"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Got to do some listening on the way into work today.  I took the new Son Volt record, and was surprised at how electric-heavy the record sounded.  I know that band has its louder moments, but somehow I was expecting a more acoustic record.  Still a great listen, though. Not much to speak of in the way of playing today, but I'm hopeful that will change tomorrow.  I headed into Dodge earlier than usual today, and that cost me an hour or more that I would otherwise have spent with a guitar in my hands. Still had a pretty good day, it just wasn't as musical as I had hoped it would be.

Today was a strange day. On one hand, I really thought I would be feeling better by now, but I'm still fighting with this interminable cold, and didn't have as much energy as I wanted to today. On the other hand, we finally got the new Ryan Adams, Son Volt, and Orwells records that were ordered a week ago, so that was good news.  My Acoustic Guitar subscription has also apparently started, because after picking up what is now the old issue a couple of days ago, the new issue just arrived in the mail today. So, all things considered, today was a great day for things arriving, but not a great day for getting much else done.  Still, onward and upward and hopefully I'm back to feeling like myself sooner rather than later.

Today was another long day that was mostly spent in the car. The best thing that happened today involved getting a chance to see my brother for about an hour or so. It was a complete surprise, and we had a bit of time to talk about his upcoming recital next month. We got home crazy late,  and so instead of getting a little bit of time to spend in the studio tonight, I am going to be putting that off until the morning, but I am definitely looking forward to getting back in there and making some progress.

So, today was a bit of a crap shoot. We spent a lot of time in the car, which gave me a lot of time to spend in thought, but not a lot of time to spend in the studio. All I know right now is that I am very much looking forward to getting back home tomorrow afternoon and diving into acoustic things.

So, I started the day by getting the new music that's actually here imported into the iTunes.  Still waiting on the UPS delivery that has Son Volt, Ryan Adams, and The Orwells.  We're supposed to road trip tomorrow afternoon into Sunday, so I'm really hoping that the new tunes show up before we take off on our journey.  Fingers crossed. Tonight, I found a few minutes to spend in the studio, and I knew going into it that I wanted to try and get my bearings for the start of my attempt to play more acoustic this year.  In doing so, I stumbled across a book that I remember picking up, but don't ever remember really putting into use.  Tonight was apparently the night to look through it, and it seems like it might be a springboard that I can use to have my acoustic playing go to the next level.  I'm excited to have rediscovered it, and can't wait for more of an opportunity to sit down and really dive in. Today was a quieter day than I had hoped for, but not a...

Bit of a strange day today, but let me recap the big things: 1.  LaLa Land Soundtrack 2.  Feel Your Feelings Fool by The Regrettes 3.  Amazon package with the new Ryan Adams, the new Son Volt, and the new Orwells record didn't get here, thanks to thundersnow and other weather related disasters. 4.  New issues of both AG and Guitar Techniques , and 5.  A little bit of focus for me in regards to what happens next. Like I said, a strange day, but not a bad day by any stretch of the imagination.

The big part of my day happened tonight, when I was just healthy enough to play at the Wednesday night service that the Mrs. has started at church.  It went okay, considering we had almost zero time to practice because I've been under the weather.  On the road to recovery, and what I know for sure is that I really need to put in a lot of work with the acoustic.  That's the biggest goal I have going forward, just to do more acoustic playing. Tonight was a good night, if a little bit short on on other activities.  Tomorrow will be a bit more productive.

Today was a quiet day. I put in some studying during the quiet moments at work, and I'm still sick enough that I maybe shouldn't have been there today. Right now I'm just hoping that I'm healthy enough to play tomorrow night for the second Wednesday night service at the church.  In order to do that, I've got a bit of practicing to do tomorrow, but I'm feeling good about those possibilities. I also found a way to fit in a bit of listening, which was nice because it has been a while on those sorts of things. Really, for a day that I was feeling sick, and considering how much I bounced around between things, I feel like I ended up doing okay.

Today was a good day, even if it wasn't quite as productive as I had hoped. I didn't have a chance to get to any songwriting, although I was able to get a little bit of thinking done in regards to the idea. I'm well aware that this is a poor substitute for sitting down with a guitar and working on songs, but it was what I had today. I did have a bit of time to spend in the studio, and I stubbornly kept going on the theory side of things. Not the day I had intended, but still a good day.

