The Joy of Building

I just got done with a few projects. It was(and always is) satisfying to see the fruits of your labor. To stand back and look at something you made. I do believe God has given me a desire to create, to dream, to craft something from nothing. Music. Woodworking. Drawing. It's all the same principle. You start with nothing except tools, materials, and imagination. You reference other peoples work, but you always get to put your own spin on it. Sometimes your mistakes end up being the best, most unique part of whatever you're doing. And though our works are nothing compared to His, I believe He delights in seeing us at work. I've always had a notion that heaven will be a place that we can work and create without a concept of value. Wouldn't it be wonderful to build a table and give it to a friend for no other reason but to fulfill a need. And if somebody builds better tables than you, you could find joy in learning from him or looking at his work without envy or greed. Your only incentive would be to better yourself for the sake of getting better. And if somebody doesn't build as well as you, you could find joy in passing on knowledge without any need of being paid or worry about competition. Ah well, til then we're all stuck down here in the mud trying to keep our lives stable. Let's try and find as much joy as we can and leave the money thing up to God.

Being your own boss

Being your own boss is great! I get to take breaks when I want to. I can go home when I want to. I can wake up late if I want to. I can take an 1 1/2 lunch if I want to...

Except I can't. Because when you are your own boss, you are so worried about getting paid, getting the next job, finishing the current job, keeping customers happy, paying for insurance, having enough money for materials, and making the whole mess work, that even when you honestly don't have anything to do you're stressing out over having nothing to do.

Beatle Mania

Hey Folks! This Friday at 12 and porter I'm playing with a Beatle's cover band called 64. I'm inviting everybody to come out, grab a drink, and have a sing-a-long. I've been going to see 64 for awhile now. I love this show. It's so easy to go to, so easy to have fun at. It's just a group of guys who like playing Beatle's music getting together and doing exactly that. No wigs, no suits, no act, nothing you have to feel cool to do, or "in the know" to be a part of, just plain fun. If you're thinking, "I'm not really a huge Beatles fan", well.... Neither am I! But just listening to 64 has shown me how great of a band the Beatles were and how well I know their stuff. So I'll see everybody there. I'll be the guy playing the tamborine in the back.

What Ducks and Trucks Share

Nothing much actually, except for the fact that my son pronounces them the same way. However, instead of the "D" or "Tr" sound, Liam has found a way to consolidate several consonants into the letter "F". So if you see my son and I walking along side a busy road, or strolling past the pond in the park, and you hear my son yelling "F#*%, F#*%!!!", he is NOT saying what you think he is. I did NOT teach him that. And please do NOT start laughin-that will only prolong his fascination with the word.

Happy happy day

Here is a clip from the clip at the French Quarter.

It was my wife's birthday and we rented out the whole place just for us and a few select friends. ;)

New show at the French Quarter!!

Oct 6th at 6pm I'll be playing with Shelly Fraley and Clark Paterson at the French Quarter.

Cover=$2
BUT
PBR's are 2-4-1!!

I'll be playing later in the evening for about 45 minutes. Come out and enjoy!!

The Snake And The Mouse

All the old dust and debree
the snake and the mouse
Found by Michelle and me
underneath my house

One up high in the ceiling
the other down on the ground
No telling how long deceased
or how long they've been around

Both trying to hide from winter
unknowingly step into the trap
For once they entered my basement
they were suffocated by all my crap

They lived out their lives
and spent the last of their days
Among all of the old stuff
I don't need but refuse to throw away

Clean Sweep vs. Sandford 'N Sons

THAT'S RIGHT!!

Cleaning out the basement this weekend. HUGE job. LOTS of crap. My mother has flown down to watch Liam, so my wife and I can grab the snow shovels and start digging.

TREASURE!!

I found lots of treasure so far. You know, all those little things you run into and say, "that's where that went", or "I've been looking for this the last two years", or "is this a old bird's nest, or does it look more like a rat's."

ORGANIZATION!!

We pull everything out and decide what's trash, what's for sale, and what we'll keep...... We sure are keep'n a lot......

CREATING SPACE!!

This is done with a sledge hammer and crow bar.

LONG HOT SHOWERS!!

This is done at the end of the day to wash all the filth, mold, rust, 70 year old dust, and various unrecognizable substances off your body and out of your hair.

Writer writer pumkin cider

I didn't exactly lose my job, but this week I find myself extremely available. (because I don't have a job) So it was a perfect opportunity to get a lot of things done that I haven't had the time for. One of them includes finishing up some songs.

The process of writing a new song is very time consuming:
1) You have to find time between your job, your new job, your kid, your wife, your dogs, and your house you're fixing up.
2) Since there is no time between any of those things you have to lie to yourself in order to make time. Ex: "I think the house looks fine with a half finished ceiling. Guess I can knock off a little early today."
3) You have to go to Jim's house and write songs in his basement. I don't know why, but you just have to.
4) You then have to drink two beers with Jim.
5) After that, there is a mandatory requirement that you must play every rock riff you learned in the 90's.
6) Then, you need to spend at least 2 hours playing songs you've already written before you attempt to work on anything else.
7) You start to write a-WHOA what time is it. Time to go.

Actually, I had a really productive day. I finished a song that has been hanging over my head for some time. Got two more of my songs down on disk, finally got a few verses and chorus nailed down for another one, and two completely new ideas down on paper.

Copper Kettle

In case you missed the live stream of the show tonight... here is a little glimpse of how freaking cool it was. The venue had an amazing view of downtown Nashville, which you can't see from the video - darkness does that. Trust me, it was amazing.

And if you think this song, "When You And I Became We", is about my wife... well keep thinking that because it makes me sound sweet. In reality it's about my guitar (my wife did buy me the guitar though).

Preview

Here is a quick idea of what you will see at my shows... minus the skinny white legs. We will be in color and not grainy. There will be a drummer, not pictured or heard, because he wasn't here.

I've got some upcoming shows in August.

Here they are:

Aug 21. @ The Copper Kettle. Downtown Nashville. Starts at 8. Writers night. Aslo streaming live on the internet at http://thenashvillemusicexperience.com/

Aug 22. @ Ugly Mugs. East Nashville. Starts at 6. Writers night. Nice quiet coffee house setting. I'm playing first, so don't be late.

In a nutshell...

I grew up in Kansas City. Moved around a bit. Met a great bunch of guys. Started a band (with some other guys I met). Moved to Nashville (or Columbia). Did the Nashville thing (from Columbia). Got a manager (yay). Got booking (...yay). Got a label (sort of). Toured the world (not including several states, anything south of Texas, west of California, or north of Canada. Also excluding most of Europe, all of Africa, Australia, Asia, and Antarctica). Enter Love and Weddings. Band breaks up for... and it's always for different reasons (except that it's always for one reason). Then a whole lot of things happened at once........ And then some more stuff........ And here I am. Currently living between the Pacific and Atlantic with my beloved wife and three kids (except two of them are dogs).