Makin’ A Record March 20, 2012

For the past few months I have been working on my latest album.  Just like all of my past record adventures, this one was plagued with all kinds of issues.  First off, midway through the recording process I had to downgrade my PC back to Windows XP so my recording software would work.  I was having some compatibility issues with Windows 7 so downgrading was free and having to buy all new software/hardware just didn’t seem feasible since this shit still works just fine.  Just when things seemed to be moving smoothly, I started having issues with the condenser microphone I was using.  I had an older Samson CL7 mic that I thought wasn’t working anymore but remember that I had changed all my cables out since replacing it.  It turns out that the Samson not only still works perfectly but it gave me a much warmer and better sound.  I was at a bit of loss so after talking it over with my buddy James LaRue, I decided that it would be best just to start over from scratch with this other microphone.

Most people might think that this sounds absolutely insane but in all honesty, it was an amazing experience.  I felt so much more determined and destined to make this  the best sounding album I possibly could and so far the results have been amazing.  I am really pleased and proud of the songs that are going to grace this album and in addition to that, I have some amazingly talented friends who have stepped up and offered their services as guests on this one.  I’m not going to give all the details up just yet but all I can say is that this is going to be the best album I have done yet.  Once again, I feel as if I have really made a connection with these songs.  I don’t want to go into a bunch of details that will give away anything yet but I will say that this album is not a very introspective album.  I feel like my last couple of albums were pretty introspective but for some reason, the songs on this one are just stories from a certain place in my mind and in my heart.

It’s really hard to explain.  There’s nothing super personal or reflective here but the songs are still very dear to me nontheless.  This album is just a collection of stories that come my imagination based upon things that either I experienced or that I got from the experiences of others.  That’s the beautiful thing about being a songwriter.  I kind of go through life like a surveyor.  A fly on the wall so to speak.  I take things in, I eavesdrop on conversations and I make up stories based on the things that I see in my every day life.  If I’m walking around and just taking in some fresh air, most people might just an old man at a bus stop or a girl sitting by herself on a bench but for me I see a song.  I create stories in my head about people I see and it almost helps me to kind of understand them no matter how far off the mark I might be.  So this album is really just a notebook of things that I have taken in over the past couple of years and I cannot wait to share them with you all.

Absence (Sense?) Makes The Heart Grow Fonder February 20, 2012

I feel like it’s a really common thing for us singer/songwriter people to sometimes just need to take a little break from ourselves.  As a solo folksinger/songwriter for nearly 15 years, I find myself going through my musical life like an old mine train.  I’ve hit lots of peaks and valleys and while it’s always a shaky, bumpy ride, for the most part it’s a lot of fun.  Discouragement is my biggest enemy and I find myself battling it constantly.  Whether it’s playing a gig with nobody there or venues that won’t communicate or book me, I find myself working really hard to try and not let myself get discouraged.

Sometimes my musical life just gets a bit heavy and when I start to feel that discouragement and disconnect with my music, I just put the guitar in it’s case, put it in the closet and just let it be for a bit.  For many that might sound like giving up but in all honesty, it’s not giving up at all.  I feel that stepping away from it and giving us some apart time makes me remember all the good things about music.  It’s like that old saying: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  Just like any relationship, time apart gives you the time and opportunity to reflect upon your relationship and allows you the chance to analyze things and remember just what it is you love about that relationship.

Playing every Wednesday at the Red Light Cafe Open Mic has been my constant and stress free connection to my music but I’m feeling that love again.  I’m feeling that lil sheepish grin whenever I look across my room and see my guitar case.  I’ve started getting to know her again and we have been enjoying some great times together.  I managed to complete a song that I stared 6 months ago and never finished and wrote a brand new one as well. My relationship with music is one that started some 26 years ago and the older I get the more I’m finding myself understanding just what makes this relationship last.  It’s not even “like” a marriage.  It IS a marriage and it’s a marriage that I have managed to make last through thick, thin, good times and bad and all else in between.  So to all my “creative” friends out there, don’t let creative walls and droughts get in your way.  Maybe it’s just time for a little break.  Trust me, it truly does work and you just may see for yourself that absence makes the heart grow fonder and no matter what you will always find your way back to where you need to be.

