Here are four records that I have been listening to quite a bit. Typically I don’t stick to listening to one similar genre or style of music – but for some reason these records fit well together. I really enjoy the production of Findlay Brown and his newest single ‘Love Will Find You‘. A friend of mine says he reminds him of Roy Orbison; and although his voice is not close, if you like Neil Diamond I can’t fathom why you would dislike Findlay. Secondly, Pete Yorn is evidently a musical genius that I wasn’t aware of, but have grown to realize. Mrs. Johansson is both pretty and a great vocalist, so what’s not to like here? ‘Blackie’s Dead’ is my pick for that record.

Allison turned me on to She & Him. I had heard some stuff before – but nothing that grabbed my ear. Sometimes it just takes one good song to get you to put the record on repeat; in this instance it was ‘Sweet Darlin”. This is similar to the Findlay record as far as production – its like they just had overheads on the drums and then threw as much reverb on everything as possible. Its like 1960 all over again! Lastly, Bon Iver has been making frequent appearances in my playlists, and for very good reasons. But actually, the only one reason I will share is that he is a great songwriter that knows how to capture a melody without throwing so much on top of it that is barely noticeable anymore. ‘Blood Bank’, on the EP released last year, is a good example of capturing a great melody by eliminating instrumentation.

Flume (Cover) by Bon Iver

iTunes Promo

Artwork Complete!

Thanks to Evan at Palebird, our records artwork has drawn to a close. Get it?!

A Lion Named Roar - Said & Done

So…

Ciao!

A couple weeks back, I got to spend the day with my girlfriend in Nashville. After coffee at Crema and some lunch at Loveless, we took some pictures with one of my favorite photographers, Billy Grubbs. We went to this awesome bridge in east Nashville, that my friend Matt Hoopes brought my attention to on a bike ride earlier that month. We didn’t really plan on anything, just let Billy do his thing while we sat around and enjoyed the view. Here is one of many amazing shots he captured. I feel like this image captures a lot of personality, and of course Allison’s amazing curls.

Currently, I am out with Anberlin in between dates with Relient K. I’m really excited to be here – my good friend Brent Cayson has toured with this band for years – and the guys in the band were his best friends. He decided it was time for him to move on to other things, and through that I was able to jump in. The guys in the band are great fellas, and their music is amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better job – than to tour with genuine people and be involved with something that so many people care about. Good times!

Chris and I are working on album artwork for a project we started early this year. Its so challenging to come up with something creative when you have as much elbow room as you want. We’ve talked several times about ideas, and there are just too many different directions we could take with design, photography, colors, themes, etc. It can be quite overwhelming deciding what we would like the cover to look like, much less the entire packaging. Even though we recorded this stuff ‘off cuff’ and remained pretty leisurely with it – we still want it to look great. Here is to hoping we can create something eye opening!

Going, doing, working, playing.

I made it home!

After getting back into Nashville, I was fortunate enough to have my partner-in-crime and his wife, pick me up. We hopped on over to Casablanca for coffee, and then swung by Big Studios to brush up some mixes at Big Studios with Jeremy. I’m so excited about the music we have been working on for several months. We started this project when waketheday went to shambles, and its kept my creative side fed and at bay. We have final mixes coming in tomorrow, and we’ll be that much closer to putting it on disc and releasing it.

Last night, I saw Where The Wild Things Are with Allison. We both loved it. It got a lot of mediocre reviews, criticizing its lack of story line and the personalities of each ‘wild thing’. My favorite of which was ‘Douglas’ the bird. I thought the movie was superb. Being that it was a childrens book, they did a great job of adding enough to the movie to keep it interesting.

I hit the road with Anberlin on Sunday for the All-American Rejects tour w/ Taking Back Sunday. My friend Billy Grubbs is currently out there with them now. Soon after that run, back with my buds in Relient K for the Toby Mac run. When that is said and done, I’ll have some time off to relax, play music and get into some other things.

Don’t forget to wash your hands! Flu is going around, and trust me – you do not want that!

Farewell for now.

A Three Hour Tour

If you come out to a show, this is where you will find me…

Billy Grubbs Photography

Kangaroos and Kazzoos.

Things are going well with the new project. We have been in and out of studio for the past month and a half, and we are closing on on everything we wanted to track. We even had some good friends (Ethan Luck, Matt Hoopes, Travis Wilborn) drop by and help us out with playing some stuff and tone hunting. It was a blast! I think by the end of October, we will be able to release what we have been working on; and I’m pretty stoked about it.

October is also when I head back out with Relient K for their album release tour. The bands Copeland and Barcelona will be with us and I can’t be any more excited about that – I love their music. After that tour it’s a possibility I may get to go out with Anberlin for a tour, but we will have to wait and see on what happens with that.

Allison and I got to pet some kangaroos too! So much fun.

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