http://o9media.net/kudzu.zip

finnaly

here it is

Lot of great work today, I am very excited about the dropping of this album. tomorrow A little last minute editing and then I am printing the discs.
first things first I have to print all the covers.im going to do 30 i think
and then the rest are just going to be in little envalopes.

then I mix all the tracks
then bounce them, print the discs and I am done. bing bang boom.

goodnight

oh recorded stray dogs/ as bad a city
today

O n the album cover I wrote it as, Stray dogs but I think I like the origional name better, I just don't know if I really have the need to change it
it will do

Dead

I am so tired still from all the work put into the play... and the day kind of flew by and I didn't get much done. I did manage to re-record Sing the blues but I still don't know how I feel about it. I printed tons of different pictures today but I didn't like any of them so I am going to do a drawing for the album cover. Very low budget looking, but very hip. Tonight, during study hall I am going to record why we fight with seth and maybe a sean hayes cover, just to test. Then... where going to go over all my songs thus far and re look at them and decide what they need. Tomorrow a lot of editing and mastering, and then Wednesday printing and assembling for the show on thursday.

good night everyone
splitting head ache, no rest for the weary

Weekly Reflection 2

This past week I really felt the back lash of my blogging. The harsh anonymous comments along with the not so anonymous beat down from my dear friend and advisor Eric Viandier, really put one home. As you wait in starched anticipation for the public dropping of my very brand spanking new album, "Kudzu" I can comfortably say that it's going to be pretty sweet, and I am very excited for the final outcome of this whole shebang. This past week has been exceptionally fun on many levels, but I am completely egzzzhaussted... after effects from hell week of course.

The song that I wrote this week, called, "This is Why we Fight" Shows promise to be a great song, I have yet to record it, I am just worried as to how it will sound on recording. I worked a lot on "Mon Amie la Rose" but after all I don't think I am going to put it on, because it just doesn't seem to some to life in my hands.

I spent a large portion of the week working on a song called "La Valse D'Infidele" It is an instrumental piece featuring accordion. Which I like a lot I Believe it is actually my favorite song of the album so far. I also did some photo room work this week, and have pretty much chosen what my album cover is going to be, which is great.

Even though this was a very tiring week and a very stressfull one at times, the over all feel was alot smoother and I'm looking forward to the nest few days where I have a lot of workin' to do.

Today is

Sunday
I am... Obliterated
I have nothing left to give.
The play is over, and I'm so relieved, but also very sad.
My time sheet is, very late, but that is because I was so busy I didn't have time to Breathe and I am not going to post a weekly reflection today, sadly, I am to tired to write one, and Shauna and I discussed this fact, and we are going to meet tomorrow to go over everything
I have a big last few days
I got to get that album finished!

Tomaro... (oh yeah, that's right)
I'm gunna do some mad work, yo
(dictionaries are more like guidelines anyway)

oh and by the way Cape Cod, "Robust Russet"... not impressed
"what does that have anything to do with music"
you may be asking yourself.
well it doesn't, is my reply.

Tomorrow My schedule looks like this:
Go talk to Bill bright and early and fill out SLASH turn in my time sheet
... go downstairs and do some practice
go upstairs and do some recording/ editing
eat some stuff
and then go find Turbull and write me some weekly reflection
then go print my album cover and bring it to Jim Cox (if I have time)
and then meybe work on formatting the cover a little bit

It is so weird that I don't have the play anymore
I have a life
and I don't know what to do with it.

well
good night everybody

Short Blog
Today was nice
I'm
agsausted
I hope you all enjoyed the play

goodnight

Not a daily blog, just an aside

So I was havin' some trouble getting to bed last night,
my mind kept churning over Folk Music
So I decided to do an Interim Blog, which I guess wont count for yesterday or today
since it doesn't have much to do with my project, I'm just sharing a long winded train of thought.

so Folk Music
Who is it
What is it,

Well before I tackled anything major like that
I had to figure out, like, who Was it
and so
These are my "who was it"; guys,

The classics;
Robert Johnson
Bob Dylan
Townes Van Zandt.
The Beatles
James Taylor
Crosby Stills Nash and Young

and I thought about some roots too;
you know
old Appalachia folk
Old Country
Slave Spirituals,
Gospel,
The Delta Blues
Story Telling
Romantic, Victorian, Contemporary ect. Poetry

then I sort of put it together, with this travelin,
"Crossroads", mentality. You know your good old Walkin Shoes way;
If it doesn't work out here just keep moving on.
Bohemian Life Style
Vagabond Life Style
Gypsy life style
then I thought...
Flamenco!

I mean Flamenco is just about as folk as you get when you think about it
Get your buddies together in the park, after midnight, bring a guitar and clap along if you know it.
So now all of the above, was "Folk" and most if not all of it still lives on today.


