There was a blurb in last month's Mix Magazine about the recording of Michael Warren's album earlier this summer. Not a big deal but I thought it was kind of cool. Check it out:


MIX MAGAZINE

After one to many 'crotch' jokes sent to my inbox and clever comments I have rotated my most recent profile picture to another much more boring one. I'm sure one of my friends or enemies will find something to pick at this one :) Regardless I'm gonna have to take some new photos soon.

SG

Been a busy year for me so far this year. Thought I'd post a blog with a list of some folks I've worked with this year that you guys need to check out. Most of them are in my top friends. I try to rotate some of the top friends with artists I've recently worked with. Gotta get samples of this stuff on my player. Soon though. Soon.

Michael Warren- 'Race To Beat The Sun'. Great pop/rock stuff with some R&B vibe thrown in there. FUN record. It goes to print this week so go buy it soon. Just finished this one. It is so great. Makes you wanna dance.

Brad Passons-'self titled'. This record is a fun rock record. Not heavy though. Brad is a song writer gone rock. Big sounding songs with a little EMO snuck in there. Just a little though. Great pop/rock.

Steve Means-'Rescue Me' EP. I worked on this one in December and finished it early this year. He is a great song writer. This record is a lot of groove and a lot of fun. Its hard stylistically to nail down but its fun. I got to play trombone and trumpet on this stuff. That doesn't happen very often. My poor lips still hurt.

Dominic Camany-'Lullaby'. Co-produced this record with my friend John Wineglass from Cali/NY (depending on the week). He is a TV/film composer who produces as well and does 40 other things. Dominic's stuff is fun pop/rock with feel-good songs.

Tom Yarbrough-'Far Cry From Gone' ALBUM & 'My Good Thing' EP. I was honored to help record tracks on a lot of these songs and mix all 20 songs from the 13 song album and 7 song EP. Tom is one of my good friends and a session player for me on lots of stuff. He plays EVERYTHING and did an amazing job producing his two projects. This stuff is roots, folk, classic country, Americana, blues, Lanois-esqe, great freakin song writing goodness. What else can I say. Buy these projects.

Also in the mix world I mixed 6 songs for Micah Dalton's upcoming album that we'll finish with 6 more songs in the fall. I mixed a few Itunes exclusive acoustic tracks for Derek Webb. Also mixed a self-produced album for my friends in Florida/Australia based band Fort Pastor. It is very cool folk/rock/world sounding stuff. Finally, just finished mixing a record from a San Francisco based artist, Shannon Ferry.

The rest of the year is gonna be crazy with 4 or 5 great artists that I'll get to work with. Should be fun. Just glad to be working on projects with music I enjoy and artists who are a good hang Later.

peace,
Stephen

I've made a new pledge.

I will not write songs about politics. I will most likely not take political advice or uneducated political commentary from musicians and certainly not actors.

Now, let me clarify that I have no problem with musicians who write songs about politics. I have some very good friends who write and record lots of songs about politics. I may not always agree with them but I respect their views. Often they're perspectives are rooted in justice rather than politics. I respect that even more. Lots of times I do agree with them. With this genuine respect stated, I will most likely not buy albums that spend too much time on politics (except when supporting the above stated friends I've mentioned). Yes, its hypocritical but I have the right.

I am not bitter or angry. I'm just in a place where I want to be moved by music and not talked to. I want to feel emotion good, bad, and ugly. I want to connect with timeless music that doesn't bind itself with an era or bath in uninformed conjecture. I don't want commentary on the days events. That is why I watch both forms of 'liberal' and 'conservative' news, both forms of talk radio, and read various extremes of periodicals/online sources. That is my approach in hopes of digging out something balanced and truthful.

I try to be well read on issues of the day. I can talk of world events and consider myself a well rounded individual who tries to balance my faith, politics, and moral perspectives with some form or sanity---but certainly not with any assumption of perfection. Therefore, I am not qualified to speak with the confidence of an expert on issues of the day. This is not my new adherence to some form of pluralism. Its more of an issue of qualification. I certainly have strong opinions. I will occasionally discuss those opinions with close friends but you just won't hear it in my songs. Thats all I'm saying.

The 'most recent plays' on my ipod will not ring of politics nor will the notes on my guitar. Hopefully it will ring of love lived and lost, God, sadness, happiness, dreams, rockin', rollin', fighting, making up, making love, making the world better, and making the most of the simple things.

