I am sitting here at the control panel wondering where the year has gone. Is it almost mid May already? Lately I've been down in the hole studying the tools of the trade, trying to learn some mixing and video editing which should help the demoing process out. There have been some fun shows over the last few years, and some travel video with some great scenery, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you. The live recordings are simple, just an iphone and my rudimentary mixing skills, bolstered by GarageBand plug ins. Every day is like going to school, but the boredom factor is zero. On Soundcloud you can track the recordings as they get posted. In the Garageband cooker right now is a new mix of the Free2Be benefit show (I'm doing another event with them at the end of the month), another Blake and Lucy collaboration or two, some lesson recordings for my students, some old songs and some new songs. It's a busy cooker!
Last Thursday I had an impromptu duet with Ms Lucy T at her very successful art show at the Little Green Store on Monte Sano here in Huntsville. We did a slower, jazzier version of 'You Belong to Me' and then handed Daniel Adamek's guitar back to him so he could finish the night out. There is video floating around on Facebook... Do check out her art but if you see something you like you should grab it quick, they sell very fast.
As always, I'm tinkering with the live set and trying different things. There are a few songs I want to add for the next show. I hope to surprise you guys! In addition to tinkering with the set I am pushing more things online for students. We are working on very personalized practice journals and notebooks to make the most of our practice time and track out progress. I already have students reaping the benefits of a little tweak to their practice routine. There are a few new videos up on the 'Lesson Supplements' playlist, the latest of these are largely for beginners but I always encourage intermediates and advanced students to firm up their fundamentals. The beginner and group jams are off and running and there will be video of the work we are doing there soon!
The work we do in lessons continues to focus on the individual student's path and in the group setting each player shares their take on the music they've heard and integrates their personal musical focus into familiar songs. Some work soloing ideas, some work on beginner strumming, some work on arpeggios, and interpreting cover songs shares the jam time with accurately playing recorded parts. It's great fun seeing it all together. There will be some new things rolling out this summer so stay tuned!
Don't forget to stop by the Fret Shop in Huntsville, AL and check out the gear! Taylor and Martin guitars, Paul Reed Smith (drool), Electro Harmonix and TC Electronics pedals-lots of good stuff, plus the hometown feel of a great local business. The Fret Shop is the kind of place I look for when I'm traveling and want to get to know something about the town.
Thank you so much for listening and I will see you all soon!
-B