2010 Year In Review

2010 has been a very busy and productive year both musically and personally.  While the recent birth of my wife and I's first child, Cecilia, was by far the high-point, the amount of music I had the opportunity to write, record, and perform, coupled with the number of musicians I have had the pleasure of getting to know and working with, both at Ghost In My House Studio and during live performance, has been enjoyable and enriching beyond measure.  It has been about 4 months since my last blog post so I thought it would be fitting to end the year with a summary of the above mentioned musical activity.  Although I do not have the time to write, or you, the time to read as detailed an account as this year's musical journey deserves, please accept this summary as a snapshot.  I would also encourage you to follow the links provided to learn more about many of the artists mentioned.  If I have left a musical milestone I had with any of you out, it was not on purpose and I will have to blame the extreme loss of sleep that the care of an infant provides....

Live Performances - 39:
12 shows as Brahman Shaman - 4 Solo, 2 as a duo (one with Jaran Carson on drums and one with Andy Blessing), 6 shows as a trio with Jaran Carson on drums and Joe Dawson on bass.  I am very thankful to both Joe and Jaran for supporting me live and allowing me to rock a lot harder than I can on my own...

These Brahman Shaman performances also gave me the opportunity to hear and support a lot of great musicians and bands including in no particular order:  Porcupine, Dream 13, ConQueso, Adja Gildersleeve, Corey Koehler, Kasey McKee, Talking Tree, Akai, Brilliant Beast, Hyphon, Alex Toast, Mouse Pocket, Nick Shattuck, Michelle Lynn, Dan-Electric, WigglePuppy, Imaginary Jack, Tugg, Chicane Theory and the Johnson Twins.

23 shows playing drums - 10 for Nick Shattuck and 13 for Michelle Lynn.  I would not have considered myself a drummer before this year but after so many performances I do do feel a lot more confident behind the kit than I used to.  I also had the opportunity through these performances to get to know and play with a number of great musicians including in no particular order:  Pat Longmire, Margit Severson, Adam Ptacek and Andrew Steeno.

4 shows with other bands - 2 as the bass player for WigglePuppy and 2 in my original musical role as the guitar player for Rearview Mirror.

I also had the opportunity to be on local on-air music radio programs either performing or playing and discussing pre-recorded material on radio stations in Decorah, IA, Eau Claire, WI, Winona, MN and La Crosse, WI.  Special thanks here goes out to Adam Wiltgen at Driftless Music & 89.1 The Blend, Jeni Holtan-Grouws at KDEC FM 100.5, Ballzy Ballzer at Z93, and Dio at 95.7 The Rock.

Studio work at Ghost In My House Studio:
Nick Shattuck - Chorus & Verse
Moth Mountain - EP
HavanaVana - EP
Brahman Shaman - Animist
Neon - If It Was
Michelle Lynn & The Bad Passengers - Sundial Tree
Steppin' Out in Pink - Randy Erickson
Objective Subject - Adjectives
Corey Koehler - Let's Take a Walk (single)
as well as tracking for some other projects including those by Hyphon and Efftup.

The studio, basically a home studio prior to 2010 kept me much busier than I expected and I learned a lot along the way.  The resulting recordings turned out good enough to be featured on a number of area radio stations on more than 15+ occasions.

Teaching:
27 guitar lessons given.  I also tried my hand at teaching this year which was also a great learning experience.

Blog:
80+ blog posts over the past year, most readable here some at Thought from Ghost In My House Studio.

While I could go into much greater detail about the above experiences and the talent of the musicians and bands mentioned the above attempt at brevity seems long... so just follow the links and find out more for yourself.  Thanks to all of you.  Best to you and yours in 2011.