NICK RIVERS

I'm telling the story of each song from my new album 606.  I've been known to ‘embellish’ or blur details, so let it be known this is based on a true story.

Worn Out

This is going to be a short post, because honestly I'm Worn Out.  This song came to be when I was at a professional low.  I talked about this a little bit with my 'Am I Alone?' post.  I went full time as a musician in 2019, when everything changed in 2020 nobody knew what to do in the music business.  I did what I thought was best, experiment and work even harder.

I worked hard in every direction I could think of.  Something was bound to work, explode, and point me in the right direction.  Once something exploded I'd follow it into rainbow dreams of money (that would be a great album name).  Turns out, everything I did worked…but only a little…This caused me to continue to work on everything all at once all the time.  I was able to get by, but my goodness was I tired.  

The first time I recorded this song I was in better spirits, I had some energy, and honestly probably a gallon of coffee.  I showed it to Ciara and she said “good song, but you sure don't sound worn out.”  I thought okay, I guess I'll just wait til I'm worn out and go at it that day.  Easier said than done.  The day came, I didn't want to do a damn thing all day.  The thought entered my mind, today you should do it.  Go record worn out nick.  NO NO NO I told myself I'm too tired.  Ugh, damnit it's the perfect day.  

I went and I hit record.  Then a mindfuck happened.  How do I give enough of a shit about the song where it's good, but not too much care where I don't sound worn out.  I pondered this for a bit, got tired, told myself to just shutup and do it, and hit record.  Worn Out.  

Listening back now, I hear tiredness in my voice, but not laziness.  You can tell I'm giving the song what it craves and nothing more.  The perfect touch is sometimes imperfection.  

Track 06

Worn Out

Nick Rivers

My debut album ‘606’ comes out January 5th.  It will be available everywhere you purchase and listen to music.

PRE-ORDER 606 BY NICK RIVERS RIGHT HERE

I'm telling the story of each song from my new album 606.  I've been known to ‘embellish’ or blur details, so let it be known this is based on a true story.

People Making Plans

I was stuck in a rut.  Writers block is what they call it.  When I get stuck, I start taking steps.  Sometimes it helps, and sometimes I just need to step back.  In this case, I decided to try something new.  I invited my friend Matt Hassenmueller over to write with me.  I showed him this riff I had, as well as a few lyrics and we got to work.  He started to hear some melodies (la da da da da) and showed me what was coming through his brain. 

We got to work and we had melodies, lyrics, and a song.  There was only one problem as I continued on.  I could NOT for the life of me play the guitar part that I heard in my head.  That's an interesting part about writing music.  Sometimes an idea comes to you but you aren't good enough to realize it.  There's a couple options when that happens….hire someone, have someone else do it, or get better yourself.  I opted for getting better myself.  I knew I could play this guitar part.

Not long after I was at a random bar with some friends outside playing cornhole.  Turns out another musician from town named Sean Jordan was playing a private party that night.  My friends and I snuck into the party to listen to him play.  I saw him doing EXACTLY the technique I was struggling with.  The next day, I reached out to him to see if he would consider giving me guitar lessons.  I'm a proud man, but I have NO problem recognizing when someone is better than me at something, and Sean is definitely better than me at playing the ole' six string.

He obliged and I went and got a lesson from this pro.  He gave me some exercises and tips and practice began.  A few weeks later I was able to play exactly what I heard in my head.  Now I just had to learn how to sing while I did it XD.  I didn't want to change the song just because it was hard.  I knew I could do this.  Over the next three years I forced myself to play the song in front of crowd after crowd.  I got better and better and eventually I noticed every time I played it I was getting tipped.  People were loving it.  

This song is all about People Making Plans.  Ironically, I wrote it about how sometimes things don't go how you expect them to….like life.  As I write this post I finally see the irony.  Life maybe isn't going 100% how I planned, but to make this song work…I made myself a roadmap, took steps, and got to the destination.

Track 05

People Making Plans

Nick Rivers

My debut album ‘606’ comes out January 5th.  It will be available everywhere you purchase and listen to music.

PRE-ORDER 606 BY NICK RIVERS RIGHT HERE

I'm telling the story of each song from my new album 606.  I've been known to ‘embellish’ or blur details, so let it be known this is based on a true story.

Am I Alone?

The story behind this song is simple.  We all have these inner monologues that can be equally as tough as they are helpful.  It's no secret that I am trying my very hardest to make it as a musician.  I've spent years making videos, songs, podcasts, tutorials, anything that I thought would progress my goal.  After spending hours on a single video, sometimes you post it and it brings you backwards.  I'll work so hard on something, post it and…lose a follower.  That's part of the game, but that in addition to negative comments can start to be pretty loud in your head.  

