He wrote back and attached the version that is now up for you to hear. It’s a tune that has a very strange tuning unlike anything we’d done together and similar to “In A Corner.” I had been on quite a Led Zeppelin kick at the time, and I think there might be

Happy Saturday all! Chris here writing from sunny Columbia, MO this morning to share some very exciting news! Yesterday Matt received our official copyright certificate for our debut LP ‘Here We Are’. You’d think we both won the lottery judging from our talk yesterday! Come to think of it, I’d say this music and friendship is no different : )

Ok, so updates on the music. Matt worked his arse off this week and finished mixing 3 new songs; Sideways, Suspended in Motion and Swifter Change. All of these will be posted on the Reverb and MySpace page today!

Sideways was something Matt wrote just before he left for his vacation to Portland/Seattle last month. He sent me this e-mail right before he left saying that he knew we were about to take a pause in writing but that he couldn’t help himself! The part of the song that hooked me was the “la, la, la, la” bit and the more I listened the more drawn in I got. While Matt was away I loaded up the song with a lot of instrumentation including a harmonica intro that I couldn’t get in key! I think I tried 3-4 different parts before we dropped it and added what you hear now in the intro.

Sideways
Cluthe: Lyrics/Vocals/Rhythm Fender Strat/Fender Strat leads/J Bass
Lee: Fender Acoustic Guitar/GarageBand Orchestral Strings/Piano/Backing Vocals/Drums/Percussion/Les Paul Electric Lead

Swifter Change is a song that was originally written back in first week of September 2009 with a working title of “After The Chili Song.” Yes, I had just eaten a bowl of chili before recording it ; ) It was a pretty complex little number as far as my musical abilities go. Lots of picking patterns in there. I brought this one back to Matt’s attention in late March and he latched on to the piano parts I’d recorded. He sent me back this jaw dropping delayed guitar lead along with some rough vocal ideas that had a very haunting and fitting tone to them. This song also does not have any percussion, which hasn’t been done since “Setting Sun” maybe? After 50 songs, the ol’ memory starts getting fuzzy!

Swifter Change
Cluthe: Lyrics/all vocals/Fender Strat lead with delay
Lee: Fender Acoustic/Piano/Fender P-Bass

The last in the three S’s series is Suspended in Motion which was written by Matt. It’s working title was “Growing Up” which is appropriate as you listen to the lyrics. I found myself relating to some of the themes in here, which Matt has such a talent for in his writing. Pair that with his incredible singing and playing and you have this song!

Suspended In Motion
Cluthe: Lyrics/all vocals/Fender Strat Rhythm/Fender J-Bass
Lee: Les Paul leads/effects/Shaker

Well there you have it! 3 songs all in one release! We are excited to continue sharing this with you all and really do appreciate all the faithful listeners and support!

Whole Lotta Love-
Chris

happy thursday everyone…

i just thought i’d give you an update on what we have cooking right now. but first, here’s a quick album update for ya. we’re officially copyrighted (yay!), but are still waiting to receive our documentation of the copyrights…which should be arriving any day now. Maura is hard at work on the artwork and i can’t wait to see how it has progressed b/c her rough drafts were absolutely amazing!

as far as the new songs go, we have several that are in various stages of mixing/recording/production. i should wrap up the mixing on a couple of them tomorrow & we’ll post those this weekend. here’s what we’re working on:

-Fade
-Tick Tock
-Suspended In Motion
-Swifter Change
-Sideways

plus, we each have a couple of new ideas that we’re passing back & forth through the interwebs. lots of fun stuff coming up! as always, thanks a ton for listening to our songs & reading this silly blog.

Matt

hey everyone….

Matt here enjoying the awesome smells of Laurel’s Sweet & Spicy Chicken Drumettes. Yum….

so i thought i’d share some info about the two latest Cluthe/Lee songs before i get too full. i just finished mixing them this afternoon & we should have them posted on our pages by tomorrow afternoon.

“Drift On”
Cluthe (words/music): piano, j bass, mixing
Lee: all guitars

this is a piano ballad that has taken a long time to complete…and that’s my fault! i’d been messing around with the chord progression for awhile and a big thanks to Chris for being so patient!! once i finally nailed down the chord structure, i hit record. this one has been “finished” for awhile, but it seems like it took forever to mix. there was something about it that just sounded off…

after taking a break from mixing this song, i heard it with fresh ears this morning & i could see/hear the end. Chris has some soaring notes on this song that really stand out & it’s hard to imagine this song without them!

“April Day”
Lee (music): rhythm guitars, acoustic lead guitar, p bass
Cluthe (words): vocals, rhythm/lead electric guitar, mixing

this is a beautiful song that Chris wrote….as soon as i heard it, a melody formed. the vocals also came together rather quickly. my family is always on my mind & this is a song about a day in April when our family changed. we miss you, Dad.

we have a few others that we’re working on right now…looking forward to sharing them with you soon! gotta run..dinner’s ready! thanks for listening!!

Matt

Happy Sunday all!