That was good, so I began thinking about some more Contemporary Folk

these are some contemporary Folk Artists that came to mind.
Sean Hayes,
Brett Dennon
Bon Iver,
Bright Eyes
Animal Collective
Nina Violet,
The Shins
Kimya Dawson
Willy Mason,
Devendra Banhart.

hmmm....

so then I got to thinking, well here we go, I have to get some where right?... So
what is Folk Music any way?
What makes a song a folk song, what makes an artist a folk artist.

what is folk music???

K Here goes....

it's music for folk.......(some would say; yeah for folk who can't read real music, (which I guess in a sense is true))

but theres more to it then that
It's for people, by people

I mean it's picking up a banjo, hiting two sticks together, claping along,
there aint no secret language to it

There's no Julliard, or years of training at a prestigious "Academy of Folk"
There's no P.H.D. in Protest Songs, or drop thumb finger picking
there's no Plane Tickets, or Fancy Cars
there's no Disney Contracts, and definitely no purity rings.


It's Hitchiking, heart breaking, being rich, being poor, Cheating, Running, Walking, Wandering,
It's about old guitars, cat's puke, Love, Tin Cans, bag pipes, Pain, Porches, Boots, Depression, and Corn Bread.

"Carmen" the opera Can not be done justice, on a porch at sunrise in Rural Texas.

It's raw, It's real, It's Folk Music

(I really got no where didn't I)
oh well.
bed time.

Robert Johnson

What an amazing man. I want to just say that Robert Johnson is my new favorite artist as of today; and also that how I said the song "This is Why we Fight" was in a Robert Johnson style I was wrong, to call it that, would be to stab his poor brilliant body in it's grave. It doesn't even begin compare to the sheer brilliance of Robert Johnson.

I spent the first part of the day finishing my photo shoot, and starting to develop but I ran into a problem, so I wandered over to the studio to do some practice

woh, it is hard to learn lyrics in a language you don't really speak.

But practice was good, then I went out and worked on some Delta Blues style finger picking
I read this really interesting Biography of The Delta Blues Legend and listened to all 28 of his recordings, and went to lunch.

After lunch I went and worked on my boat, to get it ready for the art show,

Then was the dress rehearsal

It was Awesome.

Then I sat outside in the starlight, and played a little blues

"This is why we fight, We fight to be free."
We all fight to speak, We all fight to dream
This is why we fight, We fight to be free.

War Zone

Today is kind of...
I don't know;
a night mare?
I am sick, (there! I said it). Light headed, sore and achy muscles, stuffy nose, sore throat
I can't take any vasodilators, (pain killers) because they are bad for your singing voice, boo hoo.
I couldn't finish shooting my role of film because of the rain
and I'm just soooooooo tired
Oh!
and... trying not to sound like I'm tip toeing, (which I am (meaning I revised this next part about a bazillion times to make it sound right))
My Blog is kind of a war zone... as in, I have mixed feedback to say the very least.
and at the complete risk of sounding even more rogue, (which is not my intention at all) If you do have a serious problem with my blog, and feel that it really is so inappropriate that it must be altered or removed,
please, come talk to me personally so we can work it out.
(as in, don't just leave anonymous comments, it is not nearly as effective.)
and yes, I am going to apologize to my dorm parent for calling him out on my blog
that was not ok

So there you have it folks, problem solved!


several mediocre to good things came out of this rainy, achy day... I decided that I am going to cover, "Mon Amie la Rose" by Francoise Hardy on my album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQGNpRnFNgM (oh yeah)

and I also sort of finished writing a very Robert Johnson style song called either "Kudzu" or "This is Why we Fight" I'm not sure yet.

the reason I'm writing this now is so that as soon as the run through is over I can go straight to bed.

I have a huge day tomorrow. Some darkroom work, and a lot of practice on the last two songs of the Album (kudzu and Mon aimie)
then open dress rehearsal tomorrow night.

(you know, I got to take it easy)

Today was AWESOME!
I took pictures for album covers
I started to write a song!
it's going to be great
it's called "Kudzu"!
I also finished recording my "Valse D'Infidele" and it sounds amazing
Rehearsal ran long, and because of that I blew off Seth, (oops) but it's ok because there wasn't much to do anyway.

I also have a pretty good concept for an album cover, but I'll keep it disclosed for now since it's really all just a thought in progress.

My throat hurts and I've got flem, It's not good, lots of sleep, lots of water, and no talking

tomorrow (<--yeah) I'm going to work on Kudzu, develop my pictures, print one or two good ones, bring em to Jim, and just basically stay relaxed because of the play thing.

