PREPARING TO MOVE...

Five days to pack and move... It's not a big move, because I'll be living out of a motel room (with kitchenette) for a while, so there won't be a lot of space. Clothes, minimal kitchen equipment, computer, and (of course) the music stuff is what will go with me. The studio stuff does not take up a lot of space, and can be set up anywhere–when I lived in Union, it was in a corner of the living room. Since the equipment deliberately avoids ambient noise, I could theoretically record in the middle of a busy intersection and get as good a sound as I could in the garage (as long as the traffic gave me a fairly wide berth).

The moving exercise is also an opportunity to review what I'm leaving undone. There are, at this point, a few things:

I still haven't recorded "TUGGA PAW," the Swedish country-music song. That's been one of my longest-running (and most frustrating) projects, tackled on and off for over a year. Part of the problem is I can't stand to listen to spoken Swedish for any length of time–it makes the brain shut down, I guess–and part is that other projects have consistently gotten in the way. I've recorded the guitar part twice now, and each time had to erase it to make space on the Tascam for something else that took priority. I can (just figured this out) dump the guitar part to a CD, so I don't have to keep re-doing it. (I guess that means the CD burner will have to make the trip, too.)

I won't have an alternative to "TURN YOUR RADIO ON" for the Gospel song album, either. I haven't heard back from the publisher doing the album, but from what little I've been able to google on the ‘Net, the song is still under copyright, and can't be used for an all-public domain album. I had suggested as an alternative "Farther Along" (1911), and the Ackermans are back in town and available to be the backup band–but where's the time? This'd have to be to the publisher by the end of May, which is only days away.

And I still don't know what to do about recording "TEST TUBE BABY," my first rock ‘n' roll song (I've only ever written two), which I wanted to get recorded by that good set of Nashville studio musicians they'll have at the Pineyfest Demo Derby. If I record it myself, the dang thing comes out country. I might be able to tap that budding band down in southern Oregon to help with it–there are some good blues musiciazns there, even though they're trying to play bluegrass--but that will mean waiting a good two weeks to send a reference track to Nashville.

For the rest, things are mostly done, and I'm just waiting to hear back from people. I recorded rhythm and lead guitar tracks for Willie Joe's "Country Club Waltz," but he says he's not going to pursue it unless he can find a fiddle player. The "Soupbone" blues is done, except for me adding introductions for the soloists–I've asked for their real names, but again, nobody's responded. I re-recorded Marge McKinnis' "About Love" to have a good reference track for the Pineyfest Demo Derby–and haven't heard what she thinks of it. I haven't heard from Bobbie Gallup or Diane Ewing, either, about the arrangements I spec'd out for their Demo Derby songs.

And I haven't heard from the lady whose dying-friend song got ripped apart and put back together by me. Maybe she doesn't know what to think. At least I have managed to forget the song, so it won't bother me if she doesn't like what I did with it.

More on the Demo Derby next blog.

Joe