I figured that since I started writing about this trip and a whole fifteen or so of you faithful readers actually read it, maybe I should keep going. This little blog has been silent for nearly a year. In a year many things occurred....new jobs, selling our home and buying another, birthday parties, the holidays. There's a great, gaping hole in the blog of posts that went unwritten. Life happens a lot sometimes and things fall to the side. It will all be okay, of that I am sure.
Let's keep moving, shall we?
Day two mostly consisted of driving and more driving. We stayed the night in Twin Falls, ID after the first day of driving. I hardly slept that night in our hotel. I couldn't shut my mind off no matter how hard I tried to. My mind was filled with song ideas and wondering what it would be like to record with this group of people once again. We have a decade between us and I couldn't make myself rest for even a few hours. It was long night, drawn out in between my tossing and turning. I was thankful when my alarm went off and I could start getting ready for another day of driving.
We woke early and headed out quickly. The road starts getting a lot more interesting as you get closer to the northwest. Everything slowly starts to become green and a bit more hilly. A good chunk of the second day was on the freeway right next to a river, which definitely beats driving through the likes of Wyoming where everything is just so flat and open.
That evening was spent eating hamburgers and catching up with friends that I haven't seen in 4 years, since the last time we were up this way. I always like how we just pick right back up where we were before, as if there isn't this great expanse of life lived between us and our families. That feels good. Those are the type of people that will always be in our lives in some capacity, no matter how small.
Day Three we headed into the studio, up in the country of Rainer, OR. I've known Stephen for a long time and being able to create with him once more is a real treat. There's people that know how run sound and record music, and then there's Stephen. He's a wizard when it comes to this process and understands the importance of a song having a good feel. He knows how I tick as a musician probably better than most people.
We were able to get all of my scratch vocals, my main instrumentation, and drums tracked yesterday. 5 songs in from the afternoon into the evening. I'm proud of us. We are ahead of schedule and that puts my mind at ease. Being here, it almost feels too easy. Too good. Too much for my heart and soul to take but I desire to just soak it all in with everything that I have in me.
I miss our kids a lot. We have been Facetiming with them during the day and any time I see another little kid, my heart aches. I welcome the little break, but man...this mama misses her kiddos. Ten years ago, I would have never thought I could feel something like that, but here we are. They are in great hands and we will be back before we know it but I still miss them.
Today, we are hoping to get some of the final vocals done and then my dear friend will be coming up to track bass and guitar. This is when the fun really begins. I've had all of these songs just knocking around in my brain and heart for many years. Now they are coming into fruition and I can't wait to see what he adds to them. I love watching the layers start to pile up and the songs begin to morph into something grand.
Also, it's overcast here and not a billion degrees and I love it.
That is all.
(Most of these pictures were taken by Ryan.)
