“Roberto’s Cha Cha” Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). © 2016.
I wrote “Roberto’s Cha Cha” back when I was musical director and pianist for “Burn the Floor”, a modern Broadway Ballroom Dance show. It’s a straight ahead Cha Cha beat with classical nylon guitar, piano and percussion.
Frankenstein Theme music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). © 2016.
Shortly after writing this piece, I was talking with a friend about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Novel. I pulled up the piece to listen to and it struck me as a good fit for the story of Frankenstein.
Continue reading “Theme from Frankenstein – Orchestral Music”
Words and Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). “The Winding Stream” © 1997 Conrad Askland.
This was really fun working on a Final Cut video for this song, The Winding Stream. I wrote this back in 1997 for an artist who recorded it on the Road Records CD release “New Faces Volume Two”.
Christmas Gloria © 2007 Conrad Askland. Christmas Gloria in the Baroque style for SATB Chorus, SAT Trio Soloists, Flue, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, Trumpet, Horn, Tuba, Harpsichord and Percussion. Composed by Conrad Askland for the 2007 Christmas Eve service at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church.
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Continue reading “Christmas Gloria – New Baroque Style Music for Chorus and Chamber Ensemble”
Words and Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). “Can’t Win for Losing” © 1995 Conrad Askland.
I wrote this song back in 1994 after returning from a 14 week tour of South Korea (and Japan). During the tour we spent most of our time in Tongduchon, South Korea (Hello Camp Casey!) and played different military bases 6 nights a week to entertain the troops. The band was a Southern Rock band called “The Hardriders” that was playing U.S. military bases for MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). Every night we played a different base, sometimes with two hour bus rides each way. It was a tough tour.
Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). “You Don’t Even Know” © 1997 Conrad Askland.
This song was released by Road Records on the CD “New Faces Volume Two”. The goal of this song was to create something that sounded like a retro jazz ballad. I remember this is one of the few recordings where I used an actual upright piano to play the keys parts. Normally I don’t use upright pianos because they’re always a tad out of tune, but that effect worked very well on this song to give it an authentic retro feel.
Continue reading “You Don’t Even Know (That I’m in Love with You)”
Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland (ASCAP) © 1995.
“Ballad of Dull Knife” is one of the first songs I wrote that ended up being on a released album (around 1995). It is about the Cheyenne chief Dull Knife (Morning Star) and the emotions I imagined he might have felt as his lands were being taken away.
“Thru Your Love” Words and Music by Dave Schaack and Conrad Askland (ASCAP). © 1997.
So I earned a couple degrees: Bachelor of Professional Studies from Berklee College of Music and a Master in Arts Leadership and Cultural Management (MALCM) from Colorado State University. I actually just finished these in the last couple years so I’m what they refer to as a “mature learner”. Was it worth it? In short, yes. Does anyone really care? Not really.
Both my degrees were earned online. One of the reasons I didn’t finish my degrees many years ago is that in my line of work you often get a call for a tour with a short window of prep time. If I was back in a brick and mortar school and I got the call for a gig then I would have had to turn the gig down (or drop out of school to do the tour). I didn’t want just any degree. I wanted a degree I felt proud of (or at least wasn’t embarrassed by). There is one well-known online university that I didn’t want to sign up with because every time I imagined writing down the name of the university, well, it was not a feeling of pride. No, I won’t mention that school name because I’m “nice”.
Continue reading “Getting Your Music Degree Online – Is it worth it?”
All shows SOLD OUT! Pray the Gay Away® the musical Nov. 8-24, 2019 at Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA. I am thrilled at the overwhelming support and ticket demand for my fourth original full-length musical.