For those about to rock real life in their music, I salute you. For those rocking on the Bush-bashing, Clinton-hating, republi-can-it, demo-crab-it, liberalistic, conservo mania I salute you too for using your free speech. I just might not buy your records.

Music is my break from all that. My escape. I will protect it as my passion. Later peeps.

My buddies in Brenn, a band I had the privilege of producing earlier this year, are the featured artist in the highend fashion NY magazine Nylon. It is a really cool thing for them and they're a killer band. Check it out.

Nylon Mag Brenn Article

This is a quote from my friend Kevin Lawson: "There are two kinds of people in the world, those who get the joke and those who don't. You are either a David or a Sammy.

Other examples of Davids: Kevin Lawson, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Jerry Seinfeld, Stephen Colbert, Flavor Flav, Reality TV makers, 75% of political campaign directors, lots of 80s rock bands, Bono, the people who run QVC

Other examples of Sammies: Lots of people I know, actors who talk about politics, Rush, Yes, Madonna, Katie Couric, 40% of the people who attend Sundance Film Festival, many folk singers, the people that buy from QVC


If you don't get this then you might be a Sammy. If you have some more suggestions for the list then please post them.

This little commentary / confessional was birthed out of some self-realization about my own deep-seeded, and often subconscious, interpretation surrounding the semantics of well-crafted art in the modern music world. Ive been plowing over and over in my mind these last few months trying to narrow down a theme as I begin writing for my next record. Ive been in no major hurry since most of my time these days is spent producing and engineering other artists projects. I live and breathe music, but most of the time this music is not my own. I literally woke up one morning and decided that I needed to record another album. I didnt have a choice. Incidentally, performing and touring are definitely not full time future endeavors and not even part time ones at present. I want to record a third album because I want to do it. It is that simple. I need the artistic outlet and Ill figure out what to do with the project after I record it. With this scenario, I find myself in the unique position of being able to make whatever kind of project that I wish. Most of my clients have radio parameters, A&R people in their faces, managers with stupid opinions, and a list of general popular music rules to stay within. Those factors do not have to exist for me so what kind of album will I choose to create? This led me to examine my own perception of good music. What kinds of albums move me? Why do they move me? Why is so much of this music performed by successful artists and even played on the radio? Did I just say that?

I had hoped that in the last 6½ years since my last solo project I would have evolved. Ive worked on over 20 projects since then for other people and have no problem defining for them what I think they should do to make well-crafted music that is accessible to a wider audience. What I discovered when I started to apply these opinions to my own music was a little kernel of elitism. This is the same elitism that I bear such a disdain for in so many independent artists. It was the proverbial log in my eye. Its a log that warps the ears and pooh-poohs success. So many great artists have come up through the trenches and made their own way. We praise their writing, their charming coffee house shows, and their unbreakable purest approach. We love those artists. We keep them as our little treasures, hiding them from those not worthy of such enlightenment. Then they go build a following as we sit back with a bit of enjoyment, but secretly hoping that only a small sustaining entourage will emerge. Then, as the hounds of hell converge, so do the great and evil corporate driven buying public that has no understanding of this level of artistry! As our treasures success arises, the labels become involved, radio plays through their songs, and the reward for their hard work comes into fruition it is then that we kick them out of the club. We eat our young musical talents to keep the population in tact. Therein lies a cannibalistic form of elitism.

As I waded through my list of inspiring music I discovered many casualties of my elitist cannibalism. I saw artists that I once adored that I had written off over time. It left me wondering what went wrong. Those artists are still making great music. Some of them have even spawned an entire movement of influence and many new artists now found in the trenches trying to make it happen. Lets face it, good songs are good songs. Some people are lucky enough, or work hard enough, and that one-in-a-million scenario falls into place. It can so often be happenstance. As much as we support those who are hanging on by a thread in the semantics of success we should not forgot those who are still making good music while getting played on the radio. Isnt that what we all complain about: the corporate rehashed version of art that dominates through marketing? We should be so happy when well-crafted art makes its way to the wider public forum.

Art and beauty are not defined by dollar signs on either end. Good music can make a lot of money and still be good music. On the other side of things, lots of bad music can be found in many of our elitist listening rooms. Yes, art is subjective and beauty can be found in so many forms through the eyes of the beholder. That is a great thing. I do believe that art is often meant to be deconstructed; however, good music doesnt always live in obscurity, pine about politics, or make waves that change the course of history. It comes down to what moves us and what inspires us. Why do certain chord combinations create certain emotions? Is that culturally universal? Seriously, Im asking. Why does a beat make us want to dance? Why does a lyric make us want to cry or make love to our spouse? There is a connection. Sometimes the public has it right because the public doesnt look at music as musicians do. They look at music through simpler eyes. Sure, as musicians we need to be progressive and inventive, but sometimes we must just listen and enjoy. We must unfold our arms, take our critical ears off, and get lost in the music. Scream at a show. Enjoy the simplicity of a heart-felt love song or take our wives dancing. Isnt that why we all started doing this?

