"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Played tonight at church.  I thought the set went really well.  The songs were fun, and even though we had done at least one of them before, it was good to revisit and improve. Before that, I had spent some time in the studio, both practicing for tonight, and (somewhat unintentionally) doing a bit of songwriting.  In warming up and playing some chords to get my fingers working, I fell into a progression that I liked.  I tinkered with it for a couple of minutes and had an intro and a verse or chorus that was catchy enough that I played it at odd intervals all night long.  Nothing lyrically yet, but this was the first thing I've gotten in a little while.  I'll take it. Today was a good day, with most of the music happening in the late afternoon/evening.  More tomorrow.

Today was a quiet one. I was at work for a good chunk of the afternoon, but I was able to get in some listening on the way there and back. I spent a bit of time in the studio tonight, but not the kind of time that I had really hoped to get. Playing at church with M. tomorrow night, so that should be a fun time.

So, today was the day that I finally got a lot of the new stuff I found on the trip hauled down to the studio.  I know I haven't filled in those posts yet, but it was good to get everything downstairs nonetheless. I spent some time down in the studio when I got everything down there, and that was good.  What I should have done was look at songs for Wednesday at church, but that can happen tomorrow. All things considered, it was just an odd sort of day.

Well, it happened.  We came, we saw, and we (sort of) conquered.  I'm not sure how great we played all the way through, but there were definite moments that went really well, and all things considered (from my side anyway), it was an absolute blast and I hope we get to play again for something that's not church related. The set list, as it was, went like this: 1.  I'll Fly Away 2.  From This Valley 3.  Crazy 4.  My Church 5.  Jolene 6.  Long December 7.  You & I 8.  Can't Help Falling In Love 9.  Hey Jude It was an interestingly eclectic group of songs, with more bluegrass and country than I would have expected. It definitely took us a little while to get our feet under us, and on some level I felt like we were just getting warmed up by the time "Hey Jude" ended, but it was a start, and I'll take that any day.

It's been a rough week, on some level.  First, we lose Chris Cornell (which happened while I was in Arizona and I haven't really discussed in this space yet), and then today Gregg Allman passes away.  The music world is again taking heavy blows, it seems.  More on all of that as the next few days unfold. I can't believe that our gig is tomorrow.  I didn't put in as much time as I was hoping to today, but I'm feeling pretty good after rehearsal the other day. The only other thing of import today was that the new issue of Acoustic Guitar came in the mail.  I haven't had a good chance to sit down with it yet, but from the quick glance I got at the cover, it looks like it will be a good one.

Had a really great rehearsal with M. today for the gig on Sunday afternoon. We finalized the set list and had a chance to sit down and run through the whole thing. I know I have some practice time ahead of me tomorrow, but all things considered, I am feeling better about where we stand tonight than I was yesterday at this time. Not much else to speak of today, but I am all right with that, considering the practice time we were able to get in.

About the only concrete thing I did today was set up a time tomorrow to get together with M. and practice for Sunday. I didn't: 1.  Do enough playing 2.  Get new additions moved downstairs to the studio 3.  Do much in the way of listening Tomorrow is going to be an interestingly full and likely exhausting day.

So, there was a bit of an absence there... we were up in the mountains and hills of Arizona, a place where (believe it or not) internet access was a very fuzzy thing.  While I plan to, over the next few days, go back and fill in those blank spaces, suffice it to say that I am at home again, and there are many things big and small that happened during those few days that will be bantered about in this space. For now, though, I'm glad to be back home where things are about to get really busy for me, music-wise.

Today was a bigger day. I found the latest issue of Guitar Techniques at a Barnes and Noble, and then picked up the companion book for The Beatles Anthology in an antique shop. All told, it was a fun day.

Today was a quiet one. We were on the road for a lot of it. I ended up finding a John Lee Hooker biography in a small bookshop in Jerome, AZ. No real chance to sit down and write at all. Short day, but a good one.

In Prescott today. Lots of walking, lots of shopping. Good deal of time to think and process. Not a lot of time to sit down and write. Found a couple of cool signs for the studio, though. I will take all of the wins I can get.

Long day of travel today. Made it to Arizona. Brought my notebook and a pen. I am really going to try and work on lyrics this week. We shall see how it goes. More tomorrow.

I had really hoped that there would be a lot of time in the studio today, but in the end everything I did took longer than I thought it would, which didn't leave me a lot of time. I spent a bit of time with a guitar in my hands, but not much. I did manage to pick up the latest issue of American Songwriter magazine, which has articles on Aimee Mann and John Mellencamp in it. Might take that along as reading material for the trip. Not the day I was hoping for. Too quiet.

Met with M. today, however briefly.  As it turned out, she didn't have as much time after church as she had been hoping to.  We talked through songs for a bit, though, so that's good.  Aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot of time available to play, as most of the rest of the day went into packing for my trip.  I'm still working through what to take, but the one thing I know for sure is that there will be a fresh notebook and a pen or two in my carry-on bag, in the hopes that I'll get some lyrical inspiration while I'm gone. Perhaps tomorrow will offer up some studio time.

Got in touch with M. today.  We're getting together tomorrow after church to run through some things, and then from there we'll figure out what's happening with future rehearsals.  Feels good to at least have that bit of things scheduled. I picked up the new Chris Stapleton record today.  I had really enjoyed Traveler , his previous record, and I liked what I heard from the new one on NPR from an interview I caught some of last week. My brother and I talked through a few things today, music-wise, but mostly we just hung out.  Even with no studio time to speak of, I still had a great day.

Today was a quiet one. I didn't get a whole lot of time in the studio today, but I got the new magazines down there, and puttered for a few minutes. My brother got here tonight, and I am hoping to talk him into doing some music stuff tomorrow. I also need to get back to M. about rehearsal times.