Gone Walkin’ January 8, 2012

Sometimes when the songs and/or words just aren’t flowing, I find the need to remind myself sometimes to just put it all down for a bit and go walk.  I can’t even count the times that I’ve sat in my studio with my guitar on my knee, my notebook opened to a blank page just staring me back in the face.  I can feel the tension between the pen and I growing until I’m just about ready to throw it across the room.  The other day this happened to me so I just got up, put everything away and headed out the door for a walk.  I didn’t bring my headphones with me as I just wanted to take in as much as I could.  It’s amazing how the world looks when just take it on disconnected from technology and any other distractions.  The sky looks different and I found myself looking at and seeing things that I don’t normally see.  The imperfections of  the old houses in my neighborhoods, the cracks in the sidewalk and the various little things littered on the ground.  In one block I saw an empty bag of cheetos, an unopened beer bottle and a discarded condom.  How’s that for awareness huh?  As freaky as it may seem, these things were just fascinating me and just made realize how much I pass up on a day to day basis.

So much of my days are just rushing to get from A-B that I miss and ignore all the little things that lie in between.  As I continued my walk I passed people walking and I was reminded just how powerful a smile and a greeting can be.  I actually experimented with this on my way to the little downtown market.  This lady was walking opposite me and I didn’t make eye contact with her at all and she just walked like I wasn’t even there.  The next person that came my way I smiled and I said, “Good afternoon” and she smiled back and said, “Good afternoon to you to” as if she was pleasantly surprised that I greeted her.  The smile on her face was not something you could fake and you could see the genuine happiness.  It also made me feel good and reminded me that just one kind gesture, even for a brief moment, can not only make you feel good but offer someone a brief moment of seeing the kindness of someone else.

When I got back home I didn’t write a single lyric or come up with a single progression of music.  What I did do was sit with my guitar and just play feeling inspired by nothing more than life in general.  I was reminded that life is pretty damn beautiful no matter what little obstacles you approach.  The fact that I am able to pick up a guitar and just play it is something that I take for granted an awful lot.  So I did just that.  I picked it up and for the next 30 minutes I just played and played and played enjoying every chord and loving it for what it is.  I need to go walking more often.

…An Old Leg Sign December 31, 2011

My mom told me once that when I was a little boy, every New Year’s Eve I would walk around the house singing, “…an old leg sign.”  Yeah, cute huh?  I have been having so much fun making music with my buddies Mike and Bruce.  Just three old dudes (well, they’re older than me and don’t tell them I said that) making a joyful noise.  Last night over a few beers and passed around bottle of Jack Daniels, we turned up the volume and cranked out some fun tunes by Neil Young, The Velvet Underground and Elliot Murphy just to name a few.  We were just knocking them out, smiling away and it felt fun, exciting and youthful.  It reminded me of those Saturdays as a teen making a loud racket in my friend’s garage.  It was an element of playing music that I have missed for many many years.  In my last bands I feel like I spent more time making websites, booking gigs and taking care of business than I did really enjoying myself.  After my last band split up I was pretty much done with bands but this experience has made me realize that I can really do this and enjoy it.  It has helped me to recapture that excitement and youthful fun of making music with good people.  It can still be done and it doesn’t have to be all work and stress.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the creative future holds for me.  I have managed to find inspiration in talking to friends and sharing music with them.  Recently a good friend has been keeping a blog and I really enjoy reading her writing.  It makes me realize that I don’t read enough of other peoples creative musings but by doing so, I have found a lot of inspiration.  Inspiration is all over and it’s funny how I seem to have shut myself off from a lot of the simple places that inspiration can be tucked away in.  Going for a long walk, a drive or just sitting outside still for a 1/2 hour seems to really bring something to me.  In 2012, that is my goal.  To seek and find inspiration in places that I didn’t know or places that I just ignored.  When I go for walks, I’ll leave the phone in my pocket and take in everything.  I will keep my head up as I walk and maybe even slow down the pace enough to take things in.

