"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

I made some progress today where the EP project is concerned.  It's nowhere near perfect.  There's still one or two ideas that I'd like to include, but haven't ironed out all of the rough spots yet.  What's really nagging at me is that there was something I played off the cuff last night at church that was perfect, and I wasn't able to recreate it today when I sat down to work. Nonetheless, I was happy with the push forward today, and am hopeful that, by the end of the weekend, some of these nagging issues can be sorted out.

I was finally able to get in some playing tonight. Granted, most of it was thanks to Worship Wednesday at the church, but in the process I stole some time to sit down and work on songs. Slowly but surely the pieces are falling into place. The summer hasn't been exactly what I was expecting, but it's getting better right at the end. Today was a good day. I am hopeful that tomorrow is going to be a better one.

Today the best thing that happened to me (and my chance to get a whole lot of work done on the EP project) was finding out my work schedule for the semester. I got done what I needed to get done, and don't have to be back until Tuesday. The goal for the rest of tonight and the early part of the morning is to get myself started with laying down a few ideas to get things moving again. Tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun.

Made it home tonight.  Late.  Not much to do in the way of moving back in to the studio.  At this point in the evening, I'm just glad to be home. The semester starts tomorrow, and I'm still not sure what my hours are going to be.  That means I'm either going to have another week of time to get some recording started, or I'm going to drop in tomorrow and be full go from there.  I'm not sure what I'm hoping for, other than a bit of time tomorrow (at some point) to get down into the studio and get some work in. 

Might have had a breakthrough today thinking about the EP project. We shall see how it goes tomorrow night when we get home. Still no concrete time to sit down and write. Maybe tomorrow, definitely soon.

Another quiet day. More time thinking about the EP project. I am looking forward to having a chance to settle in when we get home in a few days, and hopefully put some of these thoughts into practice.

I was really hoping to be able to get in some writing tonight. It didn't happen. I am still feeling like I'm surrounded by a great storm of ideas, now I just need to find the time to sit down and work on songs/lyrics, etc. Today was a good day otherwise, though.

Today was a day where all of my time was spent on the road. I didn't get a whole lot of writing done, but I have a ton of thoughts floating around in my head that I am going to try and work on in the next few days.

Small journey begins today. After much deliberation, I have brought my iPod and my lyric notebook along with me. Should be a fun time. I am going to hope for a shot of inspiration along the way.

Today was another quiet day. I spent a bit of time in the studio, and got a chance to get a few things done. I am hoping to get a chance to sit down and work on songs tomorrow morning as well.

Not a whole lot to report today.  I spent the whole day in the car with my Dad, going to and coming from the total solar eclipse.  It was a great day, just lacking in music. Back on the wagon tomorrow.

Today was a quiet one, spent mostly on the road. I brought a notebook along with me on the journey, but didn't get a whole lot of time to sit down and work on lyrics. Perhaps tomorrow. Still a good day of adventure with my Dad.

So, I got down into the studio today, but not for anything approaching as long as I had wanted to.  It was long enough to putter with song ideas, but not long enough to make any appreciable progress.  In truth, what I need to do is get some things put away, get the space back to something approaching a working environment.  There's a (very) slight chance that could happen in the morning, before my Dad and I take off on our crazy eclipse adventure, we shall see. Otherwise, I've got a notebook and a pen packed and ready to go for our 36 hour jaunt, so maybe during the car trip part I can find some lyrical inspiration. A good day overall, but one that could have used more music in it.

Today was even quieter than yesterday.  Granted, there was a funeral to attend, and then we spent the rest of the day hanging out with family, so there wasn't necessarily a whole lot in the way of time , but still. What I had was a lot of good brain time in the car, which was helpful for thinking through things as they sit right now. I'm really hoping that tomorrow will offer a bit more studio time, but I'm not sure how realistic that is, as my Dad is going to be getting here tomorrow afternoon.  We shall see.

I was actually able to get in some good studio time today, and in so doing, I finally got myself started working on the EP. I made some good progress, but as always, I didn't get a whole lot of work done on any of the musical ideas I was already working on. Lyrically, I was able to pull from the things I have as a way to get started. Today was a good start.

Today was a day where we were mostly on the run.  Out of the house, celebrating The Mrs.'s birthday a day early.  That said, I was able to pick up a couple of new magazines and a book of Guitar World's 100 best guitar solos.  All 100 are transcribed, so that should make for a fun iTunes playlist and some good learning. The only bummer of the day was that I didn't have much in the way of time to work on the EP, but I'm really hoping to get to that for a good chunk of tomorrow. Today was definitely a lot of fun.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Today was a great day. I had thought last night that I had all of the lyrical pieces organized, but today I decided to take a glance at the notebooks that have piled up in the studio, and I ended up hitting the jackpot. I found a few pages of really good lines that will really help me to get this project off the ground. For the first time in a long time, I am feeling really good about both the musical and lyrical sides of the EP.