Today was a better day.  I reached out to M. and let her know my schedule until I leave on Tuesday, and so now I wait to hear back from her on what will work.  In the meantime, I need to spend at least some part of tomorrow (and the weekend) looking long and hard at the songs we've got as possibilities.  My brother will be here for about a day and a half, too, which is always good for musical progress and inspiration. I'm already starting to wonder how much internet access I'm going to have while we're in Arizona.  I'm going to try and post every day, but we shall see what happens.  The thing I know for sure: I'm taking a notebook with me in the hopes that I get some good lyrical mojo by going out of state. Looking forward to both tomorrow and the weekend.  Should be some good fun.

Well, I got my work schedule figured out between now and the time I leave for vacation. Tomorrow I need to message M. and let her know what the story is. I meant to get to that today but I ran out of time. I spent a bit of time in the studio tonight, but didn't get a whole lot of work done. Tomorrow is going to have to be a better day, because today was a let down musically for me.

Today was all right. I messaged back and forth with M. about getting together to rehearse sometime soon, but in the end I was held up on setting a time because of a work thing that's happening tomorrow.  Hopefully that will bring a bit of clarity and will allow us to set up some definite times to get together and practice.  We keep adding to the song list, and so it might be nice to have something nailed down. I spent a bit of time with the new issue of Acoustic Guitar as well, more than yesterday but not as much as I was hoping for. And again, there was a bit of time in the studio with the acoustic in my hands, but not enough for my taste. Like I said earlier, an all right day, but not as good as it could have been.

Today was a good day, if quieter than I had been expecting.  New issue of Acoustic Guitar came in the mail today.  I didn't page through it much, but hey, any issue that has Aimee Mann in it at all is bound to be good.  I'll spend more time with that tomorrow. I spent some time with the acoustic today, but wasn't successful in carving out any time for songwriting.  I'm hopeful that this will change tomorrow.  I also need to spend more time with the songs for the end of the month.  I did a bit of work, but not enough. Tomorrow will be a better day.  I really just need to spend the whole day in the studio.  Get myself a good start on summer.

Today was a quiet day.  It was the last day before the feeling of summer kicks in for real.  Tomorrow, for me, is when my goals for the next few months really and truly kick in. That being said, I did make it down into the studio for at least a little while.  Long enough, at any rate, to get in some listening and a bit of acoustic playing.  Most of the playing was spent learning "Still Not Dead" off of the new Willie Nelson record. Tomorrow I need to spend some time with the songs that M. and I are playing at the end of the month.  Aside from that, I'd like to do some other acoustic playing, and maybe go from there into some writing. Should be a good day.

I'm feeling pretty good today.  Mostly because I got the rest of the studio set up for the summer.  I've got things pared down to what I really want to focus on for the next few months.  It goes down like this: 1.  Songwriting 2.  Beatles & Zeppelin 3.  Study & Improvement materials I'm trying to be careful with the last one, because I know it's where I have a tendency to go overboard and then bounce around.  Either way, I'm really looking forward to what I have laid out for summer.

Today was a good day, but not the day I was expecting. Some of my orders from Amazon finally came, and out of that I received the new record by Willie Nelson, and (finally) the new Barenaked Ladies disc. I was planning on having the day at home today, but that didn't come to pass, as we spent the day doing a bit of running.  With that in mind, I didn't get down into the studio until late, but I was able to get at least a bit more of the work done down there that needed to get done.  I'm hopeful that tomorrow will finish off that process and get me started on the path I'm hoping to go down this summer. Tomorrow will, I hope, be better and more productive.

Finally the last day of the semester. I spent a bit of time today thinking about the weekend to come. I know I should have gotten myself into the studio tonight to start sorting out a few things, but I think that I will have to get to that tomorrow morning as a way to get the day off to a good start. Other things to get to tomorrow include: 1. Bringing in the music from the car. 2. Start to get the songs for the end of the month sorted out. 3. Songwriting

Today was a good day for me.  I got myself down into the studio tonight, and it was like coming home after a season away.  Things were spread out, messy.  They felt unorganized, although I'm not sure how much of that was reality and how much was just impression.  Regardless, I took a bit of time to tidy things up: getting rid of some garbage, sifting through some piles of books and magazines, and plugging in my iPod to make sure it had a full charge. Arguably, there is too much laid out right now.  Too many resources vying for my attention, and in a perfect world, I'd have had enough time to go through all of that to make precisely sure that what was out needed to be out.  That chore, it seems, will have to wait until tomorrow night.  The other thing that needs to happen tomorrow?  A going through of the list of things I want to get done over the course of the summer. Big things are ahead in the next few months.

Today was a busy one, work-wise, but there were a few good moments that had music in them, and they definitely gave me enough to get through until tomorrow. The best part of the day, hands down, was a conversation with a student tonight about music and my plans for the summer.  We talked a bit about recording, and he let me explain what I was hoping to get done in the next few months.  I'm not sure if I made any final decisions regarding the project after talking with him, but it definitely helped to sort out a couple of things for me. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, and what feels like the first day of summer vacation.

Today was another one of those days where I had nothing but a few minutes to spend in the studio.  We had family crashing here overnight, and so once I got home from work, it was a smooth and easy transition from that into a night of good discussion and laughter with my sister-in-law. I got my few minutes of time in before I headed out to work today.  On top of that, I went to a meeting for church where we focused on picking out songs for the next couple of months. There was the usual listening in the car as well.  So, in reality, there was a lot of music in various parts of my day, it just didn't all happen down in the basement this time around.  Tomorrow (and Wednesday) will have more basement time.