Productive, and I didn't take any Metamucil!

Well well well. Since Wednesday, I've recorded four songs. FOUR! How awesome is that. Three are mine, and one is me trying to recreate a song that I loved as a kid that's simply not available itunes. I hate itunes sometimes. I'm addicted to it, and yet, they refuse to sell stuff that's 30 years old and out of print.

Well okay, that sort of makes sense, but then again damn.

Anyhooze. Four songs! The first one was a goof-off blues thing. I was going for a sleazy strip joint of the 60s kind of vibe. You know the type - in the old tv shows, whenever the P.I. had to go talk to Maxie the hooker with a heart of gold - she worked at these places. I'm talking Ironsides, Mannix, Kojak - really crappy cop shows of the mid-70s. For some reason they assumed that strip joints were stuck in 1964 or something. And that's the vibe I was shooting for. I'll tell you what I discovered. I still suck at harmonica. That's what I discovered.

But who cares. I recorded a damn song. And then another one. And THEN another one. And then yesterday, or maybe the day before, I recorded a great one. THAT was a cover but again, who cares, it's got my creative juices unplugged and flowing again (and THAT's where the Metamucil joke comes in).

I'm happy. I'm getting that junkie twinkle in my eye - the drive that keeps me up until 4 am for no reason other than to Record Shit. It's great. Now, I need to organize my studio. Currently, it's a disaster area, similar to the toymaker's house in Blade Runner. Boy his place was a sty. Well okay, my studio (hahaha corner of the office) doesn't have leaks and stuff, but you get it.

I'm going to go back and remix it a couple more times. I have a hard time with funky acoustic vocal songs - I always put the vocals way too loud, so I'm working on it a little more first. SO in the meantime, how about something else to listen to.

MAKE ME LAUGH

Too many distractions! Ack.

Lessee. So I bought the new doodads. And I've been using them this week. I've recorded three songs - mostly throwaways just to get me back into the habit of recording and creating crap. You'd be surprised. Back, three or four years ago, I would come home, pat the boy on the head, kiss the wife and dissappear into the basement for 5-6 hours.

That's just how it happened. Not every day, but most days. And it became such a habit that I could walk in, put on a guitar, tap out a tempo and stuff just flowed out of me. Most of it was semi-forgettable, but the sheer volume of crap made it easier to make progress in less time.

And I can remember thinking, "damn, if I only had this, and that, and this, I could record better, faster, more proffessional songs and this whole thing would be easier and quicker".

Now that I've got all of those things, I'm let down by my own drive. I come home, pat the kids on the head, kiss the wife, sit down and 5 hours later I'm going to sleep.

Wait. What? What happened in those 5 hours? Well. Um. Comedy Central, and the IFC and Netflix, and some online forums and myspace and so much crap that's just big time-suckers. I CALL it research, but really, it's fucking off and wasting hours and hours with nothing - absolutely nothing - of value to show for it.

Well. This week I at least pulled my act together a little bit and I made up some interesting stuff, all in one day. The drumkit really speeded it all up. And it got me writing lyrics again. So damn. Hopefully this is a change in habits for me. No more TV. Fuck that shit. I've got too many other things going on:

- The Kids Album
- TAL3NT!
- The Blues Album (I'm planning to spew out a complete blues album now, going hard-core old-school. It'll be easy and quick and I'll finally have something.)

- The Christmas Website. Damn. That thing has become an albatross or a boat anchor or something around my neck. I can't believe it's taken me so long to resolve this thing. My involvement should have been limited and quick and then I hand it off, but instead I've dragged my heels for an entire YEAR.

But piss off. That's where I am. I'm doing what I can. I have so much I WANT to do. Today, I got a wild hair and suddenly dove headfirst into learning how to do old-school animation. Cuz, yeah, you know, I've got so much free time. What a dipshit.

Shopping Spree! I Love Cash!

I recently came into some money. Read into that what you will. And as it happens, money into my account means a race between me and the wife - who can spend the money before the other person! If I left it there, the house would find new curtains, a new carpet or two, some pretty new towels, maybe the fence would be painted... you know, totally useless stuff.

But instead haha oh NO! I bought shit for me!

A new microphone: R0DE NTK Tube Mic. What does it do? It has a tube. That makes it awesome.

And the new mic requires a new mic pre-amp.

What does a pre-amp do? Well, it takes the sound going into the mic and kind of adds frequencies and uses a tube to naturally compress the -- oh hell if I know, but I've been told I need one so there you go: I NEED ONE. Stop busting my balls.

A new acoustic guitar:


OH wow this thing is beautiful. I had one ten years ago and sold it to score a bass or some nonsense. So I bought another one last weekend! Hay hay!

Some amazingly beautiful pickups. These things look so unusual. and sexy. and people are going to see my guitar and say "Oh Beau, you are the greatest guitarist I've ever seen. How can you be so awesome?"

And a really nice drum throne because I rock the drums like a hurricane.

So, why all the new crap? It's for my Kids cd! Acoustics and drums and all sorts of awesome packed into a kids record. At least that's the plan. I've spent way too much money on music toys lately. So for real, I need to do something about it now don't I. It's hard being me.

Lastly; HERE'S YOUR FREE MP3: Run Your Hands All Over My Body. Oh calm down it's just a song.
STEAL MY MUSIC

Playing the live shows. Awesome.

Check out this song first of all. Holy shit. Joan Osborne, just, damn holy shit.

I'm discovering that there are a small handful of players around the city that I enjoy. Not just enjoy playing with them, but just fucking enjoy, period. Louie Vallee and John McKnight top that list - they listen, they bring something to the songs - just make the vibe so much better. I played two shows with them this weekend and the best parts of the gigs were when things just went down their own path.

I mean, there's details like, knowing the chord progression of a song, and the lyrics and melody and shit, but then there's parts that transcend. It's hard to explain, maybe you get it, maybe you know it when it happens, but if I had my way, I'd just play behind Louie soloing and McKnight drumming for the rest of my life.

Here's the fun to playing two shows back to back (which I rarely do): fingertips. Holy shit wow. By the end of last night's show, I felt like I was hitting my fingers with hammers with every chord. It really makes you get into your playing a little more, things aren't as easily thrown out there. You tend to get really greedy with your notes. And chords.

Which reminds me - I should learn to be more greedy. I think I overplay way too much. The songs could become so much more open if I'd let them. I'm just not used to being THAT entertainer - the guy who can reign it in. And, now that I've got no shows booked, at all, I suppose I'll use this time to work on that. And more songs. It's time to write some more timeless classics. Did you realize that Superhot Lady Cop is almost 10 years old? Damn that's a long time to play a song. I should write more timeless classics. That's all I'm saying.

As a treat to you, I'm going to start adding MP3s to my posts. Why not. It'll get you reading them, it'll get you listening, and that's all that matters. Check out music.

Swing Down, Live from 2006 - Beau Hall and the Magnificent 7

Okay, I've rambled on enough, I'm going to get on up and out. You keep it real. Get out and see a band or four this week.