"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Ed Sheeran in DSM tonight.  On the way home now, but suffice to say that it was a great show. Lots to take in and talk about, but that is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

The influx of new song ideas has had me reconsidering what the running order will be for the EP.  With today being a busy day (we picked up my sister-in-law in advance of the Ed Sheeran concert tomorrow!) I had no time in the studio, but plenty of time to think things over as we drove. I'm fairly certain that I've got things squared away as I sit here and type this, and I'm positive that the new song ideas changed things for the better.  Either tonight or (more likely) tomorrow, I need to sit down and work through these ideas to make sure that what looks good on paper (and sounds good in my head) actually works in reality. Today was a good mental day, tomorrow will be a good work day.

Today was, for the most part, a good day. The music tonight at church sounded the best it has to date (I thought).  Having some form of percussion really makes a huge difference. In the hour before everything got started, I sat in the quiet of the sanctuary and worked on the song idea that has captivated me this week.  It's coming into a bit clearer focus, and that part has been good. In fact, the only bummer of the day is that the new Jeff Tweedy record I ordered from Amazon has a big old scratch in it and will need to be swapped out for one that actually plays all the way through.

So, the Mrs. issued the formal challenge today: "Can you," she said, "Make the final decision on what songs you want to use for the EP by the end of the month?" My response: "If I have enough time at home between now and Friday?  Sure." Whether or not I'll get enough time to actually make that decision remains to be seen, but I'm sure as heck going to try anyway. New Tweedy came in the mail today, as I had expected.  It hasn't made the CD player yet tonight, and at this point, I'm thinking that the record is a likely candidate to be my drive in/out music for work tomorrow. Still feeling good about the writing side of things.  Hopefully tomorrow offers more time to focus on it than today did.

I'll tell you what's crazy to me... now that I've been more focused on thoughts of songwriting for the last few days, I'm finding chord progressions everywhere.  In a wrong note on a piano, a song faintly heard, a combination of voices.  I'm just finding inspiration all over the map right now. Even with that, I didn't have anything appreciable in the way of studio time today.  We had family here in the morning, and the afternoon was spent running errands and meeting up with people. I'm just really excited that things feel like they are moving again where the writing is concerned.

All kinds of things to write about today: 1.  M. and I played for church today, and I thought we acquitted ourselves well.  The songs were slower in tempo than I was hoping for, but the performances went well.  Afterwards we got a chance to run them with a bit of drums, and the extra propulsion that provided was awesome.  We really need to find a way to have someone drumming every time.  Wednesday looks even better after the way this morning went.  Following that , we sat around the piano and talked a bit more songwriting.  She played through something she had been working on, and I did the same with that melodic idea from the other day.  I've got chords to go underneath it now, so that's cool. 2.  After church, the Mrs. and I headed to DSM for a family event.  Of course, this coincided with a trip to B&N.  No new music, but I picked up a couple of magazines, and the Mrs. found me a songwriter's journal.  We had been talking on the way down about what we want to get

Today was good. I spent a couple of hours rehearsing and planning with M.  We made what I thought was good progress, and I'm pretty sure we're ready for tomorrow and Wednesday.  Got a chance to listen to the new Justin Townes Earle on my way to and from rehearsals, and I really dig the new record. The other thing that happened today was a small bit of inadvertent songwriting.  In a short break from rehearsal this afternoon, I was playing around with chords when something jumped out at me.  I played it through a few more times, and then played it for M., which led us to a short conversation about writing music. All told, if I can find a bit of time to follow up on this fresh song idea tomorrow, all will be heading in the right direction.

Today was another good day.  I finally got the rest of the music unwrapped.  It's not all uploaded yet, but that will happen over the next week or so.  I also downloaded all of the chords for some of the church music that the Mrs. bought.  We had done a couple of those songs during our week at camp, and now I've got the listening and the learning side of things. I reached out to M. today, as we need to get together and run things for both Sunday and next Wednesday.  Tomorrow afternoon looks like it's the best option to get together.  Running the couple of songs shouldn't take all that long, but it will be a good time. I did a bit of playing today, but I'm really hoping that tomorrow has more of that in it. 

