Received an e-mail from Nikki (Miss VonBang, if you like) and she asked when we can work on rough demos of the new songs. Hmmm...that's always nice to hear!

Our schedules right now are a bit out-of-whack, between her with schoolwork, and I with travelling for DR Strings. But knowing that she is ready to get moving is sweet music to my jaded ears. And what brought this on?

My friend Rob over at Paragon Music Magazine likes to goad me along and ask stuff like "So when do I get to hear new Bello songs?" Nikki is very much into doing an interview w/Paragon, as well as a photo shoot (does this mean I should find a bass player?) so I mentioned to her, "I'd like Rob to hear at least 2 or 3 rough versions of the new songs, so he can base his questions off them." No sense asking me things with nothing to show, right? I mean, he could ask me about my stunningly girlish physique but would anyone care? I didn't think so.

(I'm also doing a phone interview for a radio station in Canada sometime in November. Think Nikki's mind will be blown when I talk about her for all of the Great White North to hear?)

When our schedules line up again, which should be two weeks or so, we will then proceed to lay down rough demos of "Surfing To Venus" and "Throwing Away My Skin". If we do another tune, that's cool. If not, two is enough for Rob to whet his appetite. I told Nikki the demos don't have to be pristine, just enough to get the wheels turning, you know? Now to find a 4-track...I miss my Tascam machine!

She wrote to tell me that she's been busy with the songs, whenever the time allows, and I am confident she is coming up with nice ideas. She's got a good head for ideas, always thinking about funky little syncopations and..I admit I love when we talk geeky about music LOL! "So it's a dotted 16th note, with an 8th, right?" I LOVE IT!! She has three more songs on the tape that I gave her, so whatever she can do is fine with me.

I've been sitting on these songs since early 2008. I think it's time they saw sunlight, don't you?