"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Well, New Year's Eve is here... I (again) have spent the day thinking over goals for next year, and I've decided that I want to make 2016 a definite Finish Year. How does that take shape for me?  It means that all of the things I've started in the last year or so, I would like to cross off the list in the new year.  This means: 1.  Finish learning the "Stairway" Solo. 2.  "Red House" 3.  "Little Wing" 4.  "I'm Tore Down" 5.  Finish Learning "A History of Rock & Roll in 100 Riffs" 6.  Practice Binder 7. GW Columns 8. Shore up my fretboard knowledge 9. Finish Writing & Recording the EP 9a. Power Pop Record 9b. Double Album? 10. Work my way through the Vai workouts. There's more, I'm sure, but this seems like a good, aggressive list to start the new year.

My brother and his girlfriend got here today. They are hanging out with us through the first of the year, and I can't wait to have a chance to talk music. Tonight has been fairly low key, mostly because I have to work in the morning. The brother brought along my last Christmas present, too, and it's going to be awesome. It's a stamp that has a measure of TAB on it, which is going to be great for copying scales and riffs into my notes for the practice binder. So, yes. While tonight was quiet, tomorrow is when all the fun begins.

Tonight was a quiet one. At least somewhat like last night, I spent some time thinking through goals for next year.  There wasn't a whole lot in the way of getting things in order outside of my head tonight, though, and with my brother and his girlfriend in town the next couple of days, I'm hoping that lack of time spent tonight doesn't come back to haunt me.  I've gotten to the point with my thinking where it shouldn't take me too long to put the pieces in place, though, so even being able to steal a few minutes at some point tomorrow night should really have me where I need to be heading into New Year's Eve. I feel less than spectacular about what got done tonight, but decent about where things sit for the week, and the coming year.  I'm really excited to see where 2016 takes me, because I think it will be somewhere really good.

Today was a good day that could have been a little bit better. These last few days before the start if the new calendar year are always strange ones for me.  It's that weird combination of looking both backwards and forwards while trying to stay in the moment and make progress.  Usually they end up as days where I spend my time getting things arranged so that I feel like I'm starting the year on the right foot.  This is especially prominent if I've been out of town (as we were for the holiday).  Today was no exception to that.  I'm feeling settled back into the studio.  Ultimately, that was the goal for today, and it was one I felt I met pretty strongly.  Things are back in their proper places, cases are put away, and while the new instruments are still searching for their permanent homes, things are back to functional in the studio. Tomorrow needs to be a day of moving a couple of things out (mostly boxes that just got stashed in the closet temporarily), and then

Travel day today, in advance of a potentially huge winter storm tomorrow. The long and the short of that is this: we're home in time to have a full day in the house tomorrow.  Most everything is moved back into the studio.  I've just got to get the Strat moved back in, and then I'm good to go. I'd really like to spend a decent chunk of tomorrow hiding out in there, trying to get reacquainted and get some things done, listening included. We stopped at Exclusive on the way out of town, and I picked up a couple of things.  The two I remember off the top of my head are: 1.  Gimmie Fiction (Deluxe Reissue) - Spoon 2. Pneumonia - Whiskeytown I'm really hoping that tomorrow is an incredibly productive day for me in the studio.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. We did a lot of shopping, and I was able to cash in some of my Christmas money to pick up the other big box set I was eyeing of late. I got myself the new Springsteen box that highlights The River . It not only comes with the remastered edition of the original album, but also a disc of other things that they recorded during those sessions, as well as the first thing they gave to the record company, before taking it back and continuing to work on the record. There's also a documentary on the making of the record, and a video of a live show from that tour. Between that and the Dylan Bootleg, I made out really well this Christmas. Lots of listening to do when we get home.

Merry Christmas! So, there wasn't much time to practice today. I did get a few more music related gifts, though, so that's awesome. 1. Victor Wooten's book, The Music Lesson, came from my brother. 2. Also from my brother, two stamps. One of them is a chord symbol, and the other is of a staff of tablature. Both are excellent, and exactly what I was hoping for. Tomorrow is set up to be a low key sort of day, so I am really hoping that I will have a chance to get some playing in.

Happy Christmas Eve! So many things became official today. 1. I got my mandolin from the Mrs. 2. The Mrs. got her Cajon drum from me. Well, okay, so it wasn't a ton of stuff, but those two things were pretty big. I also ended up with Troy Stetina's book called Fretboard Mastery, and then the 6 Disc edition of the latest Bob Dylan Bootlegs, from '65 & '66. All told, I consider that to be a win, and it kicks off a weekend that should be an awesome time. I'm hoping to get a bit of time to sit down and play tomorrow, because between all the driving and all of the awesomeness with the family, there wasn't much time for that today.

So, I'm about 90% packed for the trip to WI.  The only thing I really haven't decided on is whether or not to bring the mandolin and an acoustic along with me, or the mandolin and the strat, or just the mandolin.  I suppose that mandolin and uke is also an option, but that seems less likely right now.  It'll probably be the electric in the end... easier to pack and lighter to carry. We did Christmas with the Mrs. and I tonight, so I can mention that I got a book of chords for the mandolin (that I'm still waiting for Christmas to really dive into), a songbook from O Brother, Where Art Thou? , a set of drumsticks, and a key chain that holds guitar picks. Tonight was a good night, even if not a lot of playing got done, and I'm ready for the holiday weekend.

Today was another busy day on both ends, which left little to no time for any sort of real progress where the playing side of things was concerned.  It did , however, leave me a few times where I could sneak in a little bit of listening, so that was cool. I'm already starting to work through what I want to bring up north with me over the weekend, which is probably a good thting because I've got tomorrow night to pack.  I know it can't be a whole lot, but I'm determined to take a few things along, and actually have a bit of time to sit down and practice. Energy has waned a bit as the week has gone along, and I'm really feeling like tomorrow night needs to be a good one, to give me that push I'll need to carry me through the holiday weekend.  We'll see what happens.

Today was a full day of work and family, which didn't leave a whole lot of time for the studio, but gave me a lot of time to have my brain running in the background.  I'm still trying to piece together my list of goals for next year, but I can say for certain that a lot of them will be tied into finally getting some things finished and figured out.  The list is definitely getting clearer (and a bit longer), but I'll have it ironed out by the end of the year for sure. I did find time for at least a few minutes of listening today, but that was about it. I'm still feeling okay about the week, but I'm also knowing that I've got to pack for WI in the next couple of days here, so time feels like it is growing short already this week.  Tomorrow will be better.

So, we've hit that point in the year (11 days left) where I'm starting to think about how goals are going to stack up for 2016.  Some of that is due to the fact that this weekend absolutely flew by, and next weekend we'll be up in WI for Christmas.  I'm not ready to write the whole list out quite yet, but the pondering process has begun in the back of my mind.  Anyway... I got into the studio late tonight, but still had time to start working on the book that the Mrs. picked up for me on Black Friday.  I also started taking a look at that Guitar Techniques lesson that I had mentioned earlier in the week. The playing I got in today (however brief it was) felt good.  It felt like what I needed at both the end of the weekend and the start of the week.  The next three and a half days will likely go by in a blur.  We'll see what I can get done in that time.

I need to start writing again. I sat down with the acoustic tonight and just played for a while.  I can feel the songs in there, just waiting to jump out.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll go through the old demos and see what jumps out at me and has stayed vital. Started in on that Christmas project for my brother, as well.  There's definitely the start of something there, I'm just not sure how much of it I'll be able to get done by the time we leave for Christmas with the family. Tomorrow needs to be a day of focusing in on practicing, that GT lesson in particular, and some other things, too. It was a quieter, more dispiriting day than I had hoped for, and I'm going into tomorrow feeling like I really need something good to happen. 

Tonight was a mostly quiet night of preparation for the weekend. I want to spend a good amount of time working through that recent lesson in Guitar Techniques that has hovered around the periphery of my attention for the last couple of days. The Mrs. dropped another early Christmas present on me today, if only because Amazon had just dropped it off as I walked in the door: it was a book of mandolin chords, which will be awesome.  I'm really trying to wait to do much with the mandolin until the holiday, because it was supposed to be a Christmas present, after all. Also of note, but not vital to the playing side of things, I may have stumbled on a Christmas idea for my brother that coincides with the musical side of things.  I've got to think it over a bit more, but we shall see. That's really all for tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be a great day, though.  I can feel it.

