"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Today was supposed to be the day I got myself caught up on everything I feel so far behind the eight ball on.  And then I got called in on my day off.  Now, extra money is nice, mind you, but today it came at the price of a small slice of my sanity. That said, I eventually managed to sneak away to the studio for a few minutes, and in those few minutes, I took a quick look at where the EP stands.  Here's what keeps getting to me: I know how close I am to being able to finish it off.  I know that what it would take is a day (or a good chunk of free time) in order to put those pieces together and come out the other end with something I can (at long last) start writing lyrics over.  Can I find that time?  Seemingly not right now, but that doesn't mean I won't keep fighting to have that breakthrough moment. I sat and did a bit of listening tonight, too.  Nothing new that I've picked up lately, just some classic stuff that helped to work a bit of the stress out of my shou

Today was another odd day.  We got more bad news early this morning regarding a family member's health, and it cast a shadow over the whole day. Still, I carved out at least a little bit of time tonight to get into the studio and try to get a little something done.  Where I started was paging through the new issue of Acoustic Guitar that I picked up yesterday in Madison.  There are definitely some cool lessons in there that will deserve a bit more of my attention tomorrow when I'm well rested and more awake. I'm really hoping to be able to spend most of the day in the studio tomorrow.  I could very much use a day of practicing, working on songs, and listening.

So, the Mrs. and I took a day trip to Madison today. It was a good day for finding music, if not a good day for spending time in the studio. Here's a quick run-down of what I found: 1) Volumes 6 & 7 of the Dylan Bootlegs. With those purchased, I am only missing Volume 8. 2) Two magazines: The latest issue of Acoustic Guitar and then one on the ukulele. 3) A cool little book on Bauhaus, and then one on sadness and popular music. 4) A few other CDs, including live records by Zeppelin and The White Stripes, and a studio album by Tom Waits. A pretty good haul, if I don't say so myself. Tomorrow is going to be a great day in the studio, though. I can feel it.

Today was a bit of an odd one again. On the plus side of things, I had a chance to talk about my EP project with a co-worker, who half jokingly told me that she plays the trumpet, and that if I needed her to be on the album to just let her know. I know that I am probably biting off more than I can chew on this one, but after wanting to get some cello on the EP the other day, I'm now wanting to find a way to fit in a part for a trumpet also. The only other big thing that got done tonight was sitting down and taking a few notes on the two songs that are in line to be on the second EP. I wanted to make sure that I got my thoughts down before they slipped away. I'm feeling like I am set up really well as I head into the weekend. Hopefully it translates into getting a lot done.

Today was another odd day. I managed to squeeze in a bit of time at the end of the night tonight, but as was the case last night, not a whole lot got done.  I did however, manage to spend a bit of time with the EP again tonight.  Not a lot of progress, overall, where filling in the missing pieces are concerned, but I've got a few ideas knocking around inside my head that might help to solve that problem come the weekend.  If I can really push myself come tomorrow night and what not, things could well be looking a whole lot different on Monday morning. I did a bit of listening tonight, as well, so that was a happy release at the end of a long day. All told, today wasn't spectacular, but it was steady, and I'll take that.

Today was a hodgepodge, but all things considered, it was a better day than yesterday. On one hand, it would have been a good music day if all I had done was go to the record store. I picked up the new Jackie Greene disc, and the CD release of the latest Wilco record. After that, I got myself settled back in the studio at home, dropped the Jackie Greene into the stereo and enjoyed spending a little bit of time with some great new music in my sanctuary. I took a look at the EP, but didn't manage to come to any earth shattering conclusions about the six songs I'm already considering. It does make sense to me, however, that the two ideas I was throwing around the other day would be the start of another project. Did I have the big day of practicing that I had hoped to? Not really. But the rest of the week will be good for that, I hope.

Tonight was at least somewhat like last night. No family in town this evening, but most of what I got around to tonight was theory related studying. I'm really looking forward to having tomorrow off, and having a chance to play and get some things accomplished. I took another brief look at the Vai tonight, and one of the things I want to do tomorrow is spend a lot of quality time with it.  Between that and the GW columns that have been waiting for me to get back to them, I should have a pretty good day ahead of me tomorrow.

