Tom. Guitars, Piano, and a Pulitzer-Prize Winner

It's Tom's turn!

Started in the studio today at 10:20 am.

Duane wanted to put guitars on the song “Genuflect.”

Ryan did a beautiful job on the acoustic. It works well in conjunction with Jam's guitar line.

Next is the piano on the song with Terry playing a wonderful Kurzweil borrowed from Lee Carroll, a great piano player and just all-around nice person. He is known in Lexington as one of the top keyboard players. We saw his blues band play last week. It was fabulous. Terry played a brilliant part for the song. His lines add such a wonderful texture.

12:20 pm - working guitars and piano on “Analeeza.”

Terry started his part on the Wurlitzer electric piano. It has such a Ray Charles sound to it and, man, Terry loves playing it. We just took a break to refresh our ears and Terry is still on there and practicing his parts. He is a hard worker.

On a different note, some of us are thinking about getting tattoos while we are here. Duane says he knows a good guy. Duane has a good guy for instruments too; he has a good guy for everything.

1:42 pm

Ryan now is recording his guitars. We want to make sure the tones of the piano don't overpower the guitars and vice-versa. There is a delicate balance in each song. Duane wants the guitar line to really pop out of the song and make it sound forceful in the mix.

2:21 pm

I took a break from the air-conditioned rooms of the studio to go read on Duane's front stoop. His studio is this big, beautiful, castle-like, gothic-style abode. I sit here in the engulfing humidity that feels lovely on the skin. The street is busied with cars passing by and children on bikes and walking to and fro. The castle stands not too far from downtown, so it is bustling with action. But my mind is on the novel i am reading. Being a classic reader at heart, I wanted to grab something modern but great and meaningful. I am very picky and read reviews more than books to find a great one. I finally gave up and just decided to let Pulitzer decide for me. The 2019 winner is Richard Powers' The Overstory. 90 pages in I understand why it won; actually, it only took the first story of the Hoel family for me to get hooked. It is about many things, but the emphasis thematically, I believe, is about how trees will out-live humanity because of our short-term, narrow views in contrast to tree's longevity and resilience. My favorite quote of the day from the book is "The confirmation of others: a sickness the entire race will die of." By writing this, I am not lost to the irony. I highly recommend the novel.

2:42 pm

Ryan is finishing up guitars for “Analeeza.” Duane knows the balance between getting the right track that sounds awesome, versus not fatiguing each of us. He is also very kind in his remarks, but yet assertive in what he wants from us.

3:12 pm

Terry is now on acoustic guitar getting down his part for “Analeeza.” It takes a very long time to build a song, and we have lots of them!

4:40 pm

Ryan got his guitar solo down! It sounds great. Terry and Ryan would continue soloing for hours if Duane didn't say, "That's enough; we got it." What wankers!😁

5:00 pm

We are moving onto the song “Broken Beautifully.” Ryan is playing a Regal tri-cone resonator guitar. It sounds exquisite in the song. He is doing a couple of takes to get it down just right. Oh, by the way, the resonator was borrowed from a guy Duane knows.

5:40 pm

We are now getting Terry's guitar down now for the song. We are also figuring out if an acoustic should be in the song to make it feel more full.

Terry is a workhorse. He wants to keep doing another take after another. He wants it perfect in his mind. To try and get feel emotion and perfection all at the same time is almost impossible. I never shoot for perfection because I don't believe there is perfection. It is a man-made construct.