Today was a much better day than yesterday... not that it took a whole lot to get to that point. I got into the studio a little bit on the late side, but spent some time tonight playing over a few songs, trying to get some of the ideas from Songs & Solos underneath my fingers a little bit.  I did okay, considering I just sort of threw myself straight into it. There was a bit of listening tonight as well, and also a flash of something that might turn into a song.  All together, the night was a bit of productivity in a number of different places, but really just a hodgepodge of things.  Hopefully tomorrow, and the weekend, will be improved.

Tonight was a really quiet night, definitely the quietest night of the week, but I managed to finish off the Tom Petty biography and do a bit of listening.  I didn't dive into the end of Songs & Solos tonight, but getting back to that will likely happen tomorrow evening. What I did get to do tonight was talk to my brother for a few minutes.  We talked practicing for a bit, and then got into the fact that we'll get to hang out in about a week.  I'm now trying to figure out what to bring with me, instrument-wise when we go up north. Tonight may have been on the slow side, but I'm feeling pretty good about things as I head into the second half of the week and the weekend ahead. That's really all for tonight.  More tomorrow, and better.

So, I made it all the way through the reading/studying part of Songs & Solos tonight.  The only sections I have left are the ones that offer up melodic ideas, having taken you all the way through the techniques and thought processes behind how to go about things.  So, all things considered, I'm feeling good about that right now. I did a bit of listening to that "new" live Elvis disc, and that has been an interesting listen so far.  I'm not sure I agree with all of the choices they make, but if nothing else, it serves as an excellent reminder of just how versatile, and how amazing his voice was. I'm also about 30 pages from the end of the Tom Petty biography.  I'll either finish that tonight before bed, or get very close. I'll dive into the  last few chapters of Songs & Solos and perhaps that lesson from Guitar Techniques tomorrow.

For a first day back at it after a weekend away, I thought today went pretty well. I'm perilously close to the end of Songs & Solos now (about nine pages, to be totally honest), so I'll probably finish that off tomorrow sometime.  I did some good work in it to get to that point today, and I'm happy with that. Closing in on the end of the Tom Petty bio as well, with just over 100 pages left in that.  It's unlikely that I'll finish it tonight, but tomorrow is at least somewhat of a possibility. Got some good practicing in tonight relating to the Songs & Solos , and figured out that one of the lessons in the new issue of Guitar Techniques may well be one of my missing pieces.  I'm really intrigued to see how the week progresses, knowing that as I go into it.

Another day spent mostly on the road means another day with not a whole lot to report. We did stop at a B&N on our way home, however, so I was able to do a bit of scouting and pick up a few things. I looked for books on mandolin playing (but struck out), and also looked for recordings by Christopher Paul Stelling (and struck out there as well). That said, I picked up the latest issue of Guitar Techniques , the new live CD by Elvis, and a disc of Bach Solos performed by Chris Thile (so, I guess on some level I was successful in finding something mandolin-related). This weekend was a blur, and didn't allow much time for music, but I'm optimistic that the week will prove better.

Not a lot to report from a day spent mostly on the road. We did, however, get my three year old niece a drum set for Christmas, which is awesome.  She loves it. As for my brother and sister in law? Maybe not so much. No real chance for me to get any playing in today, but I am hoping that tomorrow will be a different story.

Didn't really have a lot of time to get into the studio tonight. Instead, I ended up consoling myself by making some progress in the Tom Petty biography, and trying to figure out what the best way is for me to reinforce the things I have been focusing on, while building a solid foundation for the start of next year. I'm looking forward to a day in DSM this weekend, and am hopeful that I will be able to spend a bit of time finding a few musical things that will help me out while we're there.

Today was a good day that didn't end up involving a lot of studio time. I picked up the 20th Anniversary edition of Jagged Little Pill .  The two disc one with the unreleased demos and live stuff.  The other thing I did today, that I'm more excited about is this: I snagged an iTunes card, and used it on the new solo record by J.R. Richards, the former lead singer of Dishwalla.  It's this that I'm starting to listen to as I sit here and write tonight. Oh, and I grabbed the new issue of Guitar World today, too. The other cool thing about today happened tonight, after Mom had gone back to her hotel for the day.  She came down to hang out on my only full (non-holiday) day off all month.  She called and said that she had gotten to talking to the maintenance guy as she was coming inside, and that somehow, in the course of the conversation, he had mentioned that he's been writing songs.  Two years my wife worked at that hotel, and not once did it come up that he wa

Tonight was all right. I got into the studio a little bit earlier than I have been lately.  I used my time at least somewhat wisely tonight, as well.  I finished off the "scales" chapter of Songs & Solos , and got myself up to the very start of the chapter on other soloing techniques... it starts with a discussion of intervals, so that should be cool (and hopefully delve into things like lead lines written in harmony, etc.).  I looked at the first page or so of it, just to get myself through the introduction. After that, I did a bit of listening, and then played around with some Johnny Cash and Chris Cornell on acoustic, because those guys came up in discussions at work today. Fairly short in terms of time tonight, but a bit of solid progress nonetheless.  Hopefully tomorrow will be another improvement.

So, I took the night off from Songs & Solos .  Some voice in the back of my mind told me that I might be due for a 24 hour break from it, and for once, I decided to listen. Instead of trying to work on that tonight, I sat down and learned "Ol 55" by Tom Waits, which was in the newest issue of Acoustic Guitar .  I had heard it as an Eagles tune, but never fully appreciated it until Tom's solemn growl from his debut record.  It's a great song, and one that definitely needs to be in my repertoire. Aside from that, I did a bit of listening, and made a bit of progress in the Tom Petty bio that has seemingly taken over for the Jerry Lee Lewis in the last week or so. Not a bad day by any stretch, but the studio was definitely the high point for me.

Actually made it to the record shop tonight.  Picked up three things, all on CD.  They were: Live 1975-1985 - Bruce Springsteen Florasongs EP - The Decemberists Live At Red Rocks - The John Butler Trio All told, I'm happy with that.  I was also looking for a record by Christopher Paul Stelling, who was featured in the latest issue of Acoustic Guitar .  Having listened to him on NPR tonight, I'm even more excited to hunt down some of his music. I got into the studio later than I wanted to tonight, but also earlier than usual.  I'm feeling good about my progress tonight.  I made some solid progress in Songs & Solos , and am almost through the early, scale focused side of things.  It has been great, and I could stand to take more time with it (and I will), but I'm headed straight toward the section of the book that focuses less on scalar applications, and more on melodic implications. I got back to my journal tonight as well, jotting down a few notes to mysel

I meant to stop by the record shop today to poke around.  It didn't end up happening, but the Mrs. has a meeting tomorrow night, so maybe I'll stop by after work, we shall see. In the studio tonight, I finally put my finger on what has been going on with me.  As I made a bit more progress in Songs & Solos , it occurred to me that I'm almost spending enough time in the studio each night.  New things are making it into my brain, on some level, and my knowledge is growing, but I'm not quite getting in there early enough in the evening.  Even an extra 15-20 minutes wwould make a big difference. The other thing that needs to start tomorrow (because if it does, it can be a habit by the first of the year) is to keep better notes of what I'm working on. I didn't find myself in the studio a lot this weekend, but I felt like the time I did spend in there was productive.  Hopefully that bleeds over into the week.

