Thursday
May312007
Today was a pretty good day

Today was a pretty good day. Well, it started off a little (a lot) too early, since Ella is now getting up two hours earlier than she used to. After that, though, a couple of the neighbors and I planted a tree in another neighbor's back yard. All together there were ten dogs whose fences met there. We could barely talk over the barking.
Later this morning I went to my first co-writing appointment since Randall and I really dug into the Caedmon's record, and it went great. I think writing for people who aren't me has been a more difficult transition than I expected, but spending so much time writing for other people who I know and love has helped out immeasurably. I just had a blast today on the tune we came up with.
I think the fact that I've been cranking just about a tune every other day for this EP has helped, too. I just feel like I'm in a groove with it and it's awesome. As soon as I finish up a couple more tunes and feel decent about the mixes I'll put them up for you.
When my writing appointment was done I was planning on dropping by the new Indelible Grace record. Cason and Will, Andy Hunt, Kevin Twit and my neighbor Justin are all working on it. They were having a late lunch at Calypse Cafe, though, and so I got there just in time to grab a sandwich on their tab.
Afterwards we all headed back to the Smoakstack, Will's studio he runs with Paul Moak, and I just hung out for a while. It was nice to not have the pressure on and just get to be with my friends because we liked each other and not because we were getting paid to be together. Though it is nice that it usually works that way. And I ended up playing bass on a song just because I was there. And yeah, it was fun.
We had our small group tonight then most of the guys headed to the 12 South Tap Room to celebrate Paul Eckberg, who's about to leave town for a month to work at Young Life's Castaway Club up in Minnesota. Probably twelve years ago I had one of the most intense and amazing spiritual experience there and I'm more than a bit jealous he's going. And Eric Peters is doing music all month, too. I mean, come on.
Tomorrow I'm going to write most of the day and take a break for lunch, where I'll let some good friends with a corporate account feed me as a business expense. We do work together and we will talk business, though, so it's legit.
Bo Dauster posted a comment a few days ago with a line he offered for the EP and today I had a melodic breakthrough with it. I'm hoping to finish writing that song tomorrow. Ideally I'll get it recorded too. I feel like it's going to be pretty strong. I can't wait to dig in on it.
Well, I've got to get at least a little sleep before Ella wakes up and we watch a little Curious George. Thank you guys again and again and again for dropping by and letting me bore you with my life. And even more and more thanks for the lines, thoughts, photos and the hat that you've sent me as fodder for this project. More so than ever I'm aware of just how completely you guys allow me to do this. I'm so honored and humbled by your support.
Anyway, enough gushing. You folks rock. Keep checking back because I've got an even more bizarre, and hopefully awesome, idea to share with you as soon as I've got the song far enough for it to work. Tootleoo!
Later this morning I went to my first co-writing appointment since Randall and I really dug into the Caedmon's record, and it went great. I think writing for people who aren't me has been a more difficult transition than I expected, but spending so much time writing for other people who I know and love has helped out immeasurably. I just had a blast today on the tune we came up with.
I think the fact that I've been cranking just about a tune every other day for this EP has helped, too. I just feel like I'm in a groove with it and it's awesome. As soon as I finish up a couple more tunes and feel decent about the mixes I'll put them up for you.
When my writing appointment was done I was planning on dropping by the new Indelible Grace record. Cason and Will, Andy Hunt, Kevin Twit and my neighbor Justin are all working on it. They were having a late lunch at Calypse Cafe, though, and so I got there just in time to grab a sandwich on their tab.
Afterwards we all headed back to the Smoakstack, Will's studio he runs with Paul Moak, and I just hung out for a while. It was nice to not have the pressure on and just get to be with my friends because we liked each other and not because we were getting paid to be together. Though it is nice that it usually works that way. And I ended up playing bass on a song just because I was there. And yeah, it was fun.
We had our small group tonight then most of the guys headed to the 12 South Tap Room to celebrate Paul Eckberg, who's about to leave town for a month to work at Young Life's Castaway Club up in Minnesota. Probably twelve years ago I had one of the most intense and amazing spiritual experience there and I'm more than a bit jealous he's going. And Eric Peters is doing music all month, too. I mean, come on.
Tomorrow I'm going to write most of the day and take a break for lunch, where I'll let some good friends with a corporate account feed me as a business expense. We do work together and we will talk business, though, so it's legit.
Bo Dauster posted a comment a few days ago with a line he offered for the EP and today I had a melodic breakthrough with it. I'm hoping to finish writing that song tomorrow. Ideally I'll get it recorded too. I feel like it's going to be pretty strong. I can't wait to dig in on it.
Well, I've got to get at least a little sleep before Ella wakes up and we watch a little Curious George. Thank you guys again and again and again for dropping by and letting me bore you with my life. And even more and more thanks for the lines, thoughts, photos and the hat that you've sent me as fodder for this project. More so than ever I'm aware of just how completely you guys allow me to do this. I'm so honored and humbled by your support.
Anyway, enough gushing. You folks rock. Keep checking back because I've got an even more bizarre, and hopefully awesome, idea to share with you as soon as I've got the song far enough for it to work. Tootleoo!
Reader Comments (5)
i wish MY last name was "Twit" - that would rock!!
New Indelible Grace! Score!
so it seems this week was a little busier than you expected, eh? that's awesome.
I hope it's not too late for "submissions", but there is this song that i came up with 3 years ago while i was working at Target. The whole idea is "Every person's settling is someone else's dream" and it traces people in different walks of life and how the job that they are settling for is another person's dream job.
All I could ever come up with is a vague idea about my coworker Tom and how he worked extra hard one month to be the employee of the month and how he was so proud that he could use the bonus to buy his daughter a brand new bike. At the same time the guy who was Tom's boss was a washed up business man that had gotten in trouble and was now the warehouse manager.
I imagined that at the end its some rich and powerful CEO and all he really wants is to be back on his grandfathers farm working with his hands like when he was a kid in the summers.
i also came up with a chorus:
"who are we to judge
what anyone should want
if love of money has taught us one thing
its that anything else is settling"
Andy, I love this. I get the sense that this is what being an artist is all about - fashioning lyric and melody for what others/each of us have all wanted to say. all dreamed. all worried over the "right way to phrase it." You get to make those unbirthed things alive. that's pretty amazing. so thanks.