"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Today was a bit of a quiet day.  Most of my time was spent getting re-settled in the studio, and then starting to think some more about music goals for 2017. It was a good day, though, and a fitting end to the year.  I'll post more in the way of specifics tomorrow.

Home. After five days away, some good music and magazines purchased, and a fabulous addition to my guitar family, we have made it back from Wisconsin. No doubt there is a great deal of acoustic to be played, and a small amount of moving back into the studio that needs to be done, but honestly, with everything at least hauled inside, the rest of it can wait until the morning.

Well, I did it. I found my new acoustic. And I ended up with a beautiful Martin!

Let me see, between last night and today, I have picked up a couple of new guitar magazines, grabbed myself a copy of the new Rolling Stones record, and kept thinking about the recording project that I am going to undertake in the new year. I haven't been able to fit in any more instrument shopping yet, but I am definitely going to be doing some of that tomorrow during the day. In a perfect world, I will also get a chance to sit down and plot out the start of things for our arrival back home. I'm going to have 10 days when we get back, and I want to get as much done with those days as I possibly can.

Well, I started the process of guitar shopping today. I had what I would call limited success, meaning that I didn't find anything to bring home with me, but I was able to get a little bit of a feel for what I would like. Another couple of stops and I think I might be onto something. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Up in Wisconsin now, and for the first time in forever I don't have a guitar along with me. The plan is to find one while I am up here, and then to practice on the new acoustic. If I strike out, however, I know that my brother has an instrument around, so I can get my fix that way. Aside from that, though, I was up late last night /early this morning and I may have had a major breakthrough in regards to the recording project for 2017. I don't want to comment fully in case it doesn't pan out the way I hope it will, but let's just say that I am feeling really good about where all of that is sitting at the moment. Great day today!

"And I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight... Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night."

Today was a day filled with family and fun.  It was more thought filled for me than action filled where the music was concerned, and those thoughts were, again, centered on the notion of a double album.  I'm starting to think that this ought to be my main goal for 2017, but there's still a voice in the back of my head urging me to slow down my roll on that concept. I know I'm not likely to get a whole lot of time on Christmas Day for playing, but good things are ahead for the end of 2016 and the start of 2017.

Today was one of those days that had a "more of the same" sort of feel to it.  I kept working on ideas for the double album, but I have yet to have my "Aha" moment when it comes to where that project will really start to take shape. As for the EP, I'm fairly certain that I only need one more song to fit somewhere in the middle of the project to really get that to gel.  That leaves me with a series of ideas that aren't necessarily connected to any of those three projects still to tab out, but those are a last item on the list sort of thing for me, and if they don't get tabbed out until after the trip up to see family, then so be it.  As long as they get transcribed by the end of the day on the 9th of January, I'll be good with it. I'm hoping to be able to steal at least a little bit of time tomorrow before all of the family starts to roll in and the festivities begin.  We shall see.

After finishing off the transcribing of the power pop ideas yesterday, and then sleeping on it, I decided to spend today taking a look at the ideas I had thought might be in consideration for inclusion on a double album project.  There weren't that many of them, and at first I was content to just sit down and listen.  Essentially, I wanted to make sure that I still liked what I had recorded. I'm also really wrestling with the style of music on this potential double album.  Most of them are done in the typical rock band form, but with where I live now, that isn't necessarily going to be possible.  I'm just going to soldier on and cross those bridges when I come to them.  Good day, though.  

So.  All of the riffs and progressions for the power pop record are either tabbed out or written down in such a form that I know what they are supposed to be when I glance at them.  That feels like a solid step.  A small part of me is now torn  between spending my time on the power pop stuff only, and then doing the rest of the transcribing as I finish each successive project, but I know that the smart decision is to keep going with the transcribing while it is going well, because in the end, who knows if I'm going to have the three projects I currently have broken down.  I'm definitely better off to finish the transcribing of the other ideas, and then take stock from there and see what the best course of action is going forward.  Maybe I'll end up with three projects (EP, Power Pop record, Double Album), and maybe I'll end up with something completely different. All I know is that, for the first time since break started, I'm actually feeling like I'm p...

Today was a better day than yesterday. I am making progress on the transcribing, and that's exactly what I was hoping for. I have run into a few times where I can't quite figure out what I did, but in every case, I have found a reasonable alternative that I like better. I could have stood to get a little bit more done, but either way I am making progress.

Today was not the rousing success I was hoping for.  That, it seems, will have to be pushed back until tomorrow.  That being said, I did find some time to be down in the studio, and I was able to work my way through transcribing another couple of the ideas on my gear, so I guess it was a win, even though I didn't get as much done as I was hoping to. Today was also a day where I was pulled in a lot of different directions, and I let a couple of things that didn't break my way get the best of me, so that part is on me.  Tomorrow, on the other hand, is a completely free and open day, where, if I am focused and productive, I should be able to get done what I had hoped to get done today. 

If I thought that things were starting to pick up yesterday during my time in the studio, then today proved to be a pretty big leap forward.  I'm still transcribing, mind you, but tonight the only reason that I stopped working was to make sure that I got in a post before the end of the day. In short, I made enough progress in tonight's session that I'm actually feeling like I'm getting somewhere, like getting this part done and moving on to the next step is a realistic goal for my time off of work.  And the best part for me?  I haven't even gotten to the days that are "free" yet... this is still technically my normal weekend. So, yes, while I still think there was more I could have gotten done today, I'm decidedly happy with the progress I've made, and I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow.

