I’m back in Moonhouse Studio today putting the finishing touches on my new record with producer Chris Gage. It’s good to be getting it done! I know it’ll make my parents happy at least. I’ll keep you posted on the release date. It looks like I’ll have the support of the brand new Texas label, Blue Boot Records. Thanks for all the patience and support. Onward!
My view today:
You know, sometimes I worry that my blog is a bit too serious. Music and creativity and all that stuff. So I’m adding a new component, funny dogs. I love dogs and they make me laugh which is a good thing to do. So here’s a little dog medicine……
A friend sent this video to us on Facebook and we laughed like crazy….
There’s more of these on YouTube. The pup kinda looks like Midas and seems real sweet. Too bad about the sleepwalking, but man it’s funny.
“It’s not the world’s fault you want to be an artist, now shut up and get back to work.”
First of all, watch this……
Creativity. If you haven’t noticed, it’s a subject I’m very interested in. I love this video with Elizabeth Gilbert. I read her book, ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ several months agao and found it not only an enjoyable read, but it made a difference for me as well. Obviously I’m not alone in this as millions of people have read it. The book not only had me dreaming of world travel, but it did get me back doing some regular meditation for awhile and I found myself intrigued by the whole idea and writing style of the book.
So, it was extra cool to run across this video. I posted it on my Facebook page right after I watched it and some great responses. Beyond being a strong reminder for me to get on with it and do my work, I love the way Ms. Gilbert languages and thinks about creativity. In the first half of her talk, she talks about being afraid of the work and the mental health and well being of artists. The being afraid part really resonates with me. Who hasn’t been afraid that what they’re creating won’t be well received? I’ve had times where it was much easier to concentrate on getting more paying work or cleaning the house than to write a song or even a little old blog post.
And the whole suffering artist thing! I hate that. That kind of thinking has been screwing things up forever and gives a lot of artists a great cop out on success. But I never really looked at what the source of it might be. I find Ms. Gilbert’s explanation as plausible as anything else and it feels good to think that you can change the way you look at your own creative power.
As a coach I do a lot of work with people around their creativity. One of the biggest points of Ms. Gilbert’s talk is the age old idea that our creativity is more of a conduit than some magical ability that come soley from the individual. That when you are in the creative “flow” you are receiving information from the universe, the divine, the source, God, or “Genius” as the Romans put it. Not only does that take the pressure off of the modern day tortured artist, but isn’t that state something that anyone would want to be in. To be in the creative flow of life?
To put it in energetic terms, when you are in the creative flow you are in the energy of abundance. You are connected to the source of abundance. So the more you are in that energy, the more you will attract things in your life that line up with it. So rather than spending time trying to figure out how to get wherever it is you want to go, create! Whether it’s a fine meal, a song, a picture, a job, a relationship, a clean house, you can create it. Creativity knows no limits. So create, create, create!
For more on Elizabeth Gilbert:
http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/
Elizabeth Gilbert on writing:
http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm
For more on TED talks:
For more on creativity, check out my new tele-seminar series The Artistry of Life:
http://www.creativeartistcoaching.com/coaching_offer.html
I’m in a coffee shop doing some work with my friend and marketing guru Bryant Jones and I’m writing this post…. on my phone!!
I love this stuff. Bryant and I are putting the finishing touches on the web page for my new seminar, The Artistry of Life. Alan Ray and I will be conducting this 6 week tele seminar on creativity and creating your life just like a painter paints and a writer writes.
I’ll have a link for the page up soon, but I couldn’t resist trying out the phone blog!
I wrote an article a few days ago that’s now lost on my dead hard drive. (yes the hard drive in my macbook took a powder and it doesn’t look like it’s coming back) The article was about art in the schools or the continuing decline thereof. But as I’ve been thinking about it, it’s not so much art programs missing from schools that’s so disturbing to me. Although I do find it disturbing. But it’s that lack of creativity in our education system that’s really scary. We don’t nurture creative thinking. We teach kids to use the left hemisphere of their brain and take tests well.
As I’ve been thinking along these lines for the past several days, I ran across this TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson. If you don’t know about TED, go here: http://www.TED.com
As a creativity coach I work with people to expand their creative abilities in any and every area of life. I think Sir Robinson may be my new favorite person. Here’s why:
originally posted at http://www.bassplayersclub.com
this is kind of a random musing from the van. part of an ongoing series about the “glamour” of the road……
It’s noon and I’ve been in the Van for just about two hours. I stayed up a little too late with my friend Jimmy Davis and probably had one more beer than was really necessary. Up at 8:30, which I don’t do when I’m home, and up from the couch I slept on at G’s house. A trip to the Starbucks for an iced tea, I’m off the glorious coffee bean for awhile due to over productive stomach acid tearing up my esophagus and making it very difficult to eat, (feeling really old as I write this) and a 20 minute wait at the customer service counter at Walmart to return the sunglass clip-ons that I bought that were the wrong size for my glasses.
Need to hurry up and meet the van, get loaded up and go. Now we’ll spend the rest of the day and into the night driving. We have no “routing gig” on the way to New Mexico this time. No show to pass the time and put gas in the van. Just the road for 14 hours or so. Then we get to play 3 shows in New Mexico. It’s the first time we’ve played any of these venues so the money’s not so good and we have no idea if there’ll be anyone there or not. Hopefully, it being summer and all, we’ll have good crowds and sell enough t-shirts to make a little extra cash.
