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.