I’m happy to announce all the guitar tracks on this new project are done! I took a different approach to recording these than in previous sessions. Instead of using any click tracks or fancy editing.. The idea behind recording these was to capture the feeling of the piece in one continuous take and not worry about any little imperfections. So, my hope is that this record will have a live but intimate vibe to it as if I was to play the songs right there in your living room just for you. I chose to go with some takes that might not be perfect from a technical sense but they represent the overall feeling I’m trying to get across better than any of the more perfectly executed takes that to me seem to lack feeling. It’s funny how I can play the same song 10 times in a row and each ones sounds different to me. In the past I might try and edit together the best parts of each to make one SUPER TRACK. Not this time.. these guitar tracks are going to be all natural and organic. I want to feed your brain a sonically wholesome meal of acoustic goodness.

Surprisingly sometimes natural and organic can be a bad thing though. While recording the last couple songs, my guitar mysteriously developed a natural and organic buzz from within. It’s suddle but, when you have the mics close and play as quietly as I am playing, it becomes an issue. Things were looking pretty grim for a couple days. But I was able to continue thanks to my friend and fellow musician John Michaels for letting borrow his Taylor guitar. Thanks Johnny Boy!

Okay, now for the fun part of decorating these tracks with a few other instruments. Wish me luck.
Cheers,
Jim

Hey there everybody,
 
I thought I’d not only give you another update on how I’m progressing with the new CD but also clue you in to how I hear this record sounding. First of all, I have a title in mind for this project that I’m basing everything off of including song selection, mood and instrumentation.  Unfortunately, seeing how this is an ongoing work in progress, I hesitate to tell you until I’m done recording. I’d hate to feel pressure to keep the original title in case this thing takes an unexpected turn and requires a more appropriate title.
 
What I can tell you is that all these new instrumental compositions will be relax and calm in nature. Half of the record will be solo guitar pieces and the other half I'm hearing a lot of string parts and maybe some harmonica and added guitar parts. I think they are the most beautiful finger-style guitar pieces I’ve written to date. In keeping with the quality of song writing and mood of the CD, I’ve decided to include two cover songs rather that add any songs of my of mine I don’t feel are as good as the rest. These covers I’ll be including are Don McLean’s Vincent and Alex DeGrassi’s Turning.

If you have been to see me live in the last 3 years, maybe you’ve heard me play Vincent. It’s Chet Atkins beautiful guitar arrangement that I use and tends to be a crowd pleaser in the right setting… aka, quiet setting. If interested.. Below is a sneak peek of that song I recorded a number of years ago for fun using my nylon string guitar. 
 
OK.. that’s all for now. Time to get back to it if I’m going to have this ready and available this summer.
 
Cheers!!
 
Jim
 
https://vimeo.com/41071647