Surprise!!! I'm Back

Once in awhile I tend to get a stick up my ass and do something I haven't done in awhile. Well, low and behold, I've decided to start blogging again. Actually, this was inspired after reading a dear friend's blog he used to do a few years back.  Nonetheless, I am back to blogging again.  (Not like anyone is going to read this, but here it goes). 

There's a hell of alot to catch up on since the last time I blogged.  I'm not going to write in detail every single thing that's happened in my life since then, but rather just focus on the more recent stuff. Cool? Okay...onward!!!

First, let's start with Two By Chance.  For almost the last 2 years, we have been writing and recording our first album.  Through much delight, and some heartache, I am happy to say it's done!!! My buddy Jay Harper (our drummer/co-producer) and I have finished mixing the album. Just need to master it and then it's off for release.  Of course we need to do an indiegogo campaign (just like kickstarter) to finance it, but 2015 is the year it will be released.  I'm very excited about this album!! 

We are also going to be playing our first show on Wednesday, February 18th, 2015.  We're playing acoustically (since we haven't rehearsed with the other members yet) and should be a fun show. For the last two weeks, Marcy and I have been rehearsing. In fact, this is the first night we have off!! (Hence, why I found time to actually start blogging again).  That being said, it should be quite an evening...at least were hoping.  In case someone is actually reading this, go to our website for more details. (I know, shameless promotion). 

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way, on to other things both musical and non-musical. 

I'm a musical freak!! I have been since I was probably in my mother's womb. I grew up with it, it lives inside me and I can't get enough of it. I've been blessed to do some pretty cool stuff in music (although I never hit the "big time), and I have fond memories.  I'll have to share them sometime. Maybe my next blog? Who knows. 

That being said, I was recently on Facebook and my dear friend Michael posted something on my wall about life before cell phones.  I should probably mention that Michael and I were in a couple of bands together back in the 90's.  The first I won't mention for now, but the second band was called The Silent Kind.   DISCLAIMER: I tend to go off on rabbit trails and I swear I have ADD, so if I go off somewhere else....I'm sorry.  Anyways, back to my story.  I was reading all the responses to Michael's post, and someone found our album and decided to post a pic (see below).

Aww the memories!!!  So, Michael mentions that it would be cool to re-record these songs again.  Our bass player, Ed, responds and loves the idea and quite frankly, so do I.  I went home and listened to the album, picked up a guitar and played along.  After screwing up most of the songs, I thought....hmmmm.....I wonder if re-recording these songs would be possible?  I don't know how it would happen, but the idea of recording together with Michael and the rest of the lads would be fun.  We would never be able to do any shows, since we all live in different cities and states and nobody would show up, but it would be a project I would be interested in doing.  All I can say is that if the door opens, I would be on board.  We shall see.  For now, I have the memories and can reminisce. 

Valentine's day is coming up in the next two days.  My wife and I sort of celebrate.  We actually celebrate our anniversary more than Valentine's day.  Since we have more rehearsing to do, we are going to keep it low key.  We will probably go for a nice brunch and avoid all the hoopla of the night time festivities.  I think people spend way too much money on this event and, why do we need a day to celebrate love? If you love somebody, shouldn't you celebrate it all the time? I think so.  I don't need a day out of the year to remind me how much I love my wife.  I love her 365 days a year and then some.  Like Lennon and McCartney once said, "Eight Days A Week!" 

Okay, I said I was going to highlight the events that happened since the last time I blogged.  Here it goes in a bullet-point presentation to save time: 

• Recorded new album
• Got new job
• Went to oldest step-daughter's wedding
• Son came to live with me for 6 months
• Youngest step-daughter is now in 7th grade and getting honor roll and is getting really good at the violin
• Oldest step-son graduated from high school, moved out, and works a new job
• 17 year old daughter is driving, cheerleading and doing good in school
• Older step-daughter and hubby had beautiful baby boy
• In between all the above, went vinyl shopping, had get aways with the wife and read some books
• Produced and recorded another artist (I'll mention them later). 

There you go!! You're all caught up.  To end my blogs, I thought I would list the albums or songs that I'm  currently listening to.  One day I will list my top 20 of all time, but for now, here are the albums I am currently spinning on my turntable or listening to on my iPhone: 

• Johnny Marr - Playland 
• Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
• Travis - Where You Stand
• Scars On 45 - Safety In Numbers
• Toad The Wet Sprocket - Pale and New Constellation
• Local Natives - Hummingbird
• Real Estate - Easy
• The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
• Bread - The Best of Bread (Stop laughing). 