… an old leg sign.

 

 

With A New Year Comes New Things… December 22, 2011

It’s hard to believe that another year is about to leave us.  2011 was a really great year for me.  I played some really fun shows, I was invited as a guest on Knoxville, TN’s WDVX Blue Plate Special and I even began work and am near completion on another solo album.  I don’t want to come across as a whiner or anything but anyone who is a solo singer/songwriter/performer like myself will attest to the fact that it’s a hard fucking life as a solo artist.  I have particularly found my life as a solo folksinger/songwriter a pretty brutal one.  Gigs are few and far between.  I have been super lucky to have had the support of some amazing venues such as Red Light Cafe, Java Monkey and even places such as The Cave and Open Eye Cafe in North Carolina.  I have spent countless hours contacting and going to listening rooms and acoustic venues to no avail.  Even here in Atlanta there seem to be a few really choice places for acoustic music and I can’t even get them to lend me an ear.  It’s a rough road but ya know, I’ve had plenty of pleasant pit stops along the way.  Getting to be a guest on radio shows, playing some really intimate places and getting to share my songs is what it’s all about in the end.  Just knowing that there are people out there who take the time to listen to my songs and find a connection with them.  That is all I ever really wanted and ever want but that need for something different, something fresh still beckons me.

I have recently started playing music with two really good friends and I can’t even begin to say how much fun I’ve been having.  We have just been getting together and playing some really great, fun rock n’ roll songs.  Everything from the Stones to Crazy Horse we’ve been tearing it up.  It’s not perfect but it doesn’t have to be.  It’s fun and it’s very cleansing.  Volume seems to cure what has been ailing me these days.  Picking up my bass guitar and plugging in has been a blast.  We are even working on original material to eventually start playing.  This has been an amazing experience for me and has rekindled my love of playing music.  For a while there I was starting to get discouraged.  At 38 years old, my life as a folksinger/songwriter isn’t going to get much better than what it is so I was starting to feel trapped and somewhat smothered.  Playing with Mike & Bruce has given me some new space to spread the wings of my creative spirit and give me another outlet.  In addition to these fellas, I”m still looking to put together my dream band, a stoner rock trio in the vein of Black Sabbath, Graveyard and Captain Beyond.  This is something I’ve always wanted to try and I figured I might as well follow my own advice that I give to others: You’re never too old and it’s never too late to pursue a dream and try to make it come true.  Hell, the worst that can happen is that it would suck right?

So what’s going to happen to my folksinger/songwriter life?  Absolutely nothing.  I will continue to do it because it’s who I am.  It is a huge part of me.  It is something I will always love and be passionate about but I just won’t be pushing it like I have.  I won’t be trying to get every gig and play 20 shows a year.  Maybe this move will make things more exciting for me as a solo artist.  Maybe only 2-3 shows a year will make it an event and make it more exciting.  I’ll always have the music in me and I’ll always make my solo albums for any and everyone who will listen to them and connect with them.  I just feel that exploring other musical outlets will not only give me more creative and spiritual room to grow as an artist but it will keep my folk stuff from suffering and getting stale.  The last thing I would ever want is to have my art suffer because of frustration.  The more outlets and room I have to express myself the better off I will be.

So to all my friends, family and fans near and far, thank you for all of your support.  Every single one of you who have come to the shows, downloaded an album and/or messaged me to tell me that a song or two connected with them, thank you.  I couldn’t do it without the support and love you all give me and I hope I can count on your support in my upcoming adventures into uncharted waters.  It’s going to an adventure to say the least and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Movin’ On To Who Knows Where September 27, 2011

So here I am but just where is “here?”  Well, here is my desk typing this while listening to Johnny Dowd.  I had my last solo show for a long while on Saturday night.  I was talking to my buddy today about just why I’m taking a break from doing this solo thing for a long time.  Well, the truth is because I’m tired.  I’m exhausted and I’m spent.  For the past 14 years, I have been doing this as a solo artist.  For about 2 of those years I fronted a band called Mystery Road which, while it was an amazing band that I loved dearly, it was just a stressful solo project with a band.  I think anyone on my level as a singer/songwriter/performer can understand and sympathize with just how hard this is.