I got over my incessant need to tinker today, and the transcribing is starting to flow (finally).  Although, I realized fairly quickly that this is definitely going to be a two guitar process, with one of them in standard tuning and the other dropped a half step from standard.  I had forgotten just how many ideas I was writing on a guitar that was tuned a half step low.  At one point, I had thought it sounded better for my voice.  Now I find myself wondering if that is still the case. I'm really hoping that, with productive days tomorrow and Monday, I can finish off that part of the project and get down to the actual work on songs.  This break is already feeling productive, and I haven't even scratched the surface yet, really. Today was good, though.

Well, I got started on things today, a little bit at least. I split my time in the studio tonight between working on some of the soloing stuff that has been occupying space in my brain and a bit of the transcribing work that I need to get done.  I'm doing okay, really, but my big hang up right now seems to be a desire to tinker with the basic ideas before I start writing them out, just to see if I can make them better before I commit them to paper.  That's either going to be a really good thing in the end, or it is going to slow me down way too much. Still, I made a bit of progress today.  Tomorrow needs to be a more productive one, but I'm okay with what I got worked on today.

Last day of the semester today.  That means a couple of things: 1) Most of what I had time for tonight was a refresher of what it is I'm hoping to accomplish in the next three and a half weeks. and 2) All of the real fun starts in the morning.  After a decent night's sleep, my plan is to get up and get started transcribing the rest of those song ideas, because I completely ran out of time for it the rest of the week. So, yes, tomorrow begins the mad dash toward the end of 2016 for me, and I'm really hopeful that those two weeks (10 days, really, before the holiday) will be super productive.

Today was, I hope, the last day for almost a month that I can say didn't turn out the way I hoped it would.  I ended up fitting things in between students today, and while I found a few things that will be cool to implement over the break, it wasn't a full day of music under any circumstance.  To top it all off, I got home late enough that I didn't get much of anything done tonight either. Tomorrow is an early day, but also the last day before the break, so starting Friday I'm officially out of excuses as to why more progress isn't being made.  I'm really excited about what's going to get done over the semester break.

Today was a quiet day.  I didn't end up having much time to get down to the studio this morning, so I ended up just doing some listening on the way to and from work, and then trying to fit in a bit of studying and playing when I got home. I know that I've got at least some of tomorrow night free, so it should be a better day.  I'm looking forward to getting back to the transcribing.

Today wasn't exactly the day I was hoping for, but it was better than the last few days, so I'll take what I can get. I (finally) got started on a bit of the transcribing.  It made sense to me to start with the idea divisions that I already had in place, and so I started working on the ideas that, at this point, coincide with the power pop project.  I got one done, and started on a second before I got called away to do other things, but while it is an inauspicious beginning, it is a beginning nonetheless.  I have started, and somehow, that made all of the difference today. All I can do at this point is get some sleep, and try to get up early enough in the morning that I can steal a bit of time in the studio before I have to dash off to work.

Today was okay. It was a strange hodgepodge of things done at different times, but it was okay.  The only real bit of playing I was able to get to happened late tonight, and was once again focused on some of the soloing stuff if the last couple of days. What I'm really looking forward to is tomorrow.  I've got the house to myself for the day, and I'm finally going to be able to set aside enough time to really focus in on the transcribing that so desperately needs to be done.  After all, break is fast approaching (at the end of the week), and any progress I make now is one step that I'll be ahead of the game when I've got uninterrupted time. Honestly, I don't feel like I got enough done today.  Tomorrow needs to be awesome from the word "Go."

Okay, so it's taken me a long, long time, but I think I'm finally starting to get smarter. Today was another day when I didn't work on transcribing any of the stuff I've been talking about transcribing, but I was able to find a few moments to sit down and work on my soloing.  The part where I'm finally getting smarter is that, after talking about analyzing solos ("Stairway," most specifically), I finally actually started doing it tonight. Now that I've started, to no surprise at all, things are making more sense.  The connections between phrases, the leaps that aren't really leaps... after saying I want to get better at all of this for so long, I'm finally, actually taking the steps to do it. Next year is going to be good... but the next few weeks are going to be pretty great, too, I think.

So, I had some time in the studio tonight, and in light of the things I'm hoping to get done, both by the end of the year and the end of the weekend, I decided that the best use if my time this evening would be to just sit down with my electric and work on some scales and soloing.  It was good, and it tied in with some of my goals for the end of the year. We're supposed to get the first big snowstorm of the season sometime this weekend, and I'm counting on that to keep me in the house, and also to give me the time to really sit down the next couple of days and dive into the transcribing that I know needs to get done if I'm going to be able to start the year the way I would like to. Tonight was good.  I only wish I had gotten downstairs with a bit more time to work.

So, I didn't have a lot of time to spend in the studio tonight, but I was able to find a few minutes to sit down and look at my list of things for the end of the year. Based on that, I am pretty sure that I want to spend the weekend trying to cross one of those things off. I'm really going to try and get the rest of the ideas from my recording gear tabbed out by the end of the day on Monday. That seems like the best way to get started on my list, because it will free me up to start doing some writing as soon as possible. Should be a good weekend.

