About 6 months ago I started on an adventure into
songwriting. I was just coming off of a studio EP release, pushing it to radio
and media outlets and while that was a big focus, I didn’t want to lose sight
of the importance of actually writing songs as a songwriter. After all, you
wouldn’t call yourself a watch maker if you didn’t make watches, or a fisherman
if you didn’t fish, right? I decided to steal (ok, borrow) an idea from a
musical comrade named Marc Pinansky (http://marcpinansky.bandcamp.com/).
That idea was to write, record, and release a new EP for each and every month
in 2013.
While the first 6 months of this were extremely fruitful in
the way of songwriting, keeping up with the recording aspect proved difficult
for me. I could keep a scrap of paper in my pocket and write down ideas all
day. I could get home from work and pick up my guitar or mandolin and flesh out
an idea for melodies or a full song. But I tend to be entirely too critical of
takes to record songs in a timely manner without external input/assistance (at
least that I am content with).
All in all, I ended up writing more new songs per month than
the number I could reasonably record, mix, and release. On average, I recorded
about 3 tunes while I was writing around 6-8, plus additional ideas and pieces
for other arrangements. I now have pages and pages of notebooks filled with
ideas, half finished ideas recorded on my phone from dipping into a stairwell
at the office, and enough material I am happy with to move onto the next step.
I think I have accomplished what I set out to do in keeping the songwriting bug
alive and moving forward to continue writing consistently.
Starting in October I will begin to work on a new full
length record. Some songs have been picked out, not all, not all of the
arrangements are put together, but that is what is exciting to me. Even more
so, I will be having a slew of my best musical buddies involved in the process.
So far I have enlisted the help of my good friends Mark Whitaker on banjo, Eva
Walsh on fiddle, and Noel Coakley adding some pedal steel and I am sure that
list will grow as the songs are arranged. This record will be recorded at home
as autumn transitions into winter and subsequently mixed and mastered
elsewhere. The end result, will hopefully be my first full length recording
with a mix of all the influences I have absorbed over the past 7 years being a
musician in this town. The countless gigs, sessions, and just hanging with wonderful
folks. I am really happy to see what comes of this all…hope you guys will be as
excited to hear what I have to say!
Keep on keepin’ on,
B
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