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NEWS update December 2010
This record was a journey. It began in Los Angeles way back in '08 when I called up some friends to record a few new tunes. I had recently finished my previous EP, Energy, and was excited about the prospect of following it up with a new batch of freshly penned jams. I felt a nice momentum building as AJ Palluck, Lance Austin and Andre De Santanna joined me in the studio. And with engineer and mixer extraordinaire Jeff Peters there to provide sonic direction, I figured it wouldn't be long until I had another EP to show for my efforts. Little did I know that my life was about to change dramatically...
Two years later I find myself living in Dallas, TX, and wondering if I could possibly have taken any longer to make this CD. I had no intention of drawing out the process, but life throws you some curveballs and...ya know. I didn't know anyone in Dallas, but that wasn't going to stop me from making music. No, I had two small kids and a bug in my hard drive to take of that...but I digress.
Even though moving is a lot of fun (like flu shots) it took me a few months to just get settled. Once I had a chance to breathe, I set up a home studio and began the process of finishing the tracks I'd begun in Los Angeles. But for some reason (ghost in the machine?) my computer began to behave very badly, and the technical side of things became a nightmare. It started with little glitches here and there, and eventually I found myself 'working on the computer' more than 'working on the music.' Then one day I hit the virtual wall. My hard drive went down, and couldn't get up again. I was faced with trying to recover about 40 gigs of lost audio (several songs in various states of completion), and that's when I decided to take a little break.
So I started writing and recording new material. It was more of an involuntary reaction really. I needed an escape from the horror of the digital meltdown, and so I poured myself into writing for a while. It turns out my muse wasn't dead, just hiding. The ideas just kept coming...and songs like the title track, Cool Morning, as well as Beautiful Life and Your Table came to fruition. I immersed myself in the new songs, and after a while the sting of my computer induced beat-down began to fade. I even managed to sneak in a trip to visit my songwriting buddy Tim Feehan in Los Angeles, where we penned Then Its Gone. Eventually I found the resolve to finish the songs from my LA sessions. And when I did, lo and behold, a new CD was finally born!
The material on this disc is some of the most personal I've ever written. But the themes are the same as ever- love, hope, redemption, faith...and good times too. Perhaps it would be easier to stay away from the 'personal,' but I've always loved music that has (seemingly) a personal connection for writers and performers, and I'm always fascinated how something so personal can translate to a wider audience. Its amazing how making yourself vulnerable through your art can actually lead to a sort of 'universal connection.' Perhaps we're really more alike than the politicians and religious zealots would have us believe.
So I've learned a lot (again) about what it takes to make music: time, attention, patience, dedication and a whole lot of perseverance. If it sounds like a relationship, I guess that's because it is, at least for me. And while I'd like to say I've never considered a divorce, I'd be lying. But I have no real control over how much I love it. I always will, whether it feels like a blessing or curse. I suppose that its like most things in life, and state of mind is half the battle. I worked alone for so many hours trying to finish this CD that I became acutely aware of 'state of mind.' It was my decision to 'wear all the hats', or at least most of them in this project. At times it was gratifying, but it was also over-whelming... I never imagined I would be writing, arranging, recording, engineering, programming, producing and attempting to mix an entire record, but thatŐs exactly what I did (for better, or sometimes worse.) Like I said, I've learned a whole lot! Maybe enough to admit that trying to do it all is a little crazy.
In the end, I'm happy to present to you 'Cool Morning.' I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks,
JK
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