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PHILIP TRAPPDecember 19, 2019Larry Marano, Getty Images / YouTube: Wham!

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Uh-oh, Slayer‘s “Angel of Death” and Wham!‘s “Last Christmas” have been Frankenstein’d together for a holiday season mash-up.

For sure, listeners would be hard-pressed to find a more rhythmically impressive mash-up than this concoction. Largely, the vocals from the thrash metal group’s 1986 Reign in Blood opener “Angel of Death” have been meticulously fused with the ubiquitous Christmas tune from the late George Michael‘s boy band duo.

But that doesn’t make the combination any less jarring — if not altogether nightmare-inducing. The tune is just the music from “Last Christmas” with Slayer singer Tom Araya‘s “Angel of Death” lyrics layered on top. Not until around two-thirds of the way through does a chugging metal guitar enter the unlikely sonic scene.

By the end of the mash-up, the familiar “Last Christmas” refrain finally shows up. Listeners have musician Andy Rehfeldt and editor Tony Colella to thank for the musical mixture shared to YouTube last week (Dec. 11).

“The music was performed and recorded by me, and the vocals were found here,” Rehfeldt writes in the description. Those wishing to encourage the musician further can visit his Patreon webpage.

The mash-up isn’t the first time Slayer’s “Angel of Death” has experienced a surprising workaround. In 2014, the cut got a blistering banjo cover. A year earlier, a 12-year-old drummed along to the metal song.

Perhaps unsurprising was that Slayer used the tune as their final song to say farewell at their last-ever Los Angeles concert last month. Anyway, Listen to the Christmastime mash-up, along with both originals, below.

Slayer “Angel of Death” + Wham! “Last Christmas” Mash-Up

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Slayer, “Angel of Death”

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Wham!, “Last Christmas” (Official Music Video)

Wham! – Last Christmas (Official 4K Video)

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Slayer Songs Ranked

Chris Walter, Getty Images

Read More: Slayer + ‘Last Christmas’ Mash-Up Makes a Weird ‘Angel of Death’ | https://loudwire.com/slayer-angel-of-death-wham-last-christmas-mash-up/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Spoken-word content on Spotify is growing – and eating into the bread and butter of record labels

ByTIM INGHAM 

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It’s been a comfortable year for the major record companies – but alarm bells may be starting to ring in the distance.

Rolling Stone first reported in October that streaming revenue growth is slowing down this year at the world’s biggest music rights company, Universal Music Group. Now, further number crunching on Music Business Worldwide shows that the same trend is true, collectively, across all three major record companies.

Meanwhile, the majors face a rampant threat from well-funded, new school operators – many of whom have nine-figure funds from private equity and venture capital backers in their wallets. These companies, including Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, plus the likes of Primary Wave, Reservoir and Round Hill, are paying big money to acquire classic songs/recordings made famous by Taylor Swift, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Ed Sheeran and many more. They are outbidding major labels to win these assets –  which explains why there’s potential tension between Ithaca and Universal (the former bought Taylor Swift’s masters; the latter did not), and why Warner Music Group is now helping spend $650 million of Providence Equity Partners’ money, rather than its own cash, on copyrights.

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Despite these menacing forces in the major label world, the investment community at large remains steadfast in its positivity about music’s future; Goldman Sachs, for one, thinks there will be more than a billion paying music streaming subscribers in the world by 2030.

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And yet, that phrasing, music streaming subscribers, is now itself coming under threat, as music streaming services – particularly Spotify – morph into something else entirely.

Podcasts really matter to Spotify. The company has spent over $400 million on acquiring podcast content and distribution companies in the past 12 months. 

The primary reason SPOT loves talk-content so much is financial; Spotify founder Daniel Ek let slip on an earnings call in February that Spotify believes podcasts can help it “shift [our] cost base from variable to fixed.” In less investor-y speak, that simply means: When people play music on our service, we have to pay out royalties; when people play podcasts on our service, we do not. So the more that people play podcasts instead of music, the more money we’ll ultimately retain.