Playing shows, whether you’re a solo act or in a band is not like it was in the old day.  You don’t play a venue over and over again for years and have your following grow with each passing show.  These days, playing  shows means you  are mainly playing to your friends who dig your music as opposed to playing for people who have never heard you and will come back show after show.  I mean this in no disrespect to the friends that come to see my shows.  I mean, the truth is that I have no doubt these friends like my stuff.  If they didn’t they wouldn’t come out to the shows but at the same time, would they necessarily come out if they had just seen me by chance in a coffeehouse one night?  That remains to be determined.  I can say this though.  I have had the extreme pleasure of meeting some really great people at my shows who have come up to me to tell me that they really enjoyed my songs and my performance.  This never ceases to make me feel like a million dollars but there’s one problem.  I never see them again at future performances.  Why is this?  There is really no answer to it.  It’s just how it is… and I’m really ok with that.

So if I’m ok with that, why stop playing solo for a while?  Well, the reason is because I’m 37 years old and there are STILL some musical ideas and dreams that I have yet to pursue and this is the time to do so.  I always held off on them because I was convinced that with each passing year something just may happen to take my solo music to another level.  I’ve had a great time doing it but it’s time to shift my focus.  My solo music will always live and thrive but performing as a solo act will no longer by my priority.  I’m sure I will go back to frequenting the open mics as an outlet to do solo shows and maybe next year in 2012 I’ll only do 3 solo shows max.  I want to put these dream bands of mine together.  No more holding back.  It’s time to shit or get off the pot.  I preach to people all the time that it’s never too late to pursue a dream.  Well, I guess I’m finally taking my own advice.

I want to say that I appreciate and love you all for all the support you have given me over the years.  Hell, for all I know 3 people read this blog, haha.  But that’s fine.  I do this for me anyways.  I really love that everyone sends me their best wishes and support.  I hope you all will follow my adventures from here on out.  This should prove to be an interesting ride.

Until the next comeback tour…

With A Change of Seasons Come Season of Change September 7, 2011

It’s that time of year again.  The leaves are changing color and starting to descend upon my yard.  I woke up this morning and as I went outside it was rainy and a cool nip to the air.   It gave me goosebumps as I inhaled the cool air, held and exhaled as I closed my eyes.  I smiled to myself and I said, “Don, the time has come.  It’s time for change.”  Change has been in the air for some time.  Even when my last band in North Carolina Mystery Road was together, I was feeling the need to change things up.  My whole life as a songwriter and creative person has seen me holding the wheel as I steer the ship in and out of choppy waters, rough weather and through blissful blue skies. Even as happy as I was in Mystery Road, I felt completely alone creatively.  I had three very talented people working with me yet I was the only one writing the songs.  This is of no fault of theirs but this was what I had set up for myself and I wasn’t happy.

Moving back to Atlanta was a welcome change for me.  Being that we only were here for a two year stint (my wife was doing a fellowship), we had no idea if we would be staying.  I used the two years to strip it back down to being a solo folksinger once again and found myself getting know myself, my songs and my performances in a way that I hadn’t done so in many years.  I suddenly felt connected to the songs, I felt engaged and it almost felt cleansing at times.  I released two albums that I am very proud of (“Planes, Trains, Crickets & Central Air” and “This Is Wooden Music“) and played a slew of fantastic show.  I got invited to be a guest NPR’s “The State of Things” and even got asked to perform in Knoxville, TN on the legendary WDVX Radio’s “Blue Plate Special” (LISTEN HERE!)  I managed to do more in two years time than I did in my 7 years in the Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham area and this was a huge thing for me.  I felt validated, appreciated and even felt like I just might be taken as a true folksinger/songwriter and not just some dude who plays coffeehouses.  With all that being said, I feel that I have hit that proverbial wall.

