Shows
Walter EhresmanThe Place of Lost Things (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
Since my upcoming album will be called "Collapse, Cha Cha Cha," it seemed appropriate that I write an actual cha cha for it. And since I've never done one before, I thought it would be a fun experiment.....and this little ditty is the result. I was trying to sing in a French accent like Maurice Chevalier, but may have just ended up like Pepe the King Prawn.......
The Place of Lost Things (© 2025 Walter Ehresman)
It’s just a room, there was no...2025-05-0802 min
Walter EhresmanCut Through This Web (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
Two things caused me to write this song one Saturday in the middle of this March: 1) I saw the coverage of the shameful ambush by Trump/Vance of the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office; 2) immediately after than, I watched the new Dylan movie "A Complete Unknown." I don't think any songwriter could do those two things, and not immediately write something that tries to matter.
So this was what I wrote......I wanted it to have that immediacy of some of...2025-03-2403 min
Walter EhresmanOne Last Slow Dance (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
This new song is for my upcoming album "Collapse, Cha Cha Cha", which is a bit of a concept album in that it's meant to provide a soundtrack (in the first half of the album) to your End of The World Party, then provide a soundtrack (in the second half of the album) to the next day hangover when civilization actually collapses into some right wing pre-Magna Carta feudal nightmare. The characters in this song are deeply in love, but had the...2025-02-2305 min
Walter EhresmanStrongman Party (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
I just wrote this one in Feb. of 2025 as the US dashes madly into chaos and dictatorship while the Red Hat yahoos cheer for their own demise....But hey, we can still dance, right? ;-)
Strongman Party (c. 2025 Walter Ehresman)
We get so giddy.....watching all your deepest fears;
It's just so damn exciting.....we've been planning this for years!
So many million babies.....jangle keys above the crib;
The back room's really hoppin'.....and our excuses all are glib.
It's a...2025-02-1603 min
Walter EhresmanJust Think (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR COMPUTER SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
This is the first song I've written and recorded here in the new year. It comes from a place of trying to figure out how to live in a world that is heading in such dark, apocalyptic directions (eg. the new fascist regime in the US, the rise of Musk-supported fascism in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and the climate change collapse of ecosystems). I didn't realize when I wrote it that it would turn into a 9+ minute opus, but that's...2025-01-2509 min
Walter EhresmanThe Last Chingon: That Kamikaze Play (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
I wrote this song in October of 2024 as I started to feel like there was no way to avoid a disastrous election in November in the US. "Low information voters" were voting their grievances, animus and bigotries in what looked to me like a kamikaze play.....voting against their own interest as long as they thought that vote would lead to the groups they hate getting wiped out, too. What an ugly, ignorant, unevolved way to participate in a democracy. Pure spiteful...2024-12-2605 min
Walter EhresmanLove In Occupation (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
I wrote this one a couple of days after the grotesque US election at the beginning of November of this year. Beyond upsetting (I've been down sick for almost 2 weeks now).
The song features a couple who are heartbroken over so many millions of US citizens turning to fascism. The man promises to shield her from what's coming, no matter what, but by the end of the song, he's in the park, muttering alone. Did she leave him? did the Brown Shirts...2024-11-1604 min
Walter EhresmanBetrayal At Belmont (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
For a long time, I've wanted to try one of those "southwestern desert rock" songs (sometimes called "desert noir"), like the band Calexico has done for years. I finally went down to the studio last week to give it a try, and this is the results. I ended up going for a bit of the "spaghetti western" flavor to it, too. Hope you enjoy it. The track will come out on my next "regular" album (as opposed to the "heavy music" album...2024-10-1703 min
Walter EhresmanArguments No.s 1 - 42 (unreleased; unmastered)NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
I wrote this new song in June. It's called "Arguments No.s 1-42", and it was inspired by my neighbors who--like clockwork every evening--start screaming at each other. They've been doing it now for 8.5 years that I know of (and I suspect many more), and I can't imagine that they have anything new to argue about. I was thinking that if they would number each circular argument that they each hurl out each night, then they could just argue by referencing the...2024-08-0806 min
WomenShareCareer Excellence, Support Systems, and Inclusive Leadership in Financial Services"It’s about being great where you’re at. Learn, challenge yourself, protect your current commitments, and excel in your present role. You’ll build the foundation for future success."Welcome to WomenShare: a celebration of women in financial services. Today’s guest is Sarah Walter, Managing Director at Northwestern Mutual with 20 years of dedicated service within the company. In this episode, Sarah shares valuable insights on career growth, support systems, and the evolving landscape for women advisors and investors.Sarah has held seven different roles at Northwestern Mutual and attributes her success to persistent mentors...2024-06-0529 min
Walter EhresmanThe Last Chingon--Tu Amor De Espinas (Your Love Of Thorns) [unreleased; unmastered]NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.
