Well, news has been almost non-existent with many reasons, in fact I’m not even sure of what they are or entail. This much I can say, I fell asleep at the keypad. Yup. Probably the biggest reason. I spent some time in a cover band, which was fun but not for me. Since I’m non-confrontational it took a few months to exit the band. Doing 3 sets of 30+ tunes for $40 a gig when I would play for free was, well, insulting. Kinda. LOTS OF WORK! So, I made a decision to stop learning tunes and get back to my first loves. Writing. Recording.

I still went out on auditions, almost joining another band. And I was playing with friends on weekends but they all ended up blowing away in the wind for other adventures. Again, it was fun for awhile. I met some great people as well. Ultimately, I purchased equipment to play live and now storing it for the future gig or show. 

So what have I been doing? Well, looking for like minded musicians to play live with, rehearse with, work on tunes etc. Recording and trying super hard to clean up my mess! Yup, my studio area is impossible to work in without tripping over gear. Getting rid of some would be a great idea. When I think “I don’t really need that Roland Keyboard anymore” I get sad, basically talking myself out of selling it. I have picked up a new Alesis E-Kit and just got a Simmons drum amp to use with it. The amp was not working so I took it apart, soldered a few bad capacitor connections and installed a new subwoofer. Presto Changejo it’s working now.

Of course we just squeaked through an election. Which gives me hope that some of my bills will reduce accordingly. The previous administration was not good for my personal pocketbook.Lots of anger on both sides. Since I live in California, which is a single party state, it doesn’t matter which way I vote anyways. Back to music!

I have spent many hours writing new tunes, some good, some bad, some really bad (smile) Bought a few acoustic/electric guitars for playing live and spent the next few months watching TV. Sucked my life away. Very enjoyable as well. Since all things must pass, with December close and the new year about to complain that I haven’t finished this CD, I’ve been trying hard to stop buying new musical toys. Slowly making progress on this aspect of life. Also, listening to tunes from almost 45 years ago of a progressive rock band I was in called “Stray Raven”. Great band and I was stupid to leave it, the arrogance of youth is my excuse.

So, I am posting a badly recorded tune, with out of key vocals which I recorded this month. For fun. Completely different style as well. Take a listen and enjoy/don’t enjoy. Won’t make or break any musical direction I was headed in would say…(smile)

“Tell Me How You Feel”