"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

I was able to get in some good studio time today. I spent it working on chorus ideas for the EP project. Some decent progress was made in terms of making decisions, but I didn't finalize anything. I also spent a bit of time reading a great book on classical music. It was a decent day, but not a great one.

Today was a quiet day, but I was able to get in some time in the studio. Most of it was spent sorting through some things and getting my schedule squared away for tomorrow, but I fit in a bit of playing as well.q I am hoping that tomorrow is going to be a very productive day. If nothing else, I have to get in some good work on the songs for the EP.

Today was a day where all I wanted to do was get myself unpacked and moved back into the studio. That's what happened, and I am ready to get back to work tomorrow. This week is going to be a great one.

Today was a long day that started with the end of Synod School and ended with an 80s concert in Sioux City for my brother in law's birthday. We saw Nelson, Great White, and Brett Michaels. I have a ton of thoughts, but I am too tired to process them right now. That's going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Today was less of a quiet day than yesterday, but not by enough for my taste. In the end, I got to a good bit more listening than I had time for yesterday, and was also able to sneak in a few minutes of a book I brought along with me called The Complete Singer Songwriter .  It was something I had picked up a while back (and maybe mentioned in this space when I did), but never got to spend the kind of time with that I had wanted/needed to.  With the EP coming around for real as I dive into the beginning of year eight, it seemed like a good thing to start reading. As for the playing and writing side of things - that didn't materialize today.  The good news, though, is that I got myself caught up on some of the other things that had been getting in my way up to this point, so tomorrow will absolutely have time in it for music making.  I can't wait for that.  I (still) need it.

Today was probably the quietest and most inauspicious beginning I've had to a year in this blog.  I'm taking a class on 60's pop music for the week, and so that gave me a bit of listening and a bit of community, but the time to sit down with my acoustic and play for even a few minutes never really materialized. I fit in a bit of listening at the very end of the day, but that hardly seems like anything to write home about. Tomorrow I desperately need to find some time to sit with the guitar and a notebook, even if it comes at the expense of something else.  Mostly for my mental health.

Last day of year seven.  Wow, did that sneak up on me. Most of the day was spent finishing up getting ready for our latest journey across the state.  As expected, everything for the EP got packed, and so did a small bit of material for general practice.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow, somewhat for the activity, and more for the chance to have a bit of free time to sit and play. Today was a good one, mostly.

Today wasn't about much other than packing for the week to come. I spent a bit of time in the studio, though, making sense of what to bring. It ended up being everything for the EP, and then a couple of things to work on practice-wise. Today was a good day.

Today was another one where we were gone until crazy late. That's right, another day where I was unable to get down to the studio. Still thinking about what's in store for the EP. Maybe tomorrow I can steal a bit of time to sit down and work on it.

Today was another twelve hour work day.  That didn't leave me a whole lot of time for anything much in the way of studio time.  If I'm lucky, I might be able to squeeze in a little bit of time before we're gone all day tomorrow. This summer is just not shaping up the way I wanted/needed it to, and it's really starting to have an impact on my mood.  I'm getting tired of always being on the run, and I just want to be home for a little while.

Today was a day that ended up being good for listening, if little else.  I took both the new Head & The Heart, and the new Dishwalla in the car for my trips to and from work, and got through almost all of the Dishwalla and all of the Head & The Heart record.  A very interesting contrast in styles to say the least. It was another day where most of the work on the EP was thought-based as opposed to action-based, and that is starting to get to me.  I really need to get something concrete done tomorrow that can help lead me into the weekend. That being said, it wasn't a bad day by any means.

So, Now that I've had a day to reflect on all of the music I picked up yesterday, it's clear to me that my trip to Dubuque to meet up with friends from years before (when I lived in Green Bay) had something to do with nostalgia, because here's what I bought: Chuck - Chuck Berry Juniper Road - Dishwalla Stinson Beach Sessions - The Head & The Heart The Queen of Hearts - Offa Rex and last but not least, the 20th anniversary re-release of Third Eye Blind's first record (with demos and other new tracks) Anyway... I'm working pretty consistently until Friday, but I'm really hoping to be able to carve out some time for the EP in the next few days.  I need to put the pedal down to the floor on that if I'm really going to get it done by the end of the summer.

Back from my short time in Dubuque. Got in crazy late. Picked up a lot of good music at Moondog. Nice to be in a real record store again. More tomorrow. Must sleep.

Today was a good day. I was able to get in some listening on the way to Dubuque. Finally a bit of the new Radiohead re-release. There wasn't a lot of time to sit down and process anything associated with the EP today, but I am hoping to get to that when I get back home tomorrow.

Today was okay.  It ended up being quieter than I wanted it to be, but I got in a few things. 1.  I got the music from the car hauled in and sorted out in advance of my road trip to Dubuque for a little longer than a day.  I'm taking the Radiohead reissue with me for that, since I haven't gotten a chance to sit down with it yet. 2.  I'm also taking an empty notebook along with me, in the hopes that I might start to get some lyric ideas down on paper while I'm gone.  I watched some cool videos early this morning about the idea of writing all of the music before writing lyrics, and the way things are going that is looking like what's going on with me. 3.  I wish there had been more playing today, but I'm still feeling good about where things are sitting.  This next week needs to include a lot of writing.

