"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

So, today was... interesting.  One of my regular customers brought in a record that his nephew made, and sold a couple of us a copy for $7.  Not sure how legal that was to do in the store, but hey.  I told him I didn't have cash on me, which was true.  Asked if he could just hold onto it for me until next time he was in, so what does he do?  He waits around for an hour until I get off work, so I can go to the ATM and get cash.  I really hope it's at least listenable. So, I had a little bit of free time tonight to mess about, and I thought to myself, "I know, I'll play in the studio for a while."  Figured I might work on the electric track for the tune we're trying to finish up.  Here's what has happened, though.  The tempo on the current tracks are 5 bpm faster than the original demo version.  Never knew 5 bpm could make such a difference, but it appears that it has changed the basic acoustic part just enough (or maybe I did that) that...

So, I was chatting with a regular customer the other day.  He's been coming in for the last three years.  We've talked music that entire time, and so I was shocked to hear the other day that he had never heard one of my favorite albums of all time , Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs .  He came in all excited about the record, and the live stuff from the Fillmore (which I didn't have) and the live stuff from the Johnny Cash Show (which I also didn't have).  He told me he'd burn me the other stuff, and he did.  So now I've got that, and while I haven't listened to it yet, just having it in the house makes me want to go back and dive into my blues playing.  I miss the blues playing. Oh, finding the balance between recording and listening and playing, how difficult you can be!

Imported both of the Son Volt records today (finally).  Wanted to get them onto the ipod before tomorrow, so I can listen to them as I go about my day off.  Need to get through the Wilco again too, in order to further my opinions and be able to comment on the album further.  Can't wait to discuss it with R. at some point soon. Skyped with B. for a few minutes tonight too, and we both said that we thought we'd be farther along on the record by now than we are.  We also resolved between the two of us to work harder on it than we have been.  That said, I'm recording tomorrow.  Electric part is getting laid down.  I told B. that I'd give anything to work on a different song, if only for a day. I know I said I'd have more to say about Matthew Sweet & Wilco tonight, but it seems like tomorrow will be a better option.  Day off, more time to process. I did play for a bit too, today, but nothing too major got done.  That too will change to...

Today was Wilco Day!!!!  Well, Wilco record release day, anyway.  Second Wilco day comes a week from tomorrow. It was also Matthew Sweet day... and Barenaked Ladies day... Got up early and went in to pick up the records.  Knew I'd have to listen to Wilco all the way through before I went in, otherwise it would torture me all night at work.  I got all the way through the record once before work.  I really, really love this record.  The last one took a while to grow on me, but this one I like right off the bat.  I'm not about to proclaim that the first half of The Whole Love is as solid as the first half of, say, A.M. , but it struck me on first listen as a really strong opening to the record.  I'm not confident enough yet to go through track by track, but that'll happen soon enough. No news band-wise today.  Didn't even really have a chance to play much, especially considering the amount of listening I did today.  No matter, th...

Had a great day off today!  Cracked open a lot of CDs that had been sitting, cleaned up the studio a bit, and took a stab at learning one of my favorite Counting Crows songs. What did I crack open? 1) Okemah & The Melody of Riot by Son Volt.  It's the DualDisc version of it.  I really miss those things.  They never really caught on with (seemingly) anyone but me, but they had the record on one side, and usually a documentary or band commentary or something excellent on the DVD side.  This one had a half hour documentary on the making of the record.  It was interviews with Jay Farrar inter-cut with live performance footage and video of the band recording the album.  Those things are always so very cool for me. The Dishwalla DualDisc I have (for Opaline ), has amazingly cool band commentary, mostly from J.R. Richards, on the writing of the songs.  That, too, is amazing. 2) The Clapton/Marsalis.  I opened it up, and didn't have ...

Chatted with B. tonight.  Didn't get started until late, and spent most of the time essentially catching up, but we did talk a little bit about the current tune we're working on.  I also sent her the progression that I finally got recorded tonight after work.  She didn't seem as high on it as I am, so it's possible that I may  wind up keeping it for a solo project. Picked up the Clapton & Marsalis record (with the DVD) and the Hugh Laurie record yesterday, and forgot to mention it in the blog.  I know full well that the Hugh Laurie record is amazing (we have it at work as an in-store play), and I can't wait to check out the other one.  Clapton is always better when he has someone to push him. Stuff to do for tomorrow (I'm off!): 1) recording the electric part for the current song. 2) getting in touch with J. to see whether he's after B's vocals first or my guitar part first. 3) checking out the Clapton/Marsalis record.

