Sample time!

Alright, here's two samples straight from the master:

A short ricercare (Ness #4) by Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian lutenist from the 1500s

Stefania, a folkish march by Genovese harp-guitar hero Pasquale Taraffo.

Enjoy!

Introducing: Genteel

The wait is almost over. Today I shipped the master (and backup) out to the replicators (hats off for great service thus far), and I should have the finished CDs back in my hands on March 19th. It's been an absolutely wild ride, from the first sessions in August to today's last-minute rush, scraping to meet a self-imposed deadline. The album came out as I envisioned it - warm, introspective, with a little bit of a mischievious bent at times, and as it's finally out of my hands I get to sit back and enjoy a little bit of an afterglow.
I am offering free shipping to all who order before March 19th. If you want to go out on a limb and support this project...well, know that it's greatly appreciated, and that you can do so by clicking on the Paypal button below. I'll put a sample or two up very soon.

More to come...

Slowly but surely...

...the work is proceeding. Yesterday I got together with Elliot and heard some of the edited tracks. I walked out of the listening room with a big grin on my face - I very much liked what I heard. In all honesty I needed this kind of feedback, as having the project sitting for all of this time was making me feel uncomfortable about the whole venture. A few more tracks remain to be finished, and then it's off to the next step. I might post a little sneak peek once I get a CD of the finished tracks - until then...

Another Sporadic Update

Hello readers near and far. The semester at the Conservatory has long since shifted into high gear, and as a result this student-run production slowed down considerably. It looks extremely dubious that the CD will be finished for the Holidays, but that's OK - good things come to those who wait, right?
The brighter side is that, from listening to the tracks over these months, I can say I'm positively excited about the whole thing. Sure, nothing is ever as "spotless" as I'd like, but I've caught myself smiling while listening more than once.
So hang in there (if you're hanging), and rest assured that I'll keep you updated as things progress.

Alive and kicking on Election Day 2008

Just a quick notice to say that the project for the CD is still alive and kicking, despite being bogged down by a kicking (in a different sense) semester at the conservatory. I am currently wading the thick quagmire of the raw tracks, trying to put some sort of edit plan on paper for the engineers to go by. If all goes well that should be finished by the end of the week, with the completed edits to follow soon after. After that it's graphic design and mastering time, with the hope of sending everything to pressing by the end of the month. Well wishes and other pleasantries are encouraged...

Hear a couple of tracks on NPR-Spokane

This coming Thursday I will be appearing on KPBX, the local NPR station for Spokane, WA, as a guest for Leon Atkinson's 'Guitar Hour'. The plan is to play something live and then spin a roughly-mixed track or two - we did some lightning-fast editing earlier today with Elliot, a feat of remarkable proportions considering that school might have just started but it's gotten pretty danged busy quickly. You are of course welcome to listen online - show's on at 11 am PST.

The Crew, Part 4: Mixing 'n' Mastering

In this day and age, meeting people on the internet isn't all that strange anymore. I have been fortunate enough to be part of a wonderfully supportive, if a bit quirky, online community of guitrists and guitar aficionados called The Soundhole. Gene Backlin is one of the members there, and he often graced the group's meetings and jam sessions with his recording skills. Interested as I was to add as many 'ears' to the project as possible, I was more than happy to accept his offer to be involved with my recording. While I have yet to meet him face-to-face, we've been trading stories online (along with a few hundred some other people) for years now, and as such I now that sharing a couple of guitar tunes is going to feel just second nature when we finally get around to that.