Today was a good day for new music... I downloaded the deluxe version of the new Waxahatchee record from iTunes (it came out today), and the 5 EP collection that Ed Sheeran released of his recordings before abject fame and stardom also arrived from Amazon. It was not , on the other hand, a good day for getting the things I had listed last night focused on and crossed off.  I walked around all day with thoughts of recording in my head, but never actually got around to doing any of it.  That desperately needs a good bit of my focus tomorrow. Today just went by really quickly.

And my weekend is finally here. I feel like I have been doing nothing but running back and forth between home and Dodge all week, with the vast majority of time spent in Dodge. I am looking forward to having a couple of good days at home to: 1. Get the ball rolling on the EP once again. 2. Finally get to check out the re-release of Radiohead's OK Computer with my good headphones on the stereo system in the studio. 3. Get in some good practice time. It's going to be a great couple of days.

Today was another day with more brain-work than actual work.  I'm still trying to sort out whether I want to do a stripped down, primarily acoustic thing, or whether I want to go all out and mix in a bunch of electric stuff.  The one thing that is still hanging me up is how the rhythm section is going to sort itself out, but I know I can't worry about that too much right now.  Actually, in the quieter moments, I can almost hear the way I want it to sound. What I really need is a little bit of time at home to start laying down some ideas and see where things go from there.  Whether I'll get that tomorrow is anyone's guess, but if nothing else, I'm hoping that Friday might allow me some free time.

Today was an absolute clusterfuck and a complete lost cause. Lots of uncertainty involving work schedules ended up with me leaving the house at 11, and not getting home until almost 9:30.  Somewhere in there I had hoped to be able to sit down and work on the EP, but that never really materialized... mostly thanks to a combination of bad scheduling on one end and exhaustion at the other. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Today I finally got started on the actual process of working out the early issues with the EP.  I had set up a fresh notebook for the project a few days back, and then it just sat there, waiting for me to get around to it.  Taking that first step today, and setting up the songs that will definitely be on there was good.  I was also happy to jot down a few thoughts on what I hope the process will be. I didn't have a ton of time for the playing side of the writing process today, but tomorrow I will sit down and take my first stab at working on songs.  I'm really looking forward to sitting with the acoustic and hashing out some of the missing pieces.

Today was another day that ended up a whole lot quieter than I was expecting it to.  There wasn't a ton of time to spend in the studio, but I did a good bit of planning in my head for the things I want to work on tomorrow, when I will have a good bit of time to spend in the basement trying to get some good work done on the EP. About the only other thing that happened today was that I finally got some of the recent stuff from our weekend in Minnesota hauled down to the studio and put away.  That got done in between other things, though, and I probably would have been smarter to use that time to play, but such is life. Today may have been a quiet one, but I'm hoping ot make a good bit of noise tomorrow.

Today was okay.  Most of it was spent with my attention pulled in other directions, but I found myself hearing song ideas and getting bits of lyric as I went about my day.  I jotted down enough notes to make things easy to recall later, and then went back to other obligations. Really, the bulk of my day was spent being pulled in different directions, which isn't conducive to much in the way of progress.  I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.

So, today didn't really go as planned. I had hoped, in a perfect world, to be able to spend a good chunk of time in the studio starting to work on songs.  In the end, I wasn't feeling all that well after work, and lacking in energy, I didn't get to the writing like I had hoped. Even though the last couple of days have been quieter, I'm finding small things every day that give me hope and keep me upbeat about how the rest of the summer is looking. I know that, for me, the weekend needs to be a productive one.

I stole some time in the studio at the back end of the day today. All I really wanted to get done was a bit of a reintroduction to the songs for the EP. After a few days away, I can honestly say that I am still really happy with the decisions that got made. Tomorrow after work I need to spend time with the songs and really get going on the next part of the process.

Home today after a weekend out of town. Needless to say, I am looking forward to having a chance to sit down and work on songs tomorrow, since I haven't gotten a whole lot of time in the studio for the last few days. After all of the decisions that got made right before we left, it will be fun to get the ball rolling on the next part of the process.

Today was a quiet day. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon and evening taking my sister in law up to the cities for her flight home tomorrow. That didn't leave me a lot of time in the studio today, but I did remember to bring a notebook along with me in the event that I have some lyrical inspiration while we are up here. I am most looking forward to having a bit of time in the studio when we get home, because, having made the first round of decisions for the EP, I haven't gotten a whole lot of time to sit down and work on songs since then. Looking forward to having a great week.

So, I can't believe I'm writing this, but I'm going to push off my thoughts on Ed until tomorrow, because I want to get some thoughts down on the EP project that finally seems like it has a bit of traction. What I heard in my head the other day didn't work exactly as planned, but it was close enough that, with a bit of shifting around for a couple of tracks, I ended up with something I'm happy enough with to at least get started in a serious manner.  If I get to the end and don't like the running order, at least I'll still have a finished track that can be dropped into a different project. It feels like a long time coming to be at this point, and there have definitely been a lot of false starts along the way, but I'm really excited to start in on the process of getting this project recorded, and getting that monkey off my back.  Who knows, maybe this will be the thing that opens the floodgates.