New music Sunday from Cluthe/Lee

Spooky, gritty, & bluesy!

Hey there! It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. Flexing the ol’ fingers today to let you all know that Matt and I have completed two new songs. Being to true to form, we bring you two songs that couldn’t be more different from another. Also figured while I was at it, I’d also post to jam’s that never materialized into songs. More on that……

Time To Rest is a Cluthe composition dating to early April just prior to me going on vacation. Perhaps it was totally stress induced, but the leads and tone of this song were a bit creepy and hard to keep from recycling in my head. I recall waking up really early one morning and those spooky leads were just blaring in my ears. Matt told me I likely needed “a rest.” Haha! He was right. Anyways! The drums took some work and Matt had encouraged me to add more guitar, even though I thought it might taint the awesomeness of the original version. I loved how it turned out overall, but someday I think we should post the version without my extra guitars?

Ok, now onto Recollection. Wow, this song has had quite a journey. It started out as an open G tuning number I had written some words for called “10,000 Demons.” I’d done some initial work on it, and sent it over to Matt. I think as a budding singer/songwriter, I may have bitten off more than I could chew. I kept working on it, however never shared the semi-complete version with Matt. Ended up shelving, the resurrecting it in March. I re-recorded the idea and sent if off to Matt. While I was on vacation he sent back his take and I was floored. I pushed to have the song just be vocals and acoustic. Pushed a few times, but Matt pushed back and encouraged me to develop the song out further and add more instruments. In the end, this is the version that won out! I’m glad it did too….

So, those jams I was talking about. I got some new cymbals for x-mas and in late January 2011 I set the mics up and recorded some drums to see how it all sounded. Well, naturally couldn’t just have a drum track and nothing else! So, 1/26/11 #1 is me just fucking around with the drum track and having some fun with fuzzed out guitar! Sent it to Matt and he was stoked! I wasn’t too pleased with the guitar stuff I’d added, so I challenged Matt to take the same drum track and write some music to it. A few weeks later he sent me what I called 1/26/11 “shut yo’ mouth jam” Holy shit! I jumped on and added some funky guitar lines and BAM!! Maybe someday Matt will tap into his inner Shaft and write some words?! Hahaa!!

Listen to all 4 songs at www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling or www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling

Well, it’s time wrap this bloggy up friends. Matt and I are wrapping up work on our digital only EP. Not sure what it’ll be called yet, but we have the track list and have re-worked two songs; one from “Here We Are” and one from the forthcoming second LP “Life Can Go.” I am working on some cover art ideas for the EP and a good friend of mine named Chris Spain has agreed to take up the challenge and design the art! Not sure how long it will take for the EP to hit the digital retailers after we submit, but we will keep you posted! Also, art for “Life Can Go” is picking up steam. We will keep you in the know on when it’s done and begin taking pre-orders for it.

Thanks for all the support! Love to you all!
Time To Rest
(Cluthe) – Words/Music – Vocals, Acoustic, Electric and Bass guitars
(Lee) – Drums/Percussion, Electric Guitars

Recollection
(Lee) – Music – Acoustic, Electric, Bass Guitars, Drums/Percussion
(Cluthe) Words – Vocals

1/26/11 #1 jam
(Lee) – Music - Drums, Guitars

1/26/11 “shut yo’ mouth jam”
(Cluthe) – Music - Electric and Bass Guitars
(Lee) – Drums, Electric Guitar

music is swirling...

hi everyone--

Matt here...just checking in to let you all know what have going on. Chris is back from his vacation & we're starting to get back into the swing of things. several new songs have been making the journey from Waco to Columbia (and vice versa)in the last week. so, we should have some new tunes posted soon! also, we're proud to announce that my brother-in-law, Jake, is on board to design our website. he's super talented & we both know that we're in very good hands. the site address will be www.cluthelee.com. the goal behind the site is to streamline everything (music stream, videos, blog, lyrics, twitter feed, etc) into one site, instead of hosting multiple sites. it's quite a project, but we know that Jake will do a great job.

in music news...
Maura is about to start up again on the artwork for Life Can Go. once the artwork is done, we will start taking pre-orders for the album. so, sit tight....and trust me, it'll be worth the wait! in the meantime, Chris & I are going to put out a digital EP soon that will be available through all major online music retailers (iTunes, Amazon, rhapsody, etc) very soon. we're finishing up the last two tracks as i type this. once they're done, we'll submit it for release! this EP will contain 3-4 bsides from the Life Can Go sessions as well as two album tracks (Predicament-- from Here We Are & Reels Fly By--from Life Can Go) that have been re-arranged & re-recorded for this EP. Chris is mixing Reels Fly By & I am mixing Predicament...they're both sounding great so far & they're totally different from the versions that you've come to know.

there you have it! lots of exciting stuff happening. as always, thanks for listening & reading.

cheers,
Matt



(Matt recording bass & backing vocals for "Gaze Up.")



(Laurel recording her vocals for the EP version of "Predicament.")

Once More/Hard To Swallow

hello, hello....

Matt here. Chris & I are really excited to post two more new songs called Once More & Hard To Swallow. You can listen to them on our reverb page here: www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling.

thanks for your support!
Matt

ONCE MORE

(Chris) This song dropped out of the sky one night during the work week. I rarely work on music during the week because of work, but there was something different about this one. I think all the parts were finished in a day? A lot of excitement around how quickly it all came together. Talk of completing each others musical thoughts quicker and quicker the longer we write together. Matt plays everything on here, except the drums. Pretty amazing melody and guitar work.