Today was a good day. It was so, if only because I got to crank up the new Matthew Sweet record on the way to and from work.  It's really good.  Not on the level of Girlfriend and 100% Fun , but to me it felt more vibrant than anything he's done in a while.  I didn't know how much I needed that blast of power pop until it came flooding out of my car speakers, but it was great. Lots to do tomorrow, some of which involves listening, but more of which is focused on the fact that tomorrow is the first day in a long time that I'll have at home with time to spend in the studio with a guitar in my hands.  I can't wait to do some playing and hopefully move that into some songwriting by the end of the day.

The new music came today, and while that is epic and awesome and all things wonderful, I didn't have any time to sit down and dive into any of it tonight, and that, after the day I had, seems rather deflating. What I'd like to do is disappear into the basement for the next two or three days, in an attempt to rediscover my center and make some really good progress on my goals for the summer.  Realistically speaking, that won't happen until Friday at the earliest, but at this point I would take that. All I know for sure is that I need to do something tomorrow that gets me closer to making my EP project more of a reality, and then just build on that and go from there.

Today was a better day. While I didn't have a chance to hide out and do much in the way of playing, I was able to hide away with the new Jason Isbell record, and that helped restore a bit of my soul. The other good thing that happened... the Mrs. put in an Amazon order that just happened to include: Tomorrow Forever - Matthew Sweet Kids In The Street - Justin Townes Earle and Cover Stories , the new album helmed by Brandi Carlile that celebrates the 10th anniversary of her record, The Story . So, yeah, not enough rock and roll, but good listening both now and ahead.

Today was quieter than I was hoping it would be.  In the end, there wasn't a whole lot of time to spend in the studio, and I'm really starting to feel that lack of time in a big way.  Things are looking busy for the rest of the week, but what I need to do for my own sense of sanity is hide out in the basement, or really anywhere in the house, with a notebook and a guitar. I don't know... it's just been a frustrating run of weeks for finding time to work on my own stuff.

Well, I got to the only thing I really had on my list today, and that was to get everything from our week at camp unpacked and moved back into the studio. I'm still wishing that I'd had actual time to get to my own stuff last week.  I know it doesn't pay to be frustrated that I didn't, and I know that I really need to look at the week to come as my chance to really get into all of that. It's still weird to be home, and I'm feeling like that has slowed me down a bit for the last couple of days.  All of that needs to change tomorrow.  It's high time to kick the summer into high gear.

So, I didn't get a whole lot of time to get the studio reset today, but I can tell you what did happen: I picked up a bit of new music. Three albums, actually: 1. The new Jason Isbell 2. The new Bleachers record 3. The new record by Lorde I am hoping that tomorrow is going to be a better day in the house as opposed to out of it.

So, we made it home late tonight. I haven't gotten everything reset yet, but that's going to be happening tomorrow. While the week at camp was a great one, I am looking forward to having time in the studio over the next few days to actually get back to my own projects.

Today was another good day. I spent a bit of time finishing up the book I had started yesterday about the guy who was searching for his personal record collection. We also had a couple of good worship services today that I got to play for. The music is still a bit of a work in progress, but it's getting better. The only thing I didn't get a whole lot of time to work on was my own projects. I am going to really try and carve out a bit of time for that tomorrow, though.

Today was a pretty good day. I had a chance to do some playing this morning, all songs they were using for stuff up here of course. Tonight I spent a bit of time reading a book about a guy who is on a quest to recover all of his vinyl records. I am hoping that tomorrow will let me finish that book, and also do some writing and playing.

Up here and settled in. I did some playing for the opening events tonight, and considering that none of us had ever met before, I think that it went well. Aside from that, I got a chance to get myself unpacked, and then picked up the acoustic and spent a bit of time working with the latest song idea. I think it's going to be a great week.

Well, things are packed.  I'm taking: 1.  An acoustic 2.  A ukulele 3.  My notebook full of half finished song ideas 4.  Enough learning and studying materials to last me a week (probably more) 5.  My iPod 6.  A couple of music books from the pile that is growing in the studio. I'm pretty sure there are a few other things tucked into my backpack as well, but those are the absolute highlights.  It has been a good summer so far, but I think things are about to take a step forward.