When that inner monologue got really loud I got frustrated.  What do you want from me?  What am I doing wrong?  Everyone says be yourself but what if that isn't good enough?  What if trying to be myself isn't myself?  So tell me what you think about me, go ahead.  But I know I'm not alone in feeling alone.

Track 04

Am I Alone?

Nick Rivers

My debut album ‘606’ comes out January 5th.  It will be available everywhere you purchase and listen to music.

PRE-ORDER 606 BY NICK RIVERS RIGHT HERE

I'm telling the story of each song from my new album 606.  I've been known to ‘embellish’ or blur details, but this one is 100% true.

My Grandma passed away this past July.  She was 91 years old, but still, it was unexpected.  There's a lot to this story I'm going to keep to myself and that's for a couple reasons.  1. Some memories are just meant for ourselves, 2. I want this song to help anybody who has lost someone connect to it in their own way.

I was really close with my Grandma.  I grew up just down the street from her and have so many treasured memories.  When she passed it was really hard for me to get my head around it.  I had lost my Grandpa about 10 years before, but no matter how many times it happens I think it's hard every time.  We just aren't prepared for passing, it brings up so many emotions.

I didn't know how to process these emotions until one day I tuned my guitar a little bit differently.  I started strumming these beautiful chords and lyrics started pouring out of me.  These lyrics helped me understand what was going on in the depths of my mind, and started to heal me.

As the production of the song continued I thought about my Grandma and how she was an excellent pianist.  I added piano.  Then I thought of her and I talking about violin, how she loved the violin, and how I told her (when I was a boy) I was going to learn how to play it!  Now that I'm older, I don't think violin is for me, but I do enjoy it.  I knew she would enjoy it too so I asked my friend Ellen if she'd like to record violin on the track with me.  I wrote a few violin parts, told Ellen how the song was for my Grandma, and off to the races we went.  

The song turned out so beautifully, and I hope that it brings you peace in some way when you need it.  We never know when the last time we'll see someone is, we always wish we spent more time, and we always carry them in our hearts.

Track 03

We Never Know It's the Last

Nick Rivers

My debut album ‘606’ comes out January 5th.  It will be available everywhere you purchase and listen to music.

PRE-ORDER 606 BY NICK RIVERS RIGHT HERE

I'm telling the story of each song from my new album 606.  I've been known to ‘embellish’ or blur details, so let it be known this is based on a true story.

I'll Live While I'm Young

I've been pondering age quite a bit.  When we are 10 and under, anybody who is older than 18 is ANCIENT.  When we hit our teens, college kids seem old.  When we surpass college age, we realize that we are now the old we used to think of.  Age and Old change the more we live, and that's a good thing.

My dad is 30 years older than me, but he is young.  I'm 25 years older than my nephew, but I am young.  I made all kinds of goals for myself and thought I'd reach them all before I hit 30.  It seemed like everything in the universe was pointing towards these goals and I worked my ass off, so why didn't they happen?  Maybe because 30 was my plan, not God's or the universe or whatever you believe in.  I thought I'd reach all my goals while I was young…

Even if we are on the right path, sometimes it has twists and turns we can't imagine.  No matter what age I am, I want to continue to say “I'll Live While I'm Young”.  I don't know if this song meant that to me when I was writing it.  A lot of times I learn things about myself halfway through a song and that becomes the chorus.  I spend verses talking about my emotions, and choruses with the answer or the conclusion I reach.  

I'll Live While I'm Young means don't stop living, age changes and so do we.  

But…

I'll Live While I'm Young used to mean something different to me.  It used to mean “I can die at any moment, so I should take this invincible feeling and run with it, experience everything I can.”

New York City - November 19, 2019

My band played a show at a coffee shop called the Grandlo Cafe.  It was located on the lower east side, right across the Williamsburg Bridge.  We played to maybe 50 people and the participants were told the location of the show the day of (pictured below).  

Two other groups played with us.  I remember the show went well but it was afterwards that sticks out.  My bass player Jeff was chatting with a fella who lived in the city and he invited us to come out with him.  Jeff asked me to go chat with the guy and see if I got a good vibe from him.  Should we trust this stranger?  My first question to Jeff was “what are we gonna do with all of our equipment?”  Jeff responded, “he says he's got a spot for all of it”. 

Looking back now, that is a pretty big red flag…But you gotta live while you're young.  I went and talked with the dude, and after a good three-minute chat I decided he was a good dude.  He said, I know of a place we can go, I'll help you carry your equipment and we'll store it at the club.  Off we went!

