"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

So, today was nothing like I was expecting when I went to bed last night, but it was still a good day full of music. My original intention had been to spend as much time as I could down in the studio, finishing up chord progressions and starting to think about melodies for the songs I've worked on piecemeal throughout the month.  Well, I spent about five minutes in the studio today, and it was mostly to grab some things to help a couple of church kids with ukulele songs.  They're wanting to play in a couple of weeks, and I got drafted to help them get things figured out.  We had a really good time, and I think they'll get there with another couple of practices. The other side of it was my bringing the Telecaster along with me, so that I could spend a few minutes working on songs between that meeting and tonight's Worship Wednesday.  We didn't play tonight, though.  Instead we all sat around and watched Jesus Christ, Superstar .  It was a wide group of p...

Today was a busy day that didn't leave an awful lot of time at the end of it for studio explorations.  That sets up tomorrow as a really big day if I want to get all of the music at least finished by the end of the month.  That may well prove to be a struggle, considering everything else that's on the docket for the day, but I'll give it my all, that's for sure. That's all I have today... tomorrow should be fun.

Today was another good day.  More work on songs happened before I had to go to work.  Not a ton of work, mind you, but enough to let me know that the song ideas and recording projects are not only coming into clearer focus at the moment, but also that there's an actual way forward through all of the "what if's" and "maybe's."  And you know, that may be the most important aspect in all of this. I'm feeling really positive right now that, if not by the end of the month, then definitely by the end of the year, I'll be in a position to put some music out there in one way, shape, or form.

Tonight was a late night.  A very late night, actually.  The plus to that was that, as the hour grew later I was able to steal about forty five minutes down in the studio. Not just one to steal time, tonight I was actually able to push forward somewhat.  Far enough forward, anyway, that things are feeling good again.  In all likelihood, they won't end up good enough that I'll be able to get lyrics and recordings for everything I have (plus the finishing off of a couple of progressions) by the end of the day on Wednesday, but my hope is this... Heading into Thursday morning, I'd like to have: 1.  Chords written out for all of the songs 2.  Some sort of plan going forward for getting everything recorded At this point, where the lyrics are concerned, I feel like I'll do better if I have a track (even a rough one) to write to.  Sure, in a perfect world I'll have at least a title or a central phrase to work off of, but I don't want to ask too much ...

Today was a bit of a quiet day.  New issue of Acoustic Guitar in the mail today though, so that was a pleasant surprise. I did a bit more work on the songs, but things are still dragging behind.  I'm at the point where tomorrow needs to be a fantastic day for finishing off some chord progressions.  I know I'm close to some sort of success fir the month, but I'm definitely not there yet.  I'm hoping it doesn't come down to Wednesday, but the way things are going, it just might. Still, not a bad day.

Work today was quiet.  I'm pretty sure people were scared away by the threat of freezing rain and snow.  Either way, it gave me time to plan out things for the weekend. Really, the goal is simple: by the end of the weekend, I want to have the music fleshed out for all of the songs I've been working on, and at least have some idea about recording as I head forward into the last few days of the month.  If I can set myself up to at least be working on lyrics for a few of the songs, then that would be great. I want to get in some practicing and listening as well, but the goal this weekend is more focused on songs than anything else.

Another day where I sat with songs and didn't make an awful lot of progress.  I've gone from feeling really good about where things sat last week at this time to feeling like hope for getting this project something approaching done is slipping away.  Realistically, I know I've got roughly a week left, but for me the whole crux of the project now rests solidly on the upcoming weekend.  I know I can do it, I just hope that the focus I need is there for me when I need it most. It may well be a crazy six days, but I'm looking forward to the challenge that's ahead of me.

Well, today was an odd hodgepodge of things.  I got myself the rest of the way moved back into the studio after being gone over the weekend.  I spent a bit of time on some listening, although not as much as I had hoped to; and I tinkered around with songs a bit, without making the progress I would have liked to. Even still, it feels like things are in good shape for a hard run at the songwriting and practicing side of things tomorrow on my day off.  I'm definitely looking forward to it. Oh, and the new issue of Guitar World came today.  If nothing else, that should get me started tomorrow.

Today was quieter than I was expecting it to be.  I was able to get mostly unpacked, and somewhat settled back in at home. To my great surprise, my order of Brian Fallon's latest record actually showed up today.  With all of the freezing rain we got, I guess I figured it would be late. Tomorrow's plan involves some listening, some songwriting, and some practicing/theory work. I'm looking forward to it.

Made it home from my weekend trip today.  Got everything moved back in, if not completely set up again.  That will happen tomorrow morning before work. It was a good weekend with good music and conversation with other guys who play a bit, and that push was a good thing for me. While I'm a bit worn out after the weekend, I'm definitely looking forward to what the week to come has to offer.

Well, I made it to my destination for the weekend. I even got the chance to sit down and work on some music stuff for tomorrow morning with one of the other guys here. It looks like we have a fair amount of free time tomorrow afternoon, so my current plan is to work on songs during those few hours. Good day today.