Today was another day like yesterday.  Lots and lots of time spent with Counting Crows bootlegs.  Shows from Miami and Madison (in 2001 and 2000 respectively), the legendary shows from Paris in December of 1994, and a disc of Studio & Live acoustic performances. Also included in my haul were 5 or 6 discs of rarities (covers, live stuff, etc), and the much discussed "Bunny Speaks" disc, that has nothing but Adam stories and the epic 9 minute version of "Goodnight Elizabeth" where he goes off and starts talking to "Elizabeth."  Freaking brilliant. Went down to Indianola today to support JP in her first art/craft show.  Weather was perfect, and plus, it gave me a chance to crank up the Stevens Point show.  S.L. was right, it really is a great show.  What surprised me the most was how little improvisation there was.  Although, considering where in the tour I saw them, it would make sense that they hadn't had a chance to really stretc...

So, roughly eight and a half years ago (April 15th, 2003), I attended a Counting Crows gig in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  At the time, I was aware of the immense network of people out there who traded shows back and forth, as well as the message board community that was obsessed with the band.  For whatever reason, I never actively pursued either angle.  Don't get me wrong, I've stumbled across a few full shows in my time (almost all thanks to AnnaBegins.com), and have greatly enjoyed that experience, but never in a million years did I expect to run across a copy of the show I was at. That being said, what I once thought was impossible has happened.  I have, in my travels, met someone who is not only as obsessed with Counting Crows as I am, they actually had a bootleg copy of the show I attended.  Needless to say, I've managed to snag a copy of that.  Haven't had a chance to listen to the entire thing yet, but went through the discs tonight to get the trac...

So, I gave credit to Michael Stipe yesterday, where Peter Buck deserved credit instead.  Found the quote at work today when it was quiet, and I was looking up R.E.M. stuff simply because I could.  Here, as best as I can find at present, is the quote: "I think we should hire someone who's a fiction writer, and get them to make it all up... that'd be good." I'm fairly certain that there was more to the quote than that, and if I can find another copy of it, I'll post the whole thing.  Either that, or I'll call my mom and annoy her until she goes and finds the book and reads the quote to me over the phone. In light of yesterday's news, I've also been in the mood to listen to Uncle Tupelo's 3rd record, March 16-20, 1992 .  It was produced by Peter Buck at his home studio. Played for a bit today before dashing off to work.  Nothing too major, though, and all acoustic stuff.  I keep trying to wrap my head around the potential album ender that...

R.E.M. broke up today.  I had every intention of talking about re-discovering my Counting Crows bootlegs late last night/early this morning, but R.E.M. broke up today. It seems weird to say that I listened to them all day, but that I don't own enough of their stuff.  It's true, though.  That's just my immediate reaction.  They're one of those bands that, for whatever reason, I just feel it to my soul that I need all of their music.  They had a biography come out some years ago by a british author whose name escapes me at the moment.  I do recall, however, that the title of the bio was Fiction .  The genesis behind the title, from what I remember, was Michael Stipe stating at one point, that he didn't want a biography about his band, but that if one had to be written, he'd much rather have a fiction writer just make stuff up about them, because it would be more interesting than what really happened. Because I am w...

Got up late again today, but still found a way to play for a bit before heading out the door to work.  Dropped B. a line too, just to touch base.  Try and knock down the door that has been closed a bit while we've both been so blasted busy. So glad to be done with my 7 day stretch!  Even though it's only a single day, I feel like it's going to be a long and glorious day of music making. Also on the list for tomorrow: 1) Recording.  Couple of ideas that still need to be laid down. 2) Actually listen to the Son Volt stuff that I picked up the other day. Wanted to buy like, 4 CDs today (new Tori, Superheavy, The new Jayhawks, and one other one that escapes me at the moment), but didn't because I hadn't even listened to the stuff I picked up earlier in the week. Tonight was a good one, let's just hope it carries over into the rest of the week. 

Picked up the guitar for a bit before work today.  Ran a couple of scales from the 30 hour guitar workout, and then moved into other things for a little while. Still haven't really made use of the timer really at all.  Need to start doing that soon. Then, tonight after work, I sat down with the progression that I've been working on that still hasn't been recorded.  The more I sit with that, the more I like it.  It's getting smoother, and sounding more like a chorus than it did a week ago. B. had said that she was going to spend today working on the song.  I didn't see anything in the dropbox tonight, though, so I imagine things came up.  I'll find her tomorrow.