Today was an okay day. Stopped by the bookstore and picked up the new issue of Acoustic Guitar .  There's an interview with Glen Hansard, and tabs from Tom Waits, Hank Williams, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Time in the studio was all right tonight, too.  Not quite as much time as I was hoping for, but I'm past the basic scale and melody stuff in Songs & Solos .  I'm up to the section on modes, and from there I think it goes into more melodic constructs rather than being quite so scale focused. Haven't gotten to spend any real time with either the Jerry Lee Lewis bio or the Tom Petty today, but I'll try and fit in a few minutes before I fall asleep tonight. Tomorrow needs to be a bit more focused and regimented, so that I can take what I've been working on and build on it.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the loss of Scott Weiland right off the top.  His band was never going to be a critical darling, coming as they did, in the second wave of grunge acts to populate the music industry in the early to mid 1990's.  They had the talent, though, and they wrote enough hits to justify a greatest hits record and a comeback or two in recent years.  Weiland was a unique vocalist in an era before a good number of vocalists tried to do nothing more than ape Eddie Vedder, and even though he hadn't done a whole lot in the last few years, his presence in the music world will be missed. Okay, I had to put that out there. Tonight's time in the studio was spent working through the same things as the rest of the week.   A few pages in Songs & Solos , a bit of reading (tonight from the Petty bio), some listening, and a bit of work figuring out a few things.  Not too bad for not a whole lot of time at the end of the day. Tomorrow needs to have

Tonight was a great night.  Not necessarily because I got a ton accomplished during my relatively short time in the studio, but more because of the points I got to while I was in there: 1) I've hit the point in Songs & Solos where it starts to involve something other than just major, minor, pentatonic, or blues scales.  While that will be a lot of what I use in my playing, without a doubt, the fact that I got to the bebop-based jazz scales tonight was really cool.  And it was cool not only because they were scales that I hadn't had much (if any) contact with before, but also because it was while playing those scales that the melodic side of this whole course of study really started to open up for me.  I heard the possibilities in the notes, and perhaps more so, in the spaces in between the notes.  Things are close to opening up.  I can feel it. 2) I got a bit of reading done tonight that was outside the Songs & Solos context.  There's a fairly new bio of Tom Pet

Tonight was better than yesterday, but still focused on some of the same things. I got through another few pages of Songs  & Solos , and am feeling okay about how that is going.  I'm still feeling like a bit more focused studying would be a very good thing in that regard. I got a chance to play around a bit more with "Six Ways To Sunday" by Blackberry Smoke, and while that hasn't crystallized yet, I'm feeling better about that than I was a few days ago. Today may not have been the wildly productive day I would have liked it to be, but there were some small strides, and there was some progress made. Tomorrow needs to be better than today.

Today was somewhat of a follow up on yesterday.  I waded through a couple more pages of Songs & Solos , still focusing on the melodic side of things, and working to get the feel of the ideas they presented underneath my fingers. It felt, at least a little bit, like a step backwards from yesterday, if only because I didn't quite spend as much time in the studio tonight as I did yesterday.  That being said, I'm still feeling a heck of a lot better about where I sit at the start of December than I did for all of November. We've got meetings that let out around 4 tomorrow, so that should get me home a little bit earlier than usual, which might just get me a bit more time in the studio tomorrow night.  We shall see.

Today was awesome. I got into the studio a good two hours earlier than I have been (and in all honesty, it probably should have been earlier than that), and I feel like I made a good start on what I hope December and all of next year is going to be. I finally got myself started on the playing aspects of Songs & Solos .  It was great.  This section goes back over things that I know, but also presents them in more than one form at a time.  It makes for easy comparisons, and at the same time, gets you to see the melodic ideas that are there in different sections of the neck.  I could easily have spent another hour or so in there tonight.  I need to do a little bit of brush-up memorization to feel really good about it, but I can start in on that tomorrow. Today was nothing short of the day that I needed it to be.

Today was okay. I started paging through the book that the Mrs. had picked up for me on Friday.  It's going to be a really good resource for me, I think.  From what I can tell, it fills in a few of the gaps in the things I already have on my shelf, and I'm excited to have some time to really dive into it both tomorrow morning before work, and then in December.  Now that I've won NaNoWriMo, my time will open up again.  Side note: the next few weeks are going to be fun !  The extra hours I'm going to have to spend in the studio are really going to push me into the end of the year.  It will allow me to be rolling by the time the new year hits, which will hopefully be enough to carry me through and make 2016 my most consistent, most productive year ever. Today was all right, but the real fun is yet to come.

So, today was equal parts quiet and awesome.  Very late last night, after I had blogged, I talked with my brother for a little bit.  I ran down the list of instruments from yesterday, and only part jokingly told my brother that, knowing my wife and surprises, I'd know by noon today what the instrument was.  In the end, I wasn't far off. I'm not sure if she will be wrapping it up in the next day or so and making me wait until Christmas, but I am/will be the proud owner of a mandolin!  First order of business: learning "Losing My Religion... well, okay, at least the intro riff. I got to play around with it for a bit this afternoon/evening, and I'm loving the sound of it.  Then (naturally) I watched a bunch of Chris Thile videos on YouTube. Of a less important note, we were out and about for Small Business Saturday today, and I managed to snag a biography of Tom Petty that looks like it will be pretty awesome. That was pretty much my day.  More tomorrow.  Ma

Talking to my brother last night still has me really jacked up.  I think it's going to be a pretty awesome weekend. Related to that, The Mrs. went out and did a bit of Black Friday shopping today.  She hit up one of the musical instrument stores in town, and managed to come out with a washboard, some drum sticks, a small drum, a ukulele tuner, a guitar book for me, and a keychain that holds guitar picks (also for me). She also tells me that she picked up one of five instruments as a Christmas Present.  Here's the list: 1.  Acoustic Guitar (with 4 lessons) 2. Keyboard/Piano 3. Mandoolin 4. Drum Kit 5. Banjo So, one of those should be an interesting Christmas surprise. As for this weekend, I'd like to look through this new book, and get myself in the studio for a good chunk of time.

Happy Thanksgiving, all! There wasn't a lot of  time today to get into the studio, but my brother is here for the holiday, so we have been talking about music and practicing some tonight.  With him being in school for music, and me trying to fit things in wherever I can, I always try and pick his brain for tips and hints on how to get better. Every time we hang out, I always find myself wishing that we had a full weekend to just spend some time, but it seems like anymore, we have to find these small bits of time and then cram in as much as we can... typing that sentence makes me see parallels to my practicing lately. All things considered, I can't believe that tomorrow is actually Friday, and that I get a weekend to attempt to catch up on some things.  Hopefully I will have a bit of luck at that.  It was a great day with family, and I may have needed that more than anything.

Once again, I find myself up late, burning the midnight oil, sitting down to blog as I'm ready to fall asleep. Another night where I didn't get into the studio until late, but tonight I managed to get to the bit of reading I have wanted to get to all week.  I made enough progress in Songs & Solos to get to the chapter on Scales, Harmony, & Solos. This is where the really fun stuff starts.  The solo examples, the suggestions, the scales.  In short: this is where I switch from reading to actual practicing and applying some of the things I've read.  Of course, I'm only slightly bummed out by the fact that I get to this point right before the holiday. when there won't be a whole lot of free time to dive into it, but the weekend is coming, and I'm feeling good about where I sit right now.

Another late night before I got into the studio.  Actually, a lot of tonight was very similar to last night. I once again managed to get caught up in Songs & Solos .  Still not quite at the next chapter, but I'm a whole lot closer to being there tonight than I was last night at this point.  I know I've said this the last couple of nights, but I'm fairly certain that tomorrow night will be the night I hit that point. I listened to some things tonight, and did a bit of playing as well, but it wasn't a whole lot tonight.  I go in late tomorrow, so I'm hoping to be able to spend at least a few minutes in the studio before I go to work. The last couple of nights have been quiet, so it would be great to have a big day tomorrow, as I head into the holiday.

Today was pretty quiet. I, again, got into the studio on the late side, and wasn't really in there very long tonight. The time I did have, I spent focused on Songs & Solos , getting myself started on the next chapter.  I'm twenty pages away from the sections I can't wait to start, and am hoping to get there tomorrow night. I played for a couple of minutes tonight, too, but didn't have long enough to make substantial progress.  Tomorrow will be a much better day than today was.

Today was an okay day. I finished off another chapter in Songs & Solos .  While I'm closer to the pages where the examples and scales and the like are tabbed out, I didn't quite get there today.  In the end, I'm okay with that, only because I got through at least one chapter, and with the holiday in the middle of the week to slow things up, I needed a couple of holdover goals from this weekend to get me up to that point. On some level, there's something that has been nagging at the back of my mind all month, and I guess now is as good of a time as any to make mention of it.  For the first time in a few years, I'm not trying to learn a classic rock song in the month of November.  Part of that is that I'm actually writing a novel in November instead, and the other part of it is that, by the time I realized I hadn't picked anything yet, the month was so far along that I knew there was a likelihood I wouldn't finish in time, or be able to give it the

I spent a good portion of the day being bothered and/or stressed out that I wasn't in the studio, wasn't getting enough done, etc. I had made myself a pretty aggressive list last night, and I knew that if I didn't get at least a few of those things crossed off today, I'd feel terrible heading into Sunday, so... When I finally got into the studio (late, again), I managed to get at least a few things crossed off of my list.  I: 1. Did a bit of listening.  That giant amount of Dylan is still on my list, as is the new Keith Richards, which I managed to pick up, but haven't quite found the time for in November.  And after the Mrs. picked up the new Adele record yesterday, I have to admit I was curious about that .  So, of course, it was Adele that got listened to today. 2.  I made some progress in Songs & Solos today as well.  I'm a full 70 pages into that.  Tomorrow, I'd like to be around page 105 if all goes well.  That's where the scales and so

I'm fast falling into a routine on Friday nights.  That routine has, for the last few weeks at least, involved getting at least one thing done in the studio after work at the end of the week.  It's always the same, and it always sets me up for what I'd like the rest of the weekend to be. Once again, my goal tonight was to work out a list of the things I'd like to get done this weekend, and maybe do some listening while I'm working on it.  Then I throw in a bit of playing at the end and call it a night. Tonight the list got more specific than it has in a while, and while I don't have it in front of me to add to tonight's post, I will definitely be posting about my progress tomorrow night.  Having that list out there helps me to see the path, and hopefully it will help me to stay on it as well.

