Nashville show.
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Jul
31st 2007 Jul
31st 2007 Conversations.We’ve posted an in-depth interview with Jeremy from freelance writer Jenni Simmons. In this - the first of two installments, the conversation focuses on: the songwriting process, life as an independent artist, marriage and fatherhood, and thoughts on being in community with other musicians. Jul
30th 2007 I am not afraid I am not afraid I am not afraid.Found some cool music on itunes somewhat by accident that you should check out. It’s called Maps and the songs you should download are “To The Sky”, “So Low, So High” and “It Will Find You”. Also be sure and check out R.E.M’s song “The Outsiders” from Around The Sun. The spoken word/rap at the end really moves me. I would love a record of just that guy (Q-Tip) doing his thing over beats. It’s awesome. Maybe he has a solo record. Oh and …Sam Phillips’ “Where the Color’s Don’t Go” is not to be missed. T-Bone has the golden touch. Listen to the violins working with the cello lines in the beginning. Brilliant. I love music. Jul
29th 2007 LOST.I lost my cell phone yesterday. At some point on Friday night it must have fallen out of my pocket because I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I’ve looked all over the place…retracing my steps from dinner at a restaurant to the movies and then back home again. We’ve turned our house inside out searching for it and….nothing. To make matters worse, I had set it to vibrate at the movie theatre so we aren’t able to hear it ring regardless. When I call the phone it goes straight to voicemail which means that the battery is dead or the phone is off. I have concluded that there is little hope and that my phone is gone. I had years of numbers on that damn phone and it’s going to take me a while to get them all back. Some of them I might not be able to. Who knows. It really got under my skin yesterday. I was driving over to the airport to give Cason a lift home when I realized how angry I was over losing my dumb phone and that I needed to just enjoy the day without being tethered to a stupid ringing piece of plastic. I’m amazed at how annoyed I was over losing it and then even more amazed at how dependent I’ve become on it. Jul
27th 2007 A Birthday for Kierstin.Today is my sweet wife’s birthday and I’m taking her out to dinner and a movie to celebrate. This will be our first outing as a couple since Eli joined us last January…so we’re looking forward to just being together and letting the little one hang out with the baby-sitters. (Thanks Dave and JJ!!) I wanted to take a moment to write down a few thoughts about how blessed I am to have Kierstin as my wife and closest friend. She is a true companion and support to everything I am trying to do with my music and my art. She is an artist herself and most of the time I think she understands me better than I understand myself. She has a deep and quiet wisdom about her that brings light and love into our marriage and into the life of our little boy. The truth about Kierstin is that she improves every situation she is a part of. Exhibit A: me. (ask my friends) Words tend to fail me when I want to express how much I love her and how thankful I am that The Almighty bound us together….but I am blessed beyond measure to be her husband. I love you Kierst. Happy Birthday! Jul
27th 2007 Forever rescued by the mystery rain.
Sometimes (Daniel Lanois) Sometimes, sometimes Sometimes I feel like I’m on a freight train The sun gonna come shining down; push it all away, make it alright Hard to know everything’s going to be alright Sometimes I wanna take a pill and hide And go where no man should go Jul
24th 2007 Laptop Guerilla Warfare.
I stand there with my guitar slung across me and a mic in front of my face. To my right is my new rig…a strange assortment of keyboards and midi-interfaces along with an Avalon U5 DI that makes my acoustic guitar sound like Moses when he came down from the mountain. I stand and sing and sample and trigger sounds and bounce through sections of songs. I turn knobs and tend to get lost in the music. Last night I was transfixed by just a beat, some strings and a sampled Matthew Perryman Jones singing “Nobody holds you like the hand of God.” I’ve been learning all about midi-control and ways to manipulate sounds on the fly in real time — similar to the way a DJ would do it but kind of different. Hard to explain. It feels great though and I’m in the process of weeding through information and putting together a battle plan. Laptop guerilla warfare with an acoustic guitar, voice, cello and beats. The challenge for me as a solo artist is to maximize impact and deliver to an audience what I’m hearing in my head — similar to how I pursued that on my record but now in a live environment. Using the technology musically (instead of technically) will allow me to do this. At least I think so… Jul
19th 2007 Deep Thoughts.
I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they choose a king, they don’t just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas. Jul
17th 2007 Addendum: Today at Shelby Park.One of my best friends, Cason Jay Cooley, has just alerted me to the fact that roller-blading may not be what all the “cool kids” do. So now, with all that is in me — I throw off this blanket of insecurity and say to the world: (that would be you, dear reader) “I was just trying to get some excercise!” Jul
17th 2007 Today in Shelby Park.A couple days ago I came across my long-lost pair of roller-blades buried under a few boxes in our garage. It had been a few years since I used them so I decided to give them a whirl today down at Shelby Park. Everything was going great. One mile…two miles…three miles….and then — all of the sudden…blam! My right front wheel busted loose and I was left with what amounted to a useless roller-blade-boot. And I was three miles away from my car. And it was starting to rain.So I hobbled my way back using my good boot as best I could while only relying on the broken boot for pushing. It took me forever to get back and I must have looked funny as I was making my way. Just as I was nearing the end of the trail an older, bald-headed dude with only a ponytail and a slick pair of super-duper special rollerblades zipped past me and said, “Be like the Buddha. Effortless effort!” Gee, thanks for that little nugget, Buddha man. I was tired, frustrated and sore…so I stopped by Bill Martin’s Grocery on the way home and treated myself to a Yoo-hoo. The end. |