Ek dropped a stat in that same Q4 earnings call in February that will echo through the ages for record companies: “We believe that, over time, more than 20% of all listening on Spotify will be non-music content, and we strongly believe that this opportunity starts with podcasts.”

Ten months on, that “opportunity” is rapidly maturing – and eating into the bread and butter of record labels.

NPR published a fascinating report last month, based on Edison Research’s serialized Share Of Ear survey. The results haven’t been granted half enough of the attention they deserve in music biz circles.

More than 4,000 US citizens, all over the age of 13, were quizzed on the way they consume audio content today. It was discovered that, on average, Americans now listen to an average of four hours of audio content each day, across radio, music, podcasts and audiobooks. 

The killer stat? In 2014, 80% of the US population’s listening hours were directed towards music, with 20% dedicated to spoken word; in 2019, with the mainstream presence of podcasts erupting all around (not least on Spotify), these stats have changed: music’s share is down to 76%, says the research, with spoken word growing to 24%. This represents a 5% market share decrease for music (from the 2014 percentage figure to the 2019 equivalent), and a 20% gain for spoken word.

In worse news for the music business, it’s a trend that’s happening across all ages – especially among young people. In the 13-34 year-old category, Edison found, listening hours were tilted 88% to 12% in favor of music vs. spoken word in 2014, but that balance had shifted to 81% to 19% in 2019. 

To put that into context, let’s say a teenager spends four hours a day listening to audio content; in 2014, they would have spent over 3.5 hours of that time consuming music; yet five years on, in 2019, this number has fallen by 17 minutes per day, by two hours every week, or by over 100 hours every year.

Other evidence is also emerging to suggest the music business has reason to fear the growth of podcasts. 

IFPI, the global trade body for the recorded music industry – and therefore an organization that typically wants to show the record biz at its very strongest – released its own report, Music Listening 2019, earlier this year, based on a survey of 34,000 internet users worldwide. It proudly boasted that the average music fan now spends 18 hours a week listening to tunes, up from 17.8 hours in the prior year. In reality, though, that figure had only climbed by less than two minutes per day – literally, a shorter time than most songs – versus 2018, against a wider backdrop of increasing audio media consumption.

Meanwhile, according to Nielsen data published in September, the average time that self-proclaimed music fans in the U.S say they spend listening to music each week has actually fallen, from 32.1 hours in 2017 to 26.9 hours in 2019.

Over at Spotify, none of this is causing concern. The platform was delighted to tell its investors that in Q3 (the three months to end of September), total podcasting listening hours on its platform were up by 39% quarter-on-quarter, with the format being consumed by 14% of Spotify’s 248 million Monthly Active Users [MAUs] – or approximately 35 million people.

According to Daniel Ek, on average, a music track is a “three-minute time commitment,” while a podcast is an “hour’s time commitment.” Presuming that those 35 million people only listened to one podcast each in Q3 (and saw this “commitment” through to the end), that would mean that podcasts on Spotify were being listened to (obviously) for 35 million separate hours in the quarter; if those hours were filled with music consumption instead of podcast consumption, they would have resulted in 700 million plays of three-minute songs.

Assuming that Spotify’s average blended recorded music per-play royalty payout sits somewhere around $0.0044, those potentially “lost” 700 million plays would be worth some $3 million dollars to record labels, or $1 million per month.

You can expect such statistics – clearly troubling for record companies and their artists – to continue to escalate. Daniel Ek said to Spotify investors in October: “We’re now at 14% of our MAUs using [podcasts]. We still want that number to grow and we’re still primarily focused on that, given all the good news [podcast consumption] leads to in the overall platform.”

Whether or not you see podcasts’ cannibalizing of music consumption on Spotify as “good news,” or something rather scarier, will depend on whether you’re a Spotify investor, a record label, or a musician. 

The paradox at the heart of this story: What happens when the world’s leading music streaming service becomes economically incentivized to encourage its customers to actually listen to less music?

Tim Ingham is the founder and publisher of Music Business Worldwide, which has serviced the global industry with news, analysis and jobs since 2015. He writes a weekly column for “Rolling Stone.”