So, again, today was a lot like yesterday, in that, I thought I was going to have a lot more time than I actually ended up having.  Still, I managed to sneak in a few things here and there.  It wasn't a whole lot of studio time when all was said and done, but it was definitely time spent adding to my list of things I'd like to accomplish with the next thirteen months. There was a very small bit of listening thrown in there for good measure as well.  I may be counting down at this point... only four shifts left until the end of the semester, and then the music gets to step fully forward and take center stage again. With that said, I'm also really looking forward to the weekend.  It'll be the first time in a while where we'll be at home for the whole time.  No traveling, no guests, just a quiet (productive) weekend at home.

Today ended up being a whole lot like yesterday.  I worked for most of the day, and while it was busy there, I still found a little bit of time to sit down and focus my thoughts on things that are ahead.  I made a few additions to my list, and they feel like solid additions, at that. I found a little bit of time to do some listening today, too, but that was the real extent of what I got to today.  Tomorrow starts early, but the evening is free, and should offer a bit of time in the studio.

So, today was the day I finally got to sit down and really start to block out my plans for the end of the year/start of 2017.  I know I've been talking about it for what feels like a long time now, but tonight there is actual, solid proof of my efforts sitting in a notebook downstairs in the studio. I got smart and broke things down based on whether I want/feel the need to get them done before the end of the year, or whether they are better served being finished in the new year.  There are definitely some similar, if not identical things to the list I made about this time last year (that whole moving thing took up about the whole middle part of my year), but there are some new things added in, which is cool. Still mainstays on the list are: recording projects, learning "A History of Rock N' Roll in 100 Riffs," and playing more acoustic than I do.  Based on a few things I know about my approach heading into next year, all of those things should be possible. I kno...

Today was a day to dip my toe into all of the things that I'm wanting to work on tomorrow when I've got a bit more time. I did a small bit of listening, I sat with the electric for a few minutes, and I started to organize my thoughts about the end of this year and the start of 2017.  I had hoped to be able to do some of that earlier in the weekend, but never really got the chance. Today may have been a bit of a hodgepodge, but something tells me that tomorrow is going to be a great day.

No luck with the new guitar search today.  Went back for the second round of looking at Ike's before we headed home, and while I've got a better idea of what I'd like after my couple of days in Dubuque, I still don't have a new instrument in my possession.  I'm thinking that the search will have to wait now until at least the break for the Christmas Holidays.  I also spotted a really sweet Telecaster that I wouldn't mind having, but the acoustic needs to be the priority, so there's that. I got myself fairly well moved back into the studio tonight after we got home.  I sat and played for a few minutes, but I'm really hoping that tomorrow and Monday can be what I was hoping some of the trip to Dubuque would be: a chance to map things out going forward toward the new year, and then some time to get started on those goals.

So, I did some definite looking at instruments today. There are a few leads so far, but nothing I can say for sure when it comes to a front runner. I got a few minutes to sit down and play today as well, and while I didn't have a chance to get to as much as I should have, it was still good to be able to have the time. Tomorrow is going to bring another round of searching, and I am incredibly excited to be looking.

So, I am sure that I over packed for the trip to Dubuque, but here we are anyway. I brought the two newest books I have on songwriting and the new one on guitar theory, along with a blank notebook, some tab and guitar neck paper and my Strat. Tomorrow is shaping up to be a busy, but fun day.

Today was a good day. For starters, my order of the Deluxe Edition of Tori Amos's Boys For Pele came in the mail. That would have been enough for me today, but secondly, we're headed out for a bit of the weekend in Dubuque (Thursday night thru sometime on Saturday), and while the Mrs. is meeting up with some people, I get to go look at instruments and play guitar at the hotel.  The truly awesome part about that for me is that it happens right at the start of December, so it gives me a bit of a chance to really sit down and plan out how I would like the month to go.  Aside from looking at instruments, that's the part of the next couple of days I'm looking forward to the most. I've already started setting aside what I'm taking with me, and while it's probably too much, it will let me have enough resources at my disposal to really dive into my hopes for December and beyond.  Should be a fun couple of days.

So, I finished off my 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo tonight, and in that precise moment, I felt this huge weight lift off of my shoulders.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing that every November, but for the last couple of weeks I have really been missing the time I would normally get to spend in the studio.  With NaNo mostly out of the way for at least another eleven months, I can get back to transcribing the ideas on my recording gear in December, with an eye toward starting some serious writing and recording come the first of the year. There wasn't a whole lot of time tonight, but the work I did in other areas just served to clear out my schedule, so I'm pretty sure that there will be a lot more time coming very, very soon.

New issue of Guitar World came in the mail today.  I didn't take a whole lot of time to really dive into it yet, though, for the same reason as last night.  I spent most of the day focused on NaNoWriMo, and while I didn't quite finish my word count for the month (thereby freeing up most of my brain for music once again), I did put in a really solid day, and I should be able to finish the thing tomorrow if all goes well. That said, I spent a few minutes at the end of the day hanging out in the studio, doing a little bit of playing and reading/studying; and that time was good, productive time.  Considering the amount of time I haven't gotten to spend in the studio in the month of November, I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm sitting in regards to next month and the lead in to next year. It's definitely going to be an adventure from now until the end of the year, but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can get done.

