The warm weather definitely has a positive effect on one's mood.
I worked Monday and had a good lesson with my Decorah student. We are continuing work on his first original song and the young writer is getting more comfortable suggesting lyrical ideas and modifying the chord progression. He has also done a great job of mastering the lead guitar lick we came up with for the intro and I am glad to see that songwriting has inspired him to spend more time with his guitar.
I had Tuesday off and Michelle Lynn was back at Ghost in My House Studio continuing work on her new album Twisted Logic. Adam Ptacek was over around lunch time and the three of us spent the next few hours rehearsing songs for the upcoming shows on March 20th at the Root Note and Del's Bar on the 25th. The more I get comfortable with the songs the more fun they are to play. I have really been enjoying having the opportunity to play some drums for other musicians both live and in the studio as it improves my drumming and gives me a much needed new perspective on songwriting in general.
Tuesday night Joe Dawson and Jaran Carson were over for a quick Brahman Shaman rehearsal in preparation for our set at the Root Note on Saturday. I am finally starting to feel comfortable with the trio and feel that we are definitely able to do the recorded versions of the songs justice.
Wednesday was spent working. Thursday I had the day off again and managed to get my drum parts recorded for 8 of the songs on Michelle Lynn's new album. Having recorded the guitar with a click track definitely this process go quicker, although it still took about 5 hours. After that Michelle and Adam were over for another rehearsal. Michelle has also been experimenting with the electric guitar and the handful of FX pedals I have available.
Friday I was up early and headed down to KDEC FM 100.5 studios in Decorah, IA for the weekly Artist Direct radio show. I enjoyed talking with Jeni and Tim and also got a kick out of hearing both Pride and Holy Roller from the recently released Animist album on the radio. I am going to try to get a copy of the show this week and will have it available online soon. I worked the rest of the day Friday. Friday night I headed down to the Bodega in LaCrosse, WI to play drums for Nick Shattuck from 9 to 1. Nick always seems to draw a great crowd and this definitely makes the show more fun.
Saturday night I had the opportunity to participate in a fun show at the Root Note. My good friend and local MC Hyphon opened the show with a great set, even performing our collaborative track "Have it Back". The Brahman Shaman electric trio followed and I can honestly say I had the most fun I have had thus far performing as Brahman Shaman. Driftless Music founder Adam Wiltgen was kind enough to grab some video of one the performance of Spoke of the Wheel, check it out here. Michelle Lynn was the headliner and she played a great set that started with her playing solo-acoustic until Adam and I joined her on bass and drums about halfway through. Adam got a video of a couple of songs available here and here and has also posted a new blog about the performance here.
Sunday was spent running errands, cleaning the house and just relaxing.
