Well this month flew by! I currently have approximately 7 songs reaching a mature shape. As soon as I hit 10-11 I am going to trigger a bullhorn “Pencil’s down!” command and begin the final mixing and preparation.
So far, you can look forward to songs that include scenes such as:
A family wronged in tragic violence in the city escapes to map out their bitter revenge.
A man on the run weighs the pros and cons of re-inventing himself to escape the past.
An avid reader has a strange dream about a haunted library.
An examination of the curious accusation that one author would fake his recovery from grief in a pseudonymous publication.
Incredulity at the fact of death and its intolerability (Hear hear!)
Nature, nurture, freedom, and genetics in the life of a man ashamed of his secrets.
A husband unable to forget his last arguments with his wife before a tragic car accident
And more…!
Sounds exciting! Sounds bright and pretty and cheerful!
For the curious:
I have been interviewed by none other than my wife on her blog. A novelty and a treat for anyone who stumbles upon this site.
A fight
You teach me to hide
To hide what I know away from help
Like two on an isle
And though this is vile
You’d rather stay
Then you’re driving home
A motion controlled by signs and lights
Not like your mind
Not like your hands
Which push aside
They take and push aside
Not like you care
Not like I care enough to change
We’ve lived this long
We’ve sung this song
We know this place
But still it was hard to watch you leave
If we’d learned to apologize
And share our lives
Well, let me tell you…
You were mine
You were mine
But you fell asleep at the wheel
Not in time
No brakes on your mind
You barreled straight into the house on 4th and High
And killed a college guy
I knew before you were gone that our marriage was done
But then it flew through the windshield and into a tree
Who decided this?
A sentence with a fist
Just to drive it in when words were not enough
He won’t know what hit
‘Cause some kids can’t take a punch
Will he grow up to live
As a juris doctor filled with secrets and
Denial in projected forms of hatred?
Who decided this?
A sandwich with a kiss
Domestic grocery lists
And Cabbage Patch Kids
That’s something that we did, you know?
Swirling streams of code
We’re sharing them, you know
To see which ones will grow
Which way they’ll choose to go
And which ones will be the hands and toes
Who decided this?
The mother or the son?
Or genetic engines moving us before we know it?
Moving us before we know it
Yeah moving us before we know it
Pains her to walk
Pains you to watch
You were out to eat
She’d die within the week
Come to terms with God this life
Come to terms though he takes your wife
Live like a phantom
‘Cause it’s love in the ruins
No audience laughing
‘Cause it’s love with such illusions
“I’m not I, an abstracted mind
An object cursed to live its life!”
If I write down the words “Surprised by Grief”
Will it seem that way to you?
N. W. Clerk lost his H
In July of 1960
Does it make any sense for a man to pretend
That he gets well in the end?
When we finally go; when we’re in the ground
We’ll have none of these concerns
So live like a phantom
‘Cause it’s love in the ruins
No audience laughing
‘Cause it’s love with such illusions
“I’m not I, an abstracted mind
An object cursed to live its life!”
Reading the great debates of the intellects of history
I find myself asleep in Søren’s solitary room
Where I dream of the library
Looking through books, magazines, and newspapers
Listening to the words of all the dead men
That live in pages of written words
“The task must be difficult
For challenge inspires the noble-hearted”
But who can live this way?
The living don’t get it
and the dead can’t live it
My body’s tired
But I was hired to put away the books and journals
They fly around without a sound
But I don’t see a ghost anywhere
I cried in the library
I hid my face in my arms and told you all my troubles
The walls are paper thin there
There’s no access to one another
You can’t get through
My body’s tired
So I got fired for leaving out the books and journals
I hid inside to watch them fly around
I don’t see a ghost anywhere
Just got back from a lovely weekend in Fairfax, Virginia visiting my good friend and former bandmate Ben Lucas. Amidst a relaxing weekend of pipes, pubs, and cookouts, I had him record some saxophone parts for the record.
We also played around with Reaper, an up and coming DAW for the nice price of $60 (It has a full-featured, uncrippled 30-day trial, so check it out). I’m still quite happy with Logic, especially because it comes with an enviable helping of included software instruments, modeled synthesizers, and a great UI (once you get used to it). However, Reaper is quickly establishing itself as a solid, stable, lean and speedy DAW.
It’s rough around the edges, and some of the menus and settings are overwhelming to the newcomer. However, it packs a lot of power and I plan to learn it to ensure I don’t become a one-trick pony, software-wise. It’ll also help me in collaborating with other artists cross-platform, as Reaper works in Windows, OSX, and Linux.
The album is still coming along. This month I will be working hard on it, hoping to be completely done recording so that mixing can begin.
In my search for more variety in my instrumentation, I am being blessed by friends and acquaintances who step forward to contribute. Sharon, a friend of Shelby’s, has agreed to record some flute parts for the record. I just finished writing parts for one song, with more to come.
I’m looking forward to this weekend where I’ll get to work on some tracks with Jon. Trumpet and maybe some other instruments.
I’m still hoping to find a violin/viola player for some string layers. I have fun ideas. Do you know anyone?
Got to spend several hours this saturday laying down some drum, acoustic, and vocal tracks for Rotation, which is an upcoming song for my album this year (which I will finish). It has some spots for trumpet, flute, and violin parts (I’m still looking for some musicians to help me out in that regard).
I’m looking forward to some contributions from Jon Torrence on this song and others. We’ll get a chance to start laying down tracks around May 15th.
All this to say that I’m excited about the songs I’ve written and that I’m making progress on the record! Get stoked, it’s been over two years since I’ve put anything out.
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