I finally got started on hauling my finds from the trip up to MN down to the studio.  I managed to get all of the books brought down and put away.  It's just the couple of CD's I picked up that still need to be brought downstairs.  That can happen tomorrow, though. I tried to get some good work in tonight, I really did.  I started reading the book I just picked up on over coming songwriter's block, and I'm thinking that it's going to have some really good stuff in it. I picked up a guitar for a few minutes tonight, too, and didn't hit anything that truly inspired me. Honestly, the biggest problem I have right now is that I'm less than 5,000 words from meeting my goal for NaNoWriMo, and I have finally reached that point where I can't seem to think about anything else.  If all goes really, really well, I might be able to finish it off tomorrow and be able to refocus on the studio, where I know I have a lot of work to do and a lot of decisions to make...

Well, we're home.  No new instrument yet, we ran out of time for shopping.  I'll put it off at least until next weekend, when we'll be back in Dubuque, and I can stop at Uncle Ike's to see if they have the guitar I'm looking for.  That will also give me another week to do some looking around at my options. We did , however, stop at a Half Price Books on the way home.  I found some good stuff, including: Foo Fighters by Mick Wall Do Not Sell At Any Price by Amanda Petrusich Beating Songwriter's Block by Gary Ewer All good reads, all music related.  I also snagged a Pavement record and another disc that I can't recall at the moment.  Either way, it was a pretty great day for picking up new stuff.  I'm looking forward to the next two days, when I can actually be home and make some progress in the studio. 

Well, we're back up in the cities tonight, because my sister in law flies back to Colorado tomorrow afternoon.  We did our customary Black Friday shopping, only this time at the Mall of America, and the one thing I was really looking for, the two-disc deluxe reissue of Tori Amos' Boys For Pele , I had to special order. I also picked up the new Ron Howard film on The Beatles, because that seemed like a very good idea.  I'm hoping that, while we are still in the cities tomorrow morning/afternoon, I'll be able to seek out a guitar shop and take a look at an acoustic or two, just to see if I can't find lightning in a bottle and come home with whatever the new instrument will be.  Secretly, I'm also looking for a Telecaster, but I've pretty well resigned myself to the fact that I won't be able to get such a great deal that I can bring them both back home with me. Should be a fun adventure either way, though.  Can't wait to get home tomorrow and spend ...

So much of the day in music was about sitting up late and talking with my brother about my plans for the end of the year and the start of 2017. Sometimes just bouncing ideas and hopes back and forth is exactly what I need. It was a great time catching up with family, and a great day overall.

Got down into the studio for a bit this evening, although family has started arriving for the holiday tomorrow, so naturally that occupied some of my night.  It was good to have dinner with some of them, and will be good to see the rest of them when they arrive in the morning. Mostly tonight, I sat with the acoustic and just played.  At one point, I ended up kicking around a few chord ideas, but I didn't take it far enough to have it actually turn into anything song-like.  Just sitting down there tonight, though, affirmed my belief that, after all of the craziness this year has brought with it, next year needs to be the year I write (or finish writing) a record.  Whether that will take the form of some of the things I've already quasi-begun (EP, Power Pop Album, Double Album) or whether it will evolve out of those and into something else entirely, I don't know right now.  Next year, though, needs to be the year. That's really all for tonight.  I was hop...

I didn't have a whole lot of time to spend in the studio tonight, but it was the first time I've really been down there with a decent chance to just sit and play in the last couple of days, and so even though I only got to spend about a half an hour down there, I'm still left feeling like I rescued a small piece of myself that desperately needed rescuing. I sat with the acoustic for a few minutes, and then did a small bit of listening.  It was the perfect end to an otherwise busy day, and while I wish I'd had the time to do some writing or try and work out a cool loop to mess around with over the holiday weekend, I just didn't have the energy for that tonight. The other cool thing that happened today was that my back issue of Guitar Techniques that I had missed in September finally got here from England!  Can't wait to sit down and go through that with a good bit of focus this week sometime. A much needed good day today.

Today was one of those days that was absolutely full of missed opportunities. I both got up too late and will be heading to bed too early to be able to find a chance to get much done. Could I hit the studio right now and at least say that I spent a chunk of time down there? Yes. Would it be quality time? Probably not. I am severely over tired and also heading into what promises to be a busy week of work, even if it is only a couple of days. I'm running on empty, and already looking forward to Wednesday night after work and the holiday weekend, even though that is likely to not really offer the respite I so desperately need.

Today was a quieter day than I was hoping for. When I made it into the studio tonight, I found the energy to do a small bit of acoustic playing, and to take a quick look at some of the theory stuff that has been on my plate for the last few days.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend all that much time with either one. I'm really hoping that tomorrow is a better, more productive day, because I really feel like I need it right now.

