This past week proved to be a musically diverse one and I can't help but enjoy the wide variety of musical adventures I get to have each week.
I worked Monday and taught a lesson to my Decorah student on my way home. We started work on his first song with a basic progression. After that we are planning to add some lead guitar licks to the intro and then we can start brainstorming vocal melodies. The more I give lessons, the more I enjoy them.
Tuesday I worked and did not get much time for music besides some vocal practice in the car on my afternoon commute and some brief drumming when I got home.
Wednesday I had the day off and spent a good portion of the day working on a new song entitled "The Will of the People" that is slowly but surely coming together, although I am still struggling with the timing changes between the sections. Wednesday evening was the second rehearsal with the full Brahman Shaman electric trio with Jaran Carson on drums and Joe Dawson on bass. It has been a lot of fun to play with these guys. We are just focusing on ten songs for now for our first official performance as the trio March 20th at the Root Note with Michelle Lynn & Hyphon.
Thursday I worked, but Joe Dawson was over at about 5 and finished up main vocal tracks for another of the 4 songs he is working, as well as adding more background vocals to "Of Devil's & Beasts". The material is really starting to sound good as Joe has a really cool voice that blends nicely with some great chord progressions. Hopefully a couple more sessions of tracking and we should be close to the mixing stage. After Joe left I headed down to Del's to play drums for Nick Shattuck's "Chorus & Verse" CD release party. The show was a lot of fun and the 4 hours of playing flew by much quicker than expected. Having recorded and produced "Chorus & Verse" at Ghost in My House Studio it was pretty cool to see the finished product and I am definitely glad both Nick and his fans are digging the sound of the record.
I tried to sleep in Friday after a late night on Thursday, but couldn't make it much past 8AM. Spent most of the day in Ghost in My House Studio doing more reorganizing and arranging of gear as well as doing some experiments that involve me singing and playing guitar while playing drums. This proves to be very difficult but also very rewarding when you can get a good kick/hi-hat groove going.
Saturday was again mostly spent running errands and doing home improvement projects... I also found out that "Youth", a Brahman Shaman song from the second disc of the recently released Animist double-album will be featured on La Crosse's own Z93.3 radio station as part of their weekly "Play it or Hate it" radio show. I should have more info for you on that soon.
Sunday was mostly spent cleaning and relaxing before the next week. However, I did teach a fun lesson around noon.
Until next time, check out www.brahmanshaman.com for the lastest news and upcoming shows!