Now don’t mistake me, I love to play music. I wouldn’t be in this van at all if I didn’t. And if I’m going to travel in a van with a bunch of guys, this bunch of guys are it. For the hour to hour and a half we get to do our thing on show days it will be pure pleasure. If the stars align and we find our footing in might even be existential. It’s the other 22 and a half hours a day that people don’t talk about much.
When we were younger we could just drink all day to pass the time. But I don’t recover like I used to and the older I get the more I long to be at least somewhat productive as I hurl myself across the country. Especially if I’m not driving. (hence the blog post) And I really do want to play well tomorrow and through the weekend and I won’t if I get plowed on beer all day long.
So we ride. And ride. Small towns fly by. I know what I can get in any roadside convenience store. I look forward to the stops to stretch my legs. An I wait. Wait to arrive, wait to play, wait to sleep, wait to go again, to arrive to play to sleep and I wait for home…..
p.s. after a long drive, we had a GREAT time in NM. The shows were great, the people were great, we made the spirits move…
Ok, I’ve been re-doing all things web in my world and I managed to lose a few blog posts. I’ve replaced the ones I could find and if I remember anything else I’ll post it. So let’s call it a clean slate and we’ll start anew. It’s still the beginning of a new year.
I know I had recent posts that included a link to my new coaching program:
and to some video of me in the studio:
And a link to my CD pre-sale page which I have also LOST! arrrrgh. I’ll be working on it and have things back together soon. It was fun to revisit some of my old posts. I invite you to do the same.
Peace,
-Bill
Chris and I had a really fun day in the studio this week. One of the reasons I asked Chris to produce this record for me is that he knows what I’m capable of as a player and singer even when I don’t.
We spent the first part of the day laying down electric guitars on a song called “Houston”. The track is very textured. Chris playing swelling pretty stuff and me on slide. It was fun. Then after a dinner break it was time to sing again. Yikes!
After the last time I was a bit nervous about singing again. It’s really silly. I’ve sung on hundreds of recordings. I did manage to sing a little bit during the week between our sessions and I was stretching and pretty well rested. And I may have had a beer or two before jumping in to the first track of the evening.
It went well. I’m back! I knocked out lead vocals for three tunes and we called it a night. It feels like Chris and I have hit the groove now in how we work together. I can hardly wait until our next session.
My first day of singing in the studio for the new record was rough. The human voice is such an interesting thing. There are times when I can sing anything. (or at least it feels that way) And then times when singing feels like peddling a beach cruiser up mount everest.
When I’ve coached singers I talk about things like drinking water and getting plenty of sleep, but I’m realizing that for me as I age, I need to keep the muscle active. Sometimes not singing for awhile can be a good rest, but let it go on too long and the muscle loses strength.
We had a short day that first day of singing. I got one song done, but totally ran out of gas on the next one. I couldn’t even get some of the notes out. I felt beat up afterwards.
Then I was off to a gig at Schriner College in Kerrville with Walt and Johnny. That’s always a good thing and I remember this particular show as being very fun when we did it last year. They do an open mic before and after the main set and as I heard the poetry and songs of the students that night I started to settle down a bit.
We played a good set. We hadn’t done the three acoustic guitars set in awhile, but it felt good. Walt asked me to sing something from the new record. You can imagine that after my less than satisfying studio experience that day I was apprehensive. But, hey it’s a gig. So I performed “Next Time”. John and Walt sang along beautifully and I was redeemed.
So, while I didn’t enjoy getting kind of stuck in the studio it did help me refocus. I’m a singer. All I need to do is act like one.
Hey I found the Schriner College performance on youtube. Here you go:
I’m very excited to announce that recording has begun on my new record. Yeah I know I still say record. I guess I show my age a bit. I spent 3 days starting on Labor Day at Moonhouse Studio in south Austin with Chris Gage (producer, engineer), Glen Fukunaga (bass), and fellow Mystiquero Ray Rodriguez on the drums.
Chris and I have been talking for years about making a record together. I learned the hard way that even though I have had some success producing records for other people, it doesn’t work for me to produce myself. I can’t get far enough away form the music to be properly objective. Chris is a great friend and I usually describe him as the best musician I know. His list of credits is almost as impressive as his playing. He’ll be lending his talents as a player and singer to the project as well, but most importantly he knows me very well. He knows better than I do what I can do and is making sure that I perform up to the level that I’m able.
I had never worked with Glen before but have seen him play numerous times with Joe Ely and Eliza Gilkyson among many others. Glen is pure magic. As some of you know I play bass quite a bit myself, but Glen’s ability to capture the right feel for a song in the studio is unparalleled. And he’s a great person to boot. Really fun to be around.
What can I say about Ray? I love this guy. He and I have been the rhythm section for Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros for over 2 years now. We’ve logged a lot of miles. Traveled the world. He’s like a brother to me and I never have to worry about what he’s going to play. He’s always right on.
We finished basic tracks, drums & bass, and I’ve begun recording some of my final acoustic guitar tracks for 11 songs. I’ll be recording one more song without the rhythm section. I’ll be back in the studio on Tuesday to record more guitars and Chris and I will be working whenever our schedules permit over the next several weeks to finish up the project.
I put together a short video below that shows some of the action from those first sessions to the tune of a great Sam Cooke song.
A big thank you to everyone who has supported me financially and helped me get this far with the project.
I’ll keep you posted on how things progress from here. Enjoy the video!
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