a lil random one
so i'm in cincinnasti. i came here to stay at this house full of broadway-bound drama kids coming this way and that and it's funny how they either love me or hate me. i guess it's mostly whether they wanna share the stage or not, but man. ain't it just like life. but while i wanted to do my writing, i mostly have kinda done a much more important thing, which is Realize things about my music, and things i want to do with it. from an overlooking standpoint. and that's sometimes way more rare an epiphany.
every time i come here it is the same grey changing pillowing dank sky. and the same real-life homies series 6 walking the streets. but it's been pretty cool i finally came upon a person who i can totally mad listen to regina spektor with like like silly 15-year-old-indie-boys.
the XM radio on-air thingy went really well i stayed up all night partially because it would be bettre a la voice but i got on there with demetrios on percussion who laid it down and sol who is just a fantasmo geetar player.. and we interviewed on random stuff like alien restairants and borders blueberry coffee and both played tunes of ours that we played on each others. if that made any sense whatsoever. i think there's a podcast somewhere for it, on UPOP 29.
and i discovered that all 4 of my albums register on iTunes as 4 different genres. which is fantastic.
i'ma attend this mad houseparty here which could go either way and then drive on into the night. maybe i'll drink BOOST dollarstore energy drink while they drink beer. that'll be fun.
studiolive1
official shift in gears for the live CD.. i was thinking who wants to hear
my songs? now it is going to be all barry manilow songs performed in a reggae style. i think it'll get that crossover appeal just right for the chirruns.
ok no but there is gonna be a shift. an upshift doglets! instead of having company-manufactured CDs like the studio albums, this effort is going to be a buyable Digitally Downloaded CD that can be gotten with immediacy wherever you are right from DanielLeeMusic.com. it'll have artwork and info and everything. it'll be cheaper than the studio manufactured discs. and it'll still have the video contingent too.
i'm also working on the next thing too. good stuff is coming. bold. new. flavorful. i'm just tonight bout to go sing some vocal tracks and i am spending the beaten-traffic idletime in MD at mayorga, the best privateowned coffeeshop (the only?) in all of silver spring/rockville. it also has the most dreadlock/laptop loner percentile, so it's like a david garza song.
i am all excited because i've been selling all the old PA stuff on craigslist from back when most of the places we were playing actually required a PA system and now in exchange, jonathan is gonna help me build my own home studio, where i can produce exactly what i want musically, at any time, and have more control than i ever have. i'll actually have control of one of jupiter's moons too. so while there's an ease deficit having to engineer your own takes, it'll be a crazy gain in not having to worry about time and moolah and other people's heads and ears. hopefully the next effort will show that difference. we'll see. i could fail miserably. but thanks j-bird, for hookin the Knowledge.
delaware deposits
on saturday i took a big ole dump on the state of delaware. a proverbial one that is.
i was going up just west of philly to play a show. and i conveniently remembered about the tolls. the damn tolls:
"blah, i'm delaware, i have no tourism or culture to speak of, so the only way i can have your money is if i stick a $5 toll on my tiny little piece of I-95 that you HAVE to pass through to get to the good states. aren't you excited? warrant my existance. [buurrrp] 5 dollars please..."
that's literally what it said to me.
hmm, lemme weigh it out.. buy an entire meal or the ability to drive through a 25-mile stretch of misery.. well. let's see. (hmm there's that. and that..) ok i'm going with lunch.
so here's the deal. between baltimore and philly there is route 1. there is no need to go on anything else. route 1 has cheaper gas, more scenery, more rednecks, more pretentious chandelier shoppers, no tolls, better coffee, and less trucks. and it's been there since the very beginning. and you can even wind around the west beltloop of baltimore to get to it and avoid their silly toll. basically i saved $13 _and_ i had a better drive.
SONGWRITING WORKSHOPS
while i was driving an aussie back to d.c. we talked about lotza. including workshops. i have decided that songwriting workshops are like palm reader visits. sure are good to spend your money on if you believe in em, but surely aren't gonna make or break anything. it seems to me that if writing and playing music and somehow making it your own doesn't just ooze out of your neccesity and your being, then you probably weren't made to be doing it on a primary level in the first place. do i have evidence? yes scooby, i do. did eric clapton ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did neil young ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did chuck berry ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did the members of pink floyd ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did kris kristofferson ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did hank williams ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did stevie wonder ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did radiohead ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. did tom waits ever attend any songwriting workshops? hell no. did andrew lloyd webber ever attend any songwriting workshops? no. however, did every one of them fully take in and truly observe the great music that came before em? yes. there you go.
i decided also that skipping stones is also way underrated a learnable skill, in contrast.
