Album Lockdown - Day 5

It's time like these I begin to recall and recite popular internet memes:

Nothing worth having comes easy.

It's not about the destination. It's about the journey.

Keep calm and carry on.

Don't feed the bears.

Ok, maybe not the last one. But, I am in California - it's on the state flag for cryin' out loud.

Alright, anyway, construction is well underway. The first week brought its share of ups and downs. Sometimes THE PROCESS just flows - little diamonds just show up at your feet without you even taking the time to look around. Other times, (and more often then not), it's less of a flow and more of an absolute grind. The gem has to be polished, cleaned, sanded, buffed, cut, formed, shaped, and then polished, cleaned, sanded, and buffed again. Being that as it may, I think it's safe to say that I'm excited about the results so far.

And it's important for everyone out there on the Interwebs to understand: Joey Barba practically lives in Beast Mode while he's engineering a track. Getting to collaborate with both his and Tyler's creative instincts and to contribute, in even a minute way, to this project has been quite the ride so far. Certainly part of the joy of this whole adventure is simply being in the room when someone else does something truly great. It's no small thing to be a fan of the people with whom you work.

Photo Of The Day

Sopris, Retro

During a weekend jaunt into the mountains to attend a friend's wedding, I came across this picturesque locale. Mt. Sopris, just 1,047 feet short of being a well-known and oft-summited Colorado peak, stands just as majestic as its 14,000-ft. brethren.

Album Lockdown - Day 1

Well, the LA adventure has officially begun - it's time to make ourselves a record.

Getting into Los Angeles turned out to be quite the undertaking in and of itself - layover delays followed by hurried calls to board and then long waits on the tarmac in a Spirit Airlines plane that saw fit to take another four inches away from my already cramped leg space. And, just in case you happened to be wondering - yes, as a matter of fact, LAX is quite the happening spot on a Sunday night.

The first night's sleeping arrangements were a bit peculiar, as well, due to a few additional house guests here at T-Ward's studio/home scrounging up whatever meager square footage they could in order to catch a few z's. And all's fair in sleep & rock 'n' roll, as evidenced by Joey's control room air mattress and my acoustic-treatment-foam pillow.

...more comfortable than you might think.

Then, Day 1 began with an early morning reveille at the crack of 10:00 AM. A workout and breakfast soon followed and then it was time to get to work. Finishing pre-production on a song that could very easily be the album's lead single has been our goal for the day; little touches to vocal harmonies, drum grooves, and rhythm guitars the chips from the stone.

So, all in all, things are going well right out of the gate. Personally, I'm sort of hoping that every day of this process will be a memory in itself (that's what the blog is here for, right?) Final drums could start tracking as soon as tomorrow, so be sure to check back for the update!

Book Reviews on a Music Blog

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A predominantly great book marred by the increep of white guilt/New England liberal bias. Philbrick is both deft in his compositional skill and a masterful storyteller, but his uneven handling of the events of King Philip's War serves to detract from an otherwise marvelous work. Despite being a bit disappointed (as Philbrick has become a favorite author of mine and is usually fantastic at staying out of the way in regards to historical editorializing), I would still highly recommend the book - it is a marvelously well-written account of some little known and fascinating American history and the biases certainly don't rise to the level of revisionism.

View all my reviews

Photo Of The Day

Bald Guys With Brushes