It's time to let go of the Sprightly Moans drum set. Making this drum set was a huge process. I basically took a toy and turned it into a massive sounding, thunderous kit. I was super happy with how it turned out:

The drums were given to me years ago by my good friend Saba. She asked me to keep the hi-hats because they belonged to her father. Otherwise, I could do whatever I wished with the drums. I practiced them intermittently for a decade, and when the time came for me to create the image for Sprightly Moans, I decided to re-vamp it and make it into something a lot more intense.

I stripped the drums down to the wood; There was an awful cover that was hindering the sounds of the drums. I then sanded it to a smooth finish. Next, I whitewashed (not the urban dictionary definition, but it has to do with painting) the wood. Finally, I sealed it with one coating of tung oil. To help beautify it and improve the sound, I polished all of the casings and replaced all the heads with Evans clear drums heads of various makes.

From that point on, it was time to record. Jeff Olson played it on I Wanna Be Afraid, and all of the other SM songs. I used three microphones on the recordings. I have to say, we made that toy drum set sound like a motherfucker! Loud and unapologetic.

As time marches on, I realize that in order to embrace the future I need to let go of the past. This is difficult. I don't like the idea of letting go of such a beautiful, meaningful instrument. That being said, I don't play it and someone else could put it to great use. It's a fantastic drumset.

Goodbye Sprightly Moans drum set, may you find yourself played more often and heard on more recordings.

That's right, it's on now! All the albums released through www.davewirthmusic.com are now available for listening on Youtube.

Dave Wirth

Sprightly Moans

The Sidekick

In May 2014, we conducted a brutally effective experiment with Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The objective was to receive completely unbiased, brutal honesty from people we're not likely to ever meet in person. We asked these people what they thought about the first seven seconds of the song I Wanna Be Afraid, and the answers were stupendously honest. The rest of this page contains these answers unedited, ripe with memorable prose and (in some cases) un-self-conscious frustration at having to listen to music they didn't enjoy...

There's nothing that really happens in the first 7 seconds of the song.  It's hard to judge what the song is going to do after only 7 seconds and a very basic guitar riff with drums. 

The starting background makes me feel that I am on the playground doing marchpast! Only jarring noise. Could have started with a guitar or saxophone piece. 

the music was nothing more than a drum beat - the singer sounded like he was in pain

I loved the music of the song and it is amazing. 

I did like the song, particularly the beat in the beginning. I thought the beat was very uplifting, something that you would hear after accomplishing a huge feat. However, the lead singer did not have that great of a voice. 

I dont wanna be mean.. but I'm afraid of the singer's voice it's like he's taking drugs but still I salute with the efforts. 

I like the theme of this song. 

its very energitic [sic] and i like this

I like the strong guitar and drums. I thought the empty pause at the very beginning was a bit too long. 

The first 7 seconds was alright, but once the singing started I did not enjoy it anymore.  I am not saying that it did not take talent to make it but it just was not y cup of tea. 

not at all

It's rather noisy in the beginning but I like fast beats.  The title needs to be changed.. it's not something a lot of people can relate to because most people don't want to be afraid. 

I like the music of the song. 

another of already toomany heavy metal bands

Not sure I like the tone but like the melody.

I'm sorry but it is very repetitive and conventional. It sounds like there was very little prep or practice involved. Sorry for being brutal but I'm being honest. 

The background music is effective.

Music is not pleasant and not matching the song, song is good.

music was good rocking

It startled me. The beginning was very quiet and the contrast wasn't a good surprise. I like different and I can see where this was going but the transition could be tweaked just a tad. I didn't want to listen to more but I did and I actually LIKED the song once it got past the 1 minute mark. The lead singer has a great voice. Perhaps working on the smoothing out some of the accompanying guitar and drums so it's not quite as harsh and appeals to more people, more of the time would match the singer's appealing voice. Sorry if that was too honest. I'm a music lover. :) 

The guitar music is impressive

The vocals are interesting. The sound quality is poor. I would speed up the tempo. 

I didn't like, some thing is missing, i can hear that some one is shouting. 

its very energetic and enjoyable i likes this song

To download this page in PDF format, please click here. Please share it with all your friends and especially your mother, too.

Sprightly Moans’ first ever music video, and of the song I Wanna Be Afraid. The record that this song appears on can be purchased here (this is a super limited edition pressing, so get it while you can).

Release Date: January 30th, 2014

Totally unique design; We’re confident that no band has ever created a CD sleeve quite like Demos III. Black felt and regular white card stock were combined to create the sleeve, while three songs rest on an unmarked, silver cd. Fans who get a copy will receive something special; it took us fifteen minutes to make each one.

Demos III has been reviewed by a number of publications, including here, and here.

We are having a CD release party and we’re giving them all away for free. Want one? Then I suppose you’d best RSVP, and quickly.

To purchase a copy before they are all gone, click here.

Sprightly Moans: Demos II

$3.99

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Demos II is the second of four releases that Sprightly Moans will be doing in 2013. We’ve only made about 30 (beautiful origami, black felt card-stock with white ink) copies of Demos II, so if you’d like to get one of these collector’s edition releases, you’ll have to act quickly. How?

You can always try to contact us directly. No guarantees! Sorry! But, if you were to jump on our newsletter, we will give priority to you for all future releases like this.

Sprightly Moans: Demos I

$3.99

Add To Cart

Demos I is the first of four releases that Sprightly Moans will be doing in 2013. Each “release” we do will be special edition, meaning that each copy will be individually numbered and signed by us. Each will include three songs and rest assured that each disk is perfectly silver.

These releases are free for the taking, but you need to reserve them ahead of time because they go quickly. The best way to assure yourself a copy is by jumping on the Sprightly Moans mailing list. 

If you imagined a cross-breeding of Jimi Hendrix, The White Stripes, and Lightning Bolt, then you’ll be in the ballpark of what the Sprightly Moans do. Sprightlymoans.com houses a small, but growing, collection of visual interests and a rapidly expanding library of guitar tablatures. 

For those interested in having news delivered to their doorstep about this band, go here.