Today was two things...

both super unproductive, and super successful at the same time...

you may ask yourself... How can that be
well I started off a little bit late, went to the studio, did a little playing in the grass, tootling around
then I went inside and helped Bill in the recording room and helped him and marion record "you raise me up"
I learned a lot about the recording room, (since before today I knew absolutely nothing, and I got to listen to some really beautiful music to boot. I went to lunch, then came back and worked on my Waltz, it is called "La Valse D' Infidele" and I do believe it is rather beautiful

Then i went to play practice for many hours

and came back to the recording studio with seth who was super stressed out because of an incident that had occurred earlier
we recorded "When the Last Leaf Changes" and it sounded asome, and I am super happy

so unproductive in that I still didn't write a song, But a really great day!

Weekly Reflection

My first week, oh boy. There where many ups and downs, a lot of big ups... a few major downs. I am proud of the work that I accomplished and the things that I have learned so far. I wrote two songs, one of which, “Home” was already was very well received by several faculty and students at the coffee shop on Saturday, and both well liked by Bill and myself. And although my relationship with myself definitely needed some work on thursday and friday, my relationship with Bill has been just spot on, which is wonderful. The first thing I want to say in my little reflection here is a big thank-you to everyone that takes the time to read my blog. I honestly didn’t think anyone really cared that much but I have to say I am so happy they do.
One girl came up to me and said, “I read your blog... do you really hate senior project that much?” And I so desperately want to clarify that I LOVE senior project, It is the most wonderful, and special opportunity. I get to go to my own class, and focus all of my energy on something I love doing, and love exploring. During that exploration there is the potential, as with every expressionary medium, for frustration, depression, anger ect. I am learning more and more that writing a good song, takes a lot of emotion, and thought. There is a real need, as with every form of art, to just let your mind go, to wherever it goes, no matter how scary the place may be. Happiness is not even half of what makes up the creative emotional spectrum, and I want to convey that so far that is one of the most powerful things I have learned.
It’s ok to feel frustrated, It’s ok to feel angry at the perfectly beautiful world around you, (as long as you clean up the mess you leave behind), It’s those emotions that have the potential for turning out some really interesting things. So the fact that I had two bad days, and that I was frustrated at myself, and then in turn the world around me; ended up being ok, because I am fine now and letting my self just go a little bit ended up turning out a song, “home” that people really enjoy! Really... I can’t just sit down at a desk and expect to write a great life changing song. To the same effect I can’t just sit around and make myself miserable all day either. I have to just experience life the way it really is. Next week, I am going to have a bit of a different approach to at least the first few days while I still have tome to write and record, because once the days start getting short in number, I need to start pulling my album together, song list, cover art, CDs ect.
Next week will be a fun week, a crazy week, I have the play friday and Saturday, plus full dress rehearsals every other night and after noon. During the day I’m going to take some walks, do some completive meditation, do some research on album covers and artwork. Most importantly, however, I am NOT going to loose my voice, and I am NOT going to get sick. Thank you again to everyone reading my blog, I sincerely hope that you are enjoying following the process as much as I am enjoying living it, and please keep commenting and reading. Oh, and maybe, I will write a song about my snacks, and watching food network every night. And! I can spell tomorrow, watch; Tomorrow, see?

I would like to apologize to all of my devoted readers for my recent plumit in moral and my rude blog posts
(and of course my late time sheet!)

I am fine now! I am happy again, perfect again, my down turn is over, I am back on top. So please forgive me, You know how life can be sometimes


Today I recorded "Home", it sounded asome, Bill actually really liked it! and so I am happy
my social life is back on track everything is good again

Look forward to my roller coaster weekly reflection!

Coffe house tonight, I'm guna play some songs!
I wonder if I can count it as hours?

another shit day

I went to Polar swim, which was probably a mistake because Chris wants me to be sleeping enough so that my voice doesn't go. Things are plain awfull, I didn't acomplish my goals of writing a new song, I didn't figure out completly what I am playing tomaro night although I sortof have an idea.

today was not a complete faliure; I helped marion for a good while on her rendition of amazing grace, and we recorded it, and although alot of the day was spent trying to memorize lyrics to a francoise hardy song, and work out new chord progressions to write lyrics to. I did manage to pull out a sortof half finished song written a few weeks ago that I seem to like, and will be tweaking it and recording it tomaro. It's called "Home" I think.

so I am miserable
second day in a row
here we go

oh and
my time sheet is late
sorry

Bad day... plain and simple. I was lazy, and stupid. Well, not really, more just frustrated. On Chris Johnson's orders I slept in one extra hour, and I believe that that must be what threw the day off kilter. When I woke up I laid in bed and watched some stage performances from my favorite artists I then went for a short walk, (mostly around campus) Trying to write a song in the style of the Timeless protest song, an art mastered by Bob Dylan and many other strong artists of the folk movement. We nee d a new protest song, none stand strong, none change the world like they did back then; "Imagine" John Lennon, " Subteranean Homesick Blues" Dylan

So an hour spent with a notebook, but alot of nothing.... I can't write a song unless I have music first!
that's what I decided so after an early lunch I went to a beutfull field to try and write a riff. I just couldn't come up with anything I liked... So the one day I was suposed to truley focus all my energy on writing, I got nothing, and now I'm screwed.

