Saturday, June 29, 2013

Book Reviews on a Music Blog

Michelangelo and the Pope's CeilingMichelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's probably hard to argue that Michelangelo's painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a part of history everyone should know, but that doesn't mean it's not fascinating in its own right. King's descriptions of the temperament, disposition, ambiguity, and ego of the artist's artist seem both honest and compelling - Michelangelo comes across as a sort-of Dr. House of the Renaissance. The geopolitical events that surrounded the construction of the world's most illustrious fresco are in and of themselves plenty riveting for the history buff, as well - names as luminary as Midici, Borgia, Machiavelli, and Luther accompany other Renaissance giants like Da Vinci, Raphael, Donatello, & Bromante in making appearances throughout this account. This book serves as another sterling example of how historical fact can many (perhaps most?) times be more interesting than fiction, as well as a reminder that the same tensions, pressures, politics, scandals, and depravities that contaminate our world are, in fact, nothing new. And yet, in the middle of humanity's relentless pursuit of self-debasement, almost unfathomable beauty can somehow manage to make its way into the world.

Thank God.

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Photo of the Day

LA, Overcast


My last day in Los Angeles (for now, anyway) is a cloudy one. Not a bad view from up on the lip of Runyan Canyon, though.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Album Lockdown - Day 10 (One for the artists.)

Alright, readers. Today's post comes from a book I've been reading during my downtime out here in the City of Angels. It's called Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, and, as you probably already surmised, it's a historical account of the events surrounding Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel. (It's a magnificent read if you're at all interested in the history of art or the Renaissance; buyer beware, though, it might be a little dry if you're not already curious about those topics.)

Anyhoo, what I thought I'd pass along to you all today is something that jumped out to me as I reflected on the story in relation to what we're attempting to achieve here in LA with the recording of this album. Namely, that artistic and creative ventures are hard, and we should never be discouraged by the fact that they are so.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Best Of The Springs with Sean Waldron

Before I came out to LA to work on Tyler Ward's new record, I joined forces with Joshua Corbett to support Sean Waldron at a concert celebrating some of the best musicians in Colorado Springs, as voted by the readers of the local city newspaper. A pretty cool honor & accomplishment, to be sure.

The internet has kindly provided us with a few recordings of the show, and as long as you don't mind a bit of home video/camcorder quality, feel free to take a few minutes and dig on this here performance of ours.







Photo(s) Of The Day

So, due to popular demand, I've got more pictures from my recent jaunt up into the mountains. More than one today - I've decided not to drag it out. Hope you dig 'em!


One of my favorite things to photograph (or just see, for that matter) is water leading right up to mountains. Hard to beat. Beaver dams are cool, too.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Album Lockdown - Day 5

It's time like these I begin to recall and recite popular internet memes:

Nothing worth having comes easy.

It's not about the destination. It's about the journey.

Keep calm and carry on.

Don't feed the bears.

Ok, maybe not the last one. But, I am in California - it's on the state flag for cryin' out loud.

Alright, anyway, construction is well underway. The first week brought its share of ups and downs. Sometimes THE PROCESS just flows - little diamonds just show up at your feet without you even taking the time to look around. Other times, (and more often then not), it's less of a flow and more of an absolute grind. The gem has to be polished, cleaned, sanded, buffed, cut, formed, shaped, and then polished, cleaned, sanded, and buffed again. Being that as it may, I think it's safe to say that I'm excited about the results so far.

And it's important for everyone out there on the Interwebs to understand: Joey Barba practically lives in Beast Mode while he's engineering a track. Getting to collaborate with both his and Tyler's creative instincts and to contribute, in even a minute way, to this project has been quite the ride so far. Certainly part of the joy of this whole adventure is simply being in the room when someone else does something truly great. It's no small thing to be a fan of the people with whom you work.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Photo Of The Day

Sopris, Retro


During a weekend jaunt into the mountains to attend a friend's wedding, I came across this picturesque locale. Mt. Sopris, just 1,047 feet short of being a well-known and oft-summited Colorado peak, stands just as majestic as its 14,000-ft. brethren.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Album Lockdown - Day 1

Well, the LA adventure has officially begun - it's time to make ourselves a record.

Getting into Los Angeles turned out to be quite the undertaking in and of itself - layover delays followed by hurried calls to board and then long waits on the tarmac in a Spirit Airlines plane that saw fit to take another four inches away from my already cramped leg space. And, just in case you happened to be wondering - yes, as a matter of fact, LAX is quite the happening spot on a Sunday night.

The first night's sleeping arrangements were a bit peculiar, as well, due to a few additional house guests here at T-Ward's studio/home scrounging up whatever meager square footage they could in order to catch a few z's. And all's fair in sleep & rock 'n' roll, as evidenced by Joey's control room air mattress and my acoustic-treatment-foam pillow.

...more comfortable than you might think.
Then, Day 1 began with an early morning reveille at the crack of 10:00 AM. A workout and breakfast soon followed and then it was time to get to work. Finishing pre-production on a song that could very easily be the album's lead single has been our goal for the day; little touches to vocal harmonies, drum grooves, and rhythm guitars the chips from the stone.

So, all in all, things are going well right out of the gate. Personally, I'm sort of hoping that every day of this process will be a memory in itself (that's what the blog is here for, right?) Final drums could start tracking as soon as tomorrow, so be sure to check back for the update!
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