In This Article: Spotify

During his renewable, one-year tenure, Tim Diovanni will work closely with longtime classical-music writer Scott Cantrell in covering the classical music scene in North Texas

By Michael Granberry

7:00 AM on Dec 17, 2019

Back in 2017, The Dallas Morning News entered into a partnership with the San Francisco-based Rubin Institute for Music Criticism to help sustain its ongoing coverage of classical music. The institute launched the program in 2016 with its pilot partner, The Boston Globe.

The program has worked so well, The News is now expanding its commitment by hiring as a full-time fellow, on a renewable one-year basis, Tim Diovanni, who recently completed a summer internship with The News before returning to Dublin, Ireland, to complete a graduate degree.

“We continue to be impressed not only by The Dallas Morning News’ commitment, persistence and creativity in delivering superior classical music coverage to the Dallas-Fort Worth community, but also in identifying and opening doors to emerging young writers like Tim,” said Jessica Downs, program director for the Rubin Institute.ADVERTISING

“We look forward to following Tim’s work in the months to come, and we are confident that he will flourish under the mentorship of the DMN’s esteemed critic Scott Cantrell. We are proud to be in partnership with such a topnotch news organization and thrilled to support this new fellowship.”

Keith Campbell, managing editor of The News, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to partner with the Rubin Institute to bring Tim back to our newsroom for a full year. His work last summer was excellent. We know readers of our classical music coverage will benefit from his knowledge and eye for detail.”

Downs says the institute was created in 2012 “to bring attention to the field of music journalism, because of the dwindling number of critics throughout the United States. … It was also to inspire and to help mentor talented young student writers who might have an interest in music journalism.”

The institute began seven years ago at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, but since 2014 has operated within the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

In the fall of 2016, San Francisco Bay Area philanthropist Gordon Getty linked up with David H. Stull, president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Stephen Rubin, benefactor of the Rubin Institute and president of Henry Holt & Co., a New York-based publishing firm. Together they set up a partnership through which the newspaper program would be funded through the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.

In addition to The News and The Boston Globe, the institute has established partnerships with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Houston Chronicle and the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. “We also have an arrangement with The Seattle Times,” Downs says. The institute has partnerships with the Toronto Star and San Francisco Classical Voice. Those are several among many, sprinkled throughout North America.

During his full-time, one-year position, slated to begin on March 31, Diovanni will work closely with The News’ arts and entertainment editor, Christopher Wynn, and longtime contributing classical-music writer Cantrell to cover the increasingly dynamic classical music scene in North Texas.ADVERTISING

Diovanni launched his experience at The News last summer by reporting on the Cliburn Junior competition. His keen eye for detail spotted a Cliburn employee walking onstage to wipe sweat off the piano keys. This easy-to-miss moment underscored the high stakes of the competition and became the opening scene for Diovanni’s inaugural story.

Diovanni graduated cum laude from Columbia University and is completing his master’s at the Technological University Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin, Ireland. He’s also a musician, having served as bass clarinetist and clarinetist in the Columbia University Orchestra. And in addition to that, he completed a minor in German Literature and Cultural History at Columbia.

Diovanni’s journalism pedigree includes having served as a Rubin Institute for Music Criticism Fellow in October 2018, and in 2017, he worked with The Community Tribune, which “investigated construction safety in New York City over 18 months in a collaborative team.”

He hopes to “make my living as a music journalist because of my work for The News. Hearing and sharing stories is, for me, a great reward and thrill. What makes this work even more appealing is I get to discuss the music I know and love the most, having lived and breathed classical music as a clarinetist and musicology student for years.”

During his experience last summer, Diovanni worked with features intern Irena Fischer-Hwang on a classical-music podcast titled How to Listen, yet to be released, which he envisions as an attempt to “change how listeners hear their world.” He also likes the idea of reaching a younger and more diverse audience than the one commonly associated with classical music.

Diovanni could not arrive at a better time. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has been transitioning to its new music director, Fabio Luisi.

“Having experienced Dallas last summer, I’m looking forward to coming back,” Diovanni said. “I can’t wait to get there.”

