Only 7 Days Left

In 7 days, I will be done with this semester and I can concentrate on finishing the 12+ songs I have been trying to write for this record. It's hard to write about Abigail Adams when you have to concentrate on Omm Sety and Ahtmose III.

Fourteen Songs in Six Minutes

Saturday night's show was one of those when the hour of playing flew by at a blinding rate. We ripped through our set so fast that I couldn't believe the end was there when it came. The recording shows that we played really really well: it was the Daniel show that night. Jacob came up and turned him up early on, and he lit up the stage all night with skronky feedback and his great leads. It was definitely our best "Let's Go to War" ever, if not some of the others (I haven't listened to the whole show yet). I have a recording of us playing "Let's Go to War" that may turn up on YouTube or somewhere like that because it sounded so good, especially with Kelly heralding the solo with a Paul McCartney scream that I suggest he add to the recording when we do it for the record.

The problem the show was low turn-out. Sixteen people paid the cover. The normal people who make our Murfreesboro crowd just weren't there Saturday night. Maybe it was dead everywhere. Maybe it was Dave Matthews playing in Nashville. Regardless, they weren't there. My feelings on the Distractions as a band teeter between feeling oh so low about it and like we're a big deal waiting to happen, with much of the time being on the latter end of that spectrum. It's no fun, but I think sometimes our egos need an empty house at the Boro to remind us that we have to continue to work it in order to carve out a name for ourselves around here, that all our friends who speak so highly of us aren't necessarily writing us a blank check to the reasonable expectations we have for where we want to go. And that's not a bad thing.

I was also glad to see Jacob again. It was the first time he has seen us all the way through since he ran sound at our first show, and the first he's seen us at all since he recorded us and we started on the frustratingly un-named history record. Streetlight Allstars is a great group, and I wish we could devote the time into our project like they do, not to mention their fire for it: those guys were rocking it as hard for twenty of us as they would have for two hundred.

Ready To Rock and Influences

I had the standard wednesday "I'm ready to rock" conversation with Peach yesterday. I also did with Josh. Mid-week before a show is always exciting. I ready to give it a go. Alot of pent up engery just waiting to be unleashed onto the world.

I have a variety of influences. Some are obvious, some are not. Some are hidden and buried deep, others come right at you. Daniel Rice asked me what influenced the idea of the history album the most and I had a hard time explaining it.

I guess I've always wanted to do this. But for those of you who don't know, I worked on a Zelda themed album for a long time. I wrote close to 5 songs for this thing. Only two were recorded, and only 4 were ever played live. I gave this up when I was living in Nashville. I had the worst writers block and really wanted to give up on music. A Zelda record was not going to fly no matter how much thought I put into it. Afterall, I was creating my own story and using the characters and events of the game in my own way. That made it harder. I guess maybe one day i could pick it back up and I have thought about it, but I've got so many history songs to write and on top of that, in the middle of all this, i've been sketching out songs that aren't history songs. Too many songs to worry about an old project, but...this go around seems to be a lot easier and more challenging. I'm having to be a little more organized. Plus I have three other dudes here to help make my vision come true.Four is better, it's also a good number.

Without that experience, I probably could not do this record. This history concept is a little more straight forward but through the eyes of other people and events, I am able to tell the story I want to tell and defend my thesis. It's like a history paper, the evolution of american culture told through humor and song. I have put alot of thought into all this, more than any other musical endeavor. I really enjoy concept albums, but  mostly concept albums that have a centralized theme, buried or straight up in your face.

The Frogs album Racially Yours is almost like a history album. I have been extremely inlfuenced by it. It chronicles racism down to a timeline. It's more about human struggle and learning to live each other, peacefully. regardless of skin color, language, or beliefs. It also paints the picture that in the end, who are the real racists? It is told from both points of view....

I look at that and marvel at it's greatness, there are many touchy subjects but the message is clear. You can't deny our cultural past, you can just learn from it.

Our listeners will learn from our album. They will see the importance of the people, events, and era's we sing about. It all comes together to show that you must not deny your past, you have to face it in order to move into the future. Election:1800 is a good example of this. If you don't look at the past, the same out come will occur. I still find in ironic that after 200 years, we still fumble around with electing leaders.

That is all for now...

Observers and Participants

Observers and Participants.

Just say it a few times....you might like it....

Good title. Better yet, I'm pushing for this one. It says everything I want to say in the record.

