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Showing posts from 2014

Day One Hundred Sixty (Year Five)

As I sit down to write tonight, I do so with my list of goals and the book on music theory I got for Christmas sitting beside me.  Somehow those two things seem inter-related.  If I want to accomplish everything on the list, there are some things I need to brush up on.  If I want the finishing of an EP (and the starting of another one) to be a smoother process, there's some things in this book that will help that along. I spent a lot of the day plotting out (and thinking about) my hopes for the year.  I didn't do much in the way of studio work today, but that will be the first place I go when I wake up in the morning.  If I want to get to everything this next year, I need to start early and stay focused. Tonight's post is a short one that ends with a simple message: Bring on the new year.

Day One Hundred Fifty Nine (Year Five)

So many beginnings of things to talk about tonight, things that will only get cooler as the week goes on (and the new year starts). My brother is in town for the week, and we hit up the record store today while we were out bumming around a bit.  They had the Bootleg Series 1-3 box set in stock, so I splurged and picked that up.  That leaves me needing Volumes 5-11. We hit the studio for a little bit tonight and talked classical music influences in rock, citing Bartok and The Police.  I had started looking at "Every Breath You Take" the other day before we left for WI, and I went back to it straight off when I got in there tonight.  My fingers weren't quite up to the task at first, so I backed off a bit and played around with "Message In A Bottle" instead.  It's the same idea (stacked 5ths), but the progression is a bit easier to handle. I'm glad he's here all week, because it feels like we will finally have ample time to talk about all things m

Day One Hundred Fifty Eight (Year Five)

Made the Exclusive pilgrimage today before heading back to DBQ. I picked up Dylan's Biograph collection from '85, which I stumbled across in their used section, and somewhat picked up thinking it was the first three volumes of the Bootleg recordings.  Naturally, I got my box sets confused. I also snagged Frank's Wild Years by Tom Waits, and the deluxe edition of Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones, which has been out for years, and had eluded me until today. Later on in the day at one of the used places we hit on the way out of town, I picked up Consent To Treatment by Blue October, and a record by Burning Brides. Talked music the whole way back with my brother, but didn't get to much in the way of playing once we all arrived back in DBQ.  Something tells me that's what tomorrow will be for.

Day One Hundred Fifty Seven (Year Five)

So, most of today was quiet again, but tonight I finally had a chance to sit down with my brother and talk over some of the stuff that I've been pondering for the last week or so.  Really it goes back to last week after the DSM trip, when I had called him intending to bring up the song idea I've been kicking around of late.  Either way, it was a good discussion, and our chat definitely shed a bit of light on the current idea. Planning on stopping off at Exclusive before I head home tomorrow afternoon.  Something tells me I won't leave empty handed.  Might even stop off at the local HPB as well, just to see if they have anything that needs to come home with me. Aside from all of that, though, today was fairly quiet.  More tomorrow, and better.

Day One Hundred Fifty Six (Year Five)

Today was a mostly quiet day for music, although mixed in with my Christmas presents was a book about music theory from my brother. It's one of the Idiots guides, so not only will it be a good review of some topics that I am a little bit rusty on, it's also a book that will tie in really well with the book I have on composition and  arranging. I'm hoping to find a bit of time tomorrow morning to sit down and play some guitar before we have to be at the party. I want to work through the song idea that is sitting in my notebook before I go see my brother tomorrow, because I want to talk about it with him and his brilliant mind for theory. That is really all I have for today.  Sort of a quiet one, but I am hoping that tomorrow will be a better day for the music.

Day One Hundred Fifty Five (Year Five)

So, I  finished off the book I have been reading about the search for authenticity in popular music. It was a good read, even if I didn't agree with everything that the authors put forth. Got myself packed music-wise for the trip to Wisconsin. I brought the Vai workout, and the notebook that has all of my song ideas in it, hoping for a chance to work on them while we're up here. I also brought the Clapton along with me, just because I needed to have something to work on song - wise for the weekend. I've got a good amount of stuff to occupy the few bits of free time that the weekend will offer. Should be a good time.

Day One Hundred Fifty Four (Year Five)

Merry Christmas! I spent a lot of the night sitting on the couch with a guitar in my hands.  I had intended to spend a bit of time working on the song idea I had started last weekend in DSM, but instead got distracted by a couple of other things: 1) I worked for a bit on the Vai workouts.  It wasn't much more than a quick glance today, but I will definitely be taking that along with me when we head up to WI tomorrow night, along with a few other things, in the hopes that I can get at least a small jump start on next year. 2) I sat and did some listening tonight.  With some of the newer stuff uploaded onto the iPod, that meant that I was free to take my music everywhere with me in the house, crashing out wherever I wanted to and listening at my leisure.  It was good to get back to that. That's really all for today.  More tomorrow, as always.