Allan Leibowitz, Skift – Dec 17, 2019 10:00 am

usic travel is gaining popularity as tourists look for new experiences. There are plenty of opportunities for travel advisors, even though some of the big festivals are trying to keep all the business to themselves.— Allan LeibowitzSHARETweetSharePostSend

Whether it’s millennials wanting to see the hottest bands at Coachella in Southern California, musical theater die-hards booking months ahead for a ticket to Hamilton or nostalgic baby boomers keen to catch Fleetwood Mac one last time, music and entertainment are becoming increasingly interlinked with travel.

The popularity of music festivals, shows and concerts, along with the challenges travelers face in obtaining tickets and coordinating travel arrangements, are presenting opportunities for travel advisors.

INFLUENCING DESTINATION CHOICES

A recent study by online travel agency eDreams identified music as a key factor in destination choice for a third of U.S. millennials, with one in four Americans prepared to travel to a different country to watch their favorite artist perform.

Interested in more stories like this? Subscribe to Skift’s Travel Advisor Innovation Report to stay up-to-date on the future of travel advisors.SUBMIT

According to the survey, Americans are the most inclined (23 percent) to travel to a destination because its local music style inspires them, compared to just 8 percent of British and 14 percent of European travelers.

Abbey Schoenberg, vice president of marketing for Contiki USA, noted that music and travel are “instinctively entwined,” and many travelers book their Contiki trip around key music events.

She cited her company’s Rhythm and Alps Festival package in New Zealand, which combines a two-day pass to the globally-recognized techno music festival with sight-seeing around the Milford Sound fjord, a ticket for the notorious Nevis Swing and the gourmet highlights of Queenstown.

“Not only do we provide unique experiences at the festival, like a private showcase from festival performers, but we bookend the trip with additional travel experiences in Queenstown to increase the value for travelers partaking in long-haul flights,” she explained.

SOME FESTIVALS NOT SUPPORTIVE

Schoenberg lamented that her company does not get enough support from some leading music festivals and “would love to do more in this space and will continue to source new options for our travelers, but there are some hurdles to overcome.”

One obstacle is the inherent strength of some festivals like the giant Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom. The 2020 event, boasting a line-up including Diana Ross and Paul McCartney, should attract more than 200,000 visitors.

A festival spokeswoman declined to answer Skift’s questions.

That festival seems to keep everything in-house, appointing a single agency to handle ticketing. With the June event sold out shortly after bookings opened in early October, it’s no surprise that festival organizers don’t feel the need to engage with travel advisors.

On the other hand, the Montreux Jazz Festival, which attracts up to 250,000 visitors each year, around 20 percent from outside Switzerland, prides itself on its close relationships with travel advisors, according to press officer Marc Zendrini.
Montreux has special ticket allocations for the travel trade, he confirmed, and travel advisors have significant opportunities to package a range of other experiences and activities around the two-week event in July.

YEAR-ROUND MUSIC DESTINATIONS

Unlike seasonal festivals, entertainment meccas like Las Vegas have year-round appeal for music lovers.

Rafael Villanueva, senior director of global development at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, rattled off a list of big-name performers currently performing residencies in the city, ranging from Mariah Carey to Rod Stewart, with other pop acts like Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Aerosmith, Shania Twain, Keith Urban and Bruno Mars likely to appear in 2020.

While Villanueva doesn’t have specific statistics for the proportion of visitors attracted to Las Vegas mainly by its entertainment offerings, he stressed that the “ever-changing and evolving entertainment landscape in Las Vegas is always of high interest as it continues to be a huge drawcard for travelers”.

Travel advisors play a vital role in the city’s success, he added. “Keeping them up-to-date on the latest destination offerings is very important. Whether it’s through digital newsletters, sales calls, online or in-office trainings, our international offices connect with them often.”

Villanueva explained that Las Vegas’ hospitality industry leaders and the resort community work closely together with travel advisors to package entertainment and accommodation offerings to suit a variety of consumer interests.