Tonight was a quiet night.  The quietest night of the week, really. I got into the studio for only a few minutes, but I did a bit of playing in that time, and also read through a few pages of Songs & Solos .  I'm feeling good about what I've been able to glean from picking up that book again. I've got to say... I'm really glad that tomorrow is Friday, because I have a really good feeling about what the next few days will bring. So, yes, tonight may not have had a lot of work in it, but the weekend is going to be great.

Another short session tonight, but another one where I felt like I made progress. I spent a good chunk of time with the acoustic tonight, working out the chord changes to "Elephant" by Jason Isbell.  That song has just been crushing me lately, and I decided that I really ought to learn it.  The chords are all a short distance part (in most cases, it's just a finger movement here and there), and it was fairly simple to work through it.  It still needs a bit of work on my end, but I've at least gotten it underneath my fingers.  It all gets easier from there. There were a few minutes spent with Songs & Solos tonight as well, although not as much as last night.  A few pages of progress, and a few things to mull over are always good, though. I fit in a bit of listening, also, but that was pretty much it for the night. Hopefully more will get done tomorrow, but as long as things are moving forward, I'm feeling good.

I'm really trying to build off of yesterday. I followed up on a few things I had looked at last night, the biggest of which was the Songs & Solos book.  I read back a little bit to try and pick up where I had left off with that, and then just kept going and ended up finishing off a whole chapter. After that, I picked up the electric and spent a bit more time trying to work out a few of the songs that have been a good listen of late. I also started a list of songs to work through in my notebook, and also went back to my gigantic excel spreadsheet of songs.  Like I said last night, so many things started, and not followed up on. It was a shorter session tonight, but it still felt like a move forward.  And considering how things had gone for the few weeks before last night, to feel like I made progress a couple nights in a row feels awesome.

Sometimes I think I learn more about myself on the days I'm not really expecting to, than on any day when I actually sit down and try to. In the process of sorting things and putting them away the last couple of days (in between nursing the Mrs. back to health), what I've found most interesting of all are the things that have floated from the bottom of the pile to the top.  In the last twenty four hours alone, I've found: 1.  The journal I bought, and started, in January, to track my playing.  2.  A book about by Rikky Rooksby about Songs & Solos that I had started and never finished (that, on looking at it tonight, has more info in it that can help me than I even suspected when I bought it. 3.  The good start I had made on my practice binder at the start of the year, still unfinished. And those are just the first three things that come to mind.  There's more, there's always more. We're fast approaching the end of another calendar year.  A year t

I wish I could say that today has been a better day, but I'm just not there right now. The time I did spend in the studio tonight may not have been insanely productive, but it was far and away the most peaceful and calm part of my day. I started off with the acoustic in my hands tonight, but it just wasn't clicking, so I swapped it out for the Stratocaster, and then things started to flow a bit easier.  The electric really is my security blanket, I think.  It's something I can hide behind when nothing else seems to be working out for me. What I should have done tonight was try and focus in on the EP, but that didn't happen.  Instead, after a bit of a workout with the electric, I put down the guitar and made a bit more progress in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio I've been reading. Not the greatest of days.  I really need tomorrow to be a good one.  I've got to get into the studio earlier than I did today, and I've got to make good progress at something while

Today was not the day I was expecting at all. The Mrs. woke up decidedly under the weather, and I spent a goodly portion of the day running back and forth from the grocery store to the drug store and back again, with the time in between spent making sure she was okay. Therefore, when she finally fell asleep for the night, I ducked into the studio for a few minutes, but all I really managed to get done was figuring out what needed to be stored in the table I moved in there last week (music biographies, of which I have a lot), and then getting those books moved over.  I'm not sure how much space it really freed up, but it feels like a lot. Tomorrow and Monday need to be better days, for sure, but considering the way today went, I'll take what I got done and be happy with it.

Today was the strange mid point between my couple of days off mid-week, and my three day weekend, and after a long day at work, I needed a night to clear my head a bit. As such, I used it to take a look at where I am this week, figure out at least some of my goals for the weekend, and dive into the new issue of Guitar World . Tonight was good.  There may not have been any great leaps forward, but I'm feeling better about where the weekend is headed as I sit here tonight than I did at the start of the day.

Today was good. I got in the studio a bit on the late side again, but no matter.  Once I got in there, I was pretty productive with the time that I had. I got everything else cleared out of that table/cupboard/lamp stand that I had moved in there the other day, so it's now empty and waiting for whatever it is I decide needs to go in there.  I'm very much hoping to be more organized than "oh, this was on the floor, so it ended up here," but I have yet to figure out what makes the most sense storage wise. I also started working through the Blues Shuffle lesson in one of the two issues of Guitar Techniques that have made their way into the house in the last few days.  That lesson is going to be a lot of fun, and will be even more fun than it was for a bit tonight once tomorrow hits and I break out the CD player. I made a bit of progress in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio tonight as well.  That's still coming along rather nicely, although I'm not as far into it as

I'll get the silly stuff out of the way first tonight. 1. The Mrs. swung by Target tonight, and picked me up the new issue of Guitar World with Keith Richards on the cover.  It's been a pretty busy week for guitar magazines. 2.  I passed on the jam session on campus tonight, when we had a rash of bad storms roll through town right as I was getting ready to head over there. Those things included, it was a pretty good day.  The rest of it went something like this... I got to a bit more of my listening tonight, which was a good way to kick off my time in the studio.  After that, I spent a bit of time getting things re-organized.  I'm not quite where I'd like it to be just yet, but a small bit of time tomorrow ought to get me there. Once that was done, I picked up the electric, and started trying to figure out "Six Ways To Sunday" by Blackberry Smoke.  I know the song is in A, and I got to play around with it a little bit tonight, but not as much time a

Tonight was a good start on what I'm hoping to get done in the next few days. I got into the studio on the late side tonight, but I got to the things that I had hoped to get to yesterday.  I: 1.  Started cleaning out that new table that I brought in last weekend.  I've got it mostly taken care of, there are just a couple of things still left inside it that I need to find places for in the rest of the house, and then I can figure out what its best purpose is in my studio. 2.  I'm up over page 100 in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio.  That continues to be a very cool read. 3.  In an odd quirk of timing, the Mrs. wanted to go to the bookstore tonight.  While we were there, I discovered that yesterday had been the last day for the old issue of Guitar Techniques , and that there was a new issue there today.  So I picked it up, and now have even more awesomeness to go through during my playing the next few days. 4.  Got an invite to a jam session on campus tomorrow night.  This

Tonight was okay.   Not a whole lot in the way of playing, but there was a bit of reading and studying thrown in for good measure, which I will take. When I was out tonight after work, I swung by the bookstore and picked up the new issues of Acoustic Guitar and Guitar Techniques.  For the most part, it was GT that I started reading through tonight. No real progress in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio tonight, and I didn't get around to looking at the organizational side of things in the studio either.  That bums me out, but the way the night went, finding time was a bit of a struggle. Tomorrow really starts my need to be at the top of my game, though, so it is off to sleep for me, to (hopefully) ensure that I can do just that.

