Despite Storm and Flu We Made It Through....Almost.

I guess tonight is as good as any to write about my trip back north for the holidays. By the way, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

"So this is the new year and I don't feel any different" - Death Cab For Cutie

I usually feel this way when the new year rolls around. But this year feels like it's actually going to be a little different than most. For one, I'm finally going to finish this long awaited project I have been writing for nearly 8 years. It's a great feeling and I'm glad to be sharing my vision and my story with all of you. Second, I have gone through a lot of personal changes that have helped me to develop a great strength, awareness and growth to take me into my future years. Perhaps I'll elaborate on the details of this rather vague passage later but for now I shall share with you a bit of my studio time this last December.

It was great to see Dave again and it didn't take us long to fall back into our routine. We began by hashing out a detailed to-do list which comprised of filling out such songs as Horizons, City Lights and Bicycle on the Ice. Back in May, we had to cut my studio time short and so Horizons was left lingering with only half of the back up vocals completed. We picked up right where left off and attacked this song for most of Sunday. Unfortunately, I started feeling rather ill mid afternoon and after my final tamborine take, I got sick and had to lay down on the studio floor while Dave worked on the computer through some of the sorting. It wasn't long when I realized that I wasn't going to be able to continue for a while. Bummer huh?

Studio time was cut short and I was bed-ridden for the rest of the night. Snowed in with a fever of 101.7, What To Keep & Let Go was at a stand-still once again. Luckily we were able to finish up Horizons before I succumbed to my sickness and it sounds SO great. If you ever have heard of Bon Iver, think layering of vocals and combine that with an energy that would kick that pink bunny's butt.

Two days later after recovering from my little bug and spending some time with my friends in the city, I returned to the studio to work with Dave. I was feeling a lot better and was able to finish up most of my back up vocals that day. The highlight of the afternoon was working with the new back up singer, Alyson McKinster, a very talented vocalist that I had the pleasure of discovering from a Craigslist ad that I posted a few weeks before traveling up to Boston. We had a few exchanges and I heard her demos and was very impressed with her singing and musical abilities. She was immediately asked to contribute to If Not Now, Then When as well as Ask You. So on Tuesday, the 27th, we recording some female backup vocals for those two songs and also utilized Alyson's piano skills as well. We decided to turn to the real piano for the song but unfortunately it was a tad out of tune and we weren't able to get the take we needed. She did nail down her part on the keyboard, however, and we will use what we can.

So with Alyson's contribution, some polishing of my back up vocals and some additional work on City Lights, Bicycle on the Ice and Ask You, we find ourselves that much closer to being complete with the production process. However, due to losing such a block of time on Sunday because of my sickness, it has become evident that I must return to Boston sometime this month in order to make up for lost time. As of now, it's looking like I will be flying up the last weekend of January to work with Dave for about two days to wrap the project completely.

More updates to come as well as some video from my trip on the road. Thanks for reading and we'll catch ya soon!