“They provide agents with access to special rates for their clients, to secure ahead of their travel,” he said. “They also have proactive sales departments that work with tour operators and travel agents to make the process of purchasing show tickets easy, especially when it comes to groups.”

New Orleans is another city which attracts a significant number of music fans among its 18 million annual visitors.

Kristian Sonnier, Vice President, Communications & Public Relations of New Orleans and Company, told Skift her city is home to more than 130 festivals a year–a festival every three days.

Besides the festivals, the city has a very active entertainment infrastructure built around successful local bands and musicians who tour domestically and internationally, including Preservation Hall Band, Trombone Shorty, Terrance Blanchard, The Revivalists, The Soul Rebels, Rebirth Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins, Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk

“We have a partnership with Atlanta and Nashville called Rhythms of the South which promotes travel to our musical cities as a regional destination, which is very popular among international visitors interested in music,” she explained.

ON BROADWAY

It’s estimated that more than half of the visitors to New York City are attracted by Broadway shows.

Bob Hoffman, Vice President of Broadway Inbound, referenced a Broadway League economic impact study which included 7.59 million Broadway Tourist admissions, or 57.2 percent of the overall audience of 13.27 million.

According to Hoffman, 81 percent of people from the New York City suburbs ranked Broadway as a key factor in their visits to the city, along with 73.4 percent of other domestic and 61.3 percent of international visitors.

You don’t get those numbers without co-operating with the travel industry, and Hoffman confirmed that Broadway Inbound engages partner shows and performing arts organizations for its Broadway Collection marketing initiative.

“The goal of this program is to build a global distribution network to give tour operators, OTAs, travel agents, and other wholesale distributors a simple way to add shows and events to group or package programs, along with info and content to educate travelers on the best show for their individual tastes.

“With API connectivity, high-end customer care, tradeshow and sales mission attendance around the world, live promotions, social campaigns, news articles, and exclusive video content, Broadway Inbound provides the connection and knowledge base that travel professionals need to confidently offer Broadway to their global clientele,” he said.

While Broadway operations do not maintain buckets of tickets exclusively held for the travel trade, Hoffman said group buyers can reserve seats and are given a limited option on those tickets prior to payment. “That option provides the opportunity to maximize their group conversions.”

Hoffman also pointed out that for the FIT (free independent traveler) market, Broadway Inbound provides direct access to primary inventory, based on availability. “Shows and venues determine prices and wholesale margins, which change from show to show, performance day, and time of year,” he added.

TRAVEL ADVISOR OPPORTUNITIES

While some entertainment organizers may be less than cooperative with travel advisors, there are significant opportunities with those who are keen to work with the travel trade. And because travelers may struggle to secure tickets to festivals or shows, travel advisors can leverage their relationships with organizers to add significant value for their clients.

In addition, the travel arrangements associated with a festival also pose challenges, making professional expertise even more valuable, according Contiki’s Schoenberg.

“In most instances, all elements — tickets, transport, accommodation — need to be booked separately and this creates a barrier to purchase due to complexity and cost,” she said. “Plus, with many festival locations outside large cities, working out how to get there from key airports, especially when travelers are often coming from long-haul destinations, turns this experience into a lot of hard work.”

In a similar vein, Broadway Inbound’s Hoffman noted that many travelers to New York want to do more than see a Broadway or off-Broadway show, creating opportunities for travel advisors to build a multi-faceted trip around a performance.Tags: concerts, edreams, events, meetings, millennials, music tourism, travel advisor innovation report, travel agents

Photo Credit: New Orleans street musicians delight visitors. Travelers are increasingly tying their travel plans to their musical inclinations. Zack Smith / New Orleans and Co.

MUSIC ICON HAD MADE TIPPERARY HIS HOME

Tipperary Star reporter

2 Dec 2019

Email: 

news@tipperarylive.ie0share

The late Philip Donnelly: made Tipperary his home

The world of music from Tipperary to Nashville was in mourning this week following the death of one of country music’s guitar giants Philip Donnelly.

Mr Donnelly, who was originally from Clontarf in Dublin made the Premier County his home for decades, living outside Clonmel.