So, the weekend didn't go anywhere near the way that I hoped it would on Friday night, but I find myself in an interesting spot as I head back into the work week.  Here's why: I finally got back into the studio tonight, after the floors dried out enough on the main floor of the house to let me back in.  In all of the shifting of furniture, we freed up an end table that was no longer needed in the living room.  Not that I needed another piece of furniture in my studio, but that's where it got moved to for carpet cleaning, and that's where it stayed after I found a spot for it against the wall by the window.  That let me get a few things up off of the floor, and as soon as I get it emptied out, the end table will offer more room for storage in the studio, which is great, because on some level, I need it.  There will need to be a bit of shifting things around, but that can happen tomorrow night after work, when the Mrs. is at a meeting. I did a bit of playing tonight,

Today was an interesting change of pace. I had intended to spend a good portion of time working in the studio, but it ended up off limits, due to the fact that we also needed to have the carpets cleaned today, and my studio was in the line of fire. I grabbed a guitar out of the studio before we started in on the carpets, and I have spent the evening on the couch, just playing through whatever came to mind. I dragged out "Yellow Ledbetter," which I hadn't done in a while. I'm thinking that the solo is going to be a point of focus this month. While today wasn't the day I had expected, it was still a good day with a lot more playing than there has been of late.

Tonight was a bit of a slow night, but most of my time in the studio was spent planning out what I hope to get done this weekend.  Such is usually the case for my Friday nights. The list is pretty extensive, and it includes: 1. Listening (Keith Richards, Dylan) 2. Work on the EP (both music and lyrics) 3. Time with the Vai workout 4. Progress in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio and a host of other things on top of that. Also, speaking of the Jerry Lee bio, I made a bit of progress on that tonight as well.  Tomorrow needs to be more about playing than tonight was.  That I know for sure.

This week has fallen into something approaching routine.  Whether it has really been enough of one is still up for debate, but nonetheless... tonight looked an awful lot like last night, and the night before. There was more slow, but steady progress in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio, which has been entertaining enough so far that I keep wishing I had a bigger chunk of time to spend with it.  The weekend is coming, though, and may well offer that. There was a bit of work on the EP.  Something I'm hoping the weekend offers a LOT more time to focus on. And there was a bit of practicing, which happens to be something else I need to spend more time with in the next few days. So, in a nutshell, tonight set up what the next 72 hours needs to be all about.

Things are starting to pick up again.  Tonight was a pretty good night, considering I didn't have a ton of time to work in the studio.  Still, I: 1. Got a bit of work in on the EP project.  Felt really good to get back to that a bit.  Hopefully more work can get done tomorrow. 2. Started getting caught up on some of the listening that has piled up of late. 3. Made a bit more progress in the Jerry Lee Lewis bio. 4. Sat down and did a bit of playing.  Not the mammoth practice session I could probably use, but it was still more time than I've had of late. All things considered, it was a pretty good day.

I know we got home yesterday, but today really felt like we were home. Tonight was two-fold for me.  I felt like I had to do two things: 1) Get moved back in to the studio... not that I took a lot with me, by any stretch of the imagination, but it still felt good to really get back in there and see where the night took me.  I wound up playing a bit of electric, and looking over the EP, but not really pushing all that hard to move forward with it.  That, hopefully, will come tomorrow. and 2) I wanted to get at least far enough into the Jerry Lee Lewis bio that I felt like I was actually reading it.  Yes, I had started it while we were out in Colorado, but I wanted to get more of it underneath me.  I got to both of those things today, so I'll call it good and see what tomorrow brings me.  Hopefully that will be more playing, some work on the EP, and a decent practice session.

Today was another long travel day, with a car battery that needed to be jumped somewhere in the middle of it.  Can't tell you how glad I am to be home. That said, there wasn't a whole lot in the way of time to get much of anything done today.  Still, I read a bit more of the Jerry Lee Lewis bio, and had plenty of time to think about where things stand with the EP. Yes, today was a lot like yesterday.  Now that we are home, I'm looking forward to getting back to some sort of routine.  Hopefully tomorrow.

I knew going into the day today that it was going to be one of the quieter days of the year, and I was right. I found a few minutes to sit down and think through things with the EP today, and I was grateful for those. About the only other thing I got time for today was starting in on the Jerry Lee Lewis biography that I brought along with me. Like I said, it was a pretty quiet day.

So, we made it to Denver. In our wandering around Estes Park today, I stumbled across a book on the current hit factories in the songwriting world. Most of it seems to be focused on the pop world, but it seemed like an interesting read. I need to spend at least a few minutes tonight looking at lyrics. It was a long day of travel, and there wasn't a lot of time for music, but it was a pretty good day otherwise. Tonight and tomorrow morning I need to try and carve out a bit of time to get some work done.

Today has been okay.  Early post, because we're leaving shortly for Chicago in anticipation of tomorrow's flight to Denver. Picked up the 20th Anniversary re-issue of Son Volt's Trace today.  It's as great a record today as it was when it was released.  I can't wait to get into the demos and the live show that came with the re-release. I'm taking both a blank notebook and the recent Jerry Lee Lewis biography with me.  I'm really hoping that I'll find some lyrical inspiration on the road.  I need to get started working on that side of things, because it will drive the music and vice versa. It's going to be a whirlwind few days, but I'll find something to post about each day we're gone, even if the posts are short.

Today was definitely a better day. I got all my issues with the iPod squared away.  Now it's just a matter of cleaning up artist tags and then filling in some of the albums that (still) haven't made it on there yet.  The first two Dead Weather records jump out as one of those examples. Sat down with the electric for a bit tonight.  It felt good to get back to it. I did some listening, as well, starting to try and get caught up.  Now that things are synced and loaded, it should be an easier task.  And speaking of The Dead Weather, I have their new disc in the car's CD player at the moment.  It's a good listen so far. Here's the other thing that's brewing in my mind at the moment: We're going to Denver for the Packers/Broncos game this weekend.  Leaving tomorrow afternoon.  That will give me time to do some music stuff in the morning, but as for Saturday and Sunday, it might be a bit of a hodgepodge.  I'm not taking an instrument, so it will have t

So, last night's effort didn't end up working out so well.  Therefore, I'm back at it again, trying to figure out why, if all of the music is on the new computer, it insists on syncing a significantly smaller number of songs (and why the processes for doing even that are taking forever).  All told, even though I finally have all of the music loaded on here, this whole process of switching computers has been a giant hassle on so many levels. Plus, this whole "getting everything new loaded onto the iPod without losing everything off of it" has taken up so much of my energy and thought processes that I haven't really been able to focus on anything studio-wise. This week has really been a disaster where my playing is concerned, and I need to get it straightened out in the next few days, because we're going to be gone over the weekend, and I ought to have at least something to show for the week.  Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

I've been trying all night to update the iPod. We've had a combination of bad weather and the internet going in and out that has prevented me from getting that done.  Honestly, it's some form of miracle that I'm online at the moment.  It was my goal to get things updated tonight, and so I'll keep trying for a bit here. I got a little bit of playing done tonight, but it wasn't much to write home about.  Tomorrow will be a better day.

Yet again, today wasn't the epic day that I was hoping for, but when all was said and done, I do feel as though I made some progress in pirsuit of the end of the EP. Most of what got done today was working through the ideas I have, looking for fresh perspective on them, trying to feel where the songs really wanted to go.  I made some progress, have a few new thoughts and ideas jotted down in my notebook, and considering the relatively short period of time I got to spend working on things, am happy with what I managed to get done. There were other things I should have gotten done today, but the middle of my day was co-opted with doctor's appointments and other such things.  Those other things I should have done included: 1. Listening 2. Updating the iPod 3. More focused practicing 4. Songwriting

Today was an interesting day. On one hand, it wasn't a day where I spent a ton of time in the studio, but on the other hand, it was a day where the time that I did spend in the studio was probably the most productive time I've had in a long time.  In short, even though I didn't spend all that much time working on the EP tonight, I feel like I got a whole lot closer to finishing it. I've been frustrated with myself lately for not finishing things a bit quicker, and struggling with the fact that, while I have been successful at finding a whole lot of kernels of songs, they haven't seemed to want to sprout into completed works.  Tonight, instead of freaking out and making myself more stressed out, I sat down and looked at a few favorite songs to see if I could sneak a peek behind the veil, if you will. The answers jumped out at me immediately.  I haven't been doing enough with the kernels.  Mostly, I haven't been facilitating the chord changes that will a

My Dad was in town today, which made time in the studio a bit short. When I finally got into the studio, I was feeling in need of some sort of inspiration, so I turned to a book on songwriting called The Art Of Noise that I had picked up earlier this year.  I read through an interview with Noel Gallagher that offered some insight on his songwriting process, and then spent a few minutes with the acoustic.  It was just the sort of quick recharge that my batteries needed.  I'm really hoping that I can spend a better chunk of time tomorrow in the studio, working both on songs and on doing some practicing. I really just need a (mostly) uninterrupted day to spend in the studio.  That feels like it would cure a good number of ills right now.  Here's hoping that tomorrow offers at least some part of that, because I really need it.