Enough preaching to myself. This is my mid-year resolution: to see beauty in lots of music despite levels of success, to make music that moves me (and hopefully others), and to unashamedly enjoy that well-crafted pop song on the same iPod with that obscure singer-songwriter I just discovered on Myspace. Music is meant to be enjoyed, and Im going to start doing it again. I will eat my young no longer! Or at least try not to.

This entry will hopefully resonate with a few people who either feel this way or know someone who does. There needs to be some sort of adequate expression in the human vernacular to describe the futile practice of obsessively ordering ones world. I love that Jonatha Brooke song where she says that we order our worlds like the metronome. . We create the deception of order. Order makes us feel like we are in control. Any uncanny sense of affecting ones own fate is compartmentalized into daily routine. I find this sense of self control to be controlling in its own unique way. Its quite subtle and unbelievably sneaky. I walk into the house after a long trip and I cant rest until Ive unpacked. My wife will sit there patiently waiting for me to get completely unpacked, check my email, make my calls, and take my shower before I am free to relax. Somehow relaxing after everything on my list is checked off is a reward for staying on task. I find no fault in this mindset in small doses. In my situation this order is the placebo that mentally subdues the inevitable disorder associated with being human. I guess thats all of us. This system was much less controversial when I ruled over my own crib as a single man. The introduction of a new person through marriage into the scenario throws the preverbal monkey wrench into the flow of things. There is certainly no ruling going on. This OCD-like behavior was not nearly as noticeable when I was living my life without the constant presence of another human being. Note to self: ones spouse can never be a point on the list of the tasks. It doesnt go over so well.

I guess there are some benefits to being obsessively organized. It helps in crazy times when order is needed. It helps in times of financial upheaval if one has a grip on the spending. Its just the crossing of that very thin line that becomes problematic. I often cross this very thin line with little knowledge of my whereabouts. It takes some revelation to realize how dumb I look over there on the wrong side. I tend to be there a lot and those moments pass me by so frequently. I call this obsessive familiarity. You get so used to your stupid habits that you dont see them anymore. It takes the simplicity of a loving wife to bring into question what seemed to be a stable worldview. Okay its not a worldview; its more of a home economics view. All it takes is her inquisition of my incessant cleaning, obsessive packing and unpacking and packing, or my obsessive everything-else. These are those rare moments in time when I back off, deconstruct my logic, abandon my list, and have a drink with my feet on the coffee table. Some people seek order and some seek chaos. We all need balance, a good set of slippers, some chips, our favorite drink, a sturdy coffee table, and someone who loves us more than we deserve.

I've been lame about my blog. This year has been unbelievable. This is my re-entry of sorts into the writing world. Hopefully, I can be more consistent. I can't make up any excuses. I guess there were more things to keep me busy than I had expected. Life has been busy. We bought as house, built a studio, and I've been making records without much of a break. I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day. As much as I love to sleep I wish I needed less of it. I guess that raises a great question of what drives me. What drives us? Is drive okay and what are the 'right' reasons to be full of ambition? Where is the line drawn? I know when I neglect my wife that the line has been crossed. Is is very American to hustle and make it happen. To carve out your own way. The simple life is something we say we aspire to but would it make us happy? I know it does for some. Maybe I'm speaking from where I'm at in life right now but I don't crave the simple. I crave the action, the satisfaction of the process, the buzz of flying by the seat of my pants. I don't claim any answers. If anything I'm asking more questions. Balancing what we say we want and what we actually achieve is universal. It is Bibilical. Romans chapter 7 comes to mind. I think that chapter has a lot of reach and application beyond being a sinful person who can't get their crap together. It applies to our inability to order our lives. I'll keep trying. I just need to ask for help more often. From above mainly.

That being said. I'll add to my goals more blogging. Peace to the peeps.

Stephen

Well I've decided to move my blog over to MySpace. I log in here all the time and edit my website frequently. Having my blog up at Blogger.com was just one more place to log in. I'm all about low maintenance. Looking forward to interacting with some of the MySpace friends on the blog. More to come soon....
Thanks,
Stephen