Tributes were paid to him this week by musician and councillor Hughie McGrath, who described Philip as “one of the most positive people to be around”.

Cllr McGrath recalled playing an outdoor a gig with Philip in Castletownbere, County Cork, durig with it lashed rain and thundered throughout.

“People were sitting in their cars with the wipers going and about six people covered in oilskins stood at the stage. After the gig one of them came up and said hello to Philip and told him the last time he had seen him was with Nanci Griffin in Madison Square Gardens. I said to myself: ‘Now Hughie, stop complaining about the rain. You are playing with a man who played Madison Square Gardens’,” said Cllr McGrath.

“Philip was always smiling. He was always positive,” he said. “You knew you were around something special when he played.”

A music legend and one of the most sought after session musicians in Nashville, Mr Donnelly played with a veritable who’s who of country music over the past 50 years. Among those he fronted were the Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Donovan, Emmylou Harris, Townes Van Zandt, Don Williams, Sara Dee, Ray Lynam, Clannad, Joe Ely, Kathy Mataya, Lyle Lovett and Hal Ketchum.

He also played with Bobby Whitlock, who featured with Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominoes on the iconic Layla album, and who lived for a while in Garrykenny outside Nenagh.

Philip, who was dubbed the “Contarf Cowboy” spent many years working with John Prine and can be numbered among those who introduced Irish audiences to Nanci Griffin, who once played a sellout gig in Shinrone.

At home, he played with countless Irish bands, guesting on many occasions with the legendary ensemble Chris Meehan and his Redneck Friends, among others.

At the start of his career in the US he came to the attention of the late Glen Campbell, and recalled at the time of Campbell’s death that Glen had once given his a guitar. Campbell’s mother was originally from Tipperary.

Philip was among the guitar players who pioneered the stereo guitar sound. He was also a songwriter and co-wrote Living in these Troubled Times, which was a huge hit for Crystal Gayle, reaching Number 9 in the Billboard Charts.

Philip passed away on November 28 peacefully in University Hospital, Waterford, surrounded by those who loved him. Remembered by his brother Gerard, son Brian, grandson Matson, Jessica, Fiona, Aegina, Ciaran, Oonagh, Orla, extended family and friends.

He is reposing in Staffords Funeral Home, 60 North Strand Road, Dublin 3, on Monday 2nd December from 4pm to 6pm. Removal on Tuesday, 3rd December, to St. John the Baptist Church, Clontarf, arriving for 10am Funeral Mass, followed by burial in St. Colmcille’s Cemetery, Swords.

By Hannah Natanson Dec. 2, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. EST

Shortly before he turned 100, Alan R. Tripp wrote a poem.

It was about life, and getting old, and losing friends — and it made Marvin Weisbord, his fellow resident at a Pennsylvania retirement community, want to sing. Weisbord decided to set it to music as a surprise gift for Tripp’s 100th birthday, and pretty soon the two men were listening to their own, original song.

“I was very happy, he was happy,” Weisbord said. “Next thing you know, I have another poem on my desk” — and, two years later, Tripp and Weisbord have teamed up to release an eight-song album, the “Senior Song Book.”

The album, released Nov. 15 and available for purchase online or as a CD, features modern lyrics set to tunes reminiscent of Cole Porter or Irving Berlin: “the great music of the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, [but] the words are looking ahead to the 2020s,” Tripp said. Tripp, 102, served as lyricist and producer; Weisbord, 88, set the lyrics to music, organized the jazz band and played piano on all the songs.AD

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Neither Tripp, who had a career in advertising, nor Weisbord, a former consultant, have ever written and produced music before. They believe they are the oldest songwriting duo in history.

“I’ve never had so much fun in my life, and I never expected to be doing this in my old age,” Weisbord said.

Tripp snorted, interjecting: “He doesn’t know anything about old age.”

As the eight songs reveal, the older balladeers have a wealth of life experience to share. The tunes touch on subjects ranging from the bliss of true, reciprocated love (“Wonder Woman”) to bad breakups (“Goodbye, Goodbye Forever”) to the need for self-reflection (“Looking in the Mirror”).

