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Moving, the big day

First off, I was going to post this yesterday, the 7 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It both seems so long ago, yet so recent. While this was a terrible tragedy, I cannot help but be thankful that we have not experienced anything to this scale since! It is sad that these kinds of disasters take place all over the world, and it makes me all the more thankful for the safety we do enjoy.

A couple of months back, I mentioned Hannah and I would be moving to Siloam. It took a bit longer than we expected to find a place, but we have, and we are feverishly finishing packing. Today at 4 I will be picking up a moving truck. Hopefully this time I won’t run into any light poles or stop signs… 

These last few weeks have been quiet on the CD front due to our efforts to move, and some happenings in my family. After the move, we will be back in the studio full force to press on. At this point I cannot offer an exact date, but it is getting closer and closer. We just solidified our plans for completing the electric guitar work, and are working out details on re-recording a few critical pieces. This extra time has allowed us to continue refining things, and I have to say I think the project will be much better because of it.

Speaking of family happenings, it was announced a couple of weeks ago that, due to budget constraints, First Free of Chicago needed to let my Father go. His last day in the office was in August. If you could keep him and my family in your prayers, that would be greatly appreciated.

During his time there, my Father helped oversee the building of a new Family Life center. He also had the opportunity to deliver several sermons, and serve in other capacities in ministry.

These last few months have been intense times of uncertainty and of change. Hannah and I are so excited to see what the Lord has for us, as well as my family. Thank you for your prayers during this time.

Bruce Hornsby Live!

So the last week has been fairly busy. A week ago today was mine and Hannah’s two year anniversary! It is so hard to believe it’s already been this long. But then again, so many things have happened, so many things have changed. Last year we celebrated our anniversary by moving out of our apartment. This year, we were able to visit the “Inn At The Mill” in Johnston, Arkansas. We stayed in the Frank Lloyd Wright suite, which is comprised of architecture inspired by his work. It was a beautiful design made primarily of wood.

We went to dinner at their 5 star restaurant, “James At The Mill”, which was quite the experience! It was wonderful to get away for a day, to take a break and reflect on our relationship; the last two years in particular. The Lord has truly provided for us in some difficult times, and we are so blessed with such supportive friends who have helped us along the way.

Also last week, Hannah’s family moved to Siloam, where we will soon be moving as well. It is wonderful to have them near, and we stayed busy helping them get settled in. After four years of being very far away from all family, this is a wonderful change.

On the CD front, Lendell and I have been busy making plans to finish the final touches. Next week, most likely on Tuesday, we will be getting together to brush up on a few more vocal parts and make a couple final changes on the guitar parts. Our goal is to have all of the mixing, hopefully all the way, complete by the end of the month. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

And of course, finally, the thing I am the most excited about at the moment: Hannah bought us tickets for my birthday for us to see Bruce Hornsby (with Ricky Skaggs) live on October 3rd. I am quite excited, as Bruce is one of my most favorite artists of all time. Thanks SO much for the amazing gift, Hannah, but the wait is gonna kill me!

Moving!

First off, I gotta say I love blog posts that require little to no thought for the title. I can’t recall the last time I had the title worked out before the content… Anyway, last week I mentioned some of the good news we have had, and the new job I have started. Last year we moved from Siloam Springs to Bentonville for the fun of it and for work.

My job will be taking us back to Siloam Springs, hopefully for quite some time to come. Our lease ends August 13th, so we are already busy with our house search. As it turns out, Hannah’s folks are moving to Siloam July 1st, as her father has taken a position at JBU. It will be wonderful to be near family again.

So as you can imagine, all this is keeping us quite busy. We have also been hard at work on the CD, and things really are (finally!) drawing to a close. Tomorrow evening after work, we will be shooting the final images for the CD cover (and case). It will be nice to celebrate the completion of “The Sun Still Rises” with our move. Now to get through the next two months…

Answers

As many of you know, I’ve been working multiple jobs for quite some time now. This last week our prayers were answered, and I will be working at only one now. In addition to taking care of our needs, it will allow all the flexibility we need to finish the CD and tour when the time comes. It is quite an amazing blessing.

We also got my Honda up and running again. Turns out there were two parts bad and not one. While working on it, our buddy Ralph took another look at the A/C unit in the car, and was actually able to repair it! This is awesome, because it routinely gets well over 100 degrees here in the summer, and I drive a couple of hours for work each day. And yes, for those of you wondering, I can finally start the car without popping the hood. My father-in-law was with us this last weekend and helped us figure out the issue. This car will only get us so far, as it has 230,000 miles on it, but we are thankful we will be able to continue to use it for the time being.

A lot of changes will be taking place in our lives soon, and we are excited to see where the Lord leads us. Wednesday I will be spending an entire day with Lendell working on some more things for the album. There are some more changes we wish to make, and we will be laying out a schedule for what needs to be done.

I look forward to sharing more this next week in this exciting time.

Finishing for real!

This has been a long time coming… But I can finally say we really, truly, definitely are finishing the album now. I finished working out some financial details today, and we are on track to cruise through the finish line!

Next week I will be working with my photographers to solidify the cover shot. Their work back in September was excellent, but I really did not know quite the direction I wanted it to take. Over the last few months, I have gotten a much better idea. They have been quite patient with me while I have figured this out, and it is going to be amazing when done. (Thanks, Aus10!

I will be spending most of the weekend preparing some of the newer material to be mixed. Lendell will be in Little Rock, as a film he scored is premiering. When he gets back we will continue the mixing.