Made a bit of progress today. I spent a bit of time working with the lyrical side of things. It took a little while, but I got all of the pieces and parts assembled in the same place. I also tinkered with the music side of things for a few minutes. Tomorrow is going to be the day I start putting it all together.

I finally feel as though I've started in on the process that will likely occupy most of my waking energy in the next week. Today's musical efforts were mostly filled with listening in preparation for tomorrow, when the actual work is going to start on the EP.  For better or worse, things this weekend have not offered me the chance to get anything concrete done on the EP. Tomorrow, the big work starts.

Today was another day like yesterday, unfortunately, where my energies were divided between too many things to feel like I actually accomplished anything concrete.  About the only good thing at this point is that, with the things I've gotten out of the way in the last few days, I should be able to spend a lot of next week just focused on working on songs, which is a good thing. I'm feeling badly that I wasn't able to do more today.  Hopefully, that will have me motivated for tomorrow.

Today was... odd. I got a lot of little things done today (CDs and magazines hauled downstairs, some listening, a bit of playing, and tonight, a bit of looking ahead to what I'm hoping for tomorrow), but it was little stuff that, at the end of the day, didn't feel like it added up to anything bigger. I need to be more singularly focused tomorrow.  Today I split my energies between all of those little things, but tomorrow needs to be a singular musical focus, and it needs to be the EP.  I've got big goals for the rest of the summer, and it's time to hunker down and really make it happen.

Today was a busy day at work, but I managed to get all of the students helped that needed help, and also to get everything in place for the fall semester. On the surface, that doesn't seem to be related to my musical pursuits, but what it means is that I get to have next week to work on music. The goal for next week is a simple one: I want to get the chord progressions for the EP project finished off, and maybe get started on recording if things go well. All of the fun starts in the morning.

Today was a frustrating day, and the only way I was able to get through it was to focus on the studio and the hopes I have for both the weekend to come and next week. I am hoping to get all of the work related things that need doing finished by the end of the day tomorrow, so that I can take next week to spend in the studio. I am really going to try and make some serious progress on the EP in the next week and a half.

Sadly, I didn't get back to Pepper today. What I did do was take a quick look at a few things with the EP.  I'm starting to feel the slightest bit of pressure to get back at it, like time is slowly starting to get away from me, but if I'm smart with my time the next few days, I should easily be able to reverse that trend. Somehow, I feel like, for the first time in a while, I have a slight grip on what is ahead of me, and the way forward seems to be clear at the moment.  Now is the time for putting one foot in front of the other and just pushing onward.

Today was a decent day. I cracked open the seal on the Sgt. Pepper box set, and spent a bit more than an hour doing some listening. It's fascinating to hear the pieces come together and form a masterpiece. There's a ton more listening to do, and so much for me to learn from studying it. I spent a bit of time with the acoustic in my hands today, too, but didn't get around to working on the EP today. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow.

Today had a bit of getting settled back in, but it wasn't the complete process I had been hoping for.  That will have to happen tomorrow, when I've got the day off and a chance to not only settle in and also get some work done. Today was all right.  Tomorrow will be much better.

Birthday today. Ended up getting the deluxe edition of Sgt. Pepper .  Can't wait to dive into that over the next few days. I also stole a few minutes in the morning to pick up the guitar and play. We headed home late, and got in late.  Hopefully tomorrow can be a bit of settling in and then Monday can be a big day to get things done.

Having brought some music stuff with me to the lakes, I at least expected to get some chance to sit down and play.  Things didn't exactly work out that way, but I got a chance to sit and think and do a bit of listening, if not a lot of playing.

Up at the lakes for birthday celebrations. I brought my acoustic and my uke, plus a few things to work on. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day.

Today was a day where I ended up getting bits and pieces of lyrical ideas. I jotted down what came through, and stashed it away for the days to come. It's going to be fun to watch the pieces come together. Hopefully I can get small things every day and in that way, get myself back in the groove of writing lyrics. Today was a good day.

Today was okay. I didn't do much in the way of writing, but I found time to fit in some listening, and did a bit of brain-work where the EP is concerned.  All summer long, I've been telling my students at work that they shouldn't focus on the mountain of work that they have in front of them, they should just focus on the one specific piece of it they are working on at the moment and try to make it the best they can before moving on.  As badly as I want to make quick work of this EP, I'm trying to give myself the same advice, to slow down, enjoy the process, and make sure things are the best they can be before moving on to the next bit. I need to get more done the next few days, but where I am tonight is better than nowhere.