unexpected jolts of air
for the first time in i can't remember when, i right now got the hiccups. and i think that 'surprised by the fresh new onset of old familiarities' is exactly the feeling that pretty much matches the way that i've felt the last little bit o time.
the deal was, it was time for me to venture south. i wanted to go somewhere undisturbed, new, with space, so that i could bury myself up and be creative and write and listen to my insides. i had this studio time booked at this nice studio in atlanta and i wanted to come to it with fresh new songs i'd just written. i cannot tell you how perfect the welcome of bob and lynn and their attic met this need o mine. right in the middle of the sweet smelling towering city with coffee and groceries and anything in walking distance, i was able to disappear up in the attic and spend all my energy on writing my two songs.
i got a few wonderful visits from cherished people who care and proper sunlight was had. and ryan mcdougall even played some chords with me a few nights and let me listen to the inspiring way that he comes to the act of singing. he was also learning a few tunes to play with me at my eddie's show and spilling out his story for the comfort of a good listener and kindred spirit. also got some good time with tom in alphapotato to have some steak and discuss the choices for the forthcoming live disc. what a fella. man has seen and heard a lot of shite. and i learned so much i never knew about people who have been right in front of my eyes. bob kept me up till 4s and dawnlights whilst i attentively listened to big breakthrough engineering feats and disasters of his life. .
and my b-day was approaching. so my parents in one grand act of kindness decided to drive on up to the ATL for some weekend time and the show. it was so good to see my mom's amused face taking in all of junkman's daughter, have some really nice pub meals, and have them at the show to give it that extra burst of inspiration. and we even went to the brand new downtown aquarium, the world's largest one now they say, and it was so perfect for the eyes and soul. i can't tell you what innovation in glass and design enough to make it look like a crazybeautiful fish is floating right in front of your eyes can do, but i went to bed dreaming in fish.
the gig was energetically fun and i had tons of good folks out there returning the vibe on back. tis been for.ever since wendy-head has graced my presence but she was there giving everyone around her all the right smiles. and miss melanie is always willing to extend all the time and energy that you would ever ask for even when she's got a million things goin down to boot. anyway ryan mcD joined me on rhodes and organ and bass and there was some pretty hot stuff he did to add to the mix. i don't know if people have been checking it, but i have been putting up outtakes of this whole live disc process on my myspace page,
www.myspace.com/danielleemusic stuff that didn't make the cut for the real CD.. anyway there's 2 up there from that nite.
then came the whole day of recording. big studio in gwinett and one big block of time. i got ?mark from y.o.u. to come on out and play some vintage drums, and he put down the most kickass beats for this stuff. anyway i feel ignited and happy about what is being accomplished for the next effort, and i have 3 tunes in the can at this point.
i came on back up here the 11 hours drie for the sweetest bunch of people surrounding me with more b-day magic than i could've even conjured up. there was a wonderfied unexpected party at ZZ's house that everyone stayed late at, and we had indian food and personalized choc-o-cake and a lot of good peopletime that i don't even know if there are even pictures of. i guess i'm still young if i don't insist on the pictoral archival of memory huh?
and there was a hibachi dinner where we watched a hispanic guy in japanese garb make us some fine cuisine the next eve in georgetown, and gail and mr. paul and mz jean took on a pretty hefty crazy dc-fied bill. i felt very blessed at this point.
i've kinda been geeking out to regina spektor's music in a way that i haven't for anyone's in a really long time. she is colossally inspiring, and performs from her heart. and she is coming to d.c. sooo stoked. i think we might drive on up to the philly show too. this is in april. but it is an event. i've even made these crazy regina mixes for people, so that they can just know.
i also played this crazy hoedown up in podunk maryland. i don't know how i got into this, but the backwoods equivilant to the grand ole opry had me as their special featured act, broadcast over the internet. i got to play with hands-down the most talented guitarist i've met in this area so far, but mostly it was a band of old country dudes unwilling to read charts that stray from I-IV-V playing along with me, so it was a bit of a train wreck but interesting. none of that will be on the CD.
i'ma be on XM radio on the 27th. but real early. it'll be good for those crazy morning commuter people that wanna start their day on the DL.
anyway that was far too much catchup to try and summate.. i'm sure i left most of it out, but i feel good, refreshed, and like i am entering a rennaisance of sorts. more keys, more electric, more rocking, more brevity, more focused, more me .. music.
and spring has broken through. what a good time for all this. damn, yo.
the birthday post
ok so it is my b-day. i am adequately exhausted so either i am old or i had a proper good time. thank you to all who helped make it special ~ i have been very blessed by people in this world. i have tons to write but it will have to happen very soon...