"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Well, we made it to our destination this afternoon. After getting everything hauled inside, I had grand intentions of sitting down and putting in some work. I put in a little bit of time, but it wasn't as long as I had been hoping for. Tomorrow morning seems like it is going to be free, though, so maybe I can do some more stuff then.

Well, we are on the road, and as we stop for the night, we're about half of the way to our final destination. We didn't have a lot of room for instruments in the car, but I was able to find a spot for my ukulele, so that's something. I figure that I can do some learning, and also find my way to a bit of songwriting if I am feeling up to the task. Good day today, but another day of driving is ahead of us tomorrow.

I had a few minutes to spend in the studio today, before I had to dash off to work.  That time was spent doing some tinkering with a progression I had stumbled across the other day in the midst of some of my theory studies.  It worked out okay, or just about as I had expected.  There's still a small something missing from it that I've yet to uncover, but I'm pretty sure that I'll get there. We're headed out of town for a few days starting tomorrow, so while I'll be bringing an instrument of some sort (and some small combination of things to play on it), I'm not entirely sure how productive the next few days are going to be.  I'll find something to post about each day, for sure, but as far as a weekend full of productivity and rapid advancement?  Possibly not.  We'll just have to see what I end up bringing along with me, and what kind of time I really have to get some work in.

So, I finally got around to the new disc by The Head & The Heart in the car on the way home from work today.  For the most part, I'm really enjoying it.  The record seems like a somewhat logical extension for them... the sounds are more lush, the instrumentation is less stripped down, with more layers of sound. I got a few small bits of lyric today, too.  It was a pleasant surprise.  I think it might be about time to compile all of the small pieces into one place, just to see what I have, and if any of it connects.  Either way, it seems like the machinery is creaking back into motion.  What I need to do is just stay consistent, keep showing up, and hopefully things will start to get easier. I've got the morning off tomorrow, which will hopefully be put to good use in the studio.  I'm going to try and treat it like I'm supposed to be to work at the normal time, which will get me a good chunk of time to get some work done.

I was right... today did end up being a lot of fun.  I got more time in the studio today than it felt like I did all weekend, and I put it to good use, continuing to work on the song I had started earlier in the week, and then doing a bit of digging for more song ideas.  I once again find myself flush with small three and four chord sections that I really like, and am hopeful that I can find enough time between now and the time we get out of town for a few days to start working them out.  If not, then I will have to bring them along with me and hope that our vacation provides me with at least a bit of time to play. That's really all I have today.  Good.  Productive.  Not necessarily lengthy.

I've been watching a lot of interviews with artists about the creative process lately, especially as it refers to songwriting.  There has definitely been a mixture of learning and inspiration that has flowed through those experiences, and on some level, I'm still trying to sort through it all. At the same time, I know that one of the things I really need to do is to spend all of the time that I didn't spend in the basement today, down there tomorrow , just getting a better handle on all of the things I've been trying to cram into my brain in the last week or so.  It may all come out sounding like a jumbled mess, but that can't be any worse than the lack of songwriting success I've had in the last few months. I think tomorrow's going to be a whole lot of fun.  There's a lot that I want to get to, and less time to get to it than there was this morning.

So, I didn't have quite the time today that I was hoping to have. We were busy early, and got home later than expected. That left me, again, doing a lot of work in my head. Tomorrow afternoon and evening, I very much need to get downstairs and do some practicing and some writing. There's a lot of work that I want to get done before the end of the week, and the next 48 hours are going to be the key to my success.