(Matt) Chris is right.....this one came together very quickly. I had been playing a lot in Open D tuning, and this song is a direct result of that. When I'd finished my parts, Chris said that he was going to add drums only. I was a little surprised by this, but he told me to trust my instincts & that all of the parts were solid enough to make the final recording.


HARD TO SWALLOW

(Chris) This one quickly followed "Once More" in the same week. I love the guitar intro on this one. Like a bulk of our songs, this one has the "building steam" formula on it. It has a great apex towards the end where all the elements are at once. Matt was worried that all his vocal tracks would make the song too trippy. I think they're awesome and more experimental than what we have done.

(Matt) To be honest, I have no idea how this song came about. I had a basic chord progression...next thing I knew I was adding some leads...then came the vocals. The vocal layering was an experiment at first...somehow, they stuck around! My favorite part of this song is the bridge where Chris just launches into one of my favorite solos that he's ever done. His drumming is also amazing on this tune. Like the two that we posted last week, there's a very good chance that this song will end up on LP #3.

State Of Flux/Hold Me Down have been posted!

hey everyone----

Matt here. just wanted to let you know that Chris & I have wrapped up 4 new songs and we've posted the first two today! they are streaming right now on our pages here:
www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling
www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling

the other new songs will be posted early next week....so stay tuned. here are our thoughts on these new songs:

State of Flux:

(CHRIS) The last of a large group of songs written in winter 2010/2011. I wanted to develop this out to sound upbeat and jumpy. The song caught fire once I came up with the accompanying guitar part you hear in the right speaker. I'm always trying to find some element that takes ordinary chords or music to a level worth working on. Once the guitars where in place I felt it was time to send over to Matt. His initial feedback was positive & away he went. He took lead guitar duties on the song and continues to write these stand out leads in a lot of our songs. I think the bass line was something he really liked.

(MATT) This song was a lot of fun to work on. It had a great groove right from the beginning & I was really excited to try something new vocally. Chris said that it's our "poppiest" song yet, and he may be right. The bass line is one of my favorites that he's come up with thus far & it really pushes the tempo of the song. The solo was tricky & it took me a long time to nail down the take that you hear!

Hold Me Down:

(CHRIS) Matt had a very cool slide riff going (there's a video of it on our Facebook page). I had an old drum track that I thought might fit the song. Matt had to re-arrange some things, but sent back this monster sounding song. He had some struggles finding a fitting bass sound if I recall. I also think he had told me that he'd ended up pissing off the neighbors whilst recording the vocals for this one. Good stuff!!

(MATT) THe working title for this song was "Blues Slide Stomperooni." Yup. Silly name, fun song. For some reason, I've been keeping on of my acoustics tuned to Open D for a long time. One day, I picked it up & grabbed the slide. Within 24 hours, the core of the song was done. I had an absolute blast recording all of my parts on this song. The bass was challenging, but once I stepped away for a bit it fell into place. Chris' lead lines throughout the song are simply awesome. These 2 songs are so different....they sound like an entirely different band, in my opinion.

So there you have it! New stuff is in the works as I type this. Looking forward to spending some time in the studio this afternoon! Stay tuned for the other two new songs (Hard To Swallow & Once More) early next week!

thanks for listening/reading/supporting,

Matt

Cluthe/Lee April Update!

hey everyone....

Matt here. just wanted to give you all an update about everything. it's safe to say that we've been very busy in the last couple of weeks and it's about time that we catch you all up on the latest.

-Life Can Go is done! it's been copyrighted and Maura (www.frag-ment-ed.com) is working on the artwork for the album. our collective goal is to have the album released sometime early in the summer. as you know, she did the artwork for Here We Are and we can't wait to see what she comes up with for our second album!
-In the meantime, Chris & I are talking about releasing a digital EP through iTunes. this EP will contain some bsides along with a couple of re-worked songs from our first record. we're still too early in the creative process to divulge anymore info...but stay tuned!
-in the last 2-3 weeks, we have been doing a lot of writing & recording. there is now a solid collection of about 5-6 new songs that we're going to start mixing & mastering. we hope to have them released in the next week or two. i know i say this a lot, but this collection of songs has me really excited & i feel like we've pushed our boundaries even further. they don't sound like anything we've done thus far.
-we've also been talking with Maura's husband, Jake about building a Cluthe/Lee website!! he's on board & sounds excited about it, so we are too! not sure when it will be launched, but it may coincide with the release of Life Can Go. he's incredibly talented & open to our crazy ideas.....so, it should be a lot of fun!
-Laurel & I are still planning on making it to Columbia sometime this summer. it'll be great to hang with Chris & Ali for a few days and play a couple of shows! beyond that, we're both open to trying to play more shows....we just have to consider the distance. we'll keep you posted.

so that's it! it's quite a lot, actually!

thanks for reading/listening,
Matt

thoughts + an update...

hey everyone...

matt here writing from Houston. laurel & i are here to celebrate the wedding of two great friends, melissa & luis. they're tying the knot this evening & we're so happy for them. CONGRATS, you two!

yesterday was the rehearsal dinner & we were able to sit down & catch up with some of laurel's oldest friends, who i'm proud to call my friends now. several of them asked me about the music that chris & i have been creating...about the process, distance from waco to columbia and about what's next. maybe because i'm in the thick of it.....i don't tend to dwell on just how unique this friendship & collaboration truly are until i have to answer a question about it. the truth is that i have never had as much fun playing music as i do right now. the ideas keep flowing, there are no egos, and it feels like it is constantly evolving. i've lost count on how many songs we've finished, but i know it's a lot. and i truly enjoy them all. some more than others, sure...but each one is truly unique in its own way. we've come a long way since "presently falling", but that still remains one of my favorites we've done so far. we're just having a blast with the whole thing.......so much so that chris has even brought up the idea of trying to do a mini-tour of sorts early next year. count me in! i'm truly happy & blessed to be a part of this collaboration/band. thanks, chris.



