Loyal Yokefellow

Early lyrics ➡ Fully formed chorus ➡ Several verse iterations and more musical insights!

Check out this breakdown of my song "What's Your Favorite Color?" on Youtube!

Voice Memo Breakdown ("What's Your Favorite Color?") Robert Stewart of Loyal Yokefellow casually breaks down the process...

COOL SHIRT BRO

Featuring lyrics from my song “What’s Your Favorite Color?” and drawn/designed by myself.

This shirt and one other is available at my online store.

MERCH ITEMS available at: https://www.loyalyokefellow.com/category/all-products

Which one is more your vibe?

Guitar is such a great writing instrument. It’s pretty amazing how you can find and play so many voicings for every style with just standard tuning. It’s nice to be able to translate intricate arrangements with moving voices from piano or even an orchestral piece. I’ve mocked up string quartet parts on guitar. It’s fascinating that the difference in sound from one style to another could potentially be including one more string of the chord shape or not. And it’s all just right there, with your imagination as your guide.

Writing drum parts in my head

Part of being “good at music” (or anything really) is recognizing the margin of error is so slim, you could fall off at any time, and that actually would be just fine. Outsiders may judge, sure, but, the insight you have provides perspective — you’re going to make mistakes and you’d rather make them than live without the opportunity to do so. You’d rather be a failure singing out of key than not to sing at all.

I’ve visited the Museum of Making Music in San Diego twice. They show tons of musical instruments and inventions from over the last century. It’s a display of how equipment is a direct response to the needs of musicians. This Tascam board is the only one I know of its kind that meets a very specific goal that wasn’t possible before - recording multiple tracks into a computer while also serving as a mixing board. Lots of boards would record a stereo mix out, but that’s it. This allows for live recording and then taking multiple tracks to mix later. It’s a fantastic piece of equipment that makes me feel like I was around when a notable achievement was made. There’s always something more to push toward.

Always playing a few shows here and there. Playing music as a job makes for very inconsistent experiences. Sometimes, people really show they care and are listening and you feel you connected or made a difference. Other times, it’s kind of like a blue collar job where you have no contact with the people you’re doing the work for. The difference is someone like a lineman is aware of the direct impact of their job on others. Musician… not so much.