MOVING...

Getting a new job (I'll be interim city manager in Phoenix, Oregon, starting in June) isn't exactly music-related news, but moving is. I'll be in southern Oregon for 3-4 months minimum, and alone–my family will still be 300 miles away up on the northern Oregon Coast. Not much to do except work and play music, in other words.

Southern Oregon is growing fast–it's becoming the medical center for northern California–and consequently there are a lot of resources to go with the growing population. In addition, it's a culturally active area, with a university (in Ashland, Ore.), a renowned Shakespeare Festival (also in Ashland), and an equally-renowned classical music festival (the Britt Festival, in Jacksonville) all within a short distance of where I'll be working. Less well known, probably, is the Spam Festival in Shady Cove, but there's a lot of events like that around, too. Not to mention five (I think) commercial recording studios, and a Songwriters Association–one of only 3 in the state. I've already found out about (and been invited to) a weekly jam session, at a local bookstore. This could be fun.

I have already arranged to take time off from the new job to go to Nashville for Pineyfest at the beginning of August. I didn't mention the Woody Guthrie Festival in mid-July, because I don't know if anything will come of it. Only the grand prize winner really needs to be able to perform on stage, and I'm not expecting that to be me–and the impression I get from their Website is lodging facilities are all full up, and have been for some time. Nobody's been notified yet, and nobody's answered the e-mail I sent them, either.

Depending on how quickly I can put something together, this could be the place to take care of The Next CD. I'd need to find the musicians, get ‘em familiar with the material, and do (again) the Patsy Cline Thing in the studio–record it all live and (hopefully) in one take.

We're probably looking at 12 songs for The Next CD; I don't know (yet) whether it should be an album of all dead-animal songs ("Christmas at the Roadkill Café") or all love songs ("The Heart by the Side of the Road"). Lot of overlap–a lot of my songs would be suitable for either–but I probably do not have enough material to do both. The Christmas album would be fun, because I could probably enlist the Roadkill Café (there are actually several sucn establishments, in various parts of the U.S.) In helping with the marketing–maybe bundle a menu with the CD, and have them sell the CD at the restaurant, for instance.

UPDATES:

No word on "TURN YOUR RADIO ON," but odds are it's not a candidate for inclusion on the gospel album. What research I've been able to do suggests the song is still under copyright. "ROTTEN CANDY" didn't make the American Idol Top Twenty; one outfit is preparing a here's what you missed" album of American Idol rejects, but I don't think my song will make that one, either. They'll want something professionally produced, and I don't have that on this song.

I think I'll consign "DEAD COWS AND THE INTERNET" to the dustbin now–it didn't get much attention, and I haven't been able to play it well. I've still got two more songs that need verses to go with their choruses, and it'd be more productive to work on those.