now for the update....

since the release of the crazy eight, we've been writing....a lot. there are about 4-5 different ideas/demos going back & forth right now and we're really excited to share them with you all sometime soon. i can tell you this much....they don't sound like anything we've done thus far. stay tuned on that.

our second record, Life Can Go, is done. it's copyrighted and maura is working hard on the artwork. our hope is to have them available for pre-order in the next few weeks.

as always, you can listen to all of our tunes here:
www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling

thanks so much for your love & support,

[matt]

*one more thing.....
we actually have a few copies of Here We Are left. if you'd like to order a copy, just shoot us an email at presentlyfalling@gmail.com & we'll get you taken care of! see ya....

Crazy Eight's!

Greetings my friends!

It’s been a whole month since we last updated you! Our show in Dallas was a success! Due to ice and plane problems we landed about an hour before we were scheduled to play. We ripped through a 2 hour set with no “live” rehearsing between the two of us and I think it turned out nicely! Go to http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gibytoof&aq=ft to see 9 videos taken from the 2 hour set we played!

This month we’re breaking all the rules and releasing a large group of songs that have been built up since July 2010. Sometime a few weeks back we gathered up a list of some 20 different songs. They were all in various stages and from there hand-picked this little collective that we’re each going to spend time and talk about. You can hear them all over at www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling


Walk On Stilts

Cluthe (lyrics/music): Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Vocals

Lee: Lead guitars, Drums, Mixing

A song that Matt wrote. I latched onto it quickly and had these two competing riff ideas that I was trying to make work together in the song. The work on the song has long been finished, and so when it came to picking this collection to release, I threw this one in there. Matt said he had indifferent feelings about the song and I convinced him it was worth sharing. I had to agree to mix the song before I got my way though! Ha! I’ve decided that Matt has a signature method to playing guitar and Walk On Stilts showcases his knack for beautiful melodic chords & time signature changes. The drumming on it was a bit tricky, and shows another example of how Matt challenges me as a musician.



Out The Door

Cluthe(lyrics/music): Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Lee: Lead Guitar, Backing vocals

This one came together in a way we’d never done. The main recording was done on Matt’s iPhone! Instead of working it up like we typically do, we decided that I’d add one live lead track and backing vocals and that’d be it! This version is the demo version and nothing more. The song came together quickly if I remember what Matt said. He used lyrics from 2005 and the guitar chords were total improvisation. There’s a magical quality to this song I think. It’s about as representative of what we sound like playing live together (in the same room) I think.


Breakout

Lee (music): Drums, Rhythm Guitars, Bass

Cluthe (lyrics): Vocals, Lead Guitars

This one started as a bluesy riff and drums and just blew up from there. Live mic’ing was used for it, which is rare for me on Cluthe/Lee stuff. I just couldn’t get past how good the tone was on the original track. I think one of the few songs where Matt is screaming. He says that he upset his neighbors


Said & Done

Lee (music): Acoustic and Electric Guitars, P-Bass, Drum Kit, Shaker

Cluthe (words): Vocals & backing vocals

January 2011, I was practicing nearly every day for our February show in Dallas. These practices would last 2-3 hours and inspired a lot of improvisation. During one particular warm up, I strayed and started working on a slow burning acoustic number in Open G tuning. First song using a new cymbal set I got for Christmas too. I think the kit sounds refreshing, more like a full kit now. I have really come to love drumming being in this band. I’ve learned a lot since getting the full kit to my house in May 2010 and am excited to continue learning how to play better and better!

Hey everyone...Matt here…
Chris did most of the mixing for this collection of songs. I still had some recording to do and he did an awesome job mixing those songs. As for the ones that I mixed, here's a little info.....

Your Shore
I wrote this one when I was pretty sick and you can definitely hear the strain in my voice. We usually have to make several adjustments throughout the mixing process for each song, but the simplicity of this song allowed for an easier mixing process. Chris has some beautiful lead lines in this song & his bongos make their debut.

Cluthe (words/music): vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass
Lee: rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bongos, bass drum

I'll Crawl
I wrote the basic acoustic rhythm track for this song back in September, I believe. It's one that we both really liked, but we kept putting it on the backburner because we had so many other songs swirling around. When we decided to clean house & finish all of these songs, we both gravitated towards this song. Chris recorded his (awesome) drumtrack & his guitar tracks, then I was off & running. The words came quickly, as did the bass and my electric parts. To put it simply, this one was a lot of fun to record and finish.

Cluthe (words/music): vocals, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, bass
Lee: lead guitar, drums, rhythm guitar

Exact Sense
Man, this song is old! I wrote this back in July of last year and much like I'll Crawl, we kept shelving it for one reason or another. I was sitting around with my acoustic one day & started playing the main riff. I immediately went upstairs, plugged in my guitar & the MOTU and gave it a go. If memory serves, I ran though it 2-3 times to develop the other parts of the song....then hit record. The mic was plugged in using the same effect setting as my guitar, and I hadn't written any lyrics yet. When I hit record, I just started singing. That's where the "distorted vocals" came from. The other vocals came a day or two later, I think. In any case, Chris has some truly amazing leads on this song...actually, they're some of my favorites because he was totally dialed in & letting loose at the same time. The original drums had to be scrapped because of some popping issues, but this new drum track is a clear representation of just how far he has come as a drummer. Awesome stuff to hear, in my opinion!