Until next time, (and hopefully it won't be another 2 years), have a good week. 

Cheers,
Todd

Summer is practically over!! A good time for reflection I suppose.  As I was going through the RBM Entertainment Website, I've noticed I haven't blogged about anything in over a year.  I must admit, I am quite lackadaisical when it comes to writing.  Anyways, here it goes.

I'm in my studio today trying to complete some projects that I've been wanting to get to and yet, don't seem to have the time for.  I'm listening (and transferring) live recordings of a band I was in back in the 90's called The Silent Kind.  As I listen, it brings me back to all the shows we've done, the radio airplay and most importantly, the good time with one of my best friends Michael Erwin.  It makes me miss playing live and how I really want to do it again.  The Silent Kind will never reform, but listening to these live recordings has really motivated me to get the new album by Two By Chance done and start playing some shows.  I really miss the appreciation of the people who come out and listen and the feeling it gives you when write something people like. Okay, and I must admit, it's nice to make a few bucks too.

That being said, we are two songs away from completing the Two By Chance album. We even have the track listing in order.  Some of the album has already been placed in post-production with my good friend Jay Harper.  This means it's in the mixing process.  After we get the album finished, it's photo shoot time then a kickstarter campaign to finance the project.

I'm pretty proud of the title track "Every Door."  Want to hear it? Every Door - Two By Chance I hope you like it.  It's a pretty great mix by Jay Harper.  He does amazing work.  We are hoping to get the album released sometime this fall or winter.  It's been over a year since we started this project and believe me, I'm ready to get it done.  Can't wait.

I've been playing guitar more these days which is good.  Since the musical portion of the album is done, I put away my guitar and other instruments for awhile since what's left of the recording process is just some vocals.  But my desire to play guitar has come back and I have found myself writing some new music.  I've been strumming into a cheap mini tape recorder and humming melodies that seem to flow nicely.  Just have to think of some lyrics and what I want to write about.  I'm sure life will give me something to say at some point.

Next weekend will be pretty good.  Going to finish up the album (hopefully), and next Sunday is my birthday.  Not gonna do much but hang out and record, drink a few beers and relax.

Well that's all for now.  Until next time...

Old School and Summer

I'm sitting here in my cozy little recording studio/office in the most uncomfortable chair ever!! I should be working, but I need a break.  So, since I promised myself I would start journaling and blogging more, I'm making time out of my busy schedule to do so.

The last time I blogged was right before my last album came out called "Songs For A Sunday".  My first attempt at a solo album and I must say, (thanks to my dearest friend Jay Harper), it came out sounding pretty damn good I think.  Anyways, that's not exactly what I wanted to blog about so...onward!!

I'm feeling pretty old school lately.  I've been shopping for old vinyl records and cassettes, and found a little piece of heaven in a little record shop called 'Bizarre Bizaar', in a little town called Ft. Collins, CO.  It's only 40 minutes north of where I live and it makes an exciting day.  I literally get lost in this record store and spend hours looking a different vinyl records from different artists. My studio even grew with a usb turntable and a couple of tape decks (seen in the pic on the left).  It's definitely my happy place these days, with the exception of my recording studio.

Speaking of which, yes I am starting to record a new album.  This time though, it's going to be all new original material. The funny thing is, a little less than half of it is recorded already.  Before I started working on "Songs For A Sunday", I was recording some new songs in 2010/2011, but it took a backseat when I was working on that last album.  So, I've been slowly writing new material and it's a nice feeling to be able to lay down tracks.  This time though, I am going to recruit some people to play on it.

My wife Marcy is starting to record a record too.  We don't know yet if its going to be her solo debut or if we are going to combine what I'm recording and what she is recording together to do a Two By Chance album. (Two By Chance is the name we came up when we were first talking about recording together).  We've come to the conclusion that our styles are different and may not mesh.  Either way, it's nice to record someone else and Marcy's song are pretty darn great!

So besides recording new material and buying records, I've been pretty busy in my hectic life.  Let me recap the summer.