Got a text from B. tonight.  Sounds like she's been as busy as I've been lately.  She's got tomorrow off from the sound of it, and is hoping to have some time to work on music stuff. Got an amazing deal on the new Pearl Jam book that just came out, celebrating their 20th Anniversary.  It's a 40 dollar book that I got for just over twenty bucks. Listened to the track that J. left for us this morning before work.  Not entirely sure that I'm happy with the guitar part I laid down, but as long as it serves the song, I'll be okay. I've really got to get back to playing hardcore in the next couple of days.  Working 7 straight has definitely put a cramp in my playing of late.  Granted, the bit of playing I have done has been productive and positive, so that's been good.  I go in late tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to get some fretwork in tomorrow morning.

Picked up Okemah & The Melody of Riot and American Central Dust today . Also, there was a message from J. this evening.  Apparently, he has finished the next mix in spite of his computer problems.  Can't wait to hear what he's come up with.  I've also gotten instructions on laying down electric parts, and solo stuff, so that will be good. Will definitely need to get in touch with B. now, considering the tracks. Long day.  Not much else to report.  Will do better tomorrow.

Listened to the first couple of tracks from the new Bush record this morning on the way to work.  So far, it's what I had hoped it would be.  It isn't a drastic change from their other stuff, but there seems to be enough movement forward that it's not a repeat of old material.  Granted, I'm only two tracks in, so we'll see. My brother sent me a link to a Youtube video tonight about classical music, and practicing, and optimism in approaching things.  Here's the link, this is really great:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LCwI5iErE&list=FLzVUC1VDNYMF7F4BxmIy6zQ&index=1 I did a bit of playing tonight, although not as much as I would have liked.  Although, I will say this definitively:  I can tell that my scales are improving, even in the small bits of playing I've had time to do this week.  I'm feeling better, and the notes are sounding clearer.  Small improvements, I'm noticing small improvements.  Time to really push myself,...

Hodgepodge of things today.  Might be better served as a list. 1)  Listening to "Tear Stained Letter" by Johnny Cash, off of American IV: The Man Comes Around . 2)  Picked up my timer today.  Target.  It's digital, and it very unintentionally matches everything else in my studio. 3)  The other musical purchase at Target tonight was the new Bush record, The Sea Of Memories .  They had the deluxe edition for $9.99.  I'll admit that the purchase was more out of curiosity than anything else.  Their early singles were fun, because they still had a bit of the grunge era in them.  I guess I'm just curious what someone who used to be a huge rockstar does when he "puts the band back together" after a decade.  I'm not expecting on it to live up to "Comedown" or "Swallowed," but if it does, I won't complain.  Oddly enough, the version of their biggest hit ("Glycerine") that I like best is the one by Melissa Ferr...

Did more listening today, in part thanks to a regular customer who loaned me an album to check out.  Mission Bell by Amos Lee.  I'm glad she did, because I've been hearing good things about him for at least 5 years now.  I've gotten a decent chunk of the way into the album.  It's good.  Acoustic-based folk soul.  I'm curious, now, about his earlier records.  Just another artists to add to the list of folks to check out. Had fun this morning checking out the list of records that came out yesterday.  I'm not used to having Mnodays & Tuesdays off anymore, so not being around the new stuff was odd this week.  Wrote down a few things I was curious about.  Don't have the list in front of me right now, though.  I'll make sure to drop it into tomorrow's posting.  Hopefully after I've had a chance to check some of it out. Missed a Skype message from B. tonight.  Bummed about that.  Some band stuff would've be...

Got something done on both the band and the general practice front today!  Took me a good portion of the day to get around to the music, but when I got there, I feel like I got somewhere. 1)  I figured out the way that the the last chord progression B. and I worked on before I left WI.  That's been bothering me for a month now, so short of recording it (which I have yet to do), it feels good to have solved that nagging issue. 2)  I started in on the 30 Day Workout.  Didn't try everything, but I dove into the first topic on the list.  The examples he uses will be helpful.  Even playing for half an hour, I can tell that.  The article recommends using a metronome for everything (which I need to start doing), and writing down everything I practice (which I need to do a better job of doing).  Also, I need to go out and pick up a cheap kitchen timer.  This way, I can set it for whatever amount of time I have to practice, and then just...