So here I am.  I have rooted myself here in Atlanta, GA for the long haul.  I feel like a dog who’s been living in a crate for a while and now has suddenly been giving this huge ass yard to run around in with no boundaries or restrictions.  It’s overwhelming, exciting, breath taking and honestly it scares the living shit out of me but in a positive way.  It scares me because now I am awarded the chance to run free and just do all of the things I’ve only ever thought about or dreamed about doing with my music.  Now is the time for me to shit or get off of the pot.  I literally have nothing holding me back from achieving what I want.  I have a loving wife who supports me and urges me on, I have the flexibility, time and energy to do whatever the fuck I want to do.  So what the fuck am I going to do?  Well, I have already started laying the foundation for two different projects and we shall see where they go.  If they don’t work out, that’s totally cool.  At least I tried them.  I don’t want to go to bed anymore thinking about the things that could’ve been or that could be.  Instead I will work to at least try them all so that at the end of the day, I will know that I pursued my pipe dreams and did what I could to make them reality.

Thanks for reading this and good night!

Music Should Not Be A Compitition July 26, 2011

One of the things I have to say I love about being back in Atlanta is all the cool places to perform. I have managed to find some really great venues to set up shop as a folksinger. Places like Java Monkey, Kavarna and The Red Light Cafe have all been amazing rooms for me as far as sharing my songs and my stories with people. In this town, to most the holy grail of venues as a folksinger/songwriter is Eddie’s Attic.

Eddie’s Attic is a lil listening room here in Atlanta that has for some odd reason become a legendary fixture on the scene. Their big claims to fame are acts like Shawn Mullins and John Mayer and that right away should tell you the kind of music that Eddie’s Attic calls good music. Eddie’s Attic also has an Open Mic Competition where you get your set judged by a panel of judges and if you win you work your way up to a “showcase” where you can get like a 30 minute set at Eddies or something like that. It really blows me away how many people I meet who are so excited about this and then come away discouraged and pissed when they don’t “win”. I highly doubt that my podunk folk singing ass would be considered to be a “good artist” by those who love Shawn Mullins and John Mayer.

The fact that they have turned performing music in this town into a competition makes me sick. I just don’t understand what makes anyone feel like they can say who is better than who. I refuse to be a part of it and I refuse to support it in any way. Eddie has managed to make a name and turn this into a huge business for himself by turning music into a boxing match of sorts. I will never get it and maybe there’s something there but all in all, I think it is cheesy as hell.

I attend what I think is the best open mic in the city, The John Madden Memorial Open Mic at Red Light Cafe. I share the stage every Wednesday with some of the most amazing songwriters I’ve ever met. I learn something every week from these people, especially the older guys who have stories to share from their experiences. There is ZERO competition here and this to me is what it’s all about. When you add the element of competition to something like this, the focus becomes solely upon winning and critiquing each other and being on the defensive side. What is fun about that? Matter of fact, I see a lot of performers come into the Red Light who think their shit don’t stink because they played at Eddie’s Attic and they are so cocky and full of themselves that nobody really gives a rat’s ass about them or what they’re playing. Again, I know that not EVERYONE who plays there might be that way but when the majority of those types are associated with your venue, what’s a person to think?

I don’t mean this to insult anyone. If you’re into it and it means the world to you to be judged and told that you’re better than someone, then so be it. If you’re cool with being told you’re not as good as the others, that’s cool too but don’t let it shape who you are as a writer, a musician and a performer. If Eddie’s Attic doesn’t like you, there’s a great chance that some other establishment will think you’re the bees knees.

