With the current configuration of work and school my Wednesday’s are really tough but my Thursday’s are absolutely brutal. Check this out. I typically get home from school Wednesday night around 11:45 PM from a day where I needed to leave the house around 8 am. The Drive Thursday mornings I shower around 6 am and get out the door as quickly as possible. Then I am at work by around 7:30 am to avoid the big traffic. I leave work around 4-ish to head to school in Maiden 50 minutes away. School official runs from 6 pm until 10 pm. After the hour and a half drive home, I’m getting in no earlier than 11:30 pm. By the time I will have spent around 4 hours in the car and have drive just shy of 190 miles. I want to remember this in the same way I remember basic training in the US Army. My classmates and I are going g through some real gut check shit together. We are all enduring our trial by fire to improve ourselves. Class Lecture I am of our course proud of my wife, but I’m also proud of the other strong, intelligent women in my class. They’ve all sacrificed to improve...
Read MoreTuesday Night Concert Series
So this is an idea that I’ve entertained for a long time as a method to assemble and band that actually knows how to play my songs. As a singer/song writer I’ve found it difficult in the past to keep a group of musicians engaged. Nobody is getting rich on original music around these parts. Onthe contrary it basically costs you to have any sort of band or any duo or trio assembled. The gigs just aren’t there and essentially all opportuities revoled around playing covers. All save for one very special venue. I’m talking about Little Tokyo Lounge. First Brush on Late Summer Putting In All Together I’ve found the players, so now what do I do? Well, it takes time, that’s the first thing. Everyone I know that plays music has to work an actual job to make a living and just doesn’t have tons of good ole fashion time to do the work. I needed to find a way to make it fun enough for folks to hang in there for 8 – 12 months really, really be able to nail these songs live. Talent is everywhere but talent + commitment to a project is tough to come by.So after reaching out to the owner of Little Tokyo Lounge to ask aboutt he idea of playing on a night they don’t usually have bands and approaching things like a series of concert […I don’t even know what to called Little Tokyo, Restuarant and venue sure, but I just thing it’s so doggone neat and one of a kind all that seems short shrift to say]. The idea being that if we perform there monthly that in a short time the tightness and execution will improve vastly. Each memeber baiscally has to be professional enough to do the real work for practice on there own.Today we got together to see if we could get through the tunes. We did. Although more refinement is required by all of us, the basics are there and we’ll be live in action on the 29th of this month. We’ll have myself on guitar and vocals, Chris on the drums, Daniel on the bass, Paul on keys and Tony on percussion, harmonica and flute. I’m still seeking an acoustic player and 2nd backing vocalist but this is where we’ll start. Come see...
Read MoreBack In The Game
So, despite the fact that I’ve got 8 months to go on Massage Therapy school and somewhat out of the blue, I was offered and accepted a new contract role with Wells Fargo. I’ve been away from the organization, this time for almost 3 years. Things have really changed here. Very few familiar faces to be seen, largely due to the advent of something called, “Flex Space,” Many folks now shuffles between various Flex Space cubes in two separate. I did find one common sight from back in the day. These two gents eating lunch in the 3rd floor break room. Ravi & Jeff Bill Bailey a peer from way back in my design days ran into me this morning and went so far as to hug me. We are both Veterans from FUNB and Wachovia. Those were heady times that always warm my heart. There is so much construction going on downtown it’s hard to believe. In the light of a clear morning I can see that’s what’s causing all the difficulty with the traffic on Independence Blvd. Construction Boom For the next week I’ll be dealing with that daily but expect to largely avoid it with flex time allowing me to drive in post rush hour and home pre-rush hour. The new position is legitimately interesting to me. To seriously over simplify it, the role is User Acceptance Testing for New sure functionality. My many years experience with authoring in SDL Tridion sort of feeds into this position as I’ll be working with those authors in this job. For now it’s pretty dry until I get my laptop. Looking at lots of walk through and taking notes on my phone. What The Cup Says I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth but the free green tea here is a far cry from the Happiness Green Tea at Albemarle Nutrition. I’m happy to be back in the...
Read MoreFinishing Touches
We are drawing ever closer to the end of the line on this record.
Read MoreNashville and Beyond
The timing had to be just right to pull off a weekend trip to Nashville to record my second solo album. With night school two nights per week a full 1.5 hours away from home, I knew I’d be sliding into the experience a little frazzled. The week of the trip was nothing but cold and wet Monday through Wednesday. As it turned out we wound up skipping class that Thursday night in response to the weather. One concern I had about driving so far then having to be focused on my game was mitigated when my friend Rob agreed to drive us. It shouldn’t go without saying that none of this would have been possible without the help and hospitality of friend and former local guitar hero, Tim Galloway who graciously hosted us in his home. Tim also served as band leader and co- producer on this record. The following is a bit of a play by play so that I don’t forget the details of such a unique experience. Nashville and...
Read More50For50
The gist of this post is that the time has come to make a commitment to change. Chainging my diet and excercise habits as well as my habit of getting my fingers into too many projects. There are things I want as an artsit. I have to really find the maturity to manage those desires better than I have in the past and prioritize what is clearly more important. My primary focus has to be physical fitness, at least for the next year so that I can get that lost energy back. I’ve just gotten too heavy. I’ve been slowly trying to work back to my fighting weight for the last 4 years. I started at a whopping at 340 lbs and today weigh in at around 315lbs. I’ve inched in the right direction but that is not going to cut it. Not by a long shot. The time has come for a greater committement and more direct results to get me below 300lbs and back to something close to my higher energy levels weight of around 260 lbs. The really hard part is putting that exercise and diet ahead of my music and art projects which so ensnare my mind. Nevertheless, it ha to be done. Steps have been taken. The new diet is underay and the new training regime starts...
Read More