Still nothing from J.  I did, however, find out that B. is as excited as I am to have things back up and running.  That's all I know from the rest of the crew, though. Started pondering something (again) this afternoon.  The Steve Vai 30 Hour Guitar Workout.  I'm quite certain I've mentioned it before here, but I've gotten to the point where it might need mentioning again, in that, I think it might be a step on a longer journey that coincides with the ultimate goal of this blog... Berklee.  I've got to find a way to not lose sight of the overall goals in the other musical activities that happen.  I know, in theory, that everything musical I do is part of the bigger journey, but sometimes it's easy to take a lot of small steps and lose sight of the touchstones that need to be kept in sight along the way.  I've saved this article for 7 years now.  Seems like it ought to be a touchstone. Either way, I dug it out tonight, and started getting ...

I was really hoping that we'd have tracks from J. today when I got home from work, but no such luck.  No worries, though, with tonight being the start of my weekend (I have the next two days off), I should be able to get a lot done musically whether the other parties are involved or not.  I'm feeling like I need it, the end of this past week was rough, and I'm thankful for the break.  Lots of songs & ideas to work on in the next two days.  I have never gotten around to working my way through that CD that I burned for my trip home that has all those random progressions and riffs.  We never got to it while I was there, and I think it has only been mentioned once since I got back.  I'm pretty sure there's a song in there somewhere that we can use, I've just got to find it. One other thing I wanted to mention today.  I was online yesterday and stumbled across the list of songs Clear Channel "banned" after 9/11.  Ten years later, it's stil...

Heard from J. today.  His computer is back up and running.  Apparently, he's going to upload the long waiting acoustic part that I laid down a few weeks ago tomorrow sometime.  Then, at least according to his message, we can move on to vocals and electric.  Who knows, maybe we can actually make it through a song this week.  That'd be cool.  It would be nice if we could at least get it to a point where we could move on to something different.  If only temporarily.  Feels like we've been beating this one into the ground for way too long. And besides, we have so much music to work on.  So many better (in my opinion, anyway) songs to put down, that it will be more fun just to see how all of the pieces fall together.  And I'm still writing.  Haven't talked with B. in a few days, but I imagine she's working on something .  Having essentially finished off on of the two that I've been working on this week (except for lyrics) l...

So, yesterday's post was really short.  First off, I forgot to mention something yesterday:  I had a short conversation with J. before I ran off to work.  We chatted a bit about track order and song selection, and he told me that by worrying about the running order at this point, I was in danger of stifling my creativity.  That both he and B. that have told me to stop worrying about it, and I think they're right.  All we can do is write the best group of songs we possibly can, and see what happens from there.  Besides, as long as we keep writing, we ought to have a lot of stuff to pick from. With that in mind, I kept working tonight on the tune I started in the last couple of days.  I got the chorus figured out tonight, so that's awesome.  I'm still undecided on whether or not the verses will be right for the band, but I know for sure that the chorus progression fits.  I'll keep tinkering with it until I get it right. Importing a couple...

Interesting day today.  Met a customer with a gigantic record collection and had a fabulous discussion about music and the industry as a whole.  He offered to find anything I could think of that I wanted, and burn me a copy.  So I did what I always do in those situations.  I gave him a list.  We'll see if he comes through for me or not. Came home tonight, and worked on the progression I had started to find last night.  It's missing one chord in the chorus, but other than that, I really love it and think it'll find its way into the list of tunes for the band. That's really all I know today. My uncle passed late last night.  I know I mentioned him here earlier.

I dove back into the band stuff tonight.  Started with a bit of listening, as I always do.  Went back to the song B. sent me the other day.  I had written the music, but hadn't come up with any lyrics for it yet.  It's always fun to see what she does with the music that I write. After that, I tried to do what I always do... figure out track order.  In doing so, I came to a conclusion that, while it doesn't surprise me all that much, does pose a bit of a problem.  We have a lot of songs in E minor.  Almost too many.  Anyway, track order and songs we already had were stumping me, so I did what I always do in that situation... I wrote something new. Two something news, actually.  One of which uses E minor (because, hey, why not?), and the other of which starts on a major chord... *gasp*  This is rare for us.  Very, very rare.  I figured out a basic progression, then felt that I had to change it around a bit, because, well, we ...