Tonight was a fairly quiet night for me, but I was finally able to carve out the bit of time required to get the rest of the music that definitely needed to be uploaded into iTunes.  I haven't synced the iPod yet, but that will definitely be happening this weekend.  I still need to figure out why a lot of the artwork doesn't upload anymore, but that will be a fight for another day. As for playing, there wasn't much in the way of time tonight, but I got into the studio for a few minutes, and kept up with the acoustic theme when I was in there.  I'd really like to have a big day tomorrow when it comes to the studio, and hopefully get in some good work on the EP.

Tonight was a late night, but in the end, it was at least somewhat productive, which feels like a good thing heading into a Friday.  I: 1.  Finally got started uploading some of the newer music into iTunes.  I managed to get a couple of the artists crossed off the list, which was a pretty good start, considering what I had for a backlog.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I'll be able to get things caught up on that front so that I can get the iPod synced and really start making progress with the listening. 2.  Got down to the GWA issues, or at least starting to go through them for inspiration.  It was a start, anyway.  And again, I'll take it.  There's more work to be done this weekend, but I'll get to where I need to be by the time Monday rolls around. 3.  Didn't get to the EP tonight, but that is the other thing that needs major attention in the next 72 hours.

Another day spent with the acoustic. I took a quick glance at the EP tonight when I got into the studio, but spent more time doing a bit of listening, and then just sitting with the acoustic. Every time I leave the electric in the stand, I find myself wishing I'd do it more often.  I know I need to brush up on my acoustic playing, as a bunch of people are getting together for a jam session of sorts in the middle of November.  I've been invited, and need to knock a bit of rust off. I know I said I was hoping to dive into some GWA tonight, but the way the day went, that is shaping up to be either a tomorrow thing or (more likely) a weekend thing. Tonight wasn't the night I was hoping for, by any stretch, but it was okay.

Tonight was another decent night. I made a bit more incremental progress on the EP project.  I think I might almost have the music finished for another song. Also, I finally started to sit down and take a look at just how far behind I am on listening and importing the recent music purchases into iTunes/onto the iPod.  It's not a pretty picture, let me tell you.  I've got a list started, though, and what I need to do is either haul my laptop into the studio, or just do a couple of them each night until I'm where I'd like to be. I've been playing more acoustic the last few nights, and it's good.  Tomorrow I think I need to bust out all my issues of Guitar World Acoustic and have some fun.

Today was definitely the most productive day of the weekend.  It wasn't the perfect storm I was hoping for, but it was a good day for a number of reasons. I actually got a chance to work on the EP for a bit tonight.  I'm still hoping to have it finished by the end of the year, and even after all the time "off," I'm still feeling pretty good with where everything is sitting as I type this.  There's more work to be done (obviously), but I'm trying to stick to my plan of taking one more step towards finishing the project off each time I sit down to work on it, and I did that again tonight. I fit in a bit of listening as well this evening, but my pile of stuff is still pretty high.  I need to find more time to fit that in this week than I have been.  Try and make some sort of dent in it. Today was definitely a good day.  Hopefully the rest of the week shakes out that way as well.

Truth be told, I was fully expecting today to be a day of work on the EP, but can I really be surprised that things didn't go according to plan when nothing all weekend really has? Instead of making any tangible progress with my songs, I wound up working through another lesson from the recent issue of Acoustic Guitar .  It was a lesson that I didn't even notice was in the magazine when I bought it, but ultimately, I think it will be something that will help me out with the songwriting down the road.  It was a lesson about being a better accompanist, and it worked its way through a few different chord progressions, outlining different ways one could choose to change things up a bit in order to keep things interesting.  It had me thinking about some of the things people like Jackie Greene and Jason Isbell do to spice up their progressions. Yes, today was an okay day by the end of it, but what I really need is for tomorrow to be a day where everything just clicks.  I need to

Today wasn't as huge of a day as I had hoped it would be, but I did make a bit of progress, which gives me hope heading into the next couple of days. I sat down with a lesson from one of the recent magazine purchases tonight, and in making my way through the first part of it, I realized just how nice it was to get back to the point where I was taking at least a few minutes out of my day to really play .  That alone was worth the price of admission today. Truthfully, I would have had a lot more time, but something this afternoon that I thought would take an hour to an hour and a half wound up taking four hours.  It was a good time, but it changed the tenor of the day, and in so doing, made tomorrow and Monday (I have the day off) all that much more important. Hopefully tomorrow has more time for music in it.

It was a long Friday. Suffice to say that, somewhat like last night, I had but one goal when I got home tonight: I wanted to get everything unpacked and reorganized in the studio in preparation for tomorrow.  I got that crossed off the list (albeit late in the evening), and I'm starting to go over in my head what I'd like to try and get done this weekend.  There are a few obvious things: 1) Work on the EP 2) Listening 3) Some serious practice time As for that last one, it feels like it has been a while since I've really gotten a chance to sink my teeth in and put in a good amount of time, practice-wise, in the studio.  I'm really looking forward to the weekend, for just that reason.

Well, we're back home from dog-sitting. What that means for tonight is that I had but one goal for the evening: To get everything moved back into the studio.  I got everything moved in from the car, and while I didn't get everything unpacked and re-sorted, I at least got it all into the studio itself. Considering that it was a long day, and we didn't really get home until after 11 tonight, I'll take that as a win. While today may have been a bit slow, music-wise, the weekend promises to be epic.  The Mrs. will be out of town for a conference, and so I'll have the whole weekend to stay up late in pursuit of the music.

Today was another quiet day. I  managed to fit in a bit of time with the issue of Acoustic Guitar that I picked up yesterday. There's a cool article on Chris Cornell and his new album, and then some lessons that look like they are going to be fun. Finally got all the way through the new Jackie Greene disc on the way to and from work today. I really enjoy his music. Musically, today was an average day, but I will take it.

Today was an okay day. Not exactly the day I had expected, but it worked out okay in the end. I ended up at the bookstore for a while this afternoon, and picked up a few things while I was there: 1. Crosseyed Heart , the new record by Keith Richards. 2. The latest issues of Guitar World and Acoustic Guitar . 3. The new autobiography by Sara Bareilles. There wasn't a whole lot of playing today, which is not the way I thought the day would go. I'm sure that the rest of the week will be different, but it still bums me out that I didn't get more done today. More tomorrow, and better.

Today was a busy enough day that I didn't have a lot of time for music making. When I was able to get a bit of time this evening, I spent it starting to look at the Richard Lloyd columns. I have long thought that this series of articles will prove to be a worthwhile study, I just haven't spent a whole lot of time with them. A small bit of that changed tonight, but more of it will change tomorrow. I'm just really excited to have some time to practice on my day off.

After putting it off all weekend, we finally made the move to the house where we are dog sitting for the next week. That means that, once again, I have distilled the studio down to the bare essentials and brought it along. I grabbed the Strat, along with the following: 1. The two notebooks that make up the EP project. 2. The Vai workouts. 3. The GW columns. 4. The Richard Lloyd columns. Those felt like the essentials.  We shall see what the week brings. I am pretty sure that it is going to be a good one.

Today was a better day. I found a few more minutes to spend in the studio, and used them to take a quick look at the EP project. In spite of the short amount of time I've had to work on it for the last few days, I continue to feel better about where I am with the project than I have in a while. When we make the move to be dog sitting again tomorrow afternoon, I'm bringing everything along with me, and when I have my day off on Tuesday, I am really going to focus in on it and try to spend some serious time working on it.

Today just wasn't a great day for me where the music was concerned. First of all, there wasn't a whole lot of time today for me to hide out in the studio.  Indeed, what I was really left with at the end of the day was about fifteen minutes tonight, all of which was spent doing some studying via the internet.  So, no, it wasn't my best day of the year by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it was probably the most exhausting and frustrating day I've had all year.  I'll make tomorrow a better day.