And just like that, the studio is whole again. The replacement looping pedal was waiting for me when we got home today.  I brought it inside, opened it up to make sure all of the pieces were there, and then hauled it downstairs where I plugged it right in.  Surprisingly, I didn't take the time to play around with it all that much.  That can happen tomorrow and Monday. I did , however, take a quick look at the guitar theory book that I had picked up recently, and I did just enough work with that to set myself up for some good successes in the next couple of days. It's good to be home again.  Even though we were only gone overnight, it feels like we were away for about a week.  It was a really good feeling to be able to get back into the studio tonight and set things to rights.  In a perfect world, I'll be able to spend a whole lot of time down there in the next couple days.

Short post today, filled with a mixture of good news and bummer news, and both happen to be related to the same thing. The good news: My looping pedal got here this morning! The bad news: It arrived about a half hour after we headed up to the Cities for the day. So, the real fun will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon sometime. The best thing about the day, though, was getting to spend the afternoon and evening with my brother.

Today was a really long day. To be completely honest, I didn't have a lot of time to spend in the studio today. I did manage, however, to get both the power supply for my looping pedal  (still not here, but closer now), as well as my fresh tablature hauled down to the studio. After the day I had at work today, I will take all of the victories I can today.

In a rather cruel twist of fate, the power supply for my replacement looping pedal arrived in the mail today from Amazon.  The pedal itself?  Oh, no.  That's still at a carrier facility out in Portland, Oregon, and isn't scheduled to get here until tomorrow at the earliest, or next Tuesday at the latest. I had time to do a little bit of thinking and plotting of things today, but not a lot of time to do much dirty work down in  the studio.  Tomorrow's my last day of work for the week, and while Friday is going to be a busy day mostly not spent within reach of a guitar, I'm really hoping that the weekend can be a productive one. With the looping pedal on its way, and the manuscript paper I ordered already here, I should be able to have some good fun this weekend, provided I can carve out the time to spend downstairs.  I might need a little bit of luck to get there, but we shall see what happens.

Short post today. A couple of really good things, though. 1. I got to talk to my brother for about an hour tonight, which means that I got the chance to hear about the concert that he went to in Michigan last weekend. He saw the Berlin Philharmonic, and I am incredibly jealous. 2. The tab books that I ordered the other day got here tonight, and they are exactly what I wanted. No news yet on the new looping pedal.

Well, after being here since the middle of June, today I finally gave up looking for my looping pedal, wrote it off as a loss, and ordered a replacement. Which means that I will, no doubt, find the original one in the next few weeks. Sadly, today wasn't as productive of a day as I was hoping for, but I am definitely looking forward to getting the tablature paper that I ordered in the mail tomorrow. That will let me get back to transcribing the riffs and progressions I have sitting on my recording gear. The other cool things that happened today involved finding a box of studio stuff out in the garage. Mostly it had notebooks and magazines in it, I think. I'm going to have to take a closer look at it tomorrow, though. All I know for sure is that it didn't have a looping pedal in it.

Today was another day where I ended up having a whole lot less time to spend in the studio than I was originally expecting to, but I still managed to spend a short period of quality time down there by the end of the day. I got a chance to look into a bit more of that theory book that I had picked up in Ames the other day.  Tonight was another night of small bits falling further into place.  I'm going to need to spend more time down there tomorrow than I did today, just to ensure that the things I worked on tonight don't slip away from me, but all things considered, I'm feeling better tonight than I have in a while. For once, as I head into Monday, I'm feeling like I can build on some small successes, as opposed to having to cram a whole weekend's worth of work into a single day.

I got a bit of time in the studio today.  Less than I had anticipated when I got up this morning, but enough to sit down and at least take a small bite out of the theory book I had picked up yesterday.  After spending a small amount of time with it, I'm more convinced than I was yesterday that it will help to fill in some of the missing pieces for me.  I'm really looking at the end of the year as a way to shore things up heading into January.  We shall see if it turns out that way, but right now I'm feeling pretty good. I'm hoping that tomorrow can be a day to build on the small successes of today, and that Monday can be a day where I am fully immersed in the studio and can really start putting things to work. I really hope that I can find a way to get downstairs a bit earlier tomorrow than I did today.  I'll be the first one to admit that NaNoWriMo is again having an impact on my music time, but I know I can do better than I have the last week or so. Tomo...

So, we were gone most of the day today, which didn't allow for studio time really at all. That being the case, I made it my business to find something musical in my day, and in that I was successful.  I picked up the latest issue of Guitar Techniques , I picked up a book on music theory as it applies to the guitar, and I picked up a CD/DVD combo of the Rolling Stones from their Steel Wheels era. All things considered, it felt like a good day for musical additions.  Tomorrow, when my day is free to be spent at home and in the studio, I can finally get to all of the things I have only been touching on all week long. Something tells me it is going to be a fun weekend for me.

After working all day, I got into the studio and bit on the late side tonight. I got started on a few things that I really want to get done this weekend, but most of that is related to the transcribing that I have to get through in order to move forward with my recording projects. Somewhere in there, I found out that we lost one of the great songwriters of our time: Leonard Cohen passed away tonight. 2016 has not been kind to the music world.