Cluthe (words/music): vocals, rhythm guitar, bass
Lee: lead guitar, drums

I'd also like to talk about the other tunes in this collection of eight.......

Walk On Stilts: I would like to thank Chris for mixing this one. for some reason, it was giving me fits. He's always been a fan of this song...me? not so much...and I wrote it. I was getting really frustrated with it & asked him to give it a shot. He did an awesome job.

Out The Door: total improv. I recorded my parts on my iPhone, actually. It was a demo idea using some old lyrics. We kept it very simple on this one, and it was great to hear Chris return to the mic for his backing vocals.

Breakout: one of my favorites that we've done in the last couple of months. I just had a lot of fun with it. Chris wrote the music for this one & I immediately wanted to work on it.

Said & Done: I'm a big fan of this song. it came together very quickly & I have a feeling it will be on a future release.
The Observer: I think this song is different for us. Beautiful picking by Chris & I had a blast recording every little part of this song. Some of my favorite lyrics to sing....which is odd because I didn't really think about them too much when I wrote them. I'm telling you, Chris can wrote some seriously great music.

Dallas show on Saturday!!!

Hey everyone...

Matt here. Chris & I have are really excited for the show this Saturday! After writing/recording more songs than we can remember, we're both ready to share a stage and play these songs live! We'll be playing songs from our first record, Here We Are and songs from our forthcoming record, Life Can Go as well as some unreleased songs and maybe a cover or two. We should have some video/audio of the show available sometime soon and we'll be sure to keep you posted. If you're going to be in the Dallas/Fort Worth area this Saturday, here's the info:

Cluthe/Lee
8-10 pm
Dunn Bros-Addison
3725 Belt Line Rd
Addison, TX 75001

Most of our energy has been going towards preparing for the show, but there are a few other tidbits of news to share....
-Maura is hard at work finishing the artwork for Life Can Go. The album has been copyrighted, so once the artwork is finished, we will start taking pre-orders.
-Several new songs are in the works. Chris has been writing a ton lately and I've just started to dig into his new ideas while working on a few of my own. That means that we'll have new songs to share very soon...stay tuned.....

We just want to thank you all for being so supportive of what we're doing. The emails & feedback we've received have been great & they leave us floored. Hope 2011 is off to a great start for you all!

See you at the show,

Matt

and here's what i've been staring at for the last 2 weeks.....





--
presentlyfalling@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling
www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling
http://leeandcluthemusic.blogspot.com/
www.twitter.com/clutheleemusic
www.cdbaby.com/cd/ClutheLee

Practice Time....

i'm about halfway through running through our Dunn Bros set right now....can't wait for the show!

happy saturday to all,

matt

New song, and first live show

Howdy cowboys/girls of the interwebs!

Chris here writing from the cozy confines of my office at work. Got some Pearl Jam Radio going, a nice hot cup of green tea by my side and some updates for you all.

First is to let you all know that our first live show is coming up in 8 days in Addison, Texas (suburb of Dallas). Matt and I worked on a little show flyer and there's a picture above of it. We are so excited to play together live and have been hard at work rehearsing our set list, which has songs from our debut "Here We Are", our forthcoming album "Life Can Go" as well as some b-sides, songs that pre-date Cluthe/Lee and a few covers. We've covered all our bases as you can see. Some of you have already mentioned coming out for the show and we are completely stoked about that! We both feel confident that we'll put on a great show! Also, we'll be taping it to Hi8 and may have that available to you all at some point down the line. At the very minimum we'll plan to rip a few of the live tracks and share them with you all.

Secondly, we are happy to finally release a new song called "It's Time." Matt wrote this on his acoustic guitar back in November 2010 and here's what he wanted to say about it....

"It's Time" might be a tough one to listen to if you know someone that is looking for something real/tangible to hold onto while they are trying to cope with themselves. Life can be trying and difficult at times...and it may be hard to see the hope in everything that we have to endure. But I'm a firm believer that if you look hard enough.....you'll find it. Thanks so much for listening.... - Matt

My thoughts on this were immediately about inner confrontation and how uncomfortable it can be. Though the longer we worked on this song and the more I listened to it the more the lyric "hey, it's time" struck me. To me, it was a call to take part in the tiny little beautiful things that I often miss when I'm consumed with my own internal process. (I'm a therapist by day you guys, so forgive all the psycho-babble). It's a precious song in a lot of ways and I'll just leave it at that!

I will have the song posted to www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling by 6:30pm CST tonight after work. Enjoy!!

It's Time
Cluthe (words, music): Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Tambourine, Piano
Lee: Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Drums

Cluthe/Lee book their first show in Dallas!

Hi all

Chris writing from a frigid and snowy Columbia, MO. Things are about to heat up in Cluthe/Lee music world though! Matt and I are excited to announce that we will be playing a 2 hour set at Dunn Bros. coffee house in Addison, Texas on Saturday February 5th from 8pm-10pm! Our very first official show together! We are currently busy developing a setlist from a large collective of music we've written together and a few that pre-date Cluthe/Lee music! This will hopefully be the start of a few other planned shows in 2011. One of those may fall in Columbia later in the year and the other in Austin around the same time. In the meanwhile, we hope to see some of you out on February 5th!

As usual, Matt and I have a wealth of new songs from October-December 2010 sessions that are in various stages. As we focus on practicing for our show, we may not be working on these tunes, though I think Matt may have mixed a few on his holiday. So, stay tuned here for the latest on the songs, and other information about the coming year! As always you can listen to our tunes over at our Myspace and Reverbnation pages.

Hope you all had excellent holidays! From Matt and I, thanks for your continued support into 2011!

Chris & Matt

Happy Holidays & new songs from Cluthe/Lee Music!!

