Doc Schneider: Home
Click Here to download the Second Chances lyric book
Second Chances -- my new CD -- is now available as of January 2007 on CD Baby and iTunes. See the 'Buy" Tab for Details, and the Photo Section for the Album cover. The album is a collection of old and new songs performed and produced by an all-star lineup of producers and performers, including Jeff Jacobs (of Foreigner), Ben Wisch ( famed producer of many including Marc Cohn) and Eugene Ruffolo (a genius songwriter, virtuoso guitarist, unbelievable singer and one hell of a human being).
Click Here to download the Second Chances lyric book
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoy the songs that I post here. I wrote them for me --but in truth, I wrote them for you too.
June 2005
I just had my first industry review of my first CD -- Choices and Chances, released in 2003. The review appears on CD Babel --but here it is
With the sound of Paul Simon and John Bucchino and lyrics to die for, Doc Schneider is simply one of the best singer songwriters I've come across.
Lyric Rating:
Lyric Comments:
Doc Schneider hits a home run with a combination of mature and memorable lyrics. His lyrics are sweet, heartfelt, very personal, and haunting.
"I made my hands/ in the shape of chords/ that I learned from sheets/ in the music stores/ I was alone/ I was unseen/ But I sang along/ and it set me free...Souvenirs and love songs/ stars that fall at night,/ like the captain and the cowboy,/ we all fall in love sometimes./"
This is the sort of Americana vision that Doc Schneider brings the table. Doc Schneider often hints to what I can only assume is his current carrier as a lawyer and how this has affected his life and his music. He is playful with this on the song "Legal Guitarist."
"I am your legal guitarist,/My briefs use up entire forests,/ You see those pine trees over there/ Pretty soon they'll all be bare/This forest doesn't stand a prayer/ Against this lawyer with no hair/ I know the law, I know the facts/ I'm a communicator/ I'll take you there, I'll bring you back/ I am a mediator./ The hired gun in your gunrack/ I am a litigator/ You've just got to catch my act/ as a legal gladiator"
Really, these are not lyrics any other artist could write. That he can poke fun at what he has chosen to do with his life just makes him that much more lovable.
On the title track "Choices and Chances" he tackles the tough choices of his life and compares them to his fathers. This song is lightly gut wrenching...you can hear the regret, the resignation, and yet the joy that his choices have brought him.
Mix Rating:
Mix Comments:
The mix of this album is its only true downfall. While I enjoy the constant light reverb used on his voice, it could have been a little lighter on some of the tracks. Sometimes the levels are just plain wrong. On some tracks you have to struggle to hear his voice. Also, sometimes his guitar pops in a very unpleasant way.
Music Rating:
Music Comments:
The music is pretty standard singer song writer fair. He sounds like a mix between Paul Simon and John Bucchino. He has a wonderful sense of melody and his guitar playing plays second fiddle to his singing and words.
Feel Rating:
Feel Comments:
This guy just melts me. Its nice to hear someone who made choices that didn't bring him down the musical path come back to the music with such strong music. This is definitely going on my five star playlist and belongs in any collection of fine singer songwriters.