I'm still thinking about the concert last night, mostly as it had to do with structure and song form in current popular music. Admittedly, a lot of what I saw last night was based around the piano. He used it to form the melodic base of almost every song.  From there, most of the rest of the work establishing the music was the doing of the rhythm section.  Indeed, between piano, bass, and drums, Nate had almost everything he needed to sing over.  Indeed, the guitars were mostly used for accent chords and solos. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that, in the current music landscape, most of the arrangements are at least somewhat centered around the rhythm section, but last night provided another interesting example of an approach to writing that centers around the drums and a creative bass line, and then filling in the rest from there. I'll likely be on a high from the show all weekend, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to find a bit of time to get in the

Saw Nate Ruess tonight at Gallagher Bluedorn on the UNI campus. It was an amazing show! I've got a lot of reactions, but I am going to save them for tomorrow night and just post a picture or two.

Nights like tonight I'm never sure whether I should congratulate myself on getting out of a trap, or chide myself for falling into one in the first place. In sticking with my goal to get one thing done each night in regards to the EP project, I went back to a chorus that I have loved ever since I wrote it.  The problem being a lack of an equally cool verse progression.  In so doing, I actually went all the way back to the page in my notebook where I first started to block out the song.  What I found threw me for a bit of a loop: in my original idea, I had managed to find a progression that not only fit the chorus, but was also fairly straightforward and simple.  I wrote it down as a "basic idea," and then went in search of the ever-elusive lost chord that I thought (at the time) would take the idea over the top. Long story short, I never found my other chord, and in  the process, I ignored (for a while anyway) an idea that works perfectly for the music that I had.  So

I told myself last night that I needed to be more focused with my time, even if it was happening in smaller chunks than I would have liked.  Tonight I got my first chance to do just that. When I headed into the studio tonight, I had but one goal: To take a song idea that wasn't completed yet, and see if I couldn't flesh out the parts that were missing.  Tonight, anyway, I was successful!  I finished off the verses to go with a chorus that I have really felt strongly about for quite some time now.  So, it'll either go that way, or the verse and chorus progression will be the same and I'll throw a bridge in the middle.  Either way, I'm happy with what I got done tonight, because it's a definite step forward.

So, I found myself a bit of time to look at the EP today, and it is becoming more and more obvious to me that working in fits and starts, with only small increments of time to really devote to the project isn't working.  I need to be better about using the small chunks of time to work on more specific things: transitions between verses and choruses, etc. I also need to get back into the habit of carrying a notebook with me at all times, to jot down the ideas (musical, lyrical, etc.) that occur to me during the day.  That way, when I get a day off (like this coming Wednesday, for example), I can have everything all in one place so that I don't constantly feel like I'm playing catch-up and reintroducing myself to the project every time I sit down. Mostly, I'm just finally at the point where I'm really frustrated that I haven't made more progress, and it's time to kick things into a higher gear than they have been of late.

Once again, I didn't get into the studio until late tonight, but I got myself reacquainted with where I sit with the EP after I did get in there.  I'm to the point where I feel good about what I have, but not about where I am with what I have.  And honestly, I think that's a good thing, because it will almost force me to push myself forward. I didn't get to the listening that I had hoped to today, but that can be something for tomorrow. I need to spend time on two things tomorrow: 1) The EP 2) Theory It needs to be a more productive day than today, although today wasn't bad.

Tonight was an okay start to the weekend.  I got into the studio on the late side tonight, but I sat down and focused for a bit once I made it there.  I started off by going back and looking through an article on essential chords for songwriters (what I really feel I need to focus in on this weekend is the EP), and taking even a quick look through that got me in the right frame of mind to hopefully be able to sit down and spend a good bit of time on the EP over the next couple of days. I need to get caught up on some listening, too, this weekend, but the primary focus will be the EP.

Going to see a live act on a Thursday night really is the perfect time.  It gives a kick of energy heading straight into Friday and the weekend. Recycled Percussion was an awesome mix of live music and off the cuff entertainment.  Musically speaking, it was a great mixture of drums and guitar, with a mixture of original beats on one hand and some familiar songs designed to get the audience involved on the other.  For someone who is slowly but surely working his way through the process of recording, it was cool to see what they could do sound-wise on truly recycled products (buckets, tubs, etc.). All told, it was an upbeat evening of live music, and just the kick I needed heading into the weekend.

Another okay night. I had intended to sit down and do some work on the EP project, but things didn't go according to that particular plan.  Instead, I sat down with an old Guitar Techniques lesson on blues theory.  I didn't get as far into it as I would have liked to, but I made a bit of progress, and that was good. No listening to speak of tonight, but tomorrow will include a performance by Recycled Percussion, so that will be cool.

Tonight was an okay night.  I spent some time once again focused on theory.  I finally went back to those extra  resources I had found online the other day, and actually sat down with them for a few minutes.  I'm still convinced that they will add yet another dimension to my studying.  I haven't printed everything out yet, but I've got it all ready to go on that front. I did a bit of listening tonight, too.  Got a bit of the new stuff at least somewhat absorbed into my consciousness.  I'm feeling okay at the end of the night tonight.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Finally sat down and spent some time with the acoustic tonight.  There has been so much talk in my small circle of friends about acoustic music lately, whether it has been Dylan or the acoustic side of Jerry Garcia or the new Jason Isbell record, it has just been everywhere around me lately.  Not to mention the idea of the EP, and my constant feeling that if I am going to be writing, it should be done (or at least started ) on the acoustic. So, tonight, I sat down for a bit and tried to work my calluses back into shape.  I was at least somewhat successful, which is a good thing, and given that I have the morning off tomorrow, I should be able to get in at least a bit of playing before I have to have lunch and dash off to work. Made it through most of the latest issue of Guitar World tonight as well, which was good.

Tonight was a night when the time I got in the studio may have been on the shorter side, but absolutely all of it was time that I really needed to spend in the studio. I got some listening in tonight.  Nothing off of the pile of new things, but instead some older stuff that I love.  It was definitely a day where I needed the boost that well loved music can provide. As for the playing side of things, it was another mostly electric day, but I can feel myself leaning in a more acoustic direction tonight, so maybe this next week will be mostly focused on that side of things. Either way, as I head into the week, I know that I need to spend a lot of my energy focused on songwriting, while at the same time trying to get caught up on the backlog of new music that has piled up in the last month or so.  I'm really hoping that it's a good week for music.  I feel like I need it.

Today was an okay day.  I got some playing in a few different times today, first in the early afternoon, and then again on the late side tonight. My earlier session was spent with the electric in my hands, sitting in front of my laptop, refreshing my memory on a few songs that I've started to learn a few times ("Radio" by Alkaline Trio among them). As for my second session, there was a little bit of songwriting, and a little bit of theory work. Other things that got done today included gathering up everything that had gotten scattered around the house since the WI trip and getting it moved back into the studio.  I also made a run to the music store, where I picked up the following: Every Open Eye (Deluxe Edition) - Chvrches Higher Truth - Chris Cornell Better Nature - Silversun Pickups Dodge & Burn - The Dead Weather Not a bad day.

Tonight was at least a little bit better than last night, which feels like an improvement. Most of it was centered on theory (again), but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because I found a few articles that helped to shed some more light on the things I've been working on.  It was the kind of start to the weekend that I was hoping for.  Nothing too heavy for a Friday night, but enough of a spark there to get me up and moving tomorrow morning. The Mrs. has already said that she will have to spend a chunk of time working on homework tomorrow, which will free me up to get some good work done in the studio.  Can't wait!

Tonight was another quiet one.  The way things are going, I'm really going to need the weekend to be huge. I finally got a chance to sit down and start going through the latest round of guitar magazines.  That's only taken me almost the entire week.  Things have just been too busy since we got home from WI.  I did get a bit of a chance to sit down and play tonight, also, but there wasn't a whole lot of new ground that ended up getting covered. I'm really hoping that I can get things back to a bit of normalcy over the next few days, and that it carries over into next week. 

Another long day, and another quiet night when it comes to getting in some actual practicing. I did , however, manage to have some pretty great musical conversations after work, when a few of us went out for drinks.  I always enjoy hearing what other people are listening to, what they don't like, and what they have loved for years and years.  Two hours of conversation tonight gave me enough fodder to spur my listening for a few weeks (at least). When I got home, I sat with the electric for a bit, but didn't really make much in the way of progress.  Tomorrow night after work, I really need to buckle down and spend a good chunk of time in the studio. That's really it for the day.

Today was a quiet day where the music is concerned. I spent most of the free part of my evening sitting on the couch with the electric in my hands, working my way through a mixture of scales, notes, and riffs.  It was nice to zone out at least a little bit and just play for a while. Started in on the Ryan Adams version of 1989.  It's fascinating to hear those songs in a completely different vein.  I even went so far as to create a playlist with the Swift versions of the songs, followed by the Adams version.  I made it about halfway through both albums.  Just listening to the changes in the arrangements is a class in songwriting.  Great stuff at the end of a really long day.