Howdy ya'll

Matt and I want to wish you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays! As the curtains close on 2010, we have so much to be thankful for. All of your continued generous and kind words, listener-ship are deeply appreciated. We don't take any day for granted, especially the ones where we are writing together and sharing music with you all.

Speaking of music, we are so happy to release 2 new ones, Red Lights and Never Tell out for you to enjoy. Both have had a long road towards completion for too many reasons to share. Red Lights is a song Matt brought forward earlier this past summer. It's been through several changes with lots of re-recording on my part to try and get the drums and guitars lined up right. Listening to it now I think that I was trying to harness the power of Mike McCready's solo during "Nothing As It Seems" which is one of my all time favorite MCC leads EVER. The tone and lyrics allowed for a bit darker sound I think. It's one of those songs that I go to sleep hearing over and over in my head for some reason. Maybe now that we've released it, I won't hear it any more?! Haha!!

Never Tell is a tune that I wrote back in July 2010 and was the first song we've done where the focus was around building a song up around tribal sounding percussion. It's been fun, interesting and frustrating transitioning from mostly Apple Garageband drum loops to a live drum kit. Percussion-wise, Never Tell finds me feeling more comfortable than ever before and getting a bit experimental with rhythms. Matt brought a whole new dynamic to these very sad/serious sounding melodies, as he usually does. I think his leads in this song are some of his finest to date. I especially love the latter half of the song as he colors the melody sounding as if it were effortless. I've come to the point now where I lose track of who's playing what in these songs, and I believe Never Tell is a good example of that.

Go on over to www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling to take a listen to both of these songs! Cluthe/Lee Music will be taking a breather for a few weeks to spend time with family/friends and catch up on some rest! We've got 6-7 song ideas being worked on at the moment, so there's that to look forward to in 2011. Also, you can expect our second LP "Life Can Go" to be released sometime in 2011 as well. As usual there is a lot going on and again we thank you all so much for your support.

Happy Holidays to you all!!

Red Lights
Matt (music/lyrics): Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar
Chris: Drum Kit, Lead Guitars

Never Tell
Chris (music): Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals/Harmonies, Percussion
Matt: (lyrics): Vocals, Lead Guitars, Bass

Red Lights.....

it's been a long road for this song, but it's finally done! it'll be posted in the next day or two.

cheers,

Matt

"London Dream" posted on MySpace and Reverbnation

hey everyone----

like a lot people, i don't remember my dreams very often. being a student of psychology, dreams and the unconscious mind have always fascinated me. most of the dreams that i've had that i do remember are blurry, jumbled and incomplete as i attempt to recall them. the mind is a funny thing because this song is about the most vivid dream that i've ever had.....and it came at the perfect time.

we lost my Dad to an intense battle with ALS a few years ago. since he passed, i've written several songs about him that show the wide range of emotions that we all face when losing someone we love. i had mentioned to my wife that a week or two prior to the dream that i couldn't remember his voice. this very simple thought shook me and the inability to dial up the memory of his voice left me feeling unaware if i'd ever hear it again. i'd had dreams with Dad in them before, but he had never uttered a word.

this dream was a gift from my Dad, and it is one that i will never forget. so much has happened since he's passed....spouses and grand kids that he'd never met. in this dream, he met them all and it was a beautiful sight to see. the fact that Laurel sang along with me means the world to me...i know that my Dad loves her. i heard his voice and i can still hear it now. thanks, Dad.

take the time to say what you need to say to those around you. life can be cut short without warning.

thanks for listening/reading,

Matt

"London Dream"
Matt Cluthe (words/music): Vocals, Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Bass
Laurel Cluthe: Backing Vocals
Chris Lee: Lead Guitars, Percussion

Listen at www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling or www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling

hiya

hey there....

i'm working on writing lyrics right now for a beautiful song that Chris wrote & thought that i would answer a question that i've heard a lot through the years. the question is...."where do your lyrics come from?"

to be honest/blunt, i don't know. i try to dive into the song & let nature take its course. the truth is that the course is never the same. i just let it happen.

it could be a word, a melody, a thought....but something happens. and that's when i just go with it. i feel like there are themes to my writing (at times), but i never map them out...they just happen.

the world is a beautiful & tragic place all at once...you have to choose your path every day and in every song. once you've made your pick, the door opens up a bit.

after that, you grab a pen/pencil/marker/whatever....and you write on anything. a post-it-note always works. see ya soon.....
matt

December update!

Chris here writing on a very cold December Sunday. It's been a pretty exciting week in Cluthe/Lee music world. First, a music video is in the works! We're not going to say anything more, and can't wait to share it with you all! We've already posted a few videos on our new Cluthe/Lee Music Facebook page in the last week. If you have a Facebook account, stop on by and friend us! You can check out three videos that are currently up there. One of which is of Matt singing one of our favorite songs "Coming Through" on acoustic.

As Matt mentioned last week, our second full length LP is completed! "Life Can Go" is the title. It's 13 songs total clocking in at 51.1 minutes. A bit longer than the debut record. "Life Can Go" is a departure in many ways I've noticed. We've both accumulated new recording equipment in the last year, namely microphones, 4 string basses and computer software. The songs have a punchy/deep feel to them. The corners are tighter so to speak; which happens when two guys write nearly 100 songs together! So, up next is copyrighting and artwork. Maura (our artist for Here We Are) has the new record and is working on a direction for the artwork. If you haven't already been to Maura's site http://www.frag-ment-ed.com/ you should check it out. The creativity gene is STRONG in the Cluthe family : )

Lots of great new music being recorded in the last week. I think we've got quite a back log of songs from July that still haven't surfaced. That just means we've got a ton to share! Ha! All in good time my friends. Seriously though, we're both pretty busy guys with full time lives and I think we've done well balancing our careers and this band. I know we've said it a bunch, but we really do appreciate you all listening. It brings so much more meaning to the art when we know you are there.

