"Sliding!"

Here is our practice run on Circles before recording the final. You can't hear Marcin's bass along with my acoustic guitar because it's plugged directly in.

Write Your Own Future

On June 23rd we hit the studio to record Circles. Cullen stopped by to listen along and plan his drum parts as he is still a little foggy about how he wants to handle the song. While he was scheming, he picked up the camera and once again documented the evening. One photo he took really struck a chord with me - a picture of a Magic Hat bottle cap that read "Write Your Own Future". That beer company certainly does have a way of tickling the mind and get ya thinking. Sometimes I think that that is exactly what I'm doing with this album project-almost like it was written to help me realize my fate. Interesting how little pieces along the way help remind me of that. (Good capture, Cullen!)

Marcin's Bass Solo

Marcin has an amazing bass solo for Circles and on June 22nd we worked on it so he'd be ready for the recording session. Here he is doin' his thing!

Local Musicians Showcase Interview

Robert F. Smith at The Message of the Week interviewed me for their new Local Musicians Showcase section and I had a great time talking with him about music, songwriting and What To Keep & Let Go. The story goes to press today and will be available in print tomorrow but you can check out the interview online today!

Local Musicians Showcase Interview

Circles Acoustic

***WARNING SPOILER***

Haha I've always wanted to write that. haha It's not really a spoiler but there are structures and things in this acoustic version of Circles that are not part of the original song. Plus some of Marcin's bass lines are just genius and I wouldn't want you to blow the surprise for yourself! But really, this isn't revealing too much. My singing is not where it needs to be at all (it was late and we tried to make this quiet) and the final song will be much more powerful and energetic.

Okay, enough explaining! Enjoy!

Circles Acoustic (The "coffee house" version)

Music Player in Side Bar!

This is awesome! I found a way to put a Quicktime music player in the sidebar of this blog. Check out the new added section that automatically plays Ask You, track 11 on What To Keep & Let Go (you're probably hearing it now!)

In time I will find a way to put in a better player that can feature more than one song at a time and you can simply click on which one you want. I suppose I could do it that way now with just more than one Quicktime strip. I'll keep you posted on the progress of that.

Happy listening!

Circles Lyrics Unfinished

Circles is definitely the pivotal song on the record, having lots to say about choice and making your own way while really learning what to keep and let go in the process. I believe it's the song that will truly define the last 5 years of my life. That said, it's amazing to me that the lyrics are not quite finished yet! However, I'm not too surprised. I think in order to bring Circles together lyrically, there are realizations that I still have to make and things that I still have to see within myself. If you listen to the "coffee house" demo that I will be posting tonight, you'll notice there are some holes, especially at the end. I have a feeling that I will know what to say when this project is all said and done. The end will be finished. The circle will be complete.

Look for the Circles demo tonight. Warning, it will be somewhat of a spoiler.