"I think this guitar wants to go to Carolina with you..."

Remember the "fantastic four" array of guitars that Dave Ireland let me borrow over the course of the project which included three custom made Taylor acoustic guitars and a 1985 Gibson Les Paul Studio electric? How awesome was that? Yeah...pretty awesome. His contribution helped to provide greater depth in sound and variety on the record that may not have existed with only one acoustic guitar model strumming out the tunes. It was a great display of generosity on the part of Dave and was a testament to his support of the project.

Well his legacy of support lives on with me here in South Carolina as I am reminded everyday by his incredibly generous farewell gift:
The 1985 Gibson Les Paul!! Housed in its pink-lined hardshell case, this cream colored gem helped me create the necessary sound for Circles and will be the driving force for my next record project. I couldn't believe it when Dave pulled me into his office to hand me over his guitar on my last day of work. Words could not describe how honored and appreciative I felt standing there with my new friend in hand but amidst the shock, I managed to squeeze out about a hundred 'thank you's, an "are you sure?" and a few "wows" before heading back to my desk.

So almost two months after leaving for South Carolina, here we are, me and my Les Paul, and I finally have some clearer words to say:

Dave, thanks for ALL your enthusiasm, excitement, support, generosity and advice during the entire What To Keep & Let Go project. I am proud to have your guitar journey with me towards future endeavors and I will be forever reminded of where it came from. Thank you so very much. It says hello, by the way. ......Oh, and Batman 3 pre-production work is starting soon. Keep up with me on its progress?

Lyrics: Electric Candle

I'm not alone tonight
an electric candle sits with me
I wanna feel alright
don't want to be so cowardly

I push them all away
so they can't see my dried up tears
will they be back someday?
maybe when I no longer fear

getting too close
and learning to love again
I don't know how to say this:
I don't think I'm meant to hold your hand

'cos I forget your face
when you're standing right in front of me
and I wish I wasn't so damn numb
I wish I felt the love you offered me

I brought you home tonight
and in between my memories and my dreams
I hold you oh so tight
but somehow you manage to get free

I chase you 'round the room
'cos you taught me never to give up
but I'll forget you soon
'cos not knowing is what keeps me from

getting too close
and learning to love again
I don't know how to say this:
I don't think I'm meant to hold your hand

'cos I forget your face
when you're standing right in front of me
and I wish I wasn't so damn numb
I wish I felt the love you offered me

I'm getting too close
and learning to love again
but I don't know how else to say it:
I don't think I'm meant to hold your hand

'cos I forget your face
when you're standing right in front of me
and I wish I wasn't so damn numb
I wish I felt the love you offered me

Lyrics: Intermission

My eyes have opened and I am hopin' to see a little more
I've gone over intermission so I've been missin' the show on the other side of the door

The audience has taken their seats and the curtains have opened wide
the stage is set and my one regret is that I'm not quite on time

to see everything, all the lights and lines worth hearing
and I feel like I'm too late to my own play

The first act's over and the next one begins
and tho' I've missed some things I'll make up for what I can

Applause and now some silence, a spotlight and curtain call
a bow and now and encore. I can't keep up with it all.

The first act's over and the next one begins
and tho' I've missed some things I'll make up for what I can.

tonight I've forgotten every line
so the only thing to do is improvise.

The first act's over and the next one begins
and tho' I've missed some things I'll make up for what I can.

12/21/10

I have finalized the release date for What To Keep & Let Go - December 21st, 2010. With all the work still left to do on the project to make it to where I would like it, including mixing, mastering, CD art design and mass production of the CD's (not to mention the funding involved for said release), the finalized date seems perfect. I know I have pushed back the project several times and I apologize for another delay but I have realized just how much work there is left to do and I don't want to rush it. Besides, I have always pictured a winter release due to the nature the album art and themes...it just seems to make sense. And why the 21st of December? Well the 21st marks the first day of winter! It's perfect. Could make a great stocking stuffer as well, eh?? :)

"Steve Clayton Pick of the Week"

Back in April, I designed and ordered some white, acetal guitar picks featuring the What To Keep & Let Go bicycle on the ice graphic; they were to be gifts for my guitar players who helped me on the record. As the gifts were supposed to be a surprise right up until I moved, I didn't want to share the pretty cool outcome of designing these picks on my blog. But now that the guys have them I can share with you all! Shortly after submitting the pick design, I was contacted by Steve Clayton Custom Guitar Picks, the company I used to design them, with a request to feature my pick on their website as part of their Pick of the Week section! I agreed and after submitting a brief description of the project and the meaning behind the design, my pick was featured as the "Pick of the Week" on April 14th, 2010. Thanks again to the folks over at Steve Clayton for choosing the design!

Click the link below to see! Thank goodness they kept it online so I can share it with you all.

Pick of the Week

If you're interested in purchasing a pack of 10 picks, please contact me at music@dylanduncan.com. I will be making them available for sale sometime this summer, price to be determined. Oh, and definitely check out Steve Clayton's site. They have a killer design interface, great turnaround and reasonable prices! Can't end this without a plug afterall! :)

"The rolling hills and willow trees of Carolina wait for me.."

..and the extreme heat :)

After a couple weeks of intense packing and moving, Melissa and I arrived in South Carolina on May 28th :) It was an epic journey filled with an ABF self-loading moving truck, a smooth sailing GW Bridge and a my first ever Moon Pie in North Carolina. :) This week has been busy as we have sorted through our belongings to make sense of a temporarily scattered life, working from home and hitting up happy-hour for the cheapest Margarita's this side of South of the Border. The storms here are wild and when the darkness engulfs us it reminds me of my years in Florida. In some ways it feels like I'm back there, minus the art classes and triple night partying. There is a calm here that invites for breakfast in the sticky morning air while the Carolina Wrens sit in their nests and the meter man waves a friendly hello; where neighbors come over to play in the lawn and the cotton-candy sky bids farewell to a warm and peaceful day.

So while I've been enjoying all this beauty and organizing my new life down here in South Carolina, What To Keep & Let Go has taken its place on the back burner- until now. It's good to get this update out to you all as I know it has been a while. But rest assured that just because I have moved, it doesn't mean that the project will fade away! In fact, the timing of the events for recording vs. post production are quite astounding as I will be able to do most work long distance with Dave, (can you say Postal Service?) and hopefully have the whole thing wrapped up by the winter (yes I am thinking an extension is in order but I feel the winter theme makes that some-what appropriate so I'm good with it.)

So where do we stand? Well during my last session at the end of May, Dave and I were able to get some of my back up vocals recorded and even though we had to cut it short during Horizons due to time constraints with my move, we were confident that with a few of my returning trips back north this year and with the help of some vocalists in the Boston area, we will be able to finish up the vocal side of the record. I have requested that Dave send me all the songs as rough mix-downs so I can see, rather HEAR, where we're at with the tunes. It will take some time but Dave is going to get me the files soon. At that point, I will go through each song, deciding where things need to go and conversing with Dave about the direction for each. I suspect that we'll need filler instruments, in most cases, and with my M-audio keyboard I will work on symphony arrangements for Circles and City Lights.

More to to come from Charleston, SC in the coming weeks including a new poster, the return of video updates and a more structured website is looming in the near future. Thanks so much for all your patience! Much love.