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