It is my last blog for Lexington and I am very sad. I have loved this experience. I sit here in the studio now in the midst of it and appreciate the nowness of it. I know it will end soon but if I focus on that I will miss out on the beauty of now. Now I commune, Now I listen to Ryan playing a beautiful guitar. Now I put down my phone I am typing on and just enjoy.
Because we are close to finishing the songs before vocals are put down, we are piecing things together: little licks, solos, pieces of solos—grueling work but a necessity. Terry worked for an hour on the intro and outro solos of the song "Riot." It is difficult because you are under a microscope, and not only is every note crucial, but every intonation and feeling and timing and soulfulness has to all happen at the same time; it is mentally straining.
1:09 pm
We just finished a chant that all of us did for a song we have called "Straws." It was great that all of us, including two Brians (Brian Bock, our all-around go-to guy, and Brian Hathaway our documentarian) have voices on this album.
Brian Bock is now putting a voiceover on our song "Play Again." He is one of the many writers on the song, and it speaks to a difficult time during his past addiction.
After more pieces put together by Terry on piano and acoustic guitar, it was my turn. Duane wanted to separate hihat and snare from the mics on certain songs, so I played hihat only today to piece together a few songs. It was a weird feeling because it is so isolated and under a microscope. I am so used to playing the tunes with hands on snare and hihat, but I understand the separation to have the hihat really stick out. We went through a few takes for timing on a few songs and that was it. I have a few more pieces to work on tomorrow and then I am done.
It rains outside right now as the emotion of leaving in two days comes over me, but with this ending will get us closer to a new beginning: having a new album that I hope everyone is going to love as much as we do. Plus, we can then start touring to promote it. Fun times ahead!
Peace!