That's about all from here for now! Stay tuned!

Chris & Matt

a quick update...

hey everyone----

just a quick update from the TX half of this collaboration....
lots of stuff going on these days. i've been out of town visiting family & am excited to get back into musicmode. we have one new song that's just about done called "London Dream"---look for that to be released this week! we also have a lot of others that will be getting some attention this week & we hope to release them very soon.

also, THANKS for voting in the little contest we're in! your support means a lot to both of us.

our second record, Life Can Go, is done. we'll be submitting it for copyright in the next week or so. i was able to pick Maura's brain a bit about the direction of the artwork and i can't wait to see what she comes up with!

as always, you can listen to our tunes here....
www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling
www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling

read our blog here...
http://leeandcluthemusic.blogspot.com/

follow us on twitter here....
http://twitter.com/clutheleemusic

and also join our Facebook group here....
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pag ... 9719963329

wow...that's a lot of links!!!
yikes!

happy holidays, everyone. more updates coming soon....

Matt

Unreleased songs and early demo's have been posted!

Hi friends and family out there on the interwebs!

It's been well over a year since Matt and I first started writing/recording together. In that time we've amassed quite a collection of songs that all have some early version or another. Many of these early versions have never been heard by anyone but us. We thought it was high time we shared some and so I raided my iTunes library and sifted through 17.4 hours of music to bring you 12 alternate/unreleased/demo/instrumentals. Some you know, some you don't and some you might have heard at the grocery store last weekend? Go on over to www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling and you'll find the songs listed from 1-12 at the top of the song list.

Here We Are (alternate mix)
This one has a different sounding lead guitar to it and Matt's vocals are a bit more immediate. It sounds pretty close to how it sounded when we played it live together in Austin in October.

Fade (unreleased song 2009)
Matt wrote this one and I think we just forgot about it. It's a very aggressive sounding song. The very ending has Matt singing without any accompaniment. We had planned on just having bass playing and Matt singing, but like I said, forgot all about this little beauty! Maybe someday it will resurface and be worked on?

Count Down (alternate early version)
I remember when I first started working on this one and had added a bunch of guitar. Too much in fact. The LP version is very different than this one. Matt's main acoustic track is much more present in this. The guitar solo is also quite different (I can tell at least). Of the 12 put out today, I like this the best. It almost doesn't sound like the song I know too well.

On A Wire (instrumental demo)
When I heard this today I had no idea what it was! It took me a minute or so to realise that this was the first version of On A Wire we did, sans vocals/words. Drumming is different, guitars are different. Almost a completely different song here. I really like this version, but LOVE the finished product much more!

Predicament (slow alternate version)
Matt and I think I may have posted a similar version back awhile ago? This was the one of the very first songs I heard on Matt's MySpace page back in 2008 when I'd first heard of him. This one sounds way different to me. It's a first take from me and I hit a lot of bad notes/chords, including a really really bad guitar solo (sorry guys!).

Blitzkrieg Easter Song (unreleased instrumental)
I had waaaaaay too much fun jacking up the BPM's on the drum loop. It's never been worked on because it's way too fast and has a really bad working title. Hahahaaa!! Written on Easter 2010, and inspired by fluffy white easter bunnies....with mohawks!

Setting Sun (early alternate version)
2nd song Matt and I recorded together last August 2009. This is the original acoustic guitar track from the day I wrote the music. Matt's vocals are stripped back and a bit more raw. Still sounding powerful and amazing as usual though! Back when we were still figuring out how to record all these songs, this was one Matt sung from another room in his house into his Mac's speakers. Has a pretty abrupt, strange ending that shows just how young the song was then. I think this is another one that sounds close to what it sounded like when we played it together live.


Song For A Toadie (unreleased instrumental)
Do I love marching style drum beats? Yep. Ha!! This is a little something I wrote during a cold snowy day last winter if I remember right. After writing it and sending it to Matt and told him it sounded way too much like that really famous Toadies song from the mid-90s. He agreed and so it never went anywhere. Coming back to it today I still am not sure about. Fun to hear and play that main riff-age though! Yeeeah!!

Drift On (alternate guitar heavy version)
One of Matt's beautiful piano ballads. One of my favorite songs he's ever done truthfully. He worked his ass off recording that live piano. The piano is very very special to Matt, Laurel and their families. Matt was so motivated and inspired to get the piano into our music and I'm so glad we went decided in the end to limit the guitars on this song. There's just too much there. Certainly an interesting take to here compared to the finished take.

Untitled April Jam (unreleased instrumental)
Matt wrote this and I honestly don't know why we didn't keep working on it. Sure was fun to jam on though. Just the two of us rocking out.

Rest Is Futile (unreleased instrumental)
Matt wrote this one around the same time as Untitled April Jam. He had fits on this one, though I can't remember over what. I think it might have been over getting a fitting drum loop going? I asked him if I could try my hand at recording the song and this is what I did. It wasn't quite what he was after and so we abandoned it. Another aggressive sounding song for us. The ending cracks me up with the shaker and tambourine. It's all aggressive and then we hop in the Lincoln Continental to funky town. Hahaaa!! Am I having too much fun with this today? Yep :)

New Year's Day Song (unreleased instrumental)
A very very old song I wrote back in 2001 living in Philadelphia. I was happy to be there with my girlfriend, but distressed over too many other things. I wrote it the day I found out that I had been accepted into graduate school. The sounds here reflects the frantic worry and sweet relief that followed. After Matt and I had gotten everything together for "Here We Are" we started gathering up older songs we each had written but hadn't brought to the collaboration yet. This one suffered from demo-itis and got shelved because I wasn't happy with how it turned out. Doesn't sound all that bad now that I'm hearing it ;)

time to record & mix

I'm just about to record some additional vocals for a new song called "London Dream" & thought I'd share a picture with you all. Once these vocals are done, this song moves to the mixing stage. I can't wait to share this song with you all...it holds a very special place in my heart.

