back in new york... and i'm gettin' anxious!

so here i am outside of the record by about 2 weeks. its been a bit of a process getting the whole thing together but i have been learning that patience IS a virtue. i used to mark it up to something less than courageous, but i've been coming around to more sane way of thinking.

so here's whats going on. i've been in steady contact with mike at belly of the whale, he's been keeping himself busy working on some guitar lines that will serve to offer the ever so necessary icing. some times they are simple melody lines, sometimes they are WHO sized chords (not the grinch's minions) and i'm teeming with excitement to hear what the final takes sound like.

i am going to have to go up to finish the record, this is true, but its only half the songs that need finishing, so be certain, before you know it you'll be able to listen to the first few cuts on the record, download them, email them to friends, and get me in to the awards shows for next year... from there i'm sure i'll be able to kanye west my way onto the stage in the most inappropriate methods imaginable.

days 2 & 3

Well its certainly been intense.

I am having trouble grasping it all. Basically I walked into the studio with four other guys that I trust with an unhealthy amount of courage… and my faith in them has proved itself worthy.

These men took one song at a time over 23 hours and now stand on the other side of a record with 12 songs in the bag for all of the instruments other than 3 or 4 acoustic guitar tracks and 6 vocal tracks. It is me that is responsible for the rest of these parts… so they have been released.

I don’t think we made an album in the way that most would consider ‘the best’ way… but we jammed… and it was a little bit magical. This is a fresh album. A series of songs that tell a story and further a band that offers plenty of sub-plots.

We were also graced with the dear Christina Roushey for some background vocals. She was the 5th person involved that was entrusted with this absolute trust that I had applied to the other four.

This was a session where I hit play and joel and joel would do their bits and phil would re-invent rhythm as we know it. Mike would hit record and throw down some gorgeous guitar phrasing at the same time. Christy could 1 or 2 take anything we threw at her and in sum everybody had ideas and they fleshed them out very well.

I miss fresh records and that may be the reason I’m making one… but without my friends it would have been a drum machine and a synth… and that is way too 2005… but the music is good and the grammy committee are into it.

I am blessed to have worked with such incredible players, and while I was the common thread for all of these characters the sense of community and team work was phenomenal. There was not a single argument, it was all about the music being first… and as I was the one who wrote the songs it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

I must also mention a very special thank you to scott austin for letting me steal all of his equipment and also the tone he has been working on for the last 2 years and finally perfected. Also Eli Vasquez who has built the most beautiful sounding guitar I’ve ever heard and let me play it. Dorman’s honesty, Josh’s house and Nate for housing the canadians. Couldn’t have done it without any of you.

day 1...

so today was a good day.

we got out to belly of the whale and mike told us that the only people the studio was open to was friends and it was compliment of sorts... but here is the breakdown.

i've been waiting for years to make an album with joel morehouse. he makes music seem easier than finding a great sandwich in wegmans or a new york city deli. its like it falls out of him. phil johnston is not far behind, if any behind, and joel dawson is to the bass what pino is to the bass.

we started today with drum sounds and mike at the helm made it as easy as any studio pro to get an amazing sound out of the kit in under 20 minutes. keys joel (morehouse) was understandably late because of a rehearsal and bass joel (dawson) and i told jokes in the mean time. we cut a few tracks very loosely and got a good feel for the vibe of the studio.

today was a day to flush out errors and there were none... so we kept cutting. i guess my time of obsessing over notes is, at least temporarily, beneath me and so we focused on the more important elements of a good groove.

with a pocket the size of jokerman we did a gentle acoustic number and mike with us in the spirit of the electric guitar. truth be told, i thought this was a time for me to shine, but i'm enjoying the songs coming to life so much that i don't care much for my own guitar work... rather... in the spirit of keys joel... its the capturing of an essence. good music knows no bounds and i'd rather catch the energy off the floor than trying to craft the perfect lead.

time is of the essence and tomorrow is the real teller, but as of tonight the music is very much alive. i'm excited to see what tomorrow brings. my goal is very high and mike's is much lower, together i'm hoping we find ourselves in the middle of a brilliant record.

i've waited a long time for musicians like these and i'm understandably excited. tommy hawkins music is alive, but it has little to do with him... just a few chords, a lot of editing in the writing process and very very good friends. there is an aura, and that is what i am more concerned with than the perfections. no click... no scores... just simple charts and whole lot of heart.

your ears are in for a real treat.

oh how things have changed...

i don't know where it was, i'd like to believe its some college town in georgia but it was the fall of 2008 and we were on tour and it was gameday. we'd lined up a gig and were bound to play to a packed house for four hours and change and i had some songs to learn. so i tucked myself into the back room of the bus and learned a handful of songs and then emerged completely drenched in sweat. it was probably 98 degrees inside that bus.

as the game was winding down we headed to the venue and unpacked the bus. 13 guitars, an army of effects pedals, more amps than musicians and an orange drumset with the band logo on the front. we were fact & fiction, and we were about to have our way with the ears of a few hundred people. and so we did.

but here i am now, i live in new york city and have been working on the writing of this record for over a year. i'd originally planned to cut it in the hamptons last spring, but it wasn't ready. but almost a full year after the originally planned session here i am about to mount a different form of tour bus.

yes folks, i'm about to join the megabus generation. the main differences are as follows:

1. no guitars. no amps. and only a handful of pedals.
2. no 42 inch flat screen or incredibly loud home stereo system.
3. no shower.
4. not two lounges, not even one lounge!
5. its probably going to be air conditioned.
6. i'm told it has wifi
7. i don't have to sleep on it.
8. if we run out of fuel on the freeway i won't have to be the one to get out and prime the engine in the dark.

i'm not sure what to make of the experience, but i'm honestly pretty excited. i'll have details and photos for the session as we go but its going to be 3 days of live off the floor tracking trying to catch the magic that made time out of mind better than any of the rest of the author's work.

with a guitar i haven't touched in a year being shipped down to the studio and a handful of other ones i've never played and further with a couple of amps i've never played and lastly any number of guitar effects i've never tweaked... the impression i'm getting from all this is 'fresh'... but i like fresh.