Leave the Light On

A musical tribute to my friend Todd Emery.

I wrote a song for my dearly departed friend and bandmate, Todd Emery. I was gifted his guitar - a beautiful Fender Telecaster - that my friend used to play all his guitar parts with my band, The Company Line. Todd and I were bandmates and roommates when he bought that Telecaster. I remember how happy he was to bring that guitar and Fender amp home. I remember vividly as he honed in the sound he wanted to play off my chunky, distorted Les Paul sound.

After he passed away, I was beyond honored to receive this guitar. I started playing it and came up with a song that sounded very much like all the music we used to write as a band. It was easy to write my parts, of course. But I challenged myself to try and come up with something in the style of Todd. Todd used to beat himself up about his ability to play guitar, but there’s little doubt he was my superior in that realm. So, I’ll consider what I came up with a poor man’s version of what Todd could have done, but I’m proud of it nonetheless.

I did my best to emulate the entire band that was The Company Line. I wrote and played a bass line. I programmed drums initially and thought I was going to go back and play the drums life to complete the recording, but I ended up loving the sound and vibe of the programmed drums, so I kept them. I recorded all the vocals and vocal harmonies just like I did back in our band days. This is the result.

This is my tribute to my friend. It’s a tribute to the best version of him and all the good he represented. I shared the song with Todd’s wife Lindsey, and she gave it the thumbs up to be released.

I hope you enjoy it.

Leave the Light On by The Company Line at Youtube Music

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