I'm in the middle of writing and recording tracks for my upcoming "heavy music" album, which will come out under the name of The Last Chingon and be titled "Heat Death Coda." This new piece is my first attempt at writing a song from scratch in Spanish (albeit with a couple of translator programs online). I dreamed the story of the song, along with the general feel, then spent a couple of hours the next morning getting the lyrics together. I knew...2024-05-2507 min
Walter EhresmanThese StringsPurchase download/unlimited streaming here: https://walterehresman.bandcamp.com/album/cassandra-cursed
This song was influenced by latter-day Utopia, which is unsurprising given Ehresman's lifelong love of Todd Rungren. Aside from the obvious power pop element, and the extensive use of synths, you can hear the Utopia influence in Ehresman stepping out to try new and more complex vocal arrangements.
He tells us: "This song is about something that I think we all face, to some degree--trying to have our reactions to people and situations be in the "now" as opposed to being controlled by traumas from our past."
These Strings (© 2023 W...2023-10-1904 minWalter EhresmanThe Finale RackPurchase download/unlimited streaming here: https://walterehresman.bandcamp.com/album/cassandra-cursed
This album closer is one of the most ambitous pieces Ehresman has ever attempted, and one of the most succesfull. It shines a light of hope and peace, after some of the darker themes in the preceding songs, and features what may be the most emotional guitar playing of his career.
Ehresman tells us: "I've been talking about how this new album is unique in that all the songs on it came to me in dreams.....Whereas, in the past I've just had a few dreamed songs sporadically here...2023-10-1907 min
Walter EhresmanPinhole Of LightThere are a couple of stories to tell about this one. I wrote these lyrics last November, right after the election was called for Biden but with Orange Head refusing to acknowledge it. I've felt compelled throughout my life to study politics and human behavior (the former just being one manifestation of the latter), and at this point, as I project what is likely to happen to American society, I fear it will not be pretty. But I still need to allow myself to enjoy moments of good news, like Trump being un-assed out of the White House, and the...2021-04-0208 minWalter EhresmanBehold The American YahooFrom the 2021 Walter Ehresman album, Songs From the Crux.
The day after watching the yahoo riot/coup attempt on January 6, 2021, I was still so angry about it that I felt I had to write something, and so this is it.......Wrote it that Thursday, spent Friday and Saturday recording it, then mixed it down Sunday.........I can't say the process made me feel any less angry about the whole ugly situation (and the attitudes that led to it), but I did feel some sense of release in letting those feelings out.
I've done quite a bit of spoken word pieces...2021-04-0214 min
Walter EhresmanFor the Sense of No Sense at All--from the 2020 Walter Ehresman album "Global Search Party." https://walterehresman.bandcamp.com/album/global-search-party
Another song featuring nylon-string Spanish guitar, this melancholy acoustic ballad has a late night Mexican feel to it. Sparse and haunting.
Ehresman recalls: "One night last year, I dreamed the lyrics and music to the chorus of this song, and when I woke up I finished writing it and started recording.......My friend Rolando tells me is has a bolero feel.......It's a song about trying to scrape together a romantic connection amidst the losing global battle against the robber barons."
For the Sense of No...2020-05-2003 min
Walter EhresmanThe Money People Ruin Everything--from the 2020 Walter Ehresman album "Global Search Party": https://walterehresman.bandcamp.com/album/global-search-party
The title of this song is fairly self-explanatory. But while the subject matter might be serious, the groove is infectious.......this is party funk, all the way.
Regarding the lyrics, Ehresman tells us: "I lived in Austin for 34 years, watching the real estate vampires strip it and kill it, and now after living in San Miguel de Allende for over 5 years, I'm really seeing the same mentality here.....Bulldozing every open space to build 'luxury condos' that block out the sun.......And after seeing one too...2020-05-2003 min
Walter EhresmanIt's Schmendrick Time (And That's OK)--Walter Becker tributeFrom the new (2018) Walter Ehresman album "South of the Wall": https://walterehresman.bandcamp.com/album/south-of-the-wall
A song I wrote and recorded that's dedicated to Walter Becker who, as you know, was one half of Steely Dan and who died last year. I think the pretty jazz melodies came from Fagen, and the grit and lyrics about faded hipsters came from Becker. I knew I wanted to do a tribute song for him. On the "Two Against Nature" DVD, he and Fagen are in the back of a limo, driving around the streets of New York City, talking about (among...2018-10-1404 min
Walter EhresmanIt Just Happens that Way--dedicated to Lou Reed (from the Walter Ehresman album "South of the Wall")From the new (2018) Walter Ehresman album "South of the Wall": https://walterehresman.bandcamp.com/album/south-of-the-wall
See the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZimaWzYfgkY
This one was inspired by early/mid-80s era Lou Reed, whose music has been a big influence on me for decades. I tried to take a Robert Quine approach to the lead guitar, and to do a Fernando Saunders thing on the fretless bass. As for my drumming on the electric kit, I can only apologize, Lou.....
It Just Happens That Way
(© 2018 Walter Ehresman)--dedicated to Lou Reed
The existential reality of m...2018-08-3107 min