See you soon,
Matt

New release Friday!

Happy November everybody!

Chris here, writing from the chilly mid-west to say that two brand new Cluthe/Lee songs have been posted! November is going to be a busy month with new tunes. We plan on releasing a couple more next Friday and possibly 2 more the Friday after that! We've got quite a backlog of songs that we're working through and have decided not to write any new one's until these songs get out to you all.

Brings Me Warmth was written back in August and is another "open D" composition of mine. I seem to favor that tuning for some reason (see "A Harmless Song", "In A Corner"'). I don't know. Just something about the strange-ness of that tuning that appeals to me. I had this song worked up with drums and acoustic guitar and Matt came in and added some amazing guitar work/vocals pretty quickly.

Walking Dead is a very creepy sounding song that was written the week of Halloween. Over our ACL trip Matt gave me a bunch of The Black Keys records to listen to and all October I was hooked. I tried writing a simple little blues tune. Took a very simple approach recording just one guitar track and drums. Matt does the rest! He told me he was very inspired and swept up in all the spookiness of the week and somehow channeled that into his vocals/lyrics/guitar. Listen for the whammy dives he does on the song. The bass line Matt plays is FREAKING AWESOME. Get your headphones on kids and feel the bass!

Both of these tunes are quite different from one another which keeps to the spirit of the Cluthe/Lee method now over a year old! If you're wondering about the pic at the top, it's from the Field Museum in Chicago. I took it last year in late August feeling quite inspired and hyped up over the new musical relationship that had started. I still feel like it is a nice representation of what we've done. Maybe I'm getting too deep here? Ok, anyway! Ha! Quick update on our second record. We've decided to call it "Life Can Go" and will be submitting it for copyright this weekend! Whooo!! Not sure on the time table for digital/physical release, but stay tuned here for news and you'll be the first to know!

Brings Me Warmth (August 2010)
Lee: (music) - Drums, 6 string acoustic
Cluthe: (words) - Vocals, Fender Jazz Bass, Lead Guitar(s)

Walking Dead (October 2010)
Lee: (music) - Drums, Epiphone Les Paul
Cluthe: (words) - Vocals, Fender Jazz Bass, Lead Guitar(s)


Thanks all! We love you and stuff :)

Chris and Matt

Second LP is finished!

Greetings friends and family!

It's been a good long while since we last updated you all. October has been an extremely busy month for both Matt and I. Lots of travel for us in different places. We did finally get to have that jam session when we (and our wives) met for the first time in Austin, Texas about 2 weeks ago. It was a completely surreal moment for us all. See picture above. We all had a great time at the Austin City Limits Music Festival while there and got to see/eat/drink a good deal of Austin. We enjoyed it so much that there are already plans to attend all 3 days of the festival next September!

This past weekend Matt and I finally settled back into the music and finished up the final mixes, and track sequencing for the second album. The new mixes have new parts added to them that give them quite a punch. Matt and I both think this second album is largely different than our debut "Here We Are." We have included a hidden track on this album and have plans to submit a grouping of tunes outside the album that may come out as an EP or b-sides down the line. Before we submit for copyright we have to name it. There are several titles being thrown around, all of which are fitting. We'll keep you posted on when the second album is available for download. There has even been some chatter about a potential vinyl release?! Shhhhh.....don't say anything yet! Ha!

While we've been chipping away at making the songs on this second album sound as good as possible, we've also been VERY busy writing new music. As of tonight we have 5-6 new songs that are in various stages of completion. Most have been written since mid-July and are all very different in tone. These new ones will start trickling out 1-2 at a time as we start closing in on the end of 2010!

That's about it from here. Thank you all so much for your continued love and support! We love you back!

Cluthe/Lee

"Drop Of Rain" + Other News!

Hey everyone---

Matt here. We just wanted to update you all on a few things & let you know that our latest song, Drop of Rain, will be posted either today or tomorrow. Drop of Rain has come a long way. I recorded the basic track a few weeks ago & sent it off to Chris. Once he finished all of his parts, he sent it back. I had mentioned that I wanted to add some piano to the song, so I did. This song has about 5-6 different mixes that I'm aware of...some with more of this, some with less of that. For one reason or another, it has been "almost finished" for a very long time. We're both happy to say that it is finished! Chris---thanks for your patience, man!

So, Drop of Rain will appear on our pages either tonight or tomorrow. When it goes live, you can hear it HERE: www.reverbnation.com/presentlyfalling & HERE: www.myspace.com/presentlyfalling

In Other Cluthe/Lee news....


-Chris & his wife are coming to Texas next weekend! They (along with Laurel & I) will be heading to ACL Music Festival & we can't wait! It's going to be great to sit in the same room & play some songs! We're going to try to play a small set somewhere, but it is ACL weekend...so it might be tough to land a quick booking. But, we're trying! Over a year of writing/recording/collaborating/mixing....and we're finally going to meet after writing close to 75 songs. Can't wait!

-There are several new ideas floating between us---each song is in a different stage and I've been able to make some vocal headway over the last 2 days. Looking forward to sharing them with you all.

