Today was a better day. More hope all around. I woke at six o’clock, read the news, had some coffee and then went for a run. I’ve been stressed out and running helps me a great deal. So does prayer and reading through the psalms to know that I’m not alone in my feelings be they good, bad or just ok.
I’ve been working with bookings and rehearsing for this weekend’s concerts. I’ll be up in Columbia, MO and then on to St. Louis. Really looking forward to playing and connecting with the songs and the people on the road.
In the midst of the busyness I took the time to sift through some thoughts on the piano.
I’ve had some melodies rolling around in my head for a couple weeks now that wanted to stretch their legs. So I let them.
And then the strangest thing happened…two songs showed up today.
It was just after lunch and they came pretty fast. I need to edit them and let them get a little older but lo and behold—new material! What a surprise. I wasn’t even trying. They were just sort of there.
Songwriting is a strange thing indeed. The rabbit hole goes deeper the older I get.
The songs on Recovery are still somewhat fresh to me but I can tell they are aging and making room for the younger songs. These new ones that showed up today. There’s a similar energy to them. Fast and not at all obvious. Nice parts and interesting lead vocal melody. Syncopated. I love how it feels. Forward moving.
I think the folk thing is over for me. It threw me for a loop at first (no pun intended) but I think I wandered so far away from it on my last record that I’ll be gone from it for a while. This reality is still impacting my ever changing live show which is in the process of its gradual change brought on by the new material.
Have a good night.
Posted in Creative Process by Jeremy | 2 Comments »
it’s been a hell of a day. just one thing after another piling up and i feel pretty overwhelmed. i won’t go into details here because it won’t change the point of this post.
i’ve decided to call it. It’s a few minutes before 5 o’clock and i’m done.
i’m off to mow the lawn and pray for mercy.
psalm 25.
Posted in General by Jeremy | 2 Comments »
The internet never ceases to amaze me. I’ve recently discovered the joy of Garfield minus Garfield which features edited renditions of old Garfield comic strips.
It is described as “a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.”
Hilarity ensues…
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Had a great show up in Chicago this weekend with Eric Peters & Andrew Osenga.
I love spending quality time like that with old friends. The 8 hour car ride was filled with conversation spanning all sorts of subjects: marriage, fatherhood, artistry, songwriting, production, guitars, gear, theology, the Team America Soundtrack and the general ups and downs of life as working musicians.
Thanks to everyone who came out for the show and to the staff at The Union for hosting us.
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4/11/08 Naperville, IL
North Central College - The Union
129 W. Benton Ave.
7pm, FREE show
**Square Peg Alliance show featuring Andrew Osenga, Eric Peters & Jeremy Casella**
More dates to come.
Posted in News by Jeremy | 3 Comments »
The editors of Discipleship Journal wrote a rave review of RCVRY in a recent issue. Here’s a snippet:
“The subtle and original sound of Casella’s music hooked me first. The lyrics have kept me addicted. Lines such as, “Nobody holds you like the hand of God” (Distress Signal) and, “Muddy my eyes and show me I was blind” (Daylight) won’t exit my brain. Nor will the lament of “The Curse”: “I’m lonely like Adam and I’m angry like Cain; does my Savior even know my name?”
-Sue Kline, senior editor
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Current listening:
Jackson Browne – Solo Acoustic Vol. 2 (has some great moments)
Once – Soundtrack to the Motion Picture
Paul Oakenfold - Greatest Hits Remixes (great if you like his style)
Daniel Lanois - Here Is What Is (not my fav but good)
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger (wow. This is excellent)
The Beatles -Love (this is pretty incredible. don’t miss it)
Neil Young - Harvest Moon (best Neil record from the 90’s)
Johnny Cash - American V: One Hundred Highways (breaks my heart. especially “If You Could Read My Mind”)
Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple
Brooks Williams – Seven Sisters
Neil Diamond – 12 Songs
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend
Current podcasts:
The Habanero Hour
Current reading:
The Olney Hymnal (John Newton & William Cowper)
The Bob Dylan Companion: Four Decades of Commentary (Carl Benson)
Renovation: 3rd Edition (Litchfield)
Finish Carpentry (Spence)
Todd Bragg Is Just Like Jesus : Tips & Tricks For Home Carpentry (Norm Abram)
Posted in General by Jeremy | 2 Comments »
I’m sitting here in my office listening to the “Once” movie soundtrack.
All the boxes are unpacked and music is starting to fill the new Map Room. I’ve got all my guitars, my computer, recording gear, mics, cables, books and all the things that make this space my own, laid out to where I can get to them.
It feels so good to settle in.
Next weekend I turn 32 and we’re having a little party. Nothing fancy– just some friends coming over to drink some Yazoo (local brew) and grill. I think we’ll have a bonfire in the back yard if the weather allows for it.
I have much to be thankful for. I have a great life and am abundantly blessed with a beautiful wife and a wonderful little boy. My wife calls me honey and my son calls me dada. (in his own unique and chirpy language) I’ve got a treasure chest full of dear friends that feel like family. They call me Jerry. (Something my 10th grade history teacher (Mr. Spears) started when he called roll on the first day of school back when I lived in Ohio)
I love my job and I’m growing as an artist which each passing record and each passing year. The time is going by so quickly now. I can tell because Eli is growing so fast.
I am getting a good bit of gray washed through my hair. I don’t mind it one bit. Bring it on, I say. The crown of wisdom; I need all I can get. I’ve waited a long time to get my hands on some wisdom. I sure could have used it in my 20’s.
Why despise growing older? Being young is fine but life is so much more interesting the older you get. You have to stay hungry for the good stuff. It’s so easy to check out and just coast in the cruising lane. Even in your 30’s. The world will beat you down. The culture will dehumanize you and turn you into a consumer. And it’s tragic because we are created in the image of God Almighty.
I want to be the 50 year old man who is still learning new things and pushing out further and further into the good stuff. No retreat to complacency.
I’ve been thinking of someday teaching myself how to lay brick like Winston Churchill did during WWII. He was so involved in planning and fighting the Germans that when he needed to rest and regroup he would go to his home outside of London and build walls with brick and mortar. He built walls all over Chartwell which stand to this day.
I’m not fighting any wars but I am alive in a fight of a different kind. I fight fear, I fight pride. I fight community and self-comparison. There are no guns involved but there might as well be. Fear chokes out all kinds of things and really needs to be put in its place or it can overtake you. The only thing that has ever trumped my fear is the Gospel.
I fight that too.
But things are changing. I have a softer heart. Genesis 15 broke me wide open this past year. I had breakfast with Kevin Twit at Cracker Barrel recently and told him that Genesis 15 is the most beautiful thing I have ever read. (He preached a sermon on it which can he found at the Belmont RUF Podcast in iTunes.)
I learned a lot this last year about being patient. I recently learned some carpentry while renovating our 110 year old house. Measure twice, cut once. That’s a good bit of wisdom that applies to more than carpentry. Could have used that in my 20’s too!
All of this must be going some where. It must point to something or someone.
I think of what happened in Genesis 15. I find my story there and I find my courage to grow older there too.
I want to drink it deep. Good friends, good beer and all of God’s good gifts.
Cheers, friends.
Posted in General by Jeremy | 4 Comments »
