In the summer of 1978, I was eleven years old. One of my most vivid memories of that time was the annual trip to Six Flags amusement park. I don’t remember much of the day, but there’s one indelible moment that would impact me for the rest of my life. It has nothing to do with food, or the rides or roller coasters, but rather with a band. I’m convinced that all eleven-year-olds are biologically … Continue reading

Over the course of the day, several ideas came and went for my penultimate track of the month. I get these little snippets of melody all the time, most of them are enjoyed for a few moments and then lost to the dark corners of my memory. Occasionally they resurface, but most of the time, I suppose they just hang out together smoking clove cigarettes, bitching about the system, and wondering what could have been … Continue reading

Every year, February 22 is designated as “Cover Day.” People choose one of the other participant’s tracks to cover. In 2016, I didn’t know about Cover Day until it showed up, and was too timid to make the attempt. In 2017, I covered a song by Chris Greacen (the instigator of all this madness) and was pretty happy with my effort. My 2018 cover was a learning experience. I learned that I have no business … Continue reading

Another journey through the valley of production hell. I started late on this one, but couldn’t put it away, and ended up not only violating my 2:00 AM stop time rule (I think I finished around 3:00), but calling a mulligan the next morning. The opening pad sound got looped while I wrote the lyrics, but I didn’t have any melody in mind while writing. That’s not typical, and it came back to bite me … Continue reading

Back to the normal studio, huzzah! But also a travel day. I’m normally a bit drained mentally when I get home. Then there are all of the small things that follow a trip: unpack, empty the dishwasher, decide if you actually need to eat or if that airport dinner in St. Louis is going to be enough…. Mary and I sat and chatted for a bit, and before I knew it, it was “late.” It … Continue reading