Well, it has taken about a week of looking at theory-related things on a regular basis, but I'm at the point where the things I've been working on are starting to take hold somewhat.  It's always a good feeling when things start to lock in, whether it's working on my own songs, learning something by an artist I respect, or working to further my knowledge. Did I get as much time to focus on music today as I had hoped to? No, but I'm getting somewhere nonetheless, and that I will take. The other thing I did today was buy Ryan Adams' version of 1989 .  Some part of me is surprised that it received an actual release, but I'm so stoked that it did, if only to hear what one of the most prolific songwriters of our generation does with one of the biggest pop albums in the last few years. Today was either a good end to the weekend or a good start to the week, I can't decide.

We made it home from WI on the late side of things tonight.  Late enough that not much got done music-wise, short of getting everything I took with me hauled inside and put down in the general vicinity of the studio.  I'll get everything moved back in and organized tomorrow morning when I get up and get moving, but for now, here's a rundown of all the music I managed to find in WI: Live At The Greek - Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me - Brand New Selftitled - Days Of The New The Definitive Collection: 1983-1997 - Steve Earle Not a bad collection of music, if I don't say so myself.  Can't wait to dive in and do some listening along with my playing tomorrow. That's really all I've got for today.

Today was a day filled with travel. The fact that it had trips to Half Price Books and B&N in it was just an added bonus. I picked up the latest issues of Guitar World and Guitar Techniques, and also managed to find a good bit of music at HPB. There wasn't much time to actually sit down and play, but I am hoping that tomorrow will bring that chance.

So, the main goal tonight was too pack for the trip up north, and I'm happy to say that, in and around the playing and the listening this evening, that actually got done.  Here's what is going along with me on our (admittedly short) trip to WI: 1) The EP 2) The Vai Workouuts 3) The GW Columns 4) The Alchemical Guitarist columns by Richard Lloyd. Definitely enough to keep me entertained, but not so much as to overwhelm me and leave me spinning my wheels, or so I hope. Tonight was okay, but the next few days will be better.

Another night, another limited chance to hide out in the studio. True to form for the week, though, when I did manage to sneak in there this evening, I kept up the theory focus, trying to polish up a couple of things that needed work.  While I didn't get a whole lot of time, I still felt like I made some progress this evening.  What I'm really looking forward to, though, is tomorrow night and the weekend.  We're headed up north to see family, but whenever we're up there, I'm usually pretty good about finding at least a chunk of time every day to sit down and play.  Should be a good weekend.

Another day, another meeting that ran at least an hour longer than I was expecting it to. Still, I managed to get into the studio for at least a few minutes, and while I was in there, I kept the focus on the theory side of things.  Again, with a bit more work tonight, I find myself feeling more comfortable with things.  Progress is being made, albeit slowly this week. The other cool thing: my Amazon order came today, which finishes off my collection of studio albums by Guster, with Ganging Up On The Sun being the last album I needed.  Slowly but surely, I am filling in the missing pieces in my collection. Today was okay, but I am hoping that tomorrow won't have anything unexpected in it, and thereby, that I will be able to steal a bit more time with a guitar in my hands than I've been able to the last couple of nights.

Tonight was a good night.  I had a meeting after work that ran later than I was expecting, but I still found time to sneak into the studio and get a few things done. 1) I dove back into the EP for a little bit.  I'm still pretty happy with where I'm at, but there are a few bugs to work out in one of the more recent song ideas.  I expected that, at least a little bit, so it's okay, and it will get sorted out by the end of the week. 2) I kept working on theory stuff.  More specifically, the GW columns that have gotten a bit of attention here and there throughout the year.  What I really need to do is make those the centerpiece of things for the rest of the year, and just progress through them as much as I can. 3) I worked on learning a few things by ear.  I haven't added anything to my notebook of songs I've figured out from radio & CD in a long time, and that felt like a necessary (and good) thing to spend a bit of time getting back to. Can't wait to

Today wasn't the full-on day I was hoping for, but it was an improvement over the last few days, and I'll take that as a sign of progress at the start of the week. Again, it was a day that was theory-centered.  Things are getting better in that respect.  What it really comes down to for me (and for anyone, really) is spending time on things every day, even if it's only a few minutes at a time.  That's not to say that I made the absolute most of my time today, but for the time I had, I did all right. What I really need is to stay focused for the rest of the week, and see where that leaves me come next weekend.  I'm really hopeful that it's going to be a good week for me.  Tomorrow, I need to spend some actual time with the EP.

Today was a quiet sort of day.  I wasn't expecting that when I woke up this morning, but that was the direction the day took.  Knowing that (and the way it feels), I need to have a better day tomorrow. With that out there early, when I did get into the studio tonight, I spent some time focused on the theory side of things.  I hadn't looked at much in that regard recently, so it was good to get back to it.  What I really need to do is set up a practice routine that incorporates at least a few minutes of that every day. Things I didn't get to today included listening and the EP, but I'm hopeful that those things can be worked on tomorrow. The last two days have been fairly low key.  That needs to change tomorrow.

Today was an okay day.  Nothing spectacular, but a steady day all around. We stopped at the mall long enough for me to ascertain that new music magazines aren't out yet, and also to pick up a couple of new CDs.  Here's what ended up coming home with me: The Great Unknown - Rob Thomas The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim - Gary Clark, Jr. Tonight I was able to carve out a bit of time in the studio, but not quite as much as I thought I might at the start of the day.  I used that time to get reacquainted with what I had been working on for the EP, as there hadn't been a tpn of time for that the last couple of days.  I'm still feeling pretty good about where I sit, and I'm hopeful that tomorrow will bring more time to work on things.

I really only had one thing on my agenda for tonight, and it was a fairly simple task.  All I set out to do was get everything from our trip across the state moved back into the studio.  That didn't happen until fairly late in the evening tonight, but it happened.  After getting that done, I took a few minutes to do a bit of listening, and paged through my notebook of ideas for a moment or two, but I'm leaving a lot of the heavy lifting for tomorrow.  The Mrs. will be busy getting caught up on schoolwork for a lot of the day, which will give me a nice chunk of time to get back to work in the studio.  Should be a good day tomorrow, and a good weekend for getting some things done.

Today was a day full of cars.  Rides to and from the funeral home, to and from the graveside service, and then all the way back across the state to get home.  As such, my day didn't have much to offer in the way of music, and aside from a few minutes before everything got going this morning, there weren't a whole lot of opportunities to sit down and play. That said, I got everything I brought along (which wasn't much) hauled back into the house tonight when we got in.  I'll move back into the studio tomorrow, either in a few quick minutes before work, or most likely at the end of my work day. I spent a lot of time thinking about the EP today, though, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to work on things this weekend. Today was a long day.  More tomorrow, and much, much better.

Any day where your three year old niece asks if you know how to play "Uptown Funk" on guitar is always a good day. In all of the waiting around for wake/visitation things today, I actually found myself with a little bit of time to sit down and play some guitar today. It wasn't a chance to get into anything too serious, but I was able to just hang out with the electric in my hands, and that felt like something of an accomplishment, given how busy family stuff usually is. All told, I got more time today than I expected to, so it was a good day.

So, most of the day was split up between working and being on the road to Northwest Iowa. That said, there wasn't a whole lot of time for playing today, but I brought the Strat along with me, as well as the Vai workouts and the GW columns. The only other thing that made the trip was my notebook full of song ideas. Not sure how much time I'm going to have the next couple of days, but I am hoping to find a bit of time to sit down and play.

Today was a good day.  We spent part of it in Madison, having lunch and then hanging out for a bit with my Dad and Step-Mom.  Part of that hanging out was spent at a B&N, and while I didn't set foot in their music department (nothing can top the high of the Dylan yesterday... yet), I found an issue of Total Guitar that focused, at least somewhat, on the acoustic side of things. One of the things that made me pick it up was the article about "30 chords all songwriters should know."  I was at least passingly familiar with most of them already, but just starting to page through the article tonight after we got home re-introduced me to the notion of Em9.  That, in turn, spurred me on to pick up the acoustic, and as a result, I've got myself another song idea sitting in my notebook.  The more I sit down and work on the EP, the more ideas I come up with.  I'm really not sure what I'm latching onto here, but at the very least it may well be a series of EPs, w