Chris here writing from Columbia tonight with the Avett Brothers “Carolina Jubliee” LP blaring in my headphones (go get it if you haven’t heard). There has been a lot of activity in the Cluthe & Lee music world since last you heard from us! First and most significant is that I received a call at work from the Library of Congress on Thursday last week to inform me that our debut LP “Here We Are” has been copyrighted and the certificate is in the printing press and will arrive in 2-3 weeks! It had been a long time since I jumped up and down with excitement, but that’s exactly what happened when I heard the news! Matt was in class when I sent him to the news and he was IM’ing me freaking out! He said that it was very hard to hide his excitement in a classroom full of people! Ha!

Once the news broke, we began discussing initial thoughts on how to get this album distributed once the artwork is completed. I think we’ve settled on a vehicle for online distribution that is pleasing and meets our collective needs/wants. We are both very excited to be where we’re at in the process right now and know that once it all comes together it will be worth the wait!

As far as the music goes, both Matt and I have been taking a small break to record/cover some of our favorite songs! We each made a list of 5 that we often play solo and have already completed two. First is Radiohead’s “Nude” which has Matt playing/singing lead and Pearl Jam’s “Indifference” which has me singing/playing lead (my debut on lead vocals). We’ve also got Ben Harper’s “Amen, Omen” just about finished, but still needs some work. If you would like mp3’s of either covers we’ve finished, please e-mail us at presentlyfalling@gmail.com or ask in person and we’ll be happy to oblige!

Original music continues to be written in droves even as we put down these covers. Music is flying everywhere and at the moment we’ve got a few that are in production including a classic Cluthe composition called “Sideways” and sees us going back to a less experimental sound than the last few we’ve done. Another one called “April Day” that is a beautiful acoustic and salt shaker song that has very moving lyrics. Others include a crazy guitar driven song called “Fade” which Matt wrote back in December I believe and an old forgotten tune I did back in September just as this whole thing started to lift off.

All this said, Matt and I are already formulating track lists for LP #2! We both sent some initial lists to one another culled from something like 30+ songs that aren’t on “Here We Are”!! Productive? Yes, you could say that. So, some other news is that Matt and I will finally be meeting mid-June this year! Plans are being made, courses plotted, spaceships getting booked for a long overdue and awaited meeting!

We both sincerely thank you all for your support and listening to our music! It does mean a lot to us both! Lots of love!

Chris

PS: Here are a few pics of me playing bass for a new song “Fade”

happy monday, everyone….

i’m just about to post our latest song on our page, but thought that i should explain it a bit first. i was in the middle of a mixing marathon when i stepped away from the computer & grabbed my Strat. this riff came pretty quickly and i was having fun playing a little chord progression while muting/raking the strings a bit. then these lines popped into my head:

“why’s the world…why’s it gotta be so cold? it’s taking its time hanging out in defrost mode!”

to be honest, there wasn’t any intention a a deeper lyrical meaning. but as the song unfolded, a certain theme became somewhat clear to me, as it will to you. i quickly plugged in & hit record before the moment was lost. i recorded 2-3 different versions of this song…i was trying to somehow piece the loose & fun verses/choruses with a more reflective bridge. i tinkered a bit & hit record one last time…this is that take. Chris was immediately receptive to it when i told him that it was a very rough idea that i thought we’d just put on the shelf. well, it’s not on the shelf at all. he added some awesome drums & a tremendous lead track that really jumps out at you.

turn it up, tap your foot & hope you enjoy it!

Matt

“Defrost Mode!”
Cluthe: (words/music) vocals, rhythm guitar, j bass, lead guitar, mixing
Lee: lead guitar, drums

Hi friends/family/fans

Happy Friday to you all! Spring is tomorrow and with it new songs and a temporary pause, more on that in a bit. Early last month Matt had sent me a song he’d wrote in the early morning hours after a spirited debate he was privy to the evening before. My initial response to it was emotional. The subject matter in the song hit so close to home as it is an issue I spend most of my profession dealing with. Matt had forewarned me that this was a song that he wished he didn’t have to write, but that it needed to be done (if that makes sense).

I developed something simple for it and played an acoustic lead, which I’ve not done on any of our songs together to that point. Recording it was tough as I also went with a different recording approach by mic’ing the room. A few passes were needed to get the sound just right. I think it will come across as painfully beautiful, or at least that is still my take on “Life Can Go.”

As for the aforementioned pause, Matt had an excellent idea to break out some of our favorite songs and cover them! We are currently working on one as I type this and am really excited to see what you all think. There are still multiple songs in the cue right now that are being mixed. They’ve been mentioned in the last few posts, so be on the look out for them soon! As always, thank you so much for all your support, comments and visits to our music pages!

Life Can Go

Matt Cluthe: Lyrics/Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/J-Bass
Chris Lee: Electric and Acoustic Guitar Leads

hi everyone….Matt here. now that i’m back in town from Seattle/Portland, we’re back to work. although, it’s not work at all…it’s an absolute blast! but i digress…..

so we’re back to it & it’s like we didn’t miss a beat. we have several songs in various stages of recording/production right now. they are: DEFROST MODE, SIDEWAYS, LIFE CAN GO, APRIL DAY and two others that are still untitled at this point. Life Can Go is just about done, so that will be the first one that we post out of this bunch. we’ll be sure to let you know when it’s available online.

just want to wish a very happy 40th anniversary to my parents….Dad, we miss you. and to Mom, thanks for your strength.

more updates coming soon, but i thought i could share a picture from our trip to Seattle. talk about inspiration!

cheers,
Matt

jimi hendrix’ guitar pedals at the EMP in Seattle