Tonight was an admittedly busy night. We have family in town for an overnight, and it was just a really long Monday. That said, even though I felt a little bit guilty doing it, I tried to sneak in some studying this evening. I'm pretty sure that tomorrow is going to be a much better day for progress, but I managed to get in at least a few minutes of  time with the Vai workouts in between conversation this evening. I've got Wednesday off this week, so I am really looking at tomorrow night as a jumping off point for Wednesday. I'm really needing it to be a good week for me, music-wise, and I don't see any reason to believe that it won't be, provided that I do the ground work for it starting tomorrow.

I finally made some progress today on that song that has spent the last 72-96 hours messing me up and slowing me down.  I'm mostly convinced that I have solved the problem in the chorus, now I just need to figure out whether or not what I have holds up to the rest of the songs I'm considering for the EP.  Without it, I've still got 6 that are in the running as of right now, and even having that many feels like pushing the envelope in terms of an EP.  If tonight's work doesn't keep that idea in the running right now... I've got that and one other germ of an idea that might get things moving for a 2nd EP, but that's jumping pretty far ahead right now. It felt good to get in the studio and be productive at the end of the day, because in all honesty, today was a day where I should have gotten more done music-wise.  Today it wasn't about a lack of time, so much as it was about not making the best use of the time I had. I finished off the Elliott Smith bio

We had my brother and his girlfriend in town for the afternoon today. It was great to see them both, and it also got me thinking about the EP project. My brother's girlfriend plays the cello, you see, and while I didn't talk to her about it specifically, it got me thinking that it would be pretty cool to do an acoustic thing with a string quartet on it. I'm not sure if it would be separate acoustic versions of the whole EP, or if I would just use the idea for a song or two, but it is something to think about for sure. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, as it will be a whole day off with no real plans, and the best chance of the weekend to get a lot done.

I  took a perhaps not so well deserved break from focusing on the EP project tonight. And now, at the end of the night, I sit here and feel like I missed out, and should have spent some time with it. That said, tonight after work, I just needed something that was a bit less mentally intensive. So, what did I end up doing? Sitting down and watching a concert or two on TV. One of them happened to include Spoon, whose first two albums  (the only ones I was missing in my collection) arrived today from Amazon. There's actually a lot to learn about song structure if you pay close attention during a show. I am constantly impressed with the openness of their sound,  and the way the instruments blend together. All told, tonight really made me want to get into the studio tomorrow and keep working on the record.

So, I still couldn't make up my mind tonight on which parts of that song from yesterday worked the best, and therefore, I left it out of the blocking out process for another day. That, however, was far and away the worst musical news I faced tonight, and I'm okay with it only because in going through my idea notebook, I stumbled on something I had completely forgotten about that worked perfectly as either a verse or a chorus... so I added that to the list of things that are at least somewhat figured out for the EP. In fact, I'm now considering using the one I've struggled with for the last couple of days and another one that I like a very small part of as a jumping off point for a second EP, but I don't want to put the cart too far in front of the horse just yet, so I'm going to hold off on any serious thoughts of that for right now. Anyway, long story short, I'm again happy with the progress I made tonight, even if it didn't finish things off for

Today's work proved me right on at least one count: Last Thursday, I had written the following paragraph... I didn't finish blocking out the new stuff, by any stretch, but I did enough work sitting with the acoustic that I know I'm close to knocking it out.  Before tonight, I was expecting to take my notebook with me when we head for Northwest Iowa on Saturday morning, but now I'm feeling really confident that, with a bit of work, I can make some serious headway on our little getaway. While the progress didn't necessarily occur during our getaway to NW Iowa, a decent chunk of it happened tonight during the hour or so I spent in the studio.  Again, I didn't quite finish blocking out everything, but I made enough progress tonight to feel good about what I got done and where I sit.  I would have gotten farther, but one of the hurdles I didn't get over tonight is actually a fairly decent problem to have: I've got at least a part of a verse progress

So, we made it home from Northwest Iowa tonight. I'm at least somewhat moved back into the studio. Enough so that I can unpack a bag in there tomorrow morning and get started working on the record, which is all I've really wanted to do for the last few days. Admittedly, I will need to get a lot done tomorrow in order to ensure that everything I had hoped to get done over the course of the last few days gets enough attention, but if I can stay focused, it will be a great day.

We headed back into Sioux City today, both to see family and celebrate the Mrs.'s birthday. It was yet another choppy sort of day, with no real time to practice. In place of that, I managed to find new issues of Guitar World and Guitar Techniques, while also adding Volume 9 of the Dylan Bootlegs to my collection. Now I'm only missing 6-8. Otherwise my collection will be complete. The Mrs. has her big meeting tomorrow afternoon, so I remain optimistic that I can find some time to play in the morning before we have to leave for that. We shall see. Thus far, I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I wanted to, but all of that can change in a flash.

