DECEMBER 2010 UPDATE

We had a great Christmas with the family and there was some fun jamming with my sons and my son-in-law.
 
Meanwhile I keep listening to local artists. I'm excited to see some artists are becoming more active and gaining exposure in the last year. Shaun Barrowes' has totally broken out of the gate! Live for Music tour has been a great success and he is continuing to gain momentum. I see other local artists that are doing more and more each month. Some are recording, releasing new material, playing more gigs, and even widening their performing areas. Artists I see that continually gaining exposure through dedication and hard work include Stankbot Tyranny, Steven Halliday, Melody and Tyler, Ryan Innes, Brett Turner, Whitney Blaine Whittaker, Crystal Poloa, Danielle Hyde Vaughn, Opal Hill Drive, Parchman Freedom Riders, and Dusk One


I performed two acoustic covers at a Christmas show in Draper - "Run Run Rudolph" and "Merry Christmas Baby". I did the Chuck Berry and B.B. King versions respectively. I was very satisfied with them and my performance. I've decided to start recording some of the cover songs I perform, especially when I put in rehearsal effort. So, I recorded both of them in my studio.

I also recorded "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Tees and "Drive" by Incubus. I've got a few others I do very well I'll record in January. I'll do a few each month and then have these captured for posterity. "Delilah" was a very good exercise. Although I play it well it is a driving very steady rhythm picking between a bass line and a back swipe of the first three strings in the chords. I realized I wasn't getting through it without a few fluffs here and there and I couldn't punch it in very easily without it being obvious. I did the vocals with three punch ins. Eventually I got through it with one punch in on the last chorus. Maybe others can't hear it, but I know where it is. I cut "Drive" perfect in one take. I did the vocals three times and took the last take.

The covers have been a great exercise in the recording process and I am getting a better sound from mixing playing with effect ratios and EQ settings. I went back a remixed two covers I recorded last year, ELP's "Still You Turn Me On" and Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy". In the fall I also recorded a cover of John Denver's "Grandma's Feather Bed for my good friend Tom McKinney.

I recorded guitar and vocal for "Hidden Meadow Song (A Boy and a Girl). I put down two acoustic guitar tracks and  a vocal. The song has a jazzy finger-picked intro that is repeated somewhat at the end. I double-tracked this part which was a very good exercise. It took a couple of hours to play it exactly the same each time so I could double track it. Now I play it better. It needs some help with harmonies and what I hear is out of my range. Tom Callister is playing with some arrangement ideas for it.


So my new approach is to put down acoustic only versions for a while.