A year ago today I posted that I’d “finished an EP of five acoustic songs.” I was referring to my 2025 release, Acoustica, announcing that I had that “in the can,” as the patois goes. It’s a funny little expression, meaning that the final performances have been captured and the recording light is off; the project is now ready for the next phases, like post-production, mixing, mastering, etc. The expression’s origins go back to when recorded reels or film rolls …
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Ever notice that no one speaks of tribulations without involving trials? And no one speaks of laurels unless they’re commenting on resting on them. And what the hell is a laurel anyway? Apparently, it’s a wreath… but that’s not the point here. What I have come to learn is that, musically, if I have any of these figurative laurels, I don’t like to rest on them. From a creative standpoint, it’s always about moving forward. What I should be doing …
One of my favorite bands is this Canadian group, Sloan. They’ve been around for 30-plus years now, and they have a lot of records. One of the members of the band, Chris Murphy, often remarks that many of his favorite bands are ones that had big catalogs of music. “More than individual songs or records, I am a fan of careers, particularly the careers of bands,” he’s said. I can relate. While some of my favorite groups had short, sweet …
So here’s the deal… A couple of months back, I released my second record in as many years (third in as many years if you count the Already Taken record—and you should), and I really should be doing things to promote that. And I still think I will. That’s on the agenda. But I am not a promoter. I’m a musician and a writer. I make music, and I write stuff. So, naturally, I’m already starting to think about—and write …
“Wagon Wheel” is a song that was started by Bob Dylan back in 1973. Almost 30 years later, it was completed by someone named Ketch Secor who played in a band called the Old Crow Medicine Show. They recorded the song after finishing off the Bob Dylan throwaway and that’s the version I first heard and loved. When someone once suggested we play the song, I said, “Hell yeah! I like that song. It’s a bluegrass-country type of thing thing. …
I’ve long been a big proponent of In-Ear Monitors—IEMs—and really think that, for me, the evolution of this technology has been an amazing windfall. Not everyone likes ’em. And it’s understandable why, as, like with most things in life, there are tradeoffs and someone who is accustomed to playing with wedge monitors will doubtlessly experience growing pains when making the switch. But I’ve always been a big proponent of IEMs. I first started using them before I knew that they …
There’s a reason why my recent release, Somewhere in the Bell Curve, had eight songs on it. Prior to the commencement of the sessions, I prepped demo stems for eight songs specifically because it was the number of songs that I felt we could comfortably cut drum tracks for in two long nights. That matters, because there are economic and practical concerns to be considered. Recording drums is an involved process. A drum kit is not really just one instrument, …
This is a Tama catalogue from about 1987 or so, and it’s for a line of theirs called Swingstar. But it’s not just any catalogue, to me. This one holds special meaning. I collectively spent many, many hours looking at this thing… and it’s only about 12 pages. Pre-Internet, pre-YouTube, pre-on-demand, kids used to re-read stuff on their shelves, pulling out the same items over and over again, even if it was a drum brochure. At least I did. We …
Well, we are in the middle of a pandemic, you know, and there certainly has been a giant decline in the amount of music I’ve been doing. Here’s the unfortunate truth: I’m barely playing at all. Why? Well, for starters, I really and truly have been very busy with that stuff I do for a living. Crazy, right? It would seem more reasonable to think times would be slow, and I know I’m fortunate that they’re not. I’m as busy …
At the risk of making a horribly generalized statement—and doing so with my tongue sort of in cheek, but not entirely—I think this music thing comes down to people who make shit up and people who don’t. Songs, that is. Songwriting, I suppose we can say. But I’m even leery of using that description. The term ”songwriter” evokes the picture of the navel-gazing folkie or a person who is something of a life journalist—reflecting the world we live in (our …