Tom's last Lexington blog

10:40 am

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.

12:28 pm

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.

4:20 pm

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.

5:10 pm

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!