So, I said that I would get back to it today, but even I wasn't expecting to do that by getting something on the songwriting side of things. I was driving to work today, with nothing on the stereo for a change, when all of a sudden I started to get some words running through my head. I wound up repeating the phrases to myself over and over for the rest of my forty minute drive, just to ensure that I wouldn't forget them, and then I put them into my phone as soon as I pulled into the parking lot.  It wasn't much, I know, but any time the muse decides to make an appearance, I'm always happy for whatever shows up. I got home late tonight, so I didn't have a lot of time to do any follow up work down in the studio yet, but after work tomorrow I will definitely be getting down there and seeing what I can come up with. It may be nothing more than a trickle of ideas right now, but it's more than I've had of late.

So, thanks to the election this evening, I took a night off from the studio. Things will pick up again tomorrow morning, though, because I don't have to be in until noon.

Well, I was able to find my way into the studio today to get a little bit of transcribing done.  I'm making progress, it's just not as fast as I would like it to be.  I'm also not spending as much time on it as I'd like to right now, so I'm assuming that is most of my issue. I'm getting a lot of other things done... just not the stuff I really ought to be working on.  Either way, as long as I can get it finished in enough time to have sorted it all through and ready to be worked on starting in the middle of next month, I should be all right.  I'm not too worried about that particular timeline right now, though. I'm really hoping for a productive week coming up.  I need to do better with my weekend days, though.  I've been less focused than I ought to be, and I know it.  This weekend looks like it might be good for having time, though.  The Mrs. has a work thing on Saturday, so if I can be smart with my time then, I should have a good chunk of ...

So, I finally got started on the transcribing side of things today.  And the best part?  I had some success right away that is getting me even more pumped up for this whole process.  I started later in the day than I had otherwise hoped to, but that first bit of progress turned out well enough that, if I can get a good day in the studio tomorrow, I feel like I can make some really good progress. I'm bound and determined to cross some big things off of my list by the end of the year, and getting into the studio tomorrow and getting more work done is the first step in that process.

So, I had every intention of sitting down and working on that transcribing today, and then I got distracted by another project and another thing that has been on my mind, and I let my day get wrapped up in that.  Here's where my head was at: Way, way back in January, I had declared 2016 to be a "Finish Year," and I had a decent sized list of things that I was going to cross off of my musical To Do List during the ensuing twelve months.  And through the first couple of months of the year, I was actually making some decent progress.  Then March happened.  That was the month when our lives really started to get put on hold.  All the way through spring and summer and a little bit of fall.  Between my wife's graduation and job hunt and our move and getting the house somewhat settled and me starting my own job, things got a little busy in the middle six months of 2016. Not that I haven't gotten things up and running since we've been in the new place, because ...

Today was a weird day.  I didn't get down into the studio until really late in the day, and when I finally did make it down there, I found myself looking through the Dylan lesson in the new issue of Acoustic Guitar , and then picking up the acoustic for a bit of playing that wasn't really all that related to the lesson.  It was just good to sit and play. Tomorrow, I really need to start in on the serious work, and really get down to transcribing all of the progressions and riffs that are biding their time on my recording gear.  Refreshing myself on how to play all of that is the first step in making serious headway on all of the songwriting that I so desperately need to get started on before the end of the year.  In a perfect world, I'll get all of that done (and get started on breaking through my long running lyrical block) by the fifteenth of December, so that I can use my break from work to focus on getting some songs worked on.

Another low key day today, although I was able to get to the book store and pick up the latest issue of Acoustic Guitar .  They have Dylan on the cover this month. Really, the big news of today is that my weekend is finally here, and I will (at long last) get the time that I am so desperately needing in the studio.  There's a lot that I want to get done by the end of Monday, but most of the serious work on all of that will have to start in the morning, because today was a long day, and I'm beat.

Well, I didn't end up with as much time to spend in the studio today as I was hoping to, so as a result, the transcribing that I had hoped to get to this morning will have to be put on hold until tomorrow at the earliest, and the weekend at the latest. Instead, I spent the few minutes that I had in the studio today with a guitar in my hands, doing some playing before I had to go to work. Still a good day, even if it was not quite what I had expected it to be.

Today was a busy day, both at work and after it.  As a result, there wasn't a whole lot of time to spend in the studio tonight.  Even so, I was able to do a bit of plotting and a bit of studying during my down times at work today, and not having to go in until noon tomorrow gives me the morning to spend a bit more time down in the studio. I think I might try transcribing some of those old riffs in the morning.  Knowing where I'm headed when I get up will help me out a lot. Today was, I know, somewhat short, but as the week goes on, things are going to get better and better.

I got into the studio this afternoon, and made some progress in getting things better organized.  I didn't get as much done as I had hoped to... nothing got transcribed this afternoon, but things are definitely looking up in the studio.  If I can get a few things done each day, then I'm hopeful that, by the end of the weekend, things can be transcribed and clearly organized and I can be on my way to trying to cross off some of these recording projects by the end of the year. Mostly today, I tried to get my fingers back underneath me.  I had some success, although I'm fairly certain that I could have used another half an hour when everything was said and done. It was a good day, one that was a solid step for me heading into the rush that is the last two months of the year.  Hopefully, come New Year's Eve, I'll be able to look back and see it for the springboard I hope it will be.