Music Between Friends May 24, 2011

When I first moved here nearly two years ago I didn’t know a soul.  After a few months, I decided to enroll in a class at Emory on the works of Bob Dylan.  When I got into the class room, I was shocked to see that there were only about 10 or 12 of us in the class.  It was a very random group but in the group I met a guy named Bruce.  Bruce is a really cool older guy who has amazing taste in music.  After each class we would hang out talking for another hour or so and just bullshit about music and concerts.  As time went on, we started getting together for what we like to call “Music Dork Day.”  Once a week (as often as we can) we get together and we exchange music and we go eat lunch for 2 or 3 hours we just hang out and dork out over awesome music.  Bruce tells me awesome stories from his youth like how he saw Bob Seger many moons ago in a cavern and how he just walked up to the box office once to buy a ticket to see Led Zeppelin.  Bruce has awesome stories and its always a great time hanging with him.

Its been almost two years now and Bruce and I still get together and trade music as often as we can.  Sometimes its every week and sometimes once a month or so but either way, Bruce never ceases to amaze me with what he gives me.  The first time I ever listened to Delaney and Bonnie was at Bruce’s place and now I’m forever a fan.  He showed me what REAL blues music is, not this rich white boy playing expensive guitar blues but classic Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson stuff.  He also introduced me to a great songwriter by the name of David Bromberg  who opened up a whole new world of quirky, fun songwriting.  Hanging with Bruce always opens my eyes and ears to some amazing music that I would maybe never have crossed paths with.  This is what I love about our friendship.  On paper you couldn’t have two more different people but with all those things aside, we are both just music loving dorks that get excited over a great lyric, a fun jam or a cast of characters that read like a whose who of music.  Music is our bond and it is what makes us great friends.  The power of music to bring people together is something that will never cease to amaze and excite me.  Bruce, if you’re reading this… thank you!  I love what we’ve got goin’ on!

Life as an open book… March 21, 2011

I got an email this weekend from a very dear friend who is a songwriter.  She told me that she had received some not so positive (ok, down right negative) feedback from a friend that left her feeling a bit bruised.  I told her that being a songwriter and performer is basically us living our lives like open books for any and everyone to read, mark up, spill shit on, etc.  This situation is something that I felt connected to right away and it had me thinking of my own insecurities as a songwriter as well.

My wife tells me all the time that she has no idea how I do it.  “How do you go up on stage and open yourself up to people the way you?”  I just smile and try not to make a big deal out of it and usually just say, “Eh, ya know.  It’s just what I do.”  Actually, when I ponder over this I realize that it really is a big deal.  When I write a song, I literally enter this meditative like state.  It’s almost as if the song just flows out of me once it gets started and then next thing I know I’m done.  Then once this very personal entry is completed, it’s time to take it to the stage.  When I have a gig coming up, I pump myself up so much for it.  I plan a set list, I start promoting and then it’s time for the show.  When I perform a show I’m having such a great time but when the show comes to an end, I’m mentally and physically exhausted.  Performing in front of an audience it more a kin to having your personal journal passed around for everyone to read.  As an artist, I’m really setting myself up for a certain level of scrutiny from the people.  I am always prepared to accept the constructive words of criticism but for the most part, the positive words seem to outweigh the negative.  This being said, the positive is always easily accepted but the critical and/or negative always tends to bruise and leave a mark or two.

In my life as a songwriter, I have had many levels of constructive criticism.  I’ve had newspaper reviews of my music say everything from “He’s bringing back and keeping alive the spirit of folk music” to “his voice really annoys me.”  Whether it be the good or the down right ugly, criticism is constructive that I take and try to and learn from it.  I try and make myself a better performer or musician from it and hope to grow.  Over the years, I’ve also been hit with negative criticism that is neither constructive or remotely helpful.  It even made it more hard when it would come from a band mate.  When a band mate would tell you to your face that they liked something but then turn around and tell another band mate that he thought you sucked, that  is pretty damn hurtful.  This kind of shit is what makes me weary of playing in a band or with other people but as a person, I was always taught to not judge everyone based on the actions of one or two others.  It’s taken me time to patch my ego and put a band aid on my pride and remember that this is the price I pay for being a songwriter, for putting myself out there like an open book for all to read.  There’s a reason why not everyone is or can be a songwriter.  Honestly, I would’ve have it any other way.