Hey everyone! I wanted to check in quickly, give an update on how the album is coming, and share some photos! I just came back from a beautiful trip to Portland and California. I was so happy to be reunited with old friends and family. Out there, I filmed a couple of videos of the new songs in some really special places with some really special people. It’s taking so much self control to not leak any photos, but man it was so perfect.
This week’s mission has been to work on my songs “Whenever You Want” and “Changes” at my friend Andrew Ratcliffe’s place. Andrew is opening a recording school in Athens and has become one of my closest friends and mentors in town. He’s really opened my eyes to the power of community within music and has challenged me to grow more open-handed with my life. Andrew has been instrumental in the making of this recording, allowing me to play with some amazing gear and providing some state-of-the-art tools that I get to use and house in the home studio.
On Sunday, I joined forces with Andrew once again, along with Tom Ryan (Panda), to track the rhythm sections for the two songs. We met up at Andrew’s place and discussed arrangements, sounds, and drum parts. I wanted “Whenever A Waste” to be a force, combining electric guitars, electric basses and acoustic instruments with some synth basses and drum loops. What I’ve got is pretty cool, I think. Or maybe its too crazy. Im in the process of reducing the arrangement down to the most important parts. For “Changes,” I’m thinking its going to come out pretty straight forward, influenced a lot by The Head and the Heart and The Lumineers type sounds with acoustic guitars and bent out pianos. I’m excited about how these are coming out. Panda laid some incredible bass parts under all the songs that really anchored them.
Here are some more photos from our session!
Extra Credit: It’s short and sweet today cause it’s 6:30, I’ve been working all day, and all I want to do right now is go play basketball. So I’m going over to the gym of ages (YMCA) to get this bread. But the thing I’m wrestling with and realizing more is the power of charing and creating a community. There’s so much in me that is adverse to giving away to others - whether its my resources, time or efforts. It’s so I protect myself from being used. But I’m slowly learning, and I’ve been learning this my whole life, the joy of weaving my life with those around me. I want to learn the joy of giving freely, I want to make room for family to happen. And it goes against all of my fears and my knee-jerk protection modes. But, the more I think about it, the more I really come to realize that nothing is my own doing. I’ve earned nothing, I don’t deserve the many blessings I have, and I’ve never been my own provider. With this mindset, I am free to give and give generously. I am walking head first into this because I believe it’s the better way to live… burns and all. So the extra is incredibly simple - give it all away.
best, Andrew