Today was not quite a repeat of the last few days, if only because I'm feeling marginally better today than I was yesterday.  I actually had the energy to head down into the studio for a few minutes tonight, and that was a good thing.  I don't spend enough time down there. I kept up with some of my theory study from the last week or so, and thought about branching out from where I've been, but want more time in there tomorrow before I take that step.  I never did get to any writing today, but I'd like to see that happen tomorrow.  I'm also supposed to get together and practice for the Wednesday night service at the church, but that may not happen depending on how I'm feeling. Today was better, at any rate, and hopefully tomorrow will be an improvement on that.

Today has been okay.  More like the last couple of days than I was hoping for, but okay. Once again, I worked in fits and starts, and focused mostly on theory.  In the end, today wasn't the bigger step forward I had been hoping for, but it was another small step on the way to being where I want to be, and that I will take. Tomorrow I very much want to get up early, and maybe start the morning with some acoustic playing, and perhaps some songwriting. Still not feeling well, and ultimately, it has affected my productivity so far this weekend.

Today was just an odd day.  I'm fighting as hard as I can to not give in to the cold that has hovered around me since the beginning of the week, and I was expecting to have the bulk of the day at home.  That somewhat happened, with the exception of the late afternoon/early evening, when things were all over the place. That said, I again found a bit of time to spend with a guitar in my hands, mostly focused (again) on the theory stuff I've been going over of late. The other thing that happened today was that I found a few cool videos online that tie in nicely to the things I've been working on.  Today felt like a day of slow build-up.  I'm really hoping that tomorrow can be a day that has more studio time in it, and can be filled with a good push forward.

Not feeling real well today.  In spite of that, I was able to focus for long enough to work a little bit farther on the theory stuff I want to focus on this weekend. I'm hopeful that a good night's sleep will have me back on my feet tomorrow, and ready for the productive weekend I've been planning.

Today was an odd sort of day. In between helping students, I was able to sneak in a little bit of theory study.  It wasn't much, and I'll admit right off the top that I wasn't as focused as I could have been, thanks to the time being spent at work, but either way, the lesson I was going through was a good one, and that made some difference. I printed off what I was working on, and brought it home with me so that I can better focus on it over the weekend.  It's looking like I'm going to have the bulk of the weekend to myself, so I'm also hoping that this translates into me being able to make some good strides over the next number of days. After work tomorrow my weekend starts and the fun begins.  Hopefully it's one long, musical adventure.

So, today wasn't much, but I did manage to finish off the last 30 pages of that book on music rivalries in the time before I headed off to work today. I went in prepared for a quiet night, bringing along a little bit of the theory stuff I've been focused on, and then I had absolutely no chance whatsoever to look at any of it because we were so busy for my whole shift.  By the time I got home tonight, I was pretty well wiped out, but I still fought through enough to play for a couple of minutes. Tomorrow will be a better day, as I'm off at 5 and will have the evening to get some things done.  The Mrs. will be at a meeting until late, so there will definitely be some work done tomorrow night.

Today was an all right day.  I didn't get to as much as I had listed yesterday, but then again, I was fairly certain that the list was aggressive when I wrote it, so there's that. I fit in some playing, both acoustic and electric, and also made some progress in the theory book I have been working through.  Considering I had the day off, it probably wasn't enough progress, but it was a step in the right direction. The other thing I did was to almost (like 30 pages short) finished the book I've been reading on music rivalries in popular music.  That has been a fun read, and definitely a good first step on my path of reading more music related books in 2017. All things considered, not as good as I was hoping, but not a bad day by any circumstances.

Rehearsal this afternoon, for the gig in two weeks.  My partner in crime is going to be out of town next week, so we had to bump things up a little bit.  Things went well today, but the time between now and the 22nd gives me ample time to practice. That leaves tomorrow for all of the fun stuff: 1. A bit more guitar theory 2. Songwriting 3. Reading 4. Acoustic playing 5. Lead stuff It's an aggressive list, I know, but I want to at least touch on all of those things.

Today was good.  Got home from our overnight around 5, and was pleased to see that my order from Amazon, which included Tourist In This Town , the new record from Allison Crutchfield, had arrived in our absence. I've still got to print off the songs we're going to be practicing tomorrow, but I've listened to things enough that they should come together pretty well when we get together to practice tomorrow afternoon. Aside from that, I did a bit more theory stuff today, but not as much as I would have liked to.  Tomorrow and Monday are going to be good days, though.

Today was a good day. I got a chance to follow up on some of the theory that I have been taking a look at in the last few days. I also found a few minutes to sit and read a bit more of Steven Hyden's book on music rivalries. Considering that we spent a lot of the day on the road, I am going to call today a win and hopefully get farther tomorrow.