Today was all about two things: packing a few musical things for the weekend trip I'm taking, and getting the new Brandi Carlile record in the mail... a whole day before it is scheduled to release.  I'm listening to it now, as I write this.  I've got a couple more things to throw together in the morning, but I'm really hoping that I'll be able to find a bit of quiet time this weekend to work on the record.  We shall see.  I'll try to post some updates from where I'm headed, but I'm not sure how the internet will be.

So, today was an interesting day.  I didn't get a whole lot of time in the studio, but things are still on the road to success for the month.  A lot of the reason I'm feeling good as my Tuesday comes to a close is due to the fact that my plans for tomorrow have freed up enough that I'm going to have a good chance to get some good work done on songs and practicing. Right now, I'm sitting at seven songs, and in an ideal world I'd love to get close to ten ideas by the end of the day.  I'm not entirely sure that's possible, but it would definitely be a good feeling to go into the second half of the month focused more on lyric writing and recording as opposed to sorting out ideas.

So, another Monday, and another chance to get the week laid out in a way that will, hopefully allow me a good bit of productivity.  All of this, considering that I'm going to be gone over the upcoming weekend. The fact that I was able to get a lot done over the weekend helped me out a lot today, as it let me sort out some of the obvious steps forward where the practicing, the listening, and the songwriting are concerned.  I think it's going to be a good one. Also important to note, I ordered By The Way, I Forgive You today.  It's the new Brandi Carlile record and it comes out Friday.  In a perfect world, it will get here before I have to leave for me weekend event and I'll be able to listen to it in the car on the way there.

Today wasn't as productive as the last couple of days, but I was still able to get a few things done in the studio.  I fit in a bit of listening at a couple of different spots during the course of my day, and that was good because it offset the small moments of work on the recording project for the month.  We're eleven days into the month, and I've got seven song ideas in various states of completion.  Mostly music, with a few bits of lyric. Really, my biggest problem when it comes to songwriting is finishing off lyrics well enough to actually do some recording.  If I can ever get in a groove with that side of my life, the world will see a whole lot of music in a great big hurry. Decent day.  Could have been more productive.

Coming off of yesterday (where I was feeling pretty good about things), I wasn't sure what to think about how today was going to go.  There are times where a good day will lead me into a false sense of confidence and then the day immediately following will be a dud.  That definitely wasn't the case today. I got another couple of thoughts down for songs today, which was the bigger win of the two I had today. The second win was wading through the mess that the studio had become in an effort to clear out enough space that I could actually work on this project down there. Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty good heading into a Sunday where it doesn't appear that there will be a whole lot going on.

Not a whole lot going on today, although I was able to get one thing done that I'd been wanting to cross off for a couple of days now: I finally got all of the ideas and lyrics for my new album in a month project in the same place.  It's not much.  Only a couple pages of hastily scribbled lyrics and chord progressions, but it was the grounding act that I was needing where this thing is concerned. So, yeah, that felt like progress.  Hopefully tomorrow is similar.

Today was an okay day. It was, at the end of the work week, another chance for me to block out what I'm hoping to get done this weekend.  The other piece of good news in that regard is that we're supposed to get a ton of snow, so we'll probably be stuck in the house, which means I should have more time to get things done. I'm really hoping that a lot of that time is going to be spent on the record for the month, finishing up my first wave of ideas and moving into the second week of work on these ideas. I've got some listening to get to as well, and some general practice.  Good things are ahead in the next few days.

Today was another day full of quiet planning; mostly in preparation for the day tomorrow, which I hope will be spent in the studio working on the project for the month. Still more thoughts. We shall see how it goes and what shakes out tomorrow.

Today was a weird day. I had the day off thanks to weather, and I had been really hoping to be able to get in a solid block of time in the studio.  What happened instead was a few short bursts of activity that ended up having a whole lot less to do with the notion of making a record in a month than I had been hoping for. There was , however, some good practice fit into those couple of bursts.  Enough that I know at least something of what my hopes are for the week.  I'll need to break it down a bit further tomorrow morning, but it's a start.

Well, it was another day where I struggled to get a whole lot of time in the studio. Even with that, I think I know at least a little bit more about how I want the project to sound. And, depending on the weather, I might just have a whole lot of time tomorrow to work on the songs.

Today was a quieter day than I've had in the last few days.  We spent a lot of the day in the car on the way back from our early weekend trips, and as a result, I didn't get much in the way of studio time. Tomorrow looks busy as well, but I'm optimistic that I can find some time to fit in a bit of work here and there. My brother's here for the Super Bowl tomorrow night, but I bet we can fit in some music in the next 24 hours.

Today was another good day. I spent a bit of time working with the album in a month project, and made both musical and lyrical progress. Then tonight we stopped by a Barnes and Noble and I was able to get the latest issue of Guitar Techniques and also a new David Bowie biography. All told, it was a very good day indeed.

So, it took me until quite late in the day, but I finally sat down and started working on some part of what will be my first song of the month.  I like the idea I was able to hash out so far, although there's still some part of it that feels like it's missing in action.  Hopefully I'll be able to find it (and some other ideas) over the course of the weekend. A slightly inauspicious start to what will hopefully be a greatly productive month.