Last week, Tomo Nakayama (Grand Hallway) asked if I'd be interested in contributing a few songs to benefit the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.

"Atmosphere" was recorded by Jeramy Koepping (also of Grand Hallway) and myself while we were working on a soundtrack for the film "The Off Hours" last Summer. Tomo wrote and added a beautiful melody to it this past weekend. "Bastille Day" was also recorded last Summer. I wrote and recorded "The Hardest Hit" in my apartment last week.

You can download six unreleased Grand Hallway tracks at grandhallway.bandcamp.com. All proceeds from the sale of the three songs posted here, and the six songs on the Grand Hallway page, will benefit The American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami disaster relief fund.

This is a message from Tomo:

Hello friends,

All of us have been deeply shaken by the recent disaster in Japan. We have many personal ties in Japan, from myself growing up in Machida (a suburb of Tokyo) until the age of 8, to the many friends we made during the tours we did back in 2007 and 2009. We wanted to do something to help, so we've put together this Digital EP, which we are calling "Songs for Japan." All proceeds will benefit The American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami disaster relief fund. In addition to the EP, we have 50 limited edition posters by Frida Clements, proceeds of which we are also sending to the Red Cross.

A little info about the songs: "Division of Labor" is an outtake from our upcoming album, "Winter Creatures" (due out this June), featuring the incomparable Cory Gray on trumpet. "Shonenki" is a cover of a Takeda Tetsuya song from an anime movie ("Doraemon's Little Star Wars") that I loved as a child. Incidentally, my birthday (September 3rd) is on the same day as Doraemon. "Atmosphere" was an instrumental written by our friend Joshua Morrison and Jeramy Koepping for a soundtrack they did for the film "The Off Hours." I wrote and added the vocal melody. "Kiss Me Not Goodbye" is an aria from "The Mighty Casey" by William Shumann, sung beautifully by our resident diva Ms.Shenandoah Davis. It was originally released on a Japan Tour EP we did back in 2009. "Song for an Absent Friend" is a rarely-performed song I wrote for my old band, Asahi. This recording is from a show I played at Marbletron in Tokyo, bootlegged by Hideyuki Kadowaki (hope you're doing well, Kaddochi!) And finally, "Akatombo" is a traditional Japanese folk song, recorded live at the Triple Door on 3/16/11.

There is no telling how long it will take for the people of Japan to recover from this disaster, but I am absolutely certain they will, with great strength, grace and compassion. We offer today our humble support, and we thank you for yours.

Much love,
Tomo Nakayama
Grand Hallway
3/23/11