Having started to think ahead last night, I was able to push past the whole "plot out the weekend" thing tonight, and just get started. I did a little bit of shoring up on some of the theory stuff I had started with in January, and am looking forward to moving ahead with that over the next couple of days. The other thing I need to do in the next couple of days is get all of the music printed off for our next Wednesday night service.  Song suggestions have already been made, and chords have already been hunted down, I just need physical copies. Other things are also on the horizon, but those are a start.

So, I'm always on the lookout for exercises that seem like they might be fun/helpful.  Especially when those exercises have something to do with improving my lead playing.  I stumbled across a few of them tonight that look like they might be good fun for the upcoming weekend, and so I saved the PDF they came in onto my laptop for perusal over the next few days. I'm really hoping that I can find more time this weekend to hide down in the studio and just practice, because last weekend didn't offer as much of those opportunities as I would have liked. The last couple of days have really been better for getting some of my thoughts in order in advance of the weekend than they have for making solid progress, and once in a while that's okay with me.

I got the only thing done today that I wanted to... I finished off the folder for my co-worker, who seemed genuinely surprised that I put as much time and effort into it as I did.  Getting that crossed off of my list definitely frees up a bit of time for me, and I really want to use the rest of the week to focus on three things: 1. acoustic playing 2. songs for the EP 3. working further into the current read on theory All three are doable with the way the rest of the week is looking, and I'm hopeful that my time will be productive.

Today was good.  Better than yesterday, in that there was actually some time to spend in the studio.  In that time, I: 1.  Put most of the finishing touches on the guitar folder for my co-worker.  The last couple of things that need doing for that can be done tomorrow during my shift, which will enable me to hand it off either tomorrow or Wednesday. 2.  Spent a little bit of time sifting through acoustic things.  I know I need to play more acoustic this year, especially with the Wednesday night services I'm helping with at the church, but it's more than that.  It's loving the sound of it and knowing that, if I work harder, it will open up both my writing and my ability to get out there and test my voice in the world. 3.  Started reading a book on rivalries in music called Your Band Is Killing Me .  It's by a guy who used to write for Grantland named Steven Hyden.  He's a really smart, insightful music critic, and the experience is ...

Today was an okay day.  The time that I did have today was spent thinking through and focusing on the acoustic side of things again. For the most part, though, today was a busy one, which I had been expecting.  I know that this means that tomorrow is going to need to be a day that I spend a lot of time in the studio, and really hit things hard, but I'm really looking forward to it. Tomorrow I need to get a few things done.  They are: 1.  Finish up that folder for my co-worker 2.  Do some more acoustic playing 3.  Take a look at the songs for the EP. 4.  Try to do some reading... I had vowed to read more music books this year, and I didn't in January.

So, today was another day that ended up somewhat unexpected. The Mrs. and I went to a concert tonight a town over.  Something that one of my students from work was in.  We had a great time.  The music was well done, and there was a wide variety of things on the program.  All told, it was a great night out. And yet, here I sit, with the last bits of the day slipping through my fingers, and once more finding that I didn't get around to the things in the studio that I had hoped to focus on. Tomorrow and Monday really need to be good days for me, because I'm feeling like I'm on the edge of a funk, and that's the absolute last thing I need right now.

Today was a good day, but an odd one at the same time. The good: We had errands to run, and as a result, I picked up a book on The Beatles in 1966, as well as a biography on Hank Williams. The odd: I had acoustic stuff on my brain all day long, but didn't pick up an acoustic guitar today. Tomorrow I need to spend a good bit of time on acoustic stuff, though.  One of my big goals for the year is to play more acoustic, and I don't feel like I've really gotten a chance to do that yet this year.  I'm looking for a really productive weekend.

Today was an adventure.  I got up later than I wanted, and as a result, I didn't have time to grab the music folder I've been working on.  With that put off until the weekend, most of the rest of my day was spent focusing on other things that really ought to get done in the next 96 hours or so, having excellent music conversations at work, and doing a bit of listening.  I have moved on from the original release of Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams to the extra disc of demos that came with the deluxe edition, and I'm mostly convinced that the demos are even better than the record itself.  Assuming, of course, that such a thing is actually possible. I really need to sit down and try and do some writing this weekend.  We shall see.

Tonight was fun.  I played a bit of live music at a service led by my wife.  It wasn't a coffeehouse gig, or any of my own songs, but I thought that we sounded pretty good considering we had limited rehearsal time. We went later than I was expecting to, so after the gig, I didn't get down into the studio.  Nonetheless, if I can remember to grab the folder for my co-worker before I leave the house in the morning, I'm thinking I can find a few minutes during the course of the day to finish off the work on it that I need to put in. All told, it was a fun day all the way around.