I keep going through my day, wanting to write, but not actually taking the time to sit down and do it.  I know I've talked in this space before about feeling like all of my song snippets are always spread out all over the place.  I like to think that I have things pretty well organized, but when push comes to shove, the audio recordings are in one place (and not transcribed), and the lyrical and musical ideas are in different spots.  I didn't get there today, but my goal for tomorrow is a straightforward one: I need to sit down and transcribe the audio side of things, and then find a way to condense the lyrical and musical side of things into something more manageable... perhaps using something like Evernote. Those are really my only thoughts tonight... I'm simply tired of not having quite the right tools at my disposal when I do find the time to sit down and try to work on songs.

Well, today fairly well tanked, musically.  About the only good thing that happened was getting the new issue of Guitar World in the mail.  Aside from that, nothing today happened the way I was hoping it would. I had really hoped to spend a good chunk of time in the studio today, in theory doing some songwriting.  That never really materialized for me, and I know that I need to get down there tomorrow for a look at what I have song-wise, if only because I'm starting to get twitchy about the whole process. Today just felt like a letdown on all counts.  Tomorrow will be a better day.

So, we got home a whole lot later than I was expecting we would when we left the house this morning.  As a direct result of that, I didn't end up having a whole lot of , time in the studio tonight. That being said, I managed to get in there and cross off a few small things.  For one thing, I took a closer look at the book on chords that I had picked up earlier in the week.  From what I can see, it's going to be an even cooler purchase than I was expecting. Aside from that, I read a few pages from the Springsteen book that has been resolutely ignored for the last few weeks, and I have huge plans to spend a lot of the day in the studio tomorrow.

Today was a good day. Last weekend, I had picked up a rhyming dictionary and a book on chords.  Today, I started putting them both to use. Ultimately, I didn't do much in the way of songwriting, but I fit in some playing this afternoon, not to mention some listening on the way to and from work. We're headed out of town for some of tomorrow, but will be home early enough that I can get in some better work tomorrow than I did today.

Today was a better day. I got myself moved back into the studio, and even found a little bit of time to sit down with the acoustic before I had to go dashing off to work.  I'd say that was a good thing, except that, after sitting down, all I wanted to do with the rest of my day was sit and play. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, but I was able to inch a little bit closer to getting all of my listening done in the car on the way to work. Tomorrow could be a really good day to get some work done, as we are off early because of a rally on campus, so I'll be home for most of the afternoon.  Should be a good one tomorrow, and a good way to head into my weekend as well.

After yesterday's long day, I spent most of today feeling like I was behind the eight ball.  It was slow going for me, but I got some listening done in the car. I didn't get everything moved back into the studio today, but I go in late tomorrow, so if I can get up on time, I'll definitely be able to get myself moved back in and sorted out. Really, today, it was just good to be home.  Tomorrow the real fun begins.

Today was a good day for getting some listening done. I spent the bulk of the day in the car, on my way back from Wisconsin. I finally got to the new Bon Iver record, and it's definitely one of those albums that is going to take a few listens for me. I didn't have a lot of time to spend unpacking things tonight and getting the studio set up again, but that is definitely going to happen tomorrow after work. Today was a long day, but a good day, and I am excited to get back to work on things tomorrow.

Today was a day that I finally got a bit more of a chance to sit down and play for a while. It was a good day indeed, for that reason alone. On some level, I can't believe that I have to head home tomorrow, but it will offer me a good chance to do some more listening, and that will be a good thing. I'm looking forward to getting back to the studio and being able to find a little bit of focus. Today felt like a good step in that direction.

Today was a long, and busy day that was filled with family stuff from start to finish. It didn't leave a whole lot of time to spend on music things, but I was able to find a few minutes at the end of the day to sit down with a guitar and do a bit of playing. I also found an EP by The Civil Wars and a Tom Waits record that I didn't have. Today could have been a more productive day, but I was happy with what I got done.

Second of two travel days today. I had good time in the car to devote to listening, and that was wonderful. The second half of the day was full of people and running around, which didn't leave a lot of time to spend on music. And yet, as I approach the end of my day, I have found a few minutes to carve out for the electric and the lyric notebook. For a busy day, it sure was a good one.

Today was the first of my two travel days on my trip to Wisconsin. I drove half of the way there tonight, stopping in Dubuque. I got in some good listening time in the car on the way here, but have more planned for tomorrow. I ended up bringing the Strat, and while I didn't haul the guitar in with me tonight, I did bring in a notebook and the latest book I picked up on the writing process. It was good to spend a bit of time with that.

So, after saying that I was taking all of my song ideas with me when I go up to Wisconsin for the weekend, here is what I discovered today... 1. Everything for the Power Pop record is fairly well contained in its current form.  Which is awesome.  It also means that I'm likely going to leave it at home, because as I said earlier in the week, what I'm apparently drawn to high† now is the idea of the double album. 2.  Speaking of the double album, I spent some of my time in the studio today listening to the ideas that I had previously earmarked for inclusion in that project, and I discovered a couple of things.  First, I still like all of the ideas that I had set aside.  And second, it has been so long since I have worked on that particular project, that, while I like what I hear, I no longer remember exactly how to reproduce what I have already recorded.  In short, what I'm saying is that maybe the double album is something I will have to work my way back...

