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Recording Journals: The Making of the No Schedule Man CD

Recording Journal 17: “Aggressive Target”

By October 23, 2009No Comments

We got through the Travel Show. It was a moderate success. Gotta’ start somewhere. Meantime, the entire CPT crew seemed to get sick this week. I got the least of it but feel as though I better get some rest over the weekend or else I’ll pay for it.

KG and I got together today to play through some songs (“Sunny Day,” “Awake,” “No Schedule,” “South Carolina” and “Do Better”) to get our chops worked up for recording. My voice wore out quickly. Too quickly. So did my fingers. I’m not in playing shape, but that’s going to change soon. I’m beginning to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

At the start of our session today, I told KG I wanted to have our CD at the printers before the end of the year. That’s an aggressive target. But I believe we can achieve it. He said that he does too. So now we have a goal. My thinking is that that if we can target recording/mastering completion by the end of the year, I should able to get the other pieces in place so that we can release the CD in March or April of 2010. I know that January will be a write-off because of the CPT Racing Experience event. And in February, our family is thinking of taking a holiday. Plus, I’ll likely help – at least to some degree –with the World of Motorcycles Expo, which is run by my good buddy Derek. I feel a sense of loyalty to that event. But that’s another story.

So that brings us back to the music. We started in June and have been consistently chipping away ever since. We have demoed all eleven songs I pegged for the project. All eleven are strong tunes, in my opinion. Now it’s up to us to deliver a worthy performance and capture it on tape. To that end, we have some work to do.

I am going to have to commit myself to more time on the guitar and more time singing. However, I have been singing a lot more recently, especially in the car. I feel I’m getting slightly better, despite the fact that I get a lot strange looks at stoplights while I’m being extra careful to exaggerate my mouth shapes to get the best sound possible while I sing along with my favourite CDs. We’ll see if it helps out come recording time.

By the way, as far as CDs go, I was lucky to add two great new entries into my collection in the past week: “Seaway” by David Francey and Mike Ford and “Friends and Total Strangers” by the Trews.

I love The Trews. They’re the most intelligent rock band I’m aware of that’s out there today (other than Extreme). They write great, great songs and perform them with a sincerity that is hard to dismiss.

I love The Trews.

Meantime, Mike Ford shines on “Seaway.” It is clear that he is a ridiculously musical person. Songs like the title track, “Eastern Gap,” “There’s No Rush” and “At the Bottom of the Great Lakes” showcase his wealth of sonic skill.

Aside from that, some other great news came around in the form of Jimmy Buffett’s new album being ready for a December release! Plus I know the Arc Angels are working at another original album. Now, if we could just get a hint of news out of Extreme’s camp about when their live CD/DVD will be out, I’d be really happy. Who knows? Perhaps I can beat them to it with my own CD.

The race is on.

– Kevin

PS – A couple of weeks ago, I decided I would try to read a “Star Wars” book. The one I selected (“Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor”) was very positively reviewed. So I figured I’d try it. A couple of weeks later, I am wheezing and coughing toward the finish line, feeling an obligation to somehow finish the thing. My advice, if you’re thinking of reading one of these books, is quite simple:

Don’t.

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