We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming of monthly updates and cute kid photos for a little musical update (partly about Mark’s brother).
If you're just here for the cute pictures, you may want to skip this one, and wait for the next post. :-)
Guitars, Violins, Albums, and...Multiplication Tables
I grew up playing violin, and Mark learned piano as a kid. Eventually he taught himself to play guitar as well.
Mark took a couple songwriting classes at BYU, and later we recorded a couple albums together (he wrote a lot of the songs, and I contributed some violin parts; his brother Matt was also involved).
Here's a link to our first album (on a Spanish version of Napster, haha), and our second album (on Amazon).
About a year earlier, Mark’s younger brother Benj also recorded an album (with his college roommate at BYU-Idaho).
It was mainly songs they had been performing at talent shows and similar events, and they sold the CD’s to some of their college friends.
Mark has continued to dabble in songwriting, and has also set up some recording equipment at home (starting when we still lived in Atlanta).
Earlier this year, he started recording some music videos about the multiplication tables...with a lot of help from the kids!
If you haven't seen the videos, you can check them out here. They’re pretty cool!
A New Website, about Guitars, Music, and...Songwriting?
Recently, Mark’s brother Benj told me he was making a new website about guitars and songwriting.
I guess at the beginning he's mainly been doing posts that are kind of product reviews of guitars and accessories. Pretty soon though, he'll be including more info about how to learn to play guitar, and things like that.
Eventually, he plans to add some content about songwriting... something Mark would probably have a lot to say about as well. Maybe they should work together on that part. :)
Final thoughts
I'll let you know if we record any new albums. :-) In the meantime, feel free to check out Benj’s website linked above, or our YouTube channel.
Music and songwriting have certainly been a fun and interesting part of our family's life, and I suspect that will continue to be the case!
