"Now I Understand" to be on Compilation CD

My song "Now I Understand" has been chosen to be featured on the Carbon Drum compilation CD.

Go check it out HERE. It is track #6 on the "Rock , Indie, Folk" CD.

You can pre-order the CD if you like for $9. Be sure to put my name where it says "Which Band Referred You?" Most of that $9 dollars goes to the artist (me) plus you will help me work towards winning a contest by selling thew most CDs.

Thanks for everyone's continued support. I'm pretty excited to receive this recognition from an unbiased 3rd party. Hopefully this will mean that a lot of new people will be exposed to my music. So if you're a fan, please spread the word!

Thanks,
James

Woke Up This Morning...

...with a song in my head.

Sometimes it just happens like that. You are just given a song as a gift without even trying or asking. Such was the case this morning as I woke up (late for work) and walked to the bathroom. A cheery song about sunshine began playing in my head. It's funny because I was not in a very cheery mood at the time. Inspiration is unpredictable like that.

So, late as I already was, I decided to skip the shower and instead pulled out the acoustic and pounded (quietly, of course) out the chords I was hearing in my head (C, G, Dm, F). I also came up with a chord structure for the verses (C,G, Am, Am).

The words that I heard in my head were these:

So let the sun shine on me
And keep the rain far from me
(Haven't figured this line out yet)
Until the daylight becomes me

So, there you have it boys and girls, the beginning of a song. Someday when you are listening to the finished product you can feel privileged to know the back story of this little gem of a tune called "Sunshine" (or whatever it ends up being called by then).

"Dear Friend"...Where Have You Been?

I started playing a REALLY old song on the guitar this weekend, just for fun. The song, "Dear Friend" is from way back in the days when Travis Biggs and I performed as "Sneath Clay". It's actually a really good song that might be good enough to bring to life with a studio recording. It has never been recorded. It could be a haunting little number if done properly. I may play around with recording it and see how it turns out. It is completely written already so that will save some time.

Dear Friend,
Where have you been?
It's good to see your face again
I see you've traveled for many miles
And so I greet you with a smile
And ask you if you'll stay a while with me

Won't you stay with me
Like it used to be?

Dear Friend.
Where have you gone?
You've been gone or way too long
And which road have you been on?
And did you sing your greatest song?
And will you ever sing that song to me?

Won't you sing to me
Like it used to be?

And you'll never go a season without rain
Never know the good times without pain
So it is with you and I my friend
Things may never be the same again

Dear friend,
Where did you go?
To look for something else I know
So tell me now, what did you find?
I'll tell you what you've left behind
Or have you now become too blind to see?

Have you come to see
That you're missing me?

'Cause you'll never go a season without rain
Never know the good times without pain
So it is with you and I my friend
Things may one day be the same again

"Take Our Chances"...Again

So, I recorded a completely new version of a song called "Take Our Chances". It still has a ways to go before it is done, but I think the new direction is a big improvement.

This Blog Needs Pictures, No?

All these words, as important as they are, seem to make for an uninteresting blog. I will start taking some pictures of my recording equipment or something to liven this place up a bit.

UPDATE: That's better.

"Stability Crisis" Gets a Makeover

I pulled out the old acoustic today to fix some lyrics that have been bugging me. The song is called (for now) "Stability Crisis" and it's one of my favorites. I have a recorded version of it that I listen to on my iPod but I have been frustrated because there is one lyric that I don't like. Today I changed things around a bit and I am much more happy with it. It still not perfect but I might be able to live with it if the music and production turn out OK.

If "Stability Crisis" turns out to be as good as I am hoping, it may be a contender for opening track of the album. We will see. There is a long way to go before I will need to make decisions like that.

To finish this song I will need to re-record the main vocals and record some backing vocals (which will be an integral part of the song). Also, I thought of a guitar riff in my head today that will need to be added to the verses.

Recording Hiatus

Unfortunately, life is getting in the way of music right now. Between School, Work, Church and Family Responsibilities I barely have time to breathe. Hopefully I can re-structure my time and get back to being creative again. Unfortunately, it is hard to schedule creativity.

I am extremely excited about finishing this project when I actually think about it. It's just hard to find time to think about it. I will post some clips of new songs for your listening pleasure when I get back into things a bit.

"Drifting Away"

I listened to the mix this morning and it really is a decent song. The frustration I have is with the mix. It's a muddy mess that took forever to get sounding as good as it does now.

The idea of re-mixing is a daunting task. There is always the fear that you will screw things up and never get it back to the way it was before. I also need to re-write a couple of lyrics re-record the vocals as well.

It will take some work, but I think it can be a great song.

Two Finished Songs So Far

My last post seems a bit negative upon review. When I say I haven't completed much work in the past year, I don't mean that I haven't done anything. In fact, right now I have 2 songs that are completely finished and ready to go.

One of these, "By and By", I actually put up on the web quite some time ago. If you are reading this right now, it is safe to say you may have heard this song. I slightly tweaked the mix of the version that is online and mastered it again. The changes were very subtle and I doubt most people will even notice. But it sounds a lot better to me. I am very happy with that song. It has a simplicity that I enjoy. I can't quite put my finger on what is special about it, but it resonates with me.

The second song that is completely done is a bit of a new direction for me. It is called "This Moment". It reminds me of a song like "That Night Back In June" but with a more electronic, produced and spacious feel to it. I love the chorus personally. The structure is a bit different from the norm. I am excited about it at the moment. It should find a nice home on the album.

One Year Ago...

...I wrote a song on my birthday.

That song was the first song I had written in quite a while.

"Another year has passed me by, but am I closer to my goal
Or one breath closer to the day my body rests and leaves my soul?"

So the first verse began, and so it remains still. Many other parts however, have been changed, re-arranged and then changed back again. This song, currently called "Drifting Away", seemed to have so much potential at the time. Now I see many faults with it. The frustrating thing is I don't know how to fix it.

I think most of the problem is the that I can't get the mix sound right. Although there are a couple of lyrics that definitely could be improved. The truth is that it has been so long now that I am somewhat over the song. And so the question is this: Take the time to fix the song or just move on to new material?

The sad thing is that in the year since I penned that song, I have written much less new material than I had hoped to. I had hoped to finish a new studio album by this summer. Summer will now be over in a few days and I am not much further along than I was a year ago. With the "recording studio" becoming the nursery, it really couldn't be avoided I suppose. In recent weeks, we have done some re-arranging of the furniture which has created a way for me to record once again.

So this blog will be a record of the creative process that will go into this recording. I don't know who will even care to read this but myself and I suppose it doesn't really matter.