Shinybass journal entry 1-31-12

And just like that…

January is over.  How are your resolutions holding up?  I can’t recall if I even made any resolutions this year.  Throughout the year I am constantly attempting to improve, so in the spirit of my attitude towards holidays, I treat every day as New Year’s.  Without all that confetti and those silly hats.  I DO have the noisemakers and the horns lying all over my house, though, which could lead to a divorce before the wedding even happens. And planning is coming along swimmingly, in case you were wondering.  We are going very minimalist in some respects – we are going with a ‘parking lot’ instead of valets, and, after much deliberation, we decided the ice sculpture would actually be a series of ice sculptures, in cube form, that people can use in their drinks.  We thought this would bring a little bit of culture and art to each of our guests.

This past week I got a call from my old buddy Dan to help out with some video work over at Blackbird studios.  A little back story – Dan was the singer in King Konga, and has now moved on to produce scores of bands in the Atlanta area.  His favorite room in town to work is Blackbird Studios, a wonderful recording studio owned by John and Martina McBride.  It’s a pretty amazing recording space, and you will never know who will be over there tracking.  I have a friend who bumped into Rush over there, and on one of the sessions with Dan, half of the Wallflowers were there.  If the public only knew as they drove by the plain grey building…

Anytime I can be in the studio, I am happy, even if it is not in a musical capacity.  (We did track some ‘group’ vocals for his record, so I guess that counts).  In this down time, it seems that video has taken precedent over music, at least in terms of being ‘busy’. It seems I am running around an awful lot when I work in video, grabbing this shot or that one.  Plus, for some strange reason, I need to actually leave my house in order to get shots.  That means I have to (sometimes) get dressed and get moving.  Speaking of, here in Nashville, there is a bit of controversy regarding the wearing of pajamas in public.  I, for one, would love to go to a store and NOT see PJ’s, unless they were purchased at Victoria’s Secret.  Sort of like a nude beach, I am pretty sure the people wearing PJ’s in public are NOT the people you want to see wearing PJ’s in public…

Back to video – so the (hopefully) final edit of my latest project ‘prints’ tomorrow.  I have been at this latest video for the better part of a month now, so I will be happy to see this bird leave the nest.  Once it’s posted, I will get the link on here.

Speaking of links, if you peruse this website, you will see a couple of changes in the menu bar.  First, you will find my contact info.  I realized that I had no way of people reaching me through this site, so now you are free to hit me up.  Let me back up – you are free to hit me up if you need some music/video/writing, but as far as tickets and meet and greets, you will have to hit up Jeff Smith.  He LOVES that… Second, you will see under ‘Scissors’ (get it- editing – cutting and pasting, etc.. clever, huh?… ah, never mind) you can see some of my video work as well as hear music cues I have recorded for various projects.  Again, if you need some custom music, give me a shout.

Are you ready for some shows yet?  I am!  I have had some work done on my touring bass, and I will be getting that back today, so I am stoked about that.  When you ‘mod’ your guitar, then you add new life into it – like getting a new stereo in your car – making it so much more fun to use.  I can’t wait to see her.

I am keeping this entry short and sweet today, because I have some music to get to.  Pre-production starts for my record today, and I have two pieces to write for a breast cancer rally in Canada.  No thoughtful message or life-altering rant for you.  OK, how about we do this – at some point today, do something simple and nice.  Give someone a hug, smile, maybe ask how someone’s day is going, and ENGAGE one another.  It’s free.  And you just may make someone’s day a little brighter.

See you on the road!