Miserable, Miserable, Miserable

well today I really can learn to sing the blues

The M.L.S.(my life sucks; dorm) Rude dorm parent, noisey tennagers, Rap music angry roomate, no clean laundry, eating burnt popcorn in the lousy common room watching ace of cakes, in these awfull neon lights which I'm not allowed to turn off; feeling like I am in a Prison and hating everything blues

goodnight moon

Abreviated

So today, another great day, lot accomplished, I recorded two songs, "Learn to sing (the blues)" a new song, and "Lemon Verbena" a very old song and I also went and talked to michele about turning my senior project from full to abreviated.

That mission was successful! And under no circumstances does it mean I will work any less time.... It just means I don't have to work crazy crazy hours just to accommodate the 72 hour work minimum!

My life is simple, easy, and inspiring. I have loads to look forward to. I have a job and a loving home, a healthy relationship, a few great friends Loving parents, food to eat, clean clothes to wear, (when I do laundry).

The point I believe I'm getting at is basically I am boring.... So there would be no point to write a song about myself; "One time, friends, I had a ma, I even had a pa. He beat her with a belt once cus she cried" -Townes Van Zandt

I have to think of something else now... so what?

I know! I'll take a hike and write a song about the movement of the woods, (or something)

And so, Turnbull, If you want to find me tomaro, you can go running around the woods, because thats where I'll be; Pen in hand
writing of the ways of the world

for tonight, Marlon Brando, Potatoe chips and lemonade.

Night number two, A very successful day. I arrived early in the morning with marion, and waited for bill.... no bill. So instead I listened to my Ipod....
Thats right. For the first hour and a half or so of my day; I sat with a notebook and a pen and listened to some of the greatest songs of my library.
When the ocean gets rough- Willy Mason
One day the river- Sean Hayes, Must be Love- Ricki lee Jones, Waiting around to die- Townes Van Zandt, Don't Think Twice it's Alright- Bob Dylan, ect.

And I asked My self; What makes a good song?
And after writing down a very long winded list (a compilation from just about everybody that wandered through the studio that morning) I decided that what made a good song was simply weather you like it or not, and that it is all about taste. Some people like it sad and slow; Ne me Quites Pas- Jacques Brel, some like it loud and fast; Punk Rock Girl- The Dead Milkmen
it really all depends
so then, all inspired, I wrote a song, and I think I'm going to call it "Sing the Blues" and I'm not sure if I like it, but I'm looking forward to see how it comes alive in Bill's hands.

I also figured something very disturbing out today... Yesterday, I worked for 4 hours, from 1030 to 1230 and 115 to 315, today I worked 5 hours during the day 8 30 to 1130 and 115 to 330 and one at night, but If I want to work the target 7 hour day I need to work from 815 to 315 with no breaks! (because of play practice) I geuss I'll talk to Michelle tomaro!
oh boy

Monday, day one

Oh boy! I'm hooked... I want to do senior project for the rest of my life. It's a pretty sweet deal, and i feel great! I spent the first part of the day, 8 to 10 am, with Patrice in Slocumb doing share day. Not very music oriented, but when it was over I headed to Bill's layer, (as people have named the unfinished basment jam space in the recording studio) and set up my "wrighting station"; A big book, a bunch of different pens and pencils. A mic stand to the side of that, a set of patch chords, and my martin guitar. I tinkerd with the P.A. a bit, and headed upstairs to do some recording with Bill. Went back down and played and sang for a few hours, working on a song I think I'm going to call "The Blues" or something.
then went to play practice.... ((for about 4 hours) and now I'm here...)

Marion Smith and I will be sharing the studio space, the dungeon of jazz and swing. And although our projects differ we get along well and I'd barley spoken to her before today so we chatted a bit, and Im happy that I have another senior project person who will be around to talk to about blogging and other... serious senior project stuff.

In my relaxed and happy state, I'm sitting down to inspiration of a different kind; potato chips and food network. meybe i'll write a song about it tomaro.

Blog post one

This being my first post I want to start off by saying thank you to Proctor Academy for giving me this opportunity to truly follow my passion, and thank you to everyone in the senior project committee for your dedicated time and effort towards the project of each and every student.

My blog is detailing the mental and physical processes of writing and recording a folk album. Especially now, in the 21st century, artists like me struggle to keep or work fresh. You can't be putting something out that people have heard before. You have to be the cutting edge or be left behind with the purity ring wearing Disney produced morons like Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. So how to be on the cutting edge? How to be with the times, and ahead of the curve all at the same time? Well you've got to be good; so here's my attempt. (starting tomaro).