"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Today was a long day at work that didn't leave a whole lot of time in the studio. It left me time for a bit of studying and a bit of reading, though, and so I took that for what it was worth.  Hopefully tomorrow night and the rest of the week will be better.

Feeling okay today.  I didn't have a whole lot of time to spend in the studio, but I was able to put something together for one of the kids at church who wants to learn to play. What I'm really looking forward to this week is that the long weekend coming up will give me a bit more time to spend in the studio. I did okay this weekend, but didn't get as much done as I hoped to.

Today was a better day than the last few.  I was actually able to get in a bit of studio time tonight (wedged in between getting the laundry/storage room on the road to organized), and I can't even tell you how good it felt to have a guitar back in my hands again.  I got some playing in, but didn't have a whole lot of time to devote to working on songs.  I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get to that tomorrow night. A good day.  Better than I had been expecting.

Today was a weird day. I was thinking, going into it, that a productive day where I was able to get in some good studio time was ahead of me. In reality, however, it was a day where I struggled to get a whole lot done. In the end, about the only good thing to come out of the day, musically anyway, was the fact that one of the two back issues of GT came in the mail today.

Today was a quiet day for me, music-wise, but a good day for prepping things heading into the weekend.  I'm very much looking forward to the chance to spend a bit of time in the studio working on some of the things that got started in February.  The last three weeks haven't been so good for working on songs, but for my sense of mental health and well being that needs to change. Practicing and writing is my hopeful focus for the weekend, in and among other things.

Holy shit.  I knew it had been a good number of days since I'd posted, but I didn't think for a second that it had been NINE of them... the last week and a half has been a blur, so let me see if I can catch myself up: 1.  It was spring break week last week, so in theory I should have been able to get a lot of good work in, but there was family here all week long, and staying with us.  It was great to see them all, but it didn't leave an awful lot of time for hiding away in the studio. 2.  My Dad and my Brother were here at the end of that time, though, and we got a chance to talk through a bit of the plan for the hootenanny that Dad wants to throw this summer, so that was good. 3.  New Decemberists record came in the mail today.  I'm listening now, but am hoping to spend a lot more time with it over the weekend. I've felt disconnected and off for great parts of the last week, even with people here.  It's no wonder, considering I haven't posted ...

Today was quiet again.  Good, but quiet. I found a few minutes here and there to fit in some playing, and did some studying for a little while, but mostly I (again) just got ready for company to be here. Still, there were moments of music that were good.  I'll take a few more tomorrow.

Today was another day that was a hodgepodge. There wasn't a ton of time for playing, as once again, other needs got in the way.  That leaves tomorrow before family gets here, and luckily for me, there's work that needs to be done downstairs.  Plus, the Mrs. is gone for some of the day, so I can be loud without fear. I'm really hoping for a good day tomorrow, because I very much need it.

Today was quiet again.  All of the things I was hoping to get to today will have to wait until tomorrow, as the bulk of the day was spent running errands and getting other stuff done around the house in preparation for family coming on Monday. I'm very much hopeful, however, that tomorrow will afford me some studio time.

It's been a couple days.  A couple of quiet days, and honestly, today wasn't much louder.  About the only good news is that I'm on spring break thanks to where I work, so hopefully there will be a good bit of time to actually sit down and work on finishing these songs. Granted, I do have family coming in almost all week, but there's got to be some down time in there somewhere, right?  They're not showing up til Monday, though, so maybe the rest of the weekend can be solid.  Wish me luck, I might just need it.

Today was another quiet day. I was able to fit in a bit of studying and a bit of playing, but it wasn't focused on the things I would have expected yesterday. Tomorrow will be a bigger music day, I hope.  I'm looking forward to working on songs during the day, and then getting together with my group of ukulele kids at 5 tomorrow night. Tonight is vague, I know.  I also know that there's a lot I want to get to tomorrow, and that I'm pretty well spent for today.

Today was an astonishingly quiet day, even more so than yesterday. About the only thing of consequence that was accomplished today was some of the sorting through song ideas into projects that needed to happen for things to move forward.  Being able to slot some things in place really helped my sense of order for the rest of the work that is to come. Between tomorrow and Wednesday, I need to find a good bit of time to sit down and work through the songs that still need finishing.

I haven't been very consistent lately.  Or, rather I've been consistently inconsistent when it comes to posting. Today was an all right day.  I helped the kids with ukulele stuff this morning before church, and as a result may have some teaching on the horizon once again.  We'll see what, if anything, comes of that opportunity. Then tonight, I got a bit of time down in the studio, but most of that was spent getting things cleaned up a bit and doing some listening.  No serious playing really got done, although I did pick up the acoustic for a few minutes while I was down there.  Most of my inability to do much in the way of playing was related to the fact that I had left the record I was working on last month upstairs in my Tele case, and didn't feel like heading back up to snag it.  There will be time for that tomorrow.

Today was a quiet day.  We ended up out of town for a good part of the evening, and so I ended up getting a chance to  stop by BAM in Ames.  I found a couple of books that had musical ties, one called Why Bob D y lan Matters written by a college professor who teaches a class on Dylan. The other book I picked up is focused on lyric writing.  It felt like an important thing right now, with me trying to finish up music for stuff from last month and heading into a time when I'll be having to put words to the music I wrote. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a good day in the studio for practicing and songwriting.

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.