Today wasn't quite the day that I had hoped for when I went to bed last night, but it was still a day where I got at least something done, so I will take it. The free time I had hoped to find this afternoon never materialized, but I managed to get some work in tonight. Most of it was focused on studying, more so than playing, but that will have to do. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more free time to focus on the playing side of things.

Well, we loaded up the car and headed for NW Iowa today. Considering how long we are going to be gone, we probably brought too much stuff with us. I wound up taking both the Strat and my ukulele along with me. The Mrs. just got a uke for her birthday, and I wanted to take mine along with me to show her a few things. Along with that, there's the usual combination of theory stuff and album stuff in my bag. With all of the driving today, there wasn't much time to actually sit down and play, but I am definitely going to take a chunk of time tomorrow to relax and get some playing in.

Tonight was a strange night. I didn't get all that much done in the studio, but I still managed to work my way through the things that feel like they need to come along with me on the trip to Northwest Iowa. I am definitely going to be bringing the notebook from the EP project with me, along with the Hendrix, and some combination of the Vai workouts and the GW columns. Not entirely sure what else will be going along, but I have the morning to figure that out. Picked up the new Grace Potter record tonight as well.

Well, I didn't get to everything I had hoped to today, but I did enough tonight that I'm in a better place with the EP.  On some level, I was spurred on by finding out that a friend of mine was listening back to things that we had recorded ten to fifteen years ago.  Hearing that he was listening back to those recordings made me want to keep working on the newer ideas. I didn't finish blocking out the new stuff, by any stretch, but I did enough work sitting with the acoustic that I know I'm close to knocking it out.  Before tonight, I was expecting to take my notebook with me when we head for Northwest Iowa on Saturday morning, but now I'm feeling really confident that, with a bit of work, I can make some serious headway on our little getaway. Even if it wasn't until late tonight, it still felt good to be able to lose myself in the studio for a little while.

Today was a long day, mostly because I have tomorrow off. I got a little bit done tonight, but  (again) less than I was hoping to. It seems like it has been that way all week. It's okay, it just means I will have to get a lot done tomorrow. The Mrs. will be busy all day, so as long as I get up and moving at a decent hour, I should be able to get a lot done. Between studio time and sorting out what to take with me for the weekend in Northwest Iowa, it should be a full day.

So, I got the little things done today.  I burned those CDs for co-workers, and I made the rounds in the living room, and gathered up all the random things that really belong in the studio. I did a little bit of theory work tonight, as well, but otherwise, it was a really quiet day.  I'm most looking forward to tomorrow night and Thursday (my day off for the week), and hoping to get a lot of work done in the studio then. I did fit in some listening tonight, though, and a bit of reading in the Elliott Smith bio, so I guess that counts for something.

Today was a rather quiet start to what I am hoping will be a big week, but a few things got moving again and/or started.  I: 1) Started some slow work toward finishing up the EP project.  The notebook is out, at any rate, and a few things got glanced at this evening. 2) Found myself playing more acoustic tonight than anything else, which I hadn't been expecting, but again, that indicates a stronger focus on the songwriting side of things. 3) I tried to do a bit of listening, and was at least somewhat successful. 4) Picked up a book of Brad Paisley tabs today, as his playing has always been something I'd like to learn a bit of. There are still a few things knocking around the living room that I need to get into the studio, and there are a couple of CDs I still need to burn for people, but I'm hoping that I can get up early enough to do some of that before work.

So, we finally finished our week of dog-sitting.  I had such great intentions at the start of the week, and just never quite got to where I wanted to these last seven days.  It's only day sixteen of the new blogging year, and I already feel like I'm running behind.  Then again, I've felt behind schedule almost the entire calendar year, so why should this be any different? That said, it felt good to get moved back into the studio tonight.  It's somewhat futile, especially since we're leaving for NW Iowa at the end of the week, but getting moved back in was really my only goal for the night tonight. That said, the trip to NW Iowa will be the biggest break I've had (Leaving Friday night/Saturday morning, getting home Wednesday) since the Chicago trip in March.  I would really love for it to be 5 days of progress, so I'm thinking I really need to step things up this week.  If I can build on successes consistently all week long, by the time we hit the weekend

Today was a better day. I spent a part of the afternoon picking up the latest issue of Acoustic Guitar from the bookstore, and with Warren Haynes on the cover, no less. And tonight, I picked up the electric and got back to it, at least a little bit. There was some of everything tonight: a little Hendrix, a bit of theory work, and at least a passing thought given to songwriting. In the end, it may not have been the mega - productive day that I had hoped for, but it got me headed back in that direction. And the best part? I've still got tomorrow to go.

