Update July 19th - August 17th - Perspectives

It has been a busy time in both my personal and musical life which has resulted in it being nearly a month since my last blog update.  While I have been busy with a variety of different projects and obligations the main points are summarized below.

Impending Fatherhood:  My wife and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first child, a baby girl this Fall and have been busy preparing both mentally and logistically for the big changes ahead.  Besides classes, doctor's visits etc.. I have also been busy reassessing my musical and creative priorities.  I am excited to be a Father and plan to pretty much focus on parenthood alone for a couple of months surrounding the babies birth and then slowly reincorporate writing, live performances and recording projects into my daily schedule.

Studio:  The two main projects I have been working on this Summer are Neon's debut album and Michelle Lynn's 4th album, Twisted Logic.  Both of these projects have been a lot of fun to work on and I am definitely looking forward to getting a physical copy of both albums in my hand in the very near future.  The studio continues to remain busier than I have expected and I look forward to the challenge of new projects in the coming months.

• Neon - Currently wrapping up the mixing portion of their 9 song debut album and getting pretty excited about the final result.  These guys are talented song-writers and their youth only accentuates this.  I think they have made a great first album and I feel privileged to be a part of helping them capture their creativity in more finished and polished form.  I am really looking forward to watching these guys develop over the coming years and can only imagine the quality of material they will write!

• Michelle Lynn - After working with Michelle to some extent on her previous two albums I am definitely most excited for the current project.  I have always enjoyed Michelle's music and lyrics and I think her soon-to-be released 4th album, Twisted Logic is really a step ahead of anything she has done to date!  The album was recorded at Ghost in My House Studio and Michelle's project studio and we have been finalizing the mixes and overdubs over the past couple of weeks.  I have really enjoyed the opportunity to play drums and even some guitar on a number of her new songs.

• Steppin' Out in Pink - The song Randy Erickson wrote and subsequently recorded at Ghost in My House Studio for Gundersen Lutheran's Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser has finally been released with the a video.  I feel privileged to have been a part of a great cause and am hoping to have the opportunity to work with more non-profit and charitable organizations in the future.  

Brahman Shaman - Besides the upcoming peformance at JB's Speakeasy in La Crosse, WI on September 3rd with the electric trio I am slowing up on the Brahman Shaman activity for the time being.  Frankly I have been to busy with the studio projects detailed above to put much time into it besides the occasional rehearsal. I am sort of using this time to reassess what I want to accomplish with the project and am really trying to learn how to just enjoy doing it instead of focusing on some particular commercial goal.  I do have about 5 new songs written and plan to continue to write as much as possible but the official release of any new Brahman Shaman material won't be for sometime.  I am continuing to work on the One Man Band setup and have had a couple of good shows doing it that way.  I recently performed at the 1st Annual Midwest Music in Winona, MN.  Driftless Music founder Adam Wiltgen was kind enough to video and post a performance of one my newer works in progress Reactions Inertia.

Moth Mountain, WigglePuppy, Michelle Lynn, Rearview Mirror:  Having the opportunity to play music with different groups and with different instruments is extremely enjoyable and I can't help but wish I would have spent more time in my musical youth playing with other people.  I continue to rehearse with the groups above and hope to continue performing and/or recording as part of these projects for the foreseeable future.  I am anxious for the September 3rd show at JB's Speakeasy in La Crosse, WI in which I will get to play different roles in all four of the bands, should be both an exhausting and rewarding evening!

Until next time...