News

Welcome to the News Page! 

This is where you can find out just how the Album is Rolling!

Recording News

03/21/2013

Bedlam Boys

I find this post negligibly late in it's creation, as is was a month ago that I spent another amazing session in the studio at Evergroove! As life does though, it keeps us busy, and things like writing updates falls through the cracks. Regardless, I have now found a moment to tell you all about the two Incredible and Inspirationally Creative days of Feb. 23rd & 24th! 

I arrived at Evergroove Saturday morning with nothing more than ideas in my head, and motivation to turn "Bedlam Boys" into the song (I feel,) it has always meant to be. It was my engineers wife Jenny, who suggested we call their friend Cameron Hays as a session musician. This would be the first of many brilliant ideas to manifest that day! I spent the next hour trying to articulate to Brad (my engineer,) what I was hearing in my head. However, my dreams for "Bedlam Boys" were so far outside my box, that I had not the language to describe it. Brad remarkably managed to decipher my usage of words like "thick, black blanket," and the song began to take shape! Then Cameron showed up... and it took off! We spent the next 10 hours creating (in my humble opinion,) the most amazing version of Bedlam Boys ever recorded!

I don't want to let the cat out of the bag... it's too good! So I won't go into detail about the sound... I will however tell you that this song is completely different than anything else on the album... So completely different than anything else I have done before, and... is AMAZING. 

These two days and this song have inspired me to a whole new world of music! I am now in the market for an electric violin, a loop petal, effect petals and other such fun electronic toys! Yes, I believe that there is much room for new and exciting sounds within the world of folk music, and I am excited to begin a lifelong journey of exploring this new frontier! 

I AM EXCITED!

A ghostly photo from the "Bedlam Boys" session. In the immortal words of Alan... "Shit Got Weird!" 

  

01/04/2013

I spent a delightful few days at Evergroove Studio the week before Christmas torturing my finger tips with hour upon hour of playing, and layed all of my basic tracks. Brad (my sound engineer & the owner of Evergroove,) was a delight to work with and very professional as well as fun! I felt very relaxed and was able to give it my best! Consequently I actually busted the whole thing out a day ahead of schedule! It feels wonderful to have such a huge chunk of the project done and tangible! Suddenly this project feels realistically attainable, and not quite so enigmatic! 

Deep in the emotion of a song and the magic of a mic... at Evergroove Studio

Now that the holidays have receded I am back in the saddle, though this time I am not alone! I am currently working with all of my session musicians, coordinating, rehearsing & arranging to turn my basic solo tracks into full sounding radio worthy hits! We will all be collaborating in the studio together in the end of February, and I am very much looking forward to this portion of the project!

Production News

01/04/2013

Recording is not the only thing that goes into creating an album... and this I am learning! In fact, there is so much more that it can be quite overwhelming at times! Aside from all of the recording, arranging, coordinating & practicing, there is the album art work & liner notes. (We wont even go into the promotion & media side of the whole thing!) I am starting to delve into the album design at this stage in the game. On Dec 21st, the darkest day of the year, we did a photo shoot on the banks of the frosty frozen Arkansas River. We came out of it with some good starting images to work with! You can vote on your favorite photo from the shoot here! 

A favorite from the Solstice photo shoot... a possible start for some album art!

Fund Raiser News

01/04/2013

First of all I would like to say "Thank You!" to everyone who has donated thus far. I am almost one third of the way to reaching my goal of $7,000 to fund the album! Now that the holidays have passed (hopefully all in beauty, joy, comradery, light & warmth,) it is time to reboot the campaign & get the ball rolling again! If you have already donated, Thank you so very much! Please share this blog to help keep the momentum rolling! If you have not yet donated, please take a moment to consider it... Remember, a $10 donation gets you a digital copy of the album, and bragging rights for being a part of its creation! Visit the Home Page for more information, and to make your contribution. 

The fund raiser goal chart, check back to watch it grow!