It's been an admittedly quiet week this week, and while I would love to be able to say that tonight was the night that I changed all of that with a marathon session of playing, in reality, tonight was just a combination of last night's post on songwriting and my post from earlier in the week when I was able to find the time for a bit of theory work. Tomorrow is the day that I am hoping will change the fortunes of the week. It's a full day off with not much planned, and I intend to use it to the best of my abilities as a way to make up for lost time. Wish me luck.

While I may not have done a lot of work when it comes to the actual writing of my own songs tonight, I did manage to find a way to fit in a bit of reading on the subject. And it was reading that I think will really be able to help me as I move forward with the writing of my EP this fall. I had picked up a huge issue of Guitarist magazine a good while back that was solely focused on songwriting. I have paged through it a number of times since I bought it, but in reading through it again tonight, I was finding more tidbits of knowledge that I must have skimmed over the last time. All of this is just an elaborate way of saying that I very much need to get serious about songwriting again, and have a bit more discipline than I have otherwise brought to it of late.

It was a great birthday this year. I added some good stuff to my music collection, and had an otherwise wonderfully relaxing day. Here's what I ended up adding: Presence - Led Zeppelin In Through The Out Door - Led Zeppelin Coda - Led Zeppelin Getting the last three re-issues completed my collection (again?), which I have been looking forward to ever since I found out that the last three records were coming out in the end of July. I also picked up the new record by Warren Haynes, and added Volume 10 of Dylan's Bootleg Series to my collection. Now all that I am missing of those are volumes 6-9. Picking up that collection had been my ridiculous music buying goal at the start of the year, and it seems like I might actually achieve that goal. I didn't get around to much in the way of playing today, but I had a spectacular birthday all the same. Tomorrow it will really be time to get back to work on the playing side of things, though.

Today was another decent day. To a certain extent, it built on the efforts of yesterday, which wasn't all that bad. Tonight's work included a couple of different things, I: 1) Got a little bit of reading done in the Elliot Smith bio. I'm making slow and steady progress in that book, and am very much enjoying it. 2) I got a bit of work in with songwriting. Not nearly as much as I would have liked to have done, of course, but I will take any sort of progress that I can in that regard. 3) I did a bit of theory work as well. I was feeling a little bit rusty on that front, so itwas good to get back to it. I really need to be doing a lot more of that sort of thing in the next few weeks. All told, not the most productive of days, but not the least productive either.

Slowly but surely, I am starting to get myself caught up on things. I've been feeling so far behind when it comes to practicing, and most everything else since before the new blogging year turned over for me. I'm not all of the way out of that particular hole yet, but I am getting closer. Take tonight, for example: I didn't necessarily get a lot done, but I managed to both get back to a bit of  playing, and also start to get myself caught up on importing some of the newer music that I have picked up. On the surface, neither of those things is particularly huge, but both of them together have taken at least a little bit of the weight off of my shoulders.  I'm still not where I would like to be, but tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.

Today was another strange day. I've been having a lot of those lately, or so it seems. I finally got started on importing the new music I've picked up of late. I didn't get everything uploaded, but even getting a start on it felt good. We're dog sitting again this week, so I got to do one of the most freeing things I've done of late: pack up a few things to focus on, and haul them to a different space. On some level, I think that might be the best thing for me right now. A bit of fresh energy never hurt anyone. Made some good progress in the Elliot Smith book as well. Today didn't turn out terrible, but I still feel like I could have gotten more done with the time that I had.

So, my biggest problem in the last few days has been that I haven't really gotten into the studio at anything approaching my peak levels of concentration. Such was the case again today. I got in there later than I had hoped to, and in so doing, was pretty well spent before I could even pick up an instrument. That said, I made myself sit down and focus, for at least a few minutes, on the state of the EP project. I worked out a little bit more of where things are sitting in regards to that, and called it good. The only other thing I really got to today was figuring out what I need to bring in from the car music-wise that I need to import. My biggest thing for tomorrow needs to be getting an early start on things, if only to ensure that I do more work while I am focused and awake. It didn't help matters any that I didn't sleep well at all last night. Tomorrow is going to be a better day.