Every single one, Tripp insisted, is relevant to both older and younger people, reflecting the fact that their target audience is “well, everyone.” That holds true, both men said, even for a number that seems particularly meant for the elderly: “I Just Can’t Remember Your Name.”AD

You’re so engaging, but we’re both aging

What once was on the tip of my tongue

Seems to elude me, so I say crudely

It ain’t like it was when I was young . . .

I know I oughta kiss you, but baby there’s an issue

I just can’t remember your name.

“That turns out to appeal to both younger and older people,” Tripp said. Perhaps “because the lyrics reflect how does a real adult look at life, and what’s going on with life today.”

Still, the duo admitted, their music — professionally recorded in a Pennsylvania studio over the course of four weeks in September — may have a special draw for people who grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, for people who remain faithful devotees of the Great American Songbook. Weisbord pointed to a theory he read recently in a book (“This is Your Brain on Music”): The music you remember your whole life is “the music you heard when you were 14 years old,” he said.AD

“So now we’re giving people who are 64 years old a chance to be 14 again and get new songs in their heads,” Tripp said.

“There’s no new music being written for people in our age bracket,” Weisbord added. “So we’re writing songs that are recognizable, in genres that are recognizable, with lyrics telling stories about what our lives are like now.”

On average over the past two years, Tripp and Weisbord probably spent between 30 and 40 hours every week crafting the lyrics and music for the album, the two men estimated. Each man worked in his own office, set in apartments about 200 yards and a short elevator ride apart — a distance it takes Weisbord “less than two minutes” to traverse on foot, he said.

At age 101, this woman released her first collection of poems

They typically worked in the mornings, given that both are morning people, and the collaboration proved harmonious in all senses of the word.AD

“We had very little in the way of disagreement,” Weisbord said. “Our musical sensibilities and tastes are very parallel. It’s not like I was trying to sing a ballad to someone who likes hip-hop.”

The pair funded the entire album themselves, paying for the use of a studio and relying on the talents of Weisbord’s band, the Wynlyn Jazz Ensemble, as well as five singers recruited both from the band and the two men’s retirement community, Beaumont at Bryn Mawr.

While Tripp said the price tag came to “a lot,” he declined to name the exact figure. Neither man wanted to release the album to earn money, they said, and they don’t especially care whether they recoup the cost. “It was a labor of love, first and foremost,” Weisbord said.

The “Senior Song Book” is available as a CD for $16.95 and is downloadable online for $9.99. Tripp and Weisbord said they haven’t been tracking sales, but, according to CDBaby.com, the CD version is already sold out. Interested buyers can add their names to a waiting list.AD

Though apparently careless about their sales numbers, Tripp and Weisbord have taken an avid interest in more human responses to their album release. Both were pleased by the reaction of fellow Beaumont residents, who began singing along almost immediately (the lyrics are available online) and who sometimes even stood up to dance.

Weisbord heard “positive things” from his children and grandchildren. Tripp, meanwhile, has received roughly two dozen emails and letters from across the country — including from professional musicians — praising the album and asking for a copy of the CD. The duo also earned a feature segment on a local TV station.

“The reception has been far better than I had any dream of expecting,” Tripp said.

“Neither one of us ever anticipated this,” Weisbord agreed.

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As for next steps? Both men would love to see their album used as the soundtrack to a film. Something that would “have the audience crying,” Tripp said. Weisbord added, “Or laughing!”AD

In the immediate, though, they’re content to revel in the album as irrefutable proof that older people can — and should — push themselves to try new things, to accomplish the unexpected. Weisbord said he is overjoyed to find himself “continuing to grow at a time when most of my peers are dead.”

Tripp, though scoffing at the idea of a secret key to his longevity, did offer one piece of advice. Everyone, everywhere is “able to do something,” he said.

“Whether it’s writing, knitting, whatever — it’s wanting to do it well that makes the difference,” Tripp said. “Whatever your skill or hobby is, if you try to do it as best you can, and then a little better than that, that will make you happy.”