We walked through the streets of NYC with a bass amp, bass guitar, a small drum kit, guitar, and all our merchandise.  The gentleman leading us, let's call him Roger, took the bass amp and carried it over his head.  When we arrived to the club there was a HUGE long line outside wrapping around the block.  The line must have had 75 people in it waiting to get inside.  Roger said no worries guys, come with me.  We went around to a side door and he knocked on it three times.  Knock….knock……knock…..A man appeared, opened the door and asked “who are you guys.”  Roger responded, “I know Tom, he's expecting us”.  Oh sure thing man “the doorman responded”.  We went inside and presumably the owner of the establishment met us at a staircase with an anti-Trump poster.  He said, you guys can leave your gear here if you're alright with that.  We did, and we went down a long, steep set of stairs into a basement.  We opened the door.

We were greeted by the coolest, strangest club I have ever seen.  There was a DJ spinning real vinyl, mixing one with another.  It was like he was sampling old disco beats, putting the British invasion on top of it, and then mixing in guitars and bass with the production of today.  The place was BUMPIN.  I couldn't help but think of the massive line outside waiting to get in.  But tonight, we were VIP's.  Even if our stuff got stolen, this was amazing.  The rest of the night gets a bit hazy.  We bought drinks that were too expensive, solved all the world's problems, and made our way back to our Airbnb in the early hours of the next day.

You gotta live while you're young.  I'm gonna be young for a long time.

Track 02

I'll Live While I'm Young

Nick Rivers

My debut album ‘606’ comes out January 5th.  It will be available everywhere you purchase and listen to music.

PRE-ORDER 606 BY NICK RIVERS RIGHT HERE

I thought it would be fun to tell the story of each song from my new album 606.  I've been known to ‘embellish’ or blur details, so let it be known these are based on true stories.

I stood in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy and was in awe of the city.  They say most men think about Rome several times per week.  If you've been there, I think it's more.  People from all over the world gather around this naturally-fed fountain, throwing in coins and wishing.  I couldn't help but wonder if my wishes would come true.  Normally I'd wish for success, money, or maybe a best-selling album.  Today, I had a simple wish, to return to Rome with my sweetheart sometime in the future.  

Picture above by yours truly.

There is a custom of three wishes at the Trevi fountain.  According to Fabio at stayciao.com it is as follows.
What are the three wishes at the Trevi Fountain?  If you throw three coins in: the first guarantees a repeat visit to the city; the second means a love affair, and the third means a wedding.

I'm a fan of Marvel movies so I did all three wishes knowing that I was already in love in this timeline, but maybe my wishes would help Nick meet Ciara in the multiverse.

As we returned home I began to ponder.  Life is a journey of ups and downs, and as I started heading into the latter wishes and wells entered my mind.  Sometimes it feels like I'm so far down that I'm sitting in the middle of a waterless well. I don't even have a coin in my pocket.  I'm so far from even beginning to wish myself out of the situation.  As I close my eyes and start to think there's no hope.  Suddenly, I feel a raindrop on my forehead.  It begins to rain and the well begins to fill up, bringing me closer to wishing, closer to escaping the hell I'm in.  I thought that was a beautiful sentiment.  Even if we are so far from where we want to be, if we wait long enough, things seem to turn around.  

If you're like me, after you read that you thought “Yeah but even with the rain coming you said you didn't have a coin to make a wish”.  That's true, but I tend to think if you don't have a coin, you can make a wish if you throw yourself into the fountain instead.  BUT DON'T DO THIS AT THE TREVI FOUNTAIN, you'll be arrested and charged, and damnit I hate tourists who do stuff like that.

Track 01 

Waterless Wishing Well
Nick Rivers

My debut album ‘606’ comes out January 5th.  It will be available everywhere you purchase and listen to music.

PRE-ORDER 606 BY NICK RIVERS RIGHT HERE

How did I get into the most famous recording studio in America as an unknown artist? 
Great question Id love to tell you. 

Ironically it’s similar to the way the band KISS did it in the 70s. I was in New York City and my plans fell through so I started trying to do what I could to get some contacts in the industry. I was a bright eyed kid who had some music I wanted in the hands of people who could make a difference. I started walking to the different record companies in town, calling them and telling them I had a very important demo to deliver.  They would say please mail it and I’d say no I’m actually right outside your door! They’d promptly say go away. Feeling a bit down I decided to go somewhere I knew had some magic.  Electric Lady Studios. 

But this time I had a plan. I googled Electric Lady to find out who the current owner was.  I walked right in to their doors and immediately a voice came from a camera above me. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?"  I confidently stated, I have a meeting with Lee (the managing partner). They said, "no you don’t, get out." I said "okay cool no worries, I will see you one day though."

SO how did KISS do it?  Well, Paul Stanley got a phone number for electric lady and called them every day for a meeting.  Eventually he said “people not paying attention to people like me is why bands like mine break up!” 

Except then KISS actually got in.  Until next time, these are my stories as a musician.