Blind Melon has always held a strange place for me. I bought their first CD back when it came out because I liked No Rain. A fun little song that was a nice break for me in bewteen Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The rest of the disk didn't blow me away, but I liked it fine. I remember reading a piece in Rolling Stone that mentioned that the band was signed on the strength of a demo tape. Remember demo tapes? They seem so archaic these days but they have their place in history. Jump ahead to their second album, …

Yep, that’s me. The Maryland State Arts Council named me as one of the recipients for this year’s award. I won’t lie, it’s pretty awesome. In 4-6 weeks or so I should receive the award check. It’s a nice amount but not a massive game changer and now the dilemma is how to use it. I have 3 possible strategies. 1) Save it to cover much of the cost of the next CD. However, if CD #2 sells about as well or better than CD #1, I will be able to pay for CD #3 mostly from that. …

Come Monday it'll be alright.

That is the red letter day when I go into 'the studio' and begin recording the new CD. It feels good, having that on the calendar. Zack, the engineer, says that it'll take a half hour or so to place microphones and fuss with dials before we're ready to push to go button.

I booked 3 hours starting at 7:00 pm. I figure this is a good amount to start with, but I don't really know what to anticipate getting done. I'm guessing that I'll play the guitar parts, what? 3 times? 6 times each? And then sing them 3 or 6 times? Maybe? I'll prepare to do 3 sings but be happy if 2 are in good shape.

After the guitar and vocals are mostly together we'll add in a few other instuments. A few strings here and there. And it looks like a most excellent singer will be joining me on a few songs as well. Good stuff.

 

Here’s what I’ve learned from my first CD. Singer/Songfighter was a good first step for me. I had older recordings that were good and done. I paid for mastering and duplication but didn’t have to pay for additional studio time. Getting it out there felt great, like I was finally legit. However, because these were older recording the disk doesn’t really represent what I am doing now. I’m not embarrassed by it. It’s a good document. But I didn’t want to use it as a …

My three goals for 2010 are 1) Get noticed online. 2) Draw better to my shows. 3) Double my email list and facebook fans. I think that these are reasonable goals. Get noticed and draw better are vague intangibles, but if I am successful with them I will be able to achieve #3. Part one: Release 3 EP’s in 2010. 5-6 songs per release, priced reasonably, on a regular schedule. Part two: Give away music. By spring I will begin posting free songs on a regular basis. Part three: Do cool stuff live and …