-LP #2 (still untitled at this point) is just about ready to be submitted for copyright! We are pleased to announce that my sister, Maura is once again on board to design the artwork! We can't wait to see what she comes up with! Up until now, we've kept the tracklisting silent...but now seems like a good time to share it with you all! You can hear early mixes of all of these songs on our reverb page.

Cluthe/Lee
LP #2

1. In A Corner
2. This Is...
3. Abbreviated
4. Oh, My Darling
5. Orwell's Warning
6. Pieces Apart
7. Defrost Mode!
8. Grown
9. On A Wire
10. Hoping For A Miracle
11. Reels Fly By
12. Life Can Go
13. Don't Question
14. Not Listening

Plus, there will be a couple of bsides. We may release a single or two....for now, those will remain a secret!

That's it for now. Hope this email finds you all well. We'll have another update before next weekend. Until then, thanks for listening & thank you for your constant support!


Matt

New release Sunday!

Howdy partner's! Chris here writing to let you know about "Elevator Music" which has been officially released for you all to hear on our Myspace page and Reverbnation page.

This song was developed mid-August and was inspired in part by a Ryan Adams and The Cardinals tune I had been listening to. There was something that struck me about that song's structure that had me reaching for my guitar. Matt got a working track and had vocals on it quicker than normal. He tells me the lyrics were written awhile back and felt like they'd be perfect on this song. It's a mellow tune overall and I hope you guys and gals enjoy it!

As of yesterday we are nearly finished with editing the track list for our second LP. Major progress has been made since the last update! The songs have been sent to our artist/designer to begin the process of developing artwork. Still untitled as of now, and quite different from "Here We Are" in many ways. The process of getting this next LP out will be a bit more paced I'm thinking. No time table for release has been set, but the wheels are in motion. For now we continue writing new songs all the time and have been enjoying the positive feedback on "Here We Are." We thank you all so very much for your kind words and improv album 'reviews' you've sent us. You all make this possible for Matt and I in so many ways and we cannot thank you enough! Matt and I will finally get to meet in about 3 weeks for Austin City Limits Festival. A long overdue meeting!

Stay tuned...

"Elevator Music"
Cluthe: Words/Vocals, Guitar
Lee: Music, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Mixing

Comes through in ways never thought possible...

Greetings Earthlings

Chris here from stormy Columbia, MO typing up an update on 2 brand new songs that are ready for you to enjoy! Both of these tunes are part of a productive summer period of writing and these are the two newest to come from those sessions. Both are Cluthe compositions and once more showcase the musical flex both of us have and continue to develop as musicians.

"Coming Through"
Cluthe: Music/Lyrics/Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Lead Guitar/Bass/Production & Mixing
Lee: All percussion/Lead Guitars

This song built up immediate steam when I got the demo and had so many elements thrown into it that mixing was pretty tough for Matt! This song features 3 electric solos, which is a first for us. Coming Through has an amazingly unpredictable flow to it. Listening to the finished mix it seems to come to this apex, slow down and then break through stronger than before. Matt and I both agree that the last minute of the song is one of our finest moments making music together. Matt had actually gone back and added this awesome chunky rhythm guitar that matches up so well with the other elements. Several times in the mixing process we each listened with the same amazement like "who are these guys?" Ha!

"His Voice"
Cluthe: Music/Lyrics/Vocals/Acoustic & Electric Rhythm and Lead Guitar/Bass
Lee: All percussion/Organ Keys/Lead Guitars

This song couldn't be more opposite of Coming Through in my opinion. Matt and I both really love Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and I told him that this song reminded me of them. On this song I was feeling more comfortable on the drum kit than ever and started incorporating more fills than I usually do. I love challenging myself musically and this song REALLY put my abilities to the test. Matt's story telling in His Voice is great. I always feel like there's an instant sense of relating to what he's saying to us. I feel so lucky to have such a great songwriter by my side. Truly inspiring you guys...

In other news, there are 100 copies of Here We Are flying somewhere over Pennsylvania as we speak on there way to my house. They arrive tomorrow and we're both poised to start sending these out to all who ordered. We'll have extra copies, so if you didn't order one and want one, let us know by sending an e-mail to presentlyfalling@gmail.com

There are about 4 more songs left from our productive summer that are being worked on and we can't wait to share them! Thanks for all your love and support gang! We love you back!

Chris

Order/Music Update!!

hey everyone...

matt here. just wanted to give you all a quick update on some C/L stuff:

-we've placed the manufacturing order for the cd copies of Here We Are. they should get to us by the end of next week. we'll use that weekend to get all of the shipping/order info in order and then....we'll be shipping the cds to you! like we've mentioned before, international orders will take longer. we're beyond excited to get them out to you & we really think that the artwork will blow you away. (thanks, Mo!)

-also, we'll still have some copies of Here We Areleft, so shoot us an email (presentlyfalling@gmail.com) for more info on how you can order your copy.

-right now, i'm taking a quick mixing break. two new songs (Coming Through/His Voice) are on the verge of being released. i wrote both of them very spontaneously and once Chris got ahold of them, they took on a new life. we hope to have those posted on our pages in the next day or two. in the meantime, check out two new songs (Can't Retrace/Hold) that we posted last week!

-one more thing....Chris & I were interviewed a few weeks back by our friend Donny who hosts a weekly podcast called "All That's Sacred." we were really excited that he asked us to come on & talk about our fun music collaboration. you can find it on episode #60 and here's the address: www.allthatssacred.net (Cheers, Donny!)

ok, i think that's about it for now.....let me double check.
yup.

thanks, everyone......

Matt