All week long, it seems I've been waiting, excitedly, for the weekend to get here.  What that means for me is that tomorrow I get to spend the day figuring out what the final list is for my week at camp. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and the week to come. Today was a bit quiet, although I was able to fit in some listening, which was good.  Tomorrow morning, all the fun starts.

Slowly but surely, I'm finally starting to piece things together for next week.  There's more work to be put in over the next couple of days, probably a lot of which will be done on Saturday, but having at least taken a look at it for the last couple of days, I'm confident that things will come together quickly over the weekend. I know I said it earlier in the week, but I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to get away for a bit while having time to practice and work on songs.  I'm still really hoping to have an EP recorded by the end of the summer, and I think next week could be a really big step in making that dream a reality. All I really need to do is get through the work part of tomorrow in order to really get started with packing and the rest of the prep part of things. 

Today was an all right day.  I'm still caught up in figuring out what to take next week when I'm working on the music side of things up at camp.  I was able to reach out to the person who is leading the whole thing music-wise. I didn't do much in the way of packing for next week, but I'm still thinking things over.  The next couple of days are going to have to be a bit more focused on that.  At some point before Sunday, everything is going to be squared away, but today wasn't that day.

I spent more time today thinking about what's coming up at the end of the week. I haven't started packing for the week at camp, but I am definitely deep in the planning part of it. I know I said it last night, but I am really looking forward to having a chance to sit down and work on writing some songs in the next week and a half or so.

So, I know it's still a week away, but I'm helping out with the music for a week up at a camp on Lake Okoboji starting next Sunday, and I'm already working my way through what to take along with me.  I've been working through it in my head pretty much all day today. Technically, they only need me to help with music in the early mornings and later evenings, and while I know there will be some rehearsal time in there, I've been assured that I'll have the rest of the time to relax and/or do my own thing.  They have asked me to bring an acoustic and a ukulele along with me, and while I'm looking forward to helping out, what I'm really looking forward to is a chance to sit down and have some deliberate time to focus on the songwriting I'm wanting to work on over the summer.  I don't have my notebook full of musical ideas packed quite yet, mind you, but it's very close to that.

Today was a much better day than the last few. For one thing, I actually spent an appreciable amount of time in the studio tonight. Most of that time was spent with an acoustic guitar in my hands, which was great. I stumbled across the notebook that I have been using to keep track of the songs I figure out off of radio and  (mostly) CD. Somehow that had gotten misplaced, and I am glad to have it back again. Paging through, and playing through, that was fun. After that, I took a quick look at the latest song idea before calling it a night. I really need to get to some songwriting every day, even if I don't think that I will have time for it, because showing up every day is the only way to get back in the groove of actually doing it.

I did something today that I hadn't expected: I read a short book of poetry in an attempt to get my mind wrapped around the idea of getting back to writing lyrics.  The book I read, Our Numbered Days , by Neil Hilborn, was a quick, mostly irreverent read that had some serious depth to it at the same time. At the same time, I did a bit of listening, and I kept working my way through the pile of magazines.  It was, in some ways, a repeat of yesterday, in that it was overall a quiet day, but there were definitely some really great moments. Tomorrow needs to be more productive.

Today was also a quiet day.  I hadn't been expecting that, but it happened. I did a bit of acoustic playing, but didn't do much with the songwriting side of things, as I had hoped to.  There was also a bit of time spent catching up on some of the magazines that have (again) begun to pile up.  I need to spend more time down in the studio tomorrow than I did today. What it might have been, was needed.  If nothing else, it gave me a chance to sit for a bit and recharge for a day.

Today was a quiet one. I worked for a while this afternoon, and while the drive to and from kept me out of the studio, it gave me a chance to do a bit of listening in the car. I spent a lot of time with things running in the back of my mind today. Most of that energy was devoted to the songwriting that I had started in on the other day. I am really looking forward to having a few days free to get in some good work.