One of the true-blue greatest songs of all time is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah — the masses would agree. Like many before, I’ve always had an extreme fascination with this song and have been fine-tuning my rendition over the past year.

When I originally performed my version of Hallelujah on the Acoustic Conversations pod cast, I had just learned the song, and though it went over relatively well, I don’t believe I glorified the song and its brilliant nuances. I went through the motions but I didn’t nail it.

That said, a year later, after many performances and much practice, I re-recorded my version of Hallelujah and though it pails when compared to the great versions I’ve heard, this is my go at it.

HALLELUJAH
written by leonard cohen, performed by tyler stenson

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RIGHT CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!!

NOTE: In my research of this song, I read the Leonard Cohen had originally written about 80 verses to the song. With that said, I figured one more wouldn’t hurt and therefore, wrote a verse my self. It’s the last verse…

Father can you hear me now,
If you can please scream out loud
Because I need to believe I’m getting through to you.
I know it’s been the longest time,
But if you can hear me,
Show me a sign
And make these words I sing,
Sing Hallelujah.

I found an article written by Pete Wright regarding our Acoustic Conversation Podcast from earlier this year. I hadn’t seen this before and upon reading it, I was honored to be taken so seriously. I had an amazing time doing the podcast with the Acoustic Conversation boys (Pete Write and Curt Siffert) and I’d be honored to do it again some day when I can report on my success since our last conversation.

To read the entire article, click here or on the image below.

To hear the podcast, click here.

tyler stenson on fifth and main

I recently finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy– an amazing book that pins two humans together at the end of mankind. The duo is a father and son and “each each other’s world entire” as they walk down a road on their way to the coast in search of brighter days.

There is no question about it; the book was bleak but the message was amongst the sweetest– it wasn’t so much about the despair at the end of all things but the relationship that thrived through it all. When I finished reading the book, it would have been easy for me to fall into my normal pattern and write a about the bleak; however, this time I wanted to make sure I coined the optimism.

I immediately wrote a song called The Road. Simply put, the new song below is about The One I’d want at my side at the end of all things… my would-be world entire.

THE ROAD
tyler stenson 2009

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From where I am, I can see where I need to be;
It’s a long way down and a million miles from me.
Never once did the distance daunt a ramblin’ man
So, I’ll lead with my boot heals, followed by an empty hand.

Honey, I’m not the type of guy that believes in fate-
But I’m also not the type to deny how well you’re made.
Since I like the way you move,
I’m prepared to wait until you’re ready to go because
All I’d give to have your hand, on my way down the Road.

Alone I’m fine but with you I’ve got all I need and
You can FINALLY get your sleep because you’ve found that in me.
When you wake, we’ll head out for the beautiful sunset-
The one that looks like you; all pretty, pink and violet.

Honey, I’m not the type of guy that believes in fate-
But I’m also not the type to deny how well you’re made.
Since I love the way you move,
I’m prepared to wait until you’re ready to go because
All I’d give to have your hand, on my way down the Road.

From where I am, I can see where I need to be
But it involves a road and I want you walking with me.

Honey, I’m not the type of guy that believes in fate-
But I’m also not the type to deny how well you’re made.
Since I’m wild about the way you move,
I’m prepared to wait until you’re ready to go because
All I’d give to have your hand, on my way down the Road.

RANDOME NOTE: The audio provided above is the raw guitar/vocal track from my AcousticConversations Podcast… the added novice instrumentation was all produced (by me) on a midi controller within GarageBand.

Loenard Cohen’s Hallelujah (made famous by Jeff Buckley) has recently become a staple in my set and a shining star in my repertoire. Whether it’s played in a vaulted auditorium or a crowded bar, it seems that this song demands a respect. Though it sometimes gets a Shrek Soundtrack shout-out, it ultimately gains a reverent attention from the masses and has tendency to be very emotionally moving.

When I first made the decision to learn the song, I went online to track down the lyrics. To my surprise, I’m led to understand that Cohen originally wrote roughly 80 verses to his epic ballad and countless individual artists have since contributed their own interpretations across the years.

In the spirit of this co-op, I decided to learn a few of my favorite verses from Cohen’s original, as well as, humbly contribute my own verse to history. The video below from my AcousticConversations podcast, displays my version of Hallelujah and offers up my original verse:

Father, can you hear me now?
If you can, please scream out loud
Because I need to believe I’m getting through to ya.
I know it’s been the longest time,
But if you can hear me, show me a sign
And make the words I sing, sing Hallelujah.

Thank you Mr. Cohen for such a beautiful contribution to music.

Back in January I did a podcast with the guys at AcousticConversations.com. Top to bottom it was the most comprehensive interview I’ve ever done and I’m proud to say it was all recorded for posterity. As a result, I now have this 52 min podcast that you can listen to by clicking here or on the image below. Thanks Peter Wright and Curt Siffert for such a fine conversation.

Tyler Stenson on Acoustic Conversations

Paul the Music Lover posted another one of my songs on the Indie Music Sampler! He has a great ear for good music and I was excited to hear the audio debut of Better Be Us All within his most recent podcast. Click here or on the image above to stream the November 9th podcast from the Indie Music Sampler and listen for the last song… Better Be Us All.

Paul the Music lover found us one night at the Bitter End in Portland- he bought an album and gave me his card before he left for the night. Weeks later I received an email letting me know that Lander had been featured on a Pod Cast on the IndieMusicSampler.com with my song What I Feel Like As Winter Comes. We are the last band featured on this particular Pod Cast but Paul ended with some really kind words about our sound. Click here or on the image above to listen to the PodCast featuring Lander and our ‘knock you over with a feather’ music.

Click to listen to the Podcast
Click to listen to What I Feel Like As Winter Comes