Today was a good day. I got down into the studio on the late side, but I still managed to be fairly productive, considering that I didn't spend all that much time down there tonight. I did some follow-up work from yesterday where the songwriting is concerned.  I got a bit of lyric-focused writing done, but tonight was more about the music side of things.  And on that front, I'm headed up north this weekend, and so I'm already starting to plan ahead for what I'm taking in regards to music.  It'll either be the Strat or a uke, instrument-wise, but most everything else is going to be songwriting-based.  I'll be taking all of the song ideas that I have, and the most recent book I picked up on the process. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, too.  It's my late day, so if I can be smart about getting up early, I should be able to fit in some time in the morning, and then perhaps a second session in the evening after work, as the Mrs. has a meeting that will...

Okay, so the only thing I really felt like I had to get done today, music-wise, was to find fifteen minutes of quiet to sit down and just get back to writing.  I wasn't even all that worried about it being in a lyrical format, I just knew that I had to get something down on the page.  Now, in my head, this involved me sitting down with a notebook and pen and just blocking out the world for a quarter of an hour (if not longer). In the end, it was exactly fifteen minutes, it happened at the very end of the night (after the rest of the house had gone quiet for the day), and it ended up typed instead of hand written.  So much for things going the way I had pictured them. Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that, while it started out as something that I could go back and pull lyrical inspiration from, it very quickly turned into something more approaching a blog post, and it was very much centered on what I'd still like to try and get done by the end of the year.  The...

Today was a pretty quiet day for me.  Most of the weekend was low-key, actually, which I may have needed, but wasn't terribly productive where things in the studio were concerned. In and around everything else that happened today, I was able to find a few minutes to get down into the studio.  All I focused on when I got down there was a bit of playing, though.  I guess what I'm really saying is that I didn't start my fifteen minutes/day to focus on lyrics.  That , it seems, will begin tomorrow, when I've got the day to myself and can dive in (at least for the first day) while the house is quiet. As always with me, there were a lot of thoughts going on in the background today, even if I didn't have time to put them into action.

It was a good time in the studio today.  I picked up the acoustic the second I got down there, and spent the first few minutes warming up and doing some listening.  As usual when this happens, I wound up detouring away from the writing side of things, and starting playing along with whatever it is I'm listening to at that moment.  Today, and most days lately, it has been a lot of Jason Isbell. After I finished playing through a few of his songs, I started to try and work on some new music my own.  I didn't find a whole lot of new stuff tonight, but like always, there were a few small ideas that I filed away for further consideration.  I know I haven't been great about getting a lot of writing done in the last few months, and I'm also well aware that, if I'm going to have anything substantial to show by  the end of the year, that I really need to step it up. One thing I feel I have been good at lately is making sure that I always have a notebook within r...

Today was a decent day.  I got downstairs fairly early, and wound up bouncing around between a number of things throughout the course of the day.  I did some reading, I did a small bit of listening, and I fit in a little bit of playing. As for the writing side of things, I didn't really touch on that as much as I had hoped to today.  I'm not entirely sure what the plan is for tomorrow, but I'm optimistic that there will be time for me to sneak down to the studio and try to work on some songs. The day just had a laid back pace to it, and while it wasn't a bad day by any stretch, it was one of those that I find myself looking back on and wishing I had been just a bit more productive.

Today was a busy day at work, so I didn't have time to do much in the way of making notes for the EP, but I got a lot of behind the scenes work done, thinking through things in the back of my mind as the day went along. I've hit my weekend again, and seeing as the Mrs. has a bit of work stuff to do tomorrow, I'm definitely going to be able to steal some time down in the studio.  I can't wait to get down there and get to work tomorrow. Aside from the playing and writing this weekend, I've got a bit more of the new release listening to get around to, and I'd like to see if I can't take a good chunk out of that Springsteen book that I'm only a couple of chapters into right now. I'm sure there will be a few more things that get tacked onto my list as the weekend goes along, but those seem like a good place to start.

Today was a better day.  A much better day, or so it felt to me. I made it down into the studio for a bit before I had to go off to work, and I had some good fun sitting down with the acoustic and a capo.  I played around with a few progressions, in search of something that made my ear tingle.  Found a few possibilities, but I didn't have a ton of time, so I had to cut my session short. I kept thinking things through as I drove to work, and I came to the (somewhat obvious) conclusion that I really, really need to put in the effort and try to get at least the EP finished by the end of the year.  There's more I can do with the rough mixes I had burned last month, and I still think that those ideas done right have a chance to be really special.  I've probably got to throw in another song on top of it, but if I can get the ones already demoed to a point where they are done, then finding the missing piece shouldn't be all that difficult. I listened to the new ...

Today was at least a little bit like yesterday. I got all the way through the new Green Day record once on the way to and from work today.  I'm enjoying it so far, and I can definitely tell that the record has the feel of 21st Century Breakdown , at least to a certain extent. Tonight, I've done a bit of theory studying, and then as the night has gotten later, I've been watching some lessons and interviews, trying to soak up information from the masters. Like yesterday, it has been a somewhat quiet day, but having tomorrow morning off, I'm really hoping to get up early enough to get down into the studio and get a bit of work done.  I'm not necessarily struggling to get back into the groove of being home after vacation, but I'm struggling to really get things cranked up to a decent level the last couple of days.