I’m getting excited. This Sunday at 5pm I move into Phase Two of getting the next CD recorded. [Phase One was just getting a bunch of song ideas down]. Sunday’s when I get together with the musicians and bang out some of the songs in the rehearsal studio and see what works and what doesn’t.

One things that’s great about this stage is… I could walk in with a ballad and the song could end up becoming something completely different. Always best to try out different ideas and see what feels best.

I’ve always found that if a song can’t be performed stripped down with just a vocal and piano/guitar then it’s not a strong enough bone to put the meat on. And so, most of the songs usually start out with just a piano and vocal or guitar and vocal…or, I’ll have a very rough demo that I recorded at home and we take it from there. The musicians bring quite a bit to the table in this stage of the game. Sometimes it’s a nice surprise and sometimes I think "well, this isn’t going to work at all".

I can play a handful of different instruments and it’s fun to layer tracks for the demos by myself, but there’s something really fantastic when you get players in a room and it all gels together live. It’s like being part of something that’s bigger than just yourself. 

And so, Sunday I get to see what songs seem worth spending the time and money on recording. I also get to see how this particular group of guys work with each other. More to come on this. For now, the rehearsal space and time is booked and that’s enough to excite me.

Back to working on more ideas and getting organized