I will keep you all posted step by step as we complete this. I am not entirely sure what the timeframe will be, but we should at least be done with the mixing and the cover design in the next couple of weeks. Then we go to mastering, and printing. Almost there…

The adventure of daily life

So life has been pretty much a total whirlwind lately. In addition to work at the computer shop, I am now doing some web design, and working for a good friend in Siloam Springs. What is fun is each job is in an area I love. Of course my first choice and ultimate goal will be to focus primarily on music. But we gotta eat somehow. 

Today I was sitting at a stoplight waiting for that lovely shade of green when the light changed. I pressed the accelerator and it promptly died. Now normally this would be no big deal, but I have to actually pop the hood now to start the vehicle. So I get out of my car, trying to avoid the oncoming traffic, pop the hood, find the starter wire, touch it to the battery, it cranks, and cranks, and cranks… and get nothing.

A wave of mixed emotions hit me. On one hand I was proud it wasn‘t my fault the car had stalled, but I would have much preferred for the error to be on my end than the engine‘s. Fortunately I bought a AAA membership for this year (when it died last time) and will get it towed back tomorrow.

On the CD side of things, Lendell and I have continued to make steady progress on the record. Hearing where the final mix is headed, I can confidently say I am SO glad we have been patient. What we had before sounded excellent, but it now sounds phenomenal. It takes all the patience in the world to hold off on posting the new mixes, but they are coming soon. 

New Things Coming

This weekend I was able to catch up on some much needed rest, and spend time with my lovely wife. As I have mentioned before, things are quite hectic at the moment: working multiple jobs and staying on top of the CD project.

It has been nice to take a little extra time to mix the album, as it has allowed me to further refine/redo certain parts. I am sure Lendell now wants to kill me, I am just asking him to hold off until we are done with this record. Hopefully he can restrain himself. 

It is funny to look back a year ago, and realize just how far we were from completion! When we began working on “The Sun Still Rises”, we were thinking only a couple of songs would have a full band. Now almost all of them do. We recorded 15 songs, 12 of them will actually make it on the record. It’s been a ton of work!

Not only has it been a lot of work, but a HUGE growing experience. I learned how to sing into a recording mic, how to properly play to a click track, what my songs would actually sound like with a band, etc, etc. Not to mention the personal lessons of patience and seeing something this difficult through.

I am presently working on a deal that will provide the rest of the necessary funding, so we can use prayer that everything will work out. We’ve chosen to cut no corners, and we can hear it paying off time and again in these final mixes.

Besides the album, I am also planning some other “new things” so make sure to stop by every now and then. It’s been a fun ride, and will continue to get more exciting!

Another late night

You’ve likely noticed by now that I write many of my entries late at night; this one being no exception. I’ve been working at a couple of jobs now, and it is keeping me quite busy, but it is helping us get caught up. On the transportation side of things, we FINALLY have two vehicles again! Awhile back we determined the radiator cap was bad on our Sidekick, and that it has a leak somewhere. So replacing this and keeping it filled up has been working wonderfully.

My Honda has been quite a different story, however. Turns out the distributor was shot. Our great friend, Ralph, has been so helpful, as he is an incredible mechanic. With his expertise, we fixed the distributor. I drove around for a day, amazed at how nice it was to once again have two cars! Went out the next morning to start it up, as I was beginning a new job, turned the key, and nothing! This time it was the starter. Or so I thought…

A week later and the cost of a new starter, turned the key, and…. Nothing! The starter WAS bad, but there was another electrical issue. I gave up on trying to do things the “proper” way, and ran a wire from the starter. To start it, all I have to do now is make sure the car is not in gear, pop the hood, and touch the wire to the battery terminal.

This is not a permanent solution, but will get us by for the time being. With this car being a manual, I deeply hope I do not happen to stall it. 

So why am I still up tonight? I’ve been reading and learning so much about the process of mixing. Lendell and I have been making great headway on the final mix, and I am trying to learn all that I can in a short time. I know how I want it to sound, and want to learn how to actually accomplish it.

Each step of the way this project has turned into something larger. A sheer level of complexity was added when we decided to use a full band across the record. As a result, we have found things that needed to change, parts redone, etc. Everything is almost set in stone now, and it is such a great feeling. I’ll keep you all posted on how everything is progressing.

More Mixing!

I have to head out to work here in a sec, so this will be brief. But next week I will be working with Lendell at his studio to resume work. We now have what we need to finish the mixing, so things should move pretty quickly from here on out. I am so excited about finally finishing this, and am so ready to have this finalized and in your hands!

Updates

This evening was the visitation for the Frazier family mentioned in my last entry. It was a very emotional time, but we were encouraged to see how many people came out. Their family and friends are coming around them to support them in this difficult time. Many of you wrote me after hearing about this, and for both Hannah and I, I would like to thank you all for caring so much and for your prayers. I will keep you updated on the situation.

Now onto music… We are closer than ever to finishing the CD. This extra time has allowed us to flesh out a few more things, and it is sounding absolutely phenomenal. While it has been difficult to experience so many delays, we truly are close.

We still have a few financial needs, so your prayers will continue to be appreciated. In the meantime I have been working a few different jobs. A local computer shop has hired me for part-time work, both in the shop, and for web design. This is keeping me quite busy, and I am even looking at picking up a couple other things here and there.

This is taking care of all of our needs, and we are so thankful! I look forward to soon sharing our finalized timeframe for completion, and deeply appreciate your patience. We are almost there!

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