Day One Hundred Fifty Three (Year Five)

So, I found a bit of time tonight to sit down and start mapping out goals for next year.  With all of the travel happening in the next week or so, I figured I had better take advantage of the opportunity while it was there.  That said, here's what I'm looking at for 2015, at least at first blush: 1) Finish writing & recording an EP. 2) FAWM/RPM Challenge in February 3) Theory & Fretboard Knowledge 4) Write more songs & focus more on lyric writing 5) Genre studies (acoustic & blues) 6) Finally finish the practice binder. 7) Berklee (apply? Or at least get to a point where I could) 8) Fully optimize the studio for organization and learning. It's a good start for a list, I think.  There will be song additions, I'm sure, and a bunch of other things that come up throughout the year, but this is what I'm starting with.

Day One Hundred Fifty Two (Year Five)

Today was one of those days where I needed the studio to rescue an otherwise rotten day.  For the most part, I got what I needed. I finished reading the rather long essay from the Dylan record I picked up the other day, and then harkened back to something I had been working on in November. I picked up the electric, and went diving blindly back into the Clapton I had been working on last month (but hadn't really looked at since then).  It went surprisingly okay, I thought. While time was short tonight, I'm definitely ready for tomorrow afternoon and Christmas Day off to get some work in (between awesome family stuff).

Day One Hundred Fifty One (Year Five)

I made it into the studio on the late side tonight, but was able to focus in long enough to get a couple of things done. 1) I started to make my way through the lead guitar DVD I picked up last week.  It was definitely a nice way to wind down a bit at the end of the day.  It starts out with a section on scales, most of which I'm comfortable with, given the studying I did earlier in the year.  Still, it will be a nice refresher and a good way to spend a bit of the Christmas holiday while the Mrs. is working. 2) I'm about halfway through a book on the search for authenticity in popular music.  It's not the Tom Waits biography I was expecting to read this month, but it's definitely something.  And while I don't agree with all of the premises the book puts forth, it is still an interesting read.  I should finish it by the end of the year. And, yeah, that's really all I've got tonight.  I started reading the rather extensive booklet that came with Volume 4

Day One Hundred Fifty (Year Five)

Today was a long day without a lot of opportunity for music making, but I found small pockets of time for things today.  I: 1) Listened to my brother in law play a tuba solo at Church this morning. 2) Snuck off to B&N before we left town.  I picked up a couple of CDs: Rain Dogs - Tom Waits and Volume 4 of Dylan's bootleg series,  which is the Royal Albert Hall gig where he famously went electric, much to the chagrin of his fans.  I've been meaning to pick up all of those bootleg releases for a while now, and this seemed like a logical place to start.  Somehow it was the full release of The Basement Tapes that spurred me on to get started on that. That's really all I've got tonight.  Time to sleep.

Day One Hundred Forty Nine (Year Five)

We made it to DSM.  Saw a bit of family, and somehow made it back to the hotel about 10pm.  The Mrs. went over to talk with her Mom for a bit, and that gave me a chance to pull out the electric and play for a bit. I sat with the guitar, a pen, and an open notebook for a while and started working on a song almost immediately.  I'm not sure whether what I have is a verse or a chorus quite yet, but it feels more like a chorus progression at this point. I called my brother to talk about it, but he was so exhausted sounding on the phone that I let it pass without bringing it up.  I'll see him next weekend, so that part will be okay. I'll probably keep working on the idea a little bit tonight, just to see if I can flesh anything else out, but I'm pretty close to fried at this point in the evening, so we shall see.

Day One Hundred Forty Eight (Year Five)

Okay, so today wasn't anything near the day I had hoped for when I woke up this morning.  But we did finally get Christmas decorations up, so there's that. In all seriousness, about the only "productive" thing I got done today (i.e. something that had been on my list of things to cross off), was the one I mentioned yesterday: I got the Twin Forks record, and the Spoon record imported into the iTunes. Granted, I did sit with the electric for a few minutes, but I didn't get anything on my list for the week crossed off during that time.  Tonight it was more about winding down from an otherwise crazy end to the week. I'm going to try and get a few things done tomorrow before we take off for DSM for a day and a half-ish.  Should be an adventure.

Day One Hundred Forty Seven (Year Five)

Tonight was a decent night. I sat with the electric on the couch, working out some of the things that I haven't had as much time to focus on in the last week, what with following a rock band around for a bit and all.  It was nice to get back to scales and riffs and the like. I've got a few things to import again (the Twin Forks record from the shows over the weekend, and Girls Can Tell by Spoon, which I finally uncovered in a different CD case. I should have been a bit more focused with the guitar tonight, should have studied a bit more than I noodled on the guitar, but I enjoyed myself, and tonight that feels like a good thing. I know we're going to be gone for some of Saturday and Sunday, so tomorrow night feels like it needs to be more productive, but I know it's going to be a good one tomorrow.

Day One Hundred Forty Six (Year Five)

  So, here's the setlist from the show last night in Davenport.  The band was great both nights, but last night's gig was definitely the better of the two.  There were a few adjustments to it beyond this (Washington Square was omitted, for example), but this is most of it. And then there's this that I got from the stage.  It looks like lyric cues from Dave Bryson's spot.  So, yeah, all told following Counting Crows around for a few days was an awesome experience.  One I would definitely repeat, should the opportunity present itself.