CLANCYS MUSIC
is a venture by Greg Barnett and Mike Levy
to publish and promote their own original songs.
Without past industry contacts or performance credentials, we entered out debut album NOT ALL IT SEEMS into several contests to provide us with an independent assessment of our songwriting abilities.
We have been extremely pleased with the feedback, which includes:
** WINNER: 2002 SUNNIE AWARD
"BEST ALBUM – ADULT CONTEMPORARY"
(Queensland Recording Association)
** RUNNER-UP: Best Folk Song Category
2002 MUSICOZ Song Competition (Track 5)
** FINALIST: UNISONG 2003 Intermational Song Competition
(Tracks 4 and 12)
CD & Music Book are available here (see further below under How To Buy).
HiFi and Lo-Fi streaming audio (you can start listening to each track without having to
download the whole song first) can be heard on www.cdbaby.com/mikengreg
allowing you to try-before-you-buy,
CDBaby sells the CD Only and provides credit-card facilities.
NOT ALL IT SEEMS is a CD of 12 original songs released in 2002. The overall musical style is a Celtic (we are both English born and influenced by folk in the 60's) version of Simon and Garfunkel (except that we BOTH play guitar) meet Leonard Cohen (on a good day) at James Taylor's place (except Carly Simon isn't home) and listen to the Beatles (praise be the Lords of Liverpool). The emphasis is on melody, intelligrnt lyrics, harmony and acoustic guitars.
The CD is accompanied by a book containing sheet music (full piano notation), and contains a section just for guitar players showing all chords used (including special chords/dischords), and provides TAB for some special parts. There is a large general-interest section containing the stories behind the CD and some tips on transposing which is meant to help guitarists who may not have mastered this useful skill.
A sample page from both the piano and guitar sections is also available below for viewing and/or printing for you to check the value and quality of the product.
Independent critiques of the songs said: very "James Taylor"; beautiful, poetic lyrics; fresh structure; mmm, mmm, Good!!; structured perfectly; very cool song!; clever cute song; music is lovely; lyric is fantastic; like a movie -- I see it, I feel it, I'm there; one of my favourites I've been listening to; gorgeous folk melodies; this lyric is FANTASTIC; strange fascinating song; fresh and unusual musical moves; intriguing and unusual chord changes; rich chord inventions; lovely lyric peppered with very colorful lines and phrases; exquisite for the style; very intriguing song; beautifully structured; hard to top the lyric; a curiously wonderful song; I really liked it; such good lines; I thought it was wonderful; I've enjoyed listening to your songs; beautiful melodies
INTRODUCTION
Mike Levy and Greg Barnett met by chance several years ago and their musical styles meshed. However, apart from arranging other peoples's songs, they never wrote their own material and their "collaboration" faded after Mike relocated to another city, although they did manage to commit their repertoires to disc (see sidebar).
In February 2001 Greg was affected by the untimely death of a friend and began to produce lyrics that withstood multiple readings, the first being Fields & Sunny Skies. Lyrics for an album spilled out within a few weeks. Mike too must have been primed—he returned from a visit to a music festival and quickly developed several strong melodies. A few half days strung together through the year saw a complete album take shape.
Besides the writing they also embarked on experimentation with arrangements which went beyond the live acoustic voices and guitars they used on Back to Basics. Mike plays a Martin D-18 6-string and Greg predominantly uses a Takamine 12-string which were were recorded acoustically using valve microphones. In the duets, they recorded the guitars simultaneously—playing against each other live to generate more feeling and to allow for subtle changes in tempo—and then laid down the vocals separately. You will also hear a sound spectrum including effects, strings, keyboards, additional guitars, and even percussion.
The painting and most of the song titles are quite misleading of the actual contents, so Mike and Greg hope you share their enjoyment of these songs and agree that the CD is Not All It Seems …
1. FIELDS & SUNNY SKIES (3:38 Barnett-Levy) 
2. FERRY TO THE ISLAND (4:13 Barnett-Levy-Wardle)
3. MAD ABOUT IT (5:17 Barnett)
4. THE CAPPUCCINO CROWD (4:11 Barnett-Levy)
5. SEASONS (4:52 Levy)
6. CLAY SHAPES (4:45 Barnett-Levy)
7. HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (3:57 Barnett)
8. PLEASANT LAND (2:51 Barnett)
9. LISTEN (4:36 Barnett-Levy)
10. GONNA GET YOU (4:13 Barnett-Levy)
11. WORLDS APART (4:19 Barnett)
12. IN TWO MINDS (3:45 Barnett)
For a 1-page sample PIANO SCORE from the sheet music album
(approx 80KB and full print quality) .......................................... 
For a 1-page sample GUITAR GUIDE from the sheet music album
(approx 200KB and full print quality) ..........................................
HOW TO BUY
A 152pp sheet music album containing double-stave piano scores, chord symbols and tablature is now available.
The sheet music album and CD are available by mail-order as follows (currency is Australian dollars):
CD, full package: ......................$20 inc GST. P&P Australia $ 5.00, Overseas $12.00
Sheet Music Album: .................$30 inc GST. P&P Australia $ 5.00, Overseas $12.00
Sheet Music Album with CD.....$45 inc GST. P&P Australia $ 5.00, Overseas $12.00
(disc-only: no CD hardcase or booklet)
We can be contacted via:
TEL:
FAX:
E-MAIL: clancys music
POST: Australian cheques/money orders, or International Money Orders ($AUD only) to:
OTHER RECORDINGS
Mike and Greg had a brief experimentation with the recording process in the previous year: a CD of duets and a solo CD each that demonstrate their personal styles of playing and singing (described below). (NOTE: these are NOT commercial releases).
BACK TO BASICS
(10 duets)
EKO-12
(Greg and his original 12-string EKO guitar - since replaced with a Takamine - 8 songs and 16 instrumentals)
TAKING THE BOY OUT OF COVENTRY
(5 solo songs by Mike)