Through history, everyone is involved in some way. There are those out there making it happen and other just watching the parade. Both are very important are both very similar. You can't participate unless you observe first, but by observing, you are participating. Without observers, there would be no recorded history, and without participants, there would nothing to record.

This record brings both these ideas together in one small package. The constant reemerging themes has led me to believe that we as a band are not only observing history from a different prospective, but we are participating in it by making the music we do.

How many people were at out first show? About 60. How many people were at last show? About the same. Those people are witnessing history in the making, while we are up there making it. Those leaving the show, will go home, tell freinds, and pass on the stories. Creation through observation, participation through creation.

The smaller the crowd, the bigger the history, the more signicant the event. Those 60 will turn into 100 in the next ten years.....

Observers and Participants. History In The Making and In The Past. Think about it....we are all both...even if one person buys the album and listens to it, the idea is a success.

Wasting Time

Just killing time. I should be writing a paper about Ancient Egyptian Medicine. But i'm not. School is not on my mind, this record is on my mind.

I really want to get back in the studio. That last marathon session was full of fun, excitement, and (dare I say it) magic. I keep listening to the almost-completed tracks over and over and would love to add more to them. As I sit here doing research for songs, I keep in mind the power of those 14 hours and just keep reminding myself that this is the leg work to get to the fun part. Even if nobody listens to this thing, atleast we all had fun doing it and maybe we'll have fun doing more records, even if its for our pleasure, which is what we do anyways. Love it. I want to get back in there and work some more......

On deck we have Bob Dole, Election: 1800, Eli Whitney (re-done), and Let's Go To War. Should be an interesting session because of the differences in all these songs. We plan to bust out some acoustic guitars, brushes, hand claps, and any other percussion instrument lying around for a few of these. Let's Go To War is so straight forward, we are currently taking bets on how long it will take to record, I have put myself down for 31 minutes, vocals and all.

When all goes well and according to plan, we can start on the tunes we have been currently getting ready to start learning as a band. That will yeild a third dayand hopefully after that all of tghe principle recording will be done. With the finances being the way they are, Peach and I are hoping to only have to pay for three more days of recording before mixing. That should do it, right? I mean, it's not like we are snorting coke, inviting groupies over, going to the pub, or spending 4 days getting the "vibe" correct. Being in the studio is hard work. and it's great!!! I think we spent more time ordering sandwiches at Quizno's than we did tweaking. It's nice to know what you want inadvance and have engineers that know how to get it without screwing around. kudos.

One-Take Williams...what can I say?

Ok...time to go and finish writing. Peach might post something when he's at work tomorrow. You never know....

How about this title? Participants and Observers. Explanation of the title and why I like it to come tomorrow. Peach is not allowed to write about it until I do. He is still pushing for "I Went to college for 10 years and I did was this history album The Story of Kelly Kerr." It's not far from the truth.....I do everything in life backwards......

Show This Saturday!!

We have a show this saturday at The Boro here in murfreesboro. We will be joined by Jacob Spaulding's newest musical creation The Streetlight All-Stars. You might remember Jacob as the producer of our EP "Whimsical In Reverse." Show starts around 10pm and will cost you five bones. Hope to see you there!!

It's A Pop Song

I have been listening to a lot of "pop" music these days. I hate using that word, but it's the best way to describe it. I have been knee deep in ELO, Cheap Trick, Queen, Jellyfish, Beach Boys, and many more I will not mention.

It rubs off. It also does not. But sometimes, it rubs off without you knowing it. I think I have a new song. The word "think" is a good way to describe it. I've got the music worked out, and a few of the lyrics, but a trip to the library tonight will yield the completion. 

I have been doing some research on pop songs. Why they are hits, what similarities they have etc etc. The  Josh decided to learn "Don't Stop Believing." Those 4 chord are used in a million songs, most of them hits. No, I did not write a song using those chords, but went back into research mode and found some chords that could work and fit the song I have been trying to write.

It's a song about the Wright Brothers. Orville and Wilbur. You know, the dudes that built and successfully flew the first airplane? This song has to be joyous and somewhat of a celebration. The airplane is one of the most important inventions in the 20th century. The main breakthrough these guys were able to make was the invention of the three-axis control. Like many inventions before, they were not the first but get the credit because they were capable of creating an aircraft that could be steered by a pilot and maintain equilibrium while using a fixed set of wings. Pretty cool huh? No invention would be complete without controversy, But i'm choosing to leave all the patent wars out of this one, my other new song about Nikola Tesla will yield nothing but scandalism.

It's nice to know that combined with another new song we have about 4 more on the horizon. Pretty cool huh?