So I did it again..

I played my first show at the House Of Blues tonight with Ms. Robin Kinchen.  The show was great.  The turnout was really impressive as well.  Robin and I had promoted pretty heavily, but I didn’t have high hopes that our promotion would work.  Apparently it did work.  A great show indeed.  After the show, I found myself dozing off at a friends place in the quarter at about 3:30 AM during a little post show schmoozer that they threw together and realized I couldn’t  crash there because my car was still about 10 blocks away in a parking garage and the next day was father’s day.  So I borrowed my friend’s bike and I rode my way back to my car at 4:00 AM.  It was a beautiful ride, but again I find myself alone after hundreds of people stood silent seemingly interested in what I had to say/sing.  I mention it only because the juxtaposition is powerful to me.  I do not mean to sound as if I do not welcome the post show solitude.  It is quite nice and completely torturous all at once.  Such a feeling is hard to match and for that reason I suppose isn’t so bad at all.  I haven’t written in this journal in some time.  Journals are simply not my bag, but as I drove home tonight listening to nothing but my thoughts, I could think of nothing I wanted to do more than to write an entry in this journal.  So here it is.  It is now 4:40 and I’m going to sleep.  Happy Fathers Day

So low..solo..soul oh

I wrote a new tune today.  I’m hungover and lonely.  My solitude collects its toll from time to time.  I’ve got things to do that I’ll probably not do until tomorrow.  I’ll head to the open mic tonight.  Not sure If I’ll play the new tune or not.  I like to keep tunes to myself for a while sometimes.  I’ve got a show coming up at The House of Blues.  I’ll probably save it and play it then.  Looking forward to that show.  If you’re reading this BUY A TICKET TO THAT SHOW.  June 14th with Robin Kinchen.  You can buy tickets at ticketmaster.com.  Come keep me company

Twenty Three

Yesterday was my birthday. I have a headache.

Show

I played my first gig last night since getting back from Nashville.  It was great to play the tunes with the band.  Listening to the record over and over was wearing on me.  After the gig I headed to another bar to meet up with some friends.  The solitary walk to the next bar was a beautiful piece of loneliness fit between two loud bars.  I’ve come to indulge in the lonely moments in my days.  I don’t know why.  I love my friends, I love love, but I love to hear myself think as well.  There’s a pinch of masochism involved as well I’m sure.  I’m looking forward to getting back to the notebook and writing some new tunes.  

$1.25

I’ve been listening to my record.  Its a bit strange that all these songs I’d sing to myself in my room are no longer as private.  I feel a bit like I’ve turned in my toll of tunes and must start over writing songs that noone’s heard but me.  I get off on the idea that I’m singing a song to myself that noone else has ever heard.  Noone can sing the words to the song I’m singing, they can only listen, and only if I sing it for them.  Art can make a man a god even if only to himself.

Last Day In Nashville

We started late today and will finish up early. Just a few mixing tweaks is all that’s left for this record until mastering. I’ll be heading back to New Orleans tomorrow. I’ve yet to leave Nashville, but Trina and I are missing each other already I think. Its been great hanging out with her for a month. The studio is empty apart from myself, Trina, and Ted, the studio assistant who seems to have had a good time at our sessions as well. Ted is an easy going lad with impressively giant hair, a good man indeed. I’m going to miss this place perhaps because of the snack cornucopia in the lounge, but also because of the great people I’ve shared this experience with. I’ve got a feeling that this record will remind me of these times more vividly than I anticipate, and that may well end up being the most rewarding part of this project. Now, back to New Orleans to listen to some WWOZ. I miss it so. (New Orleans Jazz and Heritage station for those unfamiliar. Save your life and check it out www.wwoz.org)

Mixing day 3

Mixing is mixing. The extreme concentration it takes to notice the slightest change in one instrument that can make a big difference is all that keeps my attention. Trina’s husband, Grayson Capps is a songwriter as well and is currently in Norway on a tour. Before Grayson left for his tour he was hanging around the Barn while Trina and I were editting the tracks. He and I talked about touring, New Orleans, music, and he tossed me a few lessons from his experience. Trina gets a call from him in our early evening as his Norweigan clock is probably in the wee hours of the morning. She talks to him about how the shows are going, and I sit back jealous as hell of the man on the other end of the line who is drunk, watching the Norwegian sun come up, and off to play 8 more gigs in Norway. All I really want is to drive off to somewhere else and play some songs I wrote for people I’ve never met in a place I’ve never been. Thats what I look forward to.

BACKDATE 5/7/04

Tonight we mix! Mixing is progressing slowly but surely, and the mixes are coming out great. I’ve spent about a month now in Nashville with no affiliation other than the folks I’m making the record with, and my buddy Mike who lives outside of Nashville and has so graciously inflated a bed in an extra room for me to crash on while I’m up here. I would have expected to be missing home at about this point and looking forward to heading back to New Orleans, but I feel very little of that yearning. It’s not that I want to stay in Nashville, but I certainly don’t feel drawn back home. I suppose that fact is reassuring because I can think of nothing I want to do more in my next couple of years than to get in my car and head to the next show in a town I’ve never been to. I’d like to think that home will feel more like wherever I am than where I used to be.

BACKDATE 5/5/04

Today is the first day of mixing. I met Trina at a studio called East Iris. The space is more modest than the Music Row studio, but the vibe is much cooler. Mixing goes at a rate of about 2 to 3 songs a day, so by the end of the week we should be finished the 13 tracks for this record. The snack room at the studio is pretty boss.

BACKDATE 4/18/04

Today it’s back to Trina’s barn, a trip back to the mellower part of town and a mellower day. The day is spent with Billy, the drummer, Jabe, the guitarist, Trina, and myself sitting around the backyard table smoking jabe’s hand-rolled cigarettes, talking about New England politics, and having my head filled with wild ideas by the other three people at the table. A walk through Trina’s backyard is like a baptism. An acre of grass and wild flowers is folded by a slate stone stream that retreats into a modest cave on the side of a mountain. The explorer in me has tried more than once to find the end of the cave, but after about 20 yards, a Zippo does little to illuminate the wet wandering walls, or maybe it has nothing to do with the Zippo, and I’m just not that brave. The mood is incredibly relaxed, incredibly satisfied, and incredibly optimistic. There is much work ahead, but Trina is certainly impressed and excited with what has happened thus far. She is truly a cool mellow individual who makes it very easy to work with her and even easier to sit around the backyard table and daydream. Little was accomplished today but much was realized.