I went to San Diego in the beginning of June to see my daughter Ashlee graduate from middle school.  My flight from Denver to San Diego kept getting delayed due to bad weather in Denver that night. Finally, at 12:30am, they cancelled my flight.  I was in a bit of a panic because I had to be in San Diego for Ashlee's graduation which started at 8:30 in the morning.  I was hoping to take the first flight out of Denver the following morning, which would have put me at the graduation in the nick of time.  Problem was, the first flight was already sold out.  I pleaded my case to the Southwest Airlines representative, and luckily the representative got me on a flight to Las Vegas where I could catch the first flight from Las Vegas to San Diego the following morning.  The only bad part was, I would have to sleep in the airport of Las Vegas until my 6am flight.  I didn't care and was just happy to have peace of mind that I wouldn't miss my daughter's big day.

The flight was horrible!  Because of the severe storm in Denver, the plane's turbulence was horrible.  I have never been so scared on a plane until that flight.  Thank God we landed safely in Las Vegas and though tired, I found a little space on the airport floor to catch some needed rest.  Three hours later, I was on a smooth and peaceful flight to San Diego where I made it just in the knick of time to see my daughter graduate from middle school.

My kids, Ashlee and Keaton, came back to Colorado with me for half the summer.  I always feel complete when they are with me.  We had a great time as usual and did alot of things we had planned over the summer.  But just like all things, it came to an end.  They left about two weeks ago and I must admit, it gets harder and harder to say goodbye.  I just try to focus on our next time together and I call them almost everyday.   We video chat quite often, and there's never a moment where they are not on my mind.

My dearest friend Jay got married a couple of weeks ago.  He got married to a mutual high school friend of ours.  Her name is Jennifer Dimitri (now of course, Mrs. Harper) and I couldn't be more happy for both of them.  Marcy and I had the honor of playing songs for their wedding. Good times indeed.

Speaking of Jay, we are trying to get RBM Entertainment off of the ground, but things have been a bit slow.  We both have been pretty busy, and I'm hoping things can slow down a bit so we can keep looking for acts to produce.  In the meantime, I know Jay will be doing alot of work on my album and Marcy's album too.  Jay introduced me to a couple of his buddies and I have to say, they are pretty phenomenal musicians.  Can't wait to have them record with us.

In light of producing, I'm hoping to produce more artists in the near future.  My good friend Michael Erwin and I have been slowly talking about doing an album for him.  I hope it comes to fruition.  I miss working and recording with him.  The Silent Kind was some of the fondest memories I have.  I miss being in a band with Mikee. Good times!!

This year is half over.  Actually, it's more than half over.  I'm in nostalgic mode, (I seem to be down that road alot lately), and I think it's time to get to some projects I've been wanting to do for years but have never had the time.  I'll indulge in that later in another blog perhaps.

Anyways, I did it. I blogged again.  I swear I'm going to do my best to do more of this (and hopefully it will be more exciting).

Going to go work in my studio now.  Can't wait to see how this album turns out.  Oh, and I think the misses and I should take a get away to Estes Park soon.  God knows we need it.

Cheers,
Just Todd

Winter, Music and Life

I'm sitting here in the studio on Halloween day listening to the mixes of my yet to be released solo album, and I must say it brought a smile to my face. I'm so excited to release this dang thing. It's been too long (over a year now) since I started recording it, but the end result will pay off in the end...at least I hope.

My buddy Jay has been mixing it and it sounds incredible. I saw Jay yesterday and the poor guy is sick. We were supposed to get together in my little studio and finish mixing some stuff, but he needs to rest more. So after offering to bring over some soup, I briefly stopped by his house to see him and drop off some stuff. We've been having some good discussions about the album and we're so close to getting it done and mastered so I think by the end of November, it will be released.

With that said, I'm putting together a playlist for my one-off show to promote this album. I don't know the exact date yet, but I'm told that it should happen sometime in December. I'm looking forward to performing again, (it's been way too long) and more importantly, I'm looking forward to performing with my wife as well.  Marcy and I are going to start working on our album and performing after the year ends, so the musical adventure will continue on. YAY!!! I'm excited.

So now that the musical stuff is out of the way, I can now blog about family stuff.

Since Jay couldn't make it over, Marcy and I decided to head out for the day and spend some much needed time. Between work, the album, and kids, we haven't had alot of time to focus on us. So we got ourselves in the car, got some lunch, and took a gorgeous drive to Golden on an interstate I've never seen before. The view was breath taking as the snow on the mountains was still visible. It reminded me of why I do love Colorado.

We had fun going to the Colorado Mills mall as we went in and out of the stores to get ideas for Christmas gifts. Although we found mostly stuff we wanted...LOL. Still, we had a great time and Marcy and I had fun making jokes at the different shops and items we encountered.

