I first heard the vocalilst Nico when watching The Royal Tenenbaums. I remember her low, dry, somewhat out of tune, yet clear tones in "These Days" by Jackson Browne.
She's in between tones a lot, and late on notes in a great way.
I'm still trying to figure out how to cover this on rhodes. In my practicing, the rhodes seemed to overly simplify the chords. I couldn't find the right arpeggiation for what I was hoping to create. This weekend, I enlisted my friend Emmett Schkloven to practice through it.
Vocally, there are things I want to adopt from Nico's rendition without mimicking. It's great to try a song that's too hard to get; that will take awhile to get.
There were great discoveries in trying to practice this song and more to be discovered as I figure out how to make it my own. It's still very much in progress.
I hope you find some moments to enjoy.
And, I hope you find time during the holidays to gather with friends and family and sing through a song or two.
And, as with every post this year, I'm giving away free tracks each week with each post. Download "Some Folks" and enjoy!