Short chat with B. tonight.  I got off work late, and she goes in early.  Seems that she's been working on other stuff this week too.  That being said, I'm glad to have tomorrow (and Friday) off, because it will be nice to get back to the band.  I know it's only been a few days away, but somehow it feels like an eternity.  Guess tomorrow begins the balancing act between the band and the rest of the music rattling around inside of my head. Picked up another record today.  Elsie by The Horrible Crowes.  It's Brian Fallon's side project.  Everything I'd read about it in advance of the release date said that it was a slower burning, darker record than anything he had done with The Gaslight Anthem.  The reviews were right.  It burns very slowly.  I like it though.  It feels like a good record for driving late at night, not because it inspires the desire to get out on the open road, but because it meshes well with the night itself....

Picked up the Milos record today.  Mediterraneo , it's called.  I'm importing it into itunes as I write this.  It's the first classical music I've purchased in a long time.  Kind of excited.  I really hope it lives up to what I have it billed as in my head. Also, I've started reading Keith Shadwick's book on Jimi Hendrix.  He's the same author who wrote that amazing book on Led Zeppelin that I read last year.  So that has me thinking about jazz and blues more, because I'm still in the early stages of the book, and those are the influences the author is discussing.  Haven't really gotten to Jimi much yet.  Just the music that is happening in and around Seattle when he was young.  I can already see this train of thought leading me to Brian Setzer's big band work.  I've always been fascinated by his integration of electric guitar into the big band formula.  Then again, if I'm going there, I ought to check out T-Bone Walker too, ...

I was thinking again about yesterday's practicing discussion this morning while getting ready for work.  Remembering back to my days playing violin in orchestra in high school.  One of the things that was routine every morning was for our music director to throw a random scale at us for warm-up purposes.  Major, Minor, Diminished, etc.  It was a different key and a different note value (whole, half, quarter, etc.) every day, and it really kept you on your toes, and made you practice your scales, because you never knew what was going to be coming next.  I remember the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach if he called out something I wasn't as familiar with.  Looking back on it, that should have been a sign that I ought to put in more time.  Whether I did or not is up for debate, because, by that time I was already starting to play guitar.  If I had been smart and practiced both instruments evenly, I would have made steady progre...

Got an email from my brother today.  First one of the new school year.  He made an interesting point about practicing, considering, he said, that we both had a lot of that to be doing.  It's an obvious point, if you stop and think about it, but a good one just the same, and it is this: if you have enough to work on, practicing for a lengthy period of time should be an easy task. He's right, and just reading that notion made me want to pick up my guitar.  I got out the Hendrix stuff, and played around with that a little bit more, and then went digging for the book that I have long suspected will be one of the lynchpins in my continuing quest for proficiency and expression on the instrument.  I cracked that open, and started at the beginning, with the basic stuff that I know in my sleep, figuring that doing so will not only give me confidence as I start out, but also figuring that starting from the beginning will only make all of the other steps easier. Also o...

So, I started today, working just on the playing side of things.  Picked two things off of the list of seven from yesterday, and dove in a little bit.  Started with "Red House."  Just worked my way through the intro a couple of times.  Oh boy is it easy to tell that my fingers are a bit rusty!  All this work with just chord progressions on acoustic has definitely strengthened my fingers, but hasn't done much good for my tab reading and my feel on the lead stuff. There's going to be a lot of listening going on with these tracks as I get started here.  Enough that the notes start to slow down.  Along with that, I'm throwing each and every one of them into my guitar trainer, and slowing them down tempo-wise, so the notes fall underneath my fingers easier at first.  That thing really is a great way to go about learning songs with fast or tricky passages, and I don't use it nearly as often as I should. After playing around with "Red House," I decid...

I've been doing a lot of thinking in the last few days.  I know I've said it before here, but things have gotten seriously out of balance since the band came back into the picture.  What had started as a way to catalog my progress in learning (or re-learning, as the case may be) to express myself through my music has felt recently like a chronicle of things that are happening (or not happening) with the band and the record.  This is all well and good, but only to a certain extent.  The band should be a part of what I'm doing, not all that I'm focused on. Part of what's brought on this realization has been watching JP as she re-connects with her artistic self, and watching as she dives in head long.  I know that, to a certain extent, I've done that in the last 400 days, but at the same time, I know in my heart that I haven't dove in as deep as I could/should have. The other part has to do with my brother.  He got into the music program today at school....