I got another life lesson while running the other day. Hills. They can either kill your morale, or light a fire under you. I might not be the fastest or strongest runner, but I don't often let a hill get the best of me. Yet I've felt myself slowing down in other ways lately. There are so many obstacles in my path. Haven't I worked and sweat enough? I've become accustomed to the comfortable pace of 2 steady piano jobs (which I'm  more  than grateful for), but my original goal when moving here, was to song write and record. A process which is proving to be more time consuming and complicated than I would have ever imagined. Just when I think I see the finish line, another hill arises in my path.  That's when I'm reminded of the old saying (and excuse the cliche) it's not the destination, but the journey that's important. And so with each step, I admire the view around me and appreciate more than ever those miles stones that I pass along the way.  Ch...

I sang for a room full of people today in a small, dark room. They were people from my past - long, and not so long ago - and one I've never even met. I'm in my final and most challenging phase of recording my album of original songs with Modern Vintage Recordings. Vocal tracking has intimidated me since the beginning of this project. For most of the tracks, we recorded all the music and instruments, and when that was complete, I recorded my vocals inside an intimate booth with a microphone and headphones. When doing this, you may be surprised to learn that we rarely track an entire song from start to finish. Instead, we do the verse a few times, then the chorus, and so on. This way, we can re-do any particular section as many times as necessary to get it  perfect . And there is so much to get perfect when recording vocals; tone, pitch, breath, pronunciation, volume. It's quite exhausting. But on one track, we decided to record a simple piano and vocal, live in the studio...