Rob Riddle
3
songs
373
plays
A Thousand Words A Thousand Words
The words were written by a friend of mine, Gary Jacobs. He asked me to try writing music to one of his poems. I was able to get most of it in less than 15 minutes!
I grew up in a musical household. Mom was a music teacher and church choir director. We were always singing. A friend (Walter Hook) gave me his old guitar when he graduated high school (I was in 11th grade) and I started teaching myself songs I already knew by heart (not the band "Heart", but mainly Beatles). Mom, having good taste in music, bought both the first AND second Led Zeppelin albums when they came out ('68 and '69) and I was HOOKED! Zeppelin is a whole lot harder to play than the Beatles, but the Beatles definitely have their moments as well.Band/artist history
I was an early member of a local (Wheaton, MD) Christian rock band called Malachi, but left when I moved on campus for college. I couldn't afford the gas for band practice, and it was early on, so hopefully it didn't hurt the band too much. They actually did better after I left. They recorded and released an album, had a line-up change and did some more recording! The praise team at our old church (Church of the Atonement in Silver Spring, MD) gelled into an ensemble long enough to come up with a name. The primary songwriter/arranger, Keri Jacobs, would typically take an old hymn with wonderful words, but an archaic or awkward melody, and rewrite it, sometimes combining two or more. When the song would be listed in the church bulletin, under author it would say, "Alternate melody by Keri Jacobs". A friend (Mike Hanlon) came up to her one such Sunday and said, "If you ever form a band, you should call it 'Alternate Melody'", which is exactly what we did. Keri funded an excursion to Omega Studios in Rockville, MD to record her initial repertoire of songs, along with a few songs by another member of the group, Gordon Crump. Our CD was finished in 2005, featuring quite a bit of photography and layout by yours truly. We recorded a second CD in 2008. The band's web site is: www.alternatemelody.com. Since I've been attending a new church now, I haven't played with Alternate Melody as much, but if I am able and they give enough notice, I can help out when needed.Have you performed in front of an audience?I play live just about every week at my church. I mainly play bass and am called upon to sing once in a while as well. I've owned a mandolin for a while now. I mainly play chords on it, giving a nice contrast to the guitar. I'll eventually learn how to do the rest, whenever I can find the time. It's been a lot of fun, with some really great people. We practice once a week as well.
Your musical influences
Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Barenaked Ladies, Jars of Clay. If a song doesn't have a guitar solo, it's GOT to have lyrics that grab you by the ears and scream "LISTEN TO ME!!!" If Led Zeppelin were to appear before you ready to play only one song of their choosing, it would be "Kashmir"...one of my least favorite songs of theirs because theres NO GUITAR SOLO! The lyrics are OK, but, to change a quote that people from Wisconsin use, "Led Zeppelin songs without a guitar solo are like a kiss without a squeeze."What equipment do you use?
Martin D16-GT 6-string
Yamaha 12 string
Godin electric mandolin
Ibanez 5-string fretted acoustic bass
Peavey grind six string electric bass
M-Audio MobilePre USB (pre-amp for computer)
2 Marshall MXL 990 Condenser Microphones
Adobe Audition 3.0Anything else?
I've always enjoyed singing and playing, but back in high school would never have DREAMED of doing either of those in front of someone...I'm still a little shy about it, so it's great to have a site like this where I can have people listen to me without me doing it in person.Contact
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