After the drive home, we ate Marcy's chicken enchiladas which I must admit are my favorite dish. Then we settled in for a movie called Horrible Bosses. It was for sure a great laugh and it was amazing to reconnect with my wife. It's been awhile.

Winter is for sure here in Colorado. Although much of the snow from last week has melted, we're supposed to get another 4-8 inches in the next day or two. I think it's funny how the natives here complain about it. I absolutely love it. I love winter's here, including snow and the cold weather. There's nothing like wearing coats and I have to say I have missed wearing pants. Our summer was so hot, I pretty much wore shorts 24 hours of day. (For those of you who don't know me, I hate heat with a passion).

As far as an update on all the kids. Ashlee and Keaton are doing great in school, but I miss them terribly. We had a great summer together as they came here to Colorado for the first time. I can't wait until Christmas to see them and we video chat every week and talk almost everyday on the phone.

Alyssa seems to be doing great in college. We went down to see her last Sunday for her 20th birthday. Had a good time. Wish we would hear from her more though, but I know she's busy with mid-terms and college life.

Today is Nathan's birthday. Miss that guy. Tonight I look forward to hearing his voice on the phone. Sierra is also doing great and like any 9 year old, is excited to go trick or treating tonight.

Marcy and I are going to be alone tonight and instead of passing out candy, were going to turn off the lights and watch a scary movie. I know, you're probably thinking we're horrible for denying kids the chance of getting candy, but I look at it as we're saving their parents the pain of taking their kid to the dentist to get one more cavity filled...LOL.

Well, that's it from my end. I need to go back to work and get "Songs For A Sunday" prepped for released. I need to blog more. It's been too long.

Cheers,
Todd

All Is Well, All is Right

Hey there!!

Just some quick updates as to the musical endeavors and then some.

Had a great Easter weekend. Spent time with the family and going to church of course. Cooked a great meal, and generally just hung out and played games. I made a Boston Creme Pie for Easter (my first attempt) and it came out great I must say. I really enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen. Good times indeed.

Alyssa came home from college to spend the weekend at home which was a nice change. We also started to record some demos for her upcoming 2nd album. It was fun to be in the studio again and hearing some of her new material. She's got some great songs for her 2nd album which I think will blow her first album out of the water. She has really progressed in her songwriting and we are very excited to start tracking in a couple of weeks.

Marcy and I are also getting excited to start working on our debut album as well. We need to start reviewing new songs and write some new material.

On a side note, my solo project is still running rather slow. I have recorded some new songs back in San Diego, and now that I'm home in Colorado, I need to start mixing...grrrrr...I hate that part. Been waiting for things to settle for a bit and get back into a routine before I tackle that. I also want to start working on the RBM box set, but there's too many projects that are taking over so that might have to wait a bit. (Hey, it's only been on the back burner for 6 years so what's a few more months right?).

So if you are reading this and are wondering what happened to the RBM website, I just want to say that it will be up and running again soon. RBM has been on hold for a while due to other priorities and revamping. I was even thinking of changing the name, but I haven't really thought of any good company names.

Well, all is good in Colorado. Cold but good. ;-) See ya next update.

Cheers,
Me

It's Been Awhile

It's been quite a bit of time since I've had the opportunity to blog about stuff. So to catch you all up, here it is.

I've been busy working on many musical endeavors. Mostly writing new music and recording. I do admit that I'm torn between a solo album, a new My Next Dilemma album or a whole new project all together. Marcy and I (using the name Two By Chance) will be working on a new album soon. Most likely going to start sometime this spring.

To top that off, Alyssa has been writing alot and we are gearing toward recording her second album this summer.

With all that said, I've been busy updating the studio, learning new recording tricks and experimenting with new sounds. I do have quite a few songs that I have written and have been doing some cool remakes of some cover songs that have been on my iTunes playlist for the last year.

I've been pretty quiet about the musical explosion that is going to occur this year from RBM Entertainment, but patience is a virtue (something I'm having a hard time with lately), and it will be well worth the wait.

In addition, I dug out recordings and demos from 1982 until present for that long awaited Box set I've been wanting to do for about 5 years now. Oh the joy of revisiting memories. Needless to say, there are alot of songs I would love to resurrect for a new album. Only time will tell.

Well, I'm getting off the road and heading home to Colorado in a few days.  Oh and by the way, the RBM website and facebook shall be up mid April. Sorry for it being down so long. I've been busy. ;-)

Stay Tuned.
Todd