On Spain and crying at the mall of georgia

I am on the way to Spain! Donna's friend is getting hitched out there so Mom decided to take the crew! Mom, Donna and I have connected here in Boston for a few hours of airport prison (layover) and we will be taking off around 5:30 God willing! I am excited for this time with family and a chance to see another part of Europe. I have only heard good things about Barcelona, and I can't wait to be along for the ride. I am obtained a fanny pack for this outing and it has proved to be the MVP of everything thus far. I can get everything I need right from my tummy. Well not from IN my tummy but right next to it ya know. 

I am reading "Abbas Child" by Brennan Manning. This book is absolutely life-giving and has been shifting so much of my perspective. This book is Manning's exploration of God's love - the depth and power of a truly unconditional love from the father. I am just in the beginning but I am being really challenged in  my ability to receive the love of God. "Do we let God love us?" With that underlying challenge, Manning has gone on to identity the false self, the imposter, and how we tend to live out of this false identity. We cling to meaning and significance in the external, through praise, success and the approval of others, and so often overlook the most important voice of all - our father's. I am re-reading the chapter entitled "Beloved." It is so much simpler than we ever make it to be. Life. Finding joy. Experiencing peace. Finding God. Nothing we can earn, but only open ourselves up to receive. This is one of many beautiful lines from the book. This one seemed to paint the picture of all of life in a profound way

"The ordinary self is the extraordinary self - the inconspicuous nobody who shivers in the cold of winter and sweats in the heat of summer, who wakes up unreconciled to the new day, who sits before a stack of pancakes, weaves through traffic, bangs around in the basement, shops in the supermarket, pulls weeds and rakes up the leaves, makes love and snowballs, flies kites, and listens to the sound of rain on the roof."

Are we content with the ordinary self today? To live an extraordinary life, to me, is the live fully in the ordinary. To let God dwell in the every day, trusting that He will make it full and beautiful. There is truly no striving and no pressure to do anything other than just be and be well. To live in this peace releases us from judgment and the rigid grip we have on the world. Our surroundings cease to be a slave of our expectations. The world is filled with color again.

Yesterday I was walking through the mall, I was getting a couple things to prepare for our travels. And this whole thing just hit me. It was like a blanket fell on my life. I used to hate going to the mall, I judged it's materialism. But now, I was able to even feel like my trip there was just another normal yet extraordinary part of life. It sounds kinda whack to write... I mean it's just the mall. But for me it signified a radical shift in my heart as I began to live in the ordinary and be fully thankful for the mundane things around me. I think I judged the mall for being basic, wanting everyone in there to "be better" (including myself). But what a wild thing to live in and to even be aware of. As our awareness of our belonging increases, our awareness of the negative and the lack will decrease. As I am diving deep in to the love of the father, I find that I don't have room in my heart to judge or condemn situations, lifestyles or choices. To draw close to God means to be also filled with love. Regardless, I think I was walking by an auntie Anne's pretzel and began to kind of tear up because I felt Jesus walking in the mall with me. It's hard to explain but I felt like He was really for me in the moment, and also for every single person I saw. It was either his presence that moved me or the smell of the cinnamon pretzel bites... but I want to say it was Him. Anyways, they are calling for boarding as I am typing this. 6hr flight into Madrid now and then off to Barcelona. Thanks for reading! 

Making Of: Headwaters

These are my reflections on the making of "Headwaters." From start to finish. This is my perspective as their producer, friend, and one (of many) of their biggest fans. I believe in why they are making the music they are making, and their hearts behind making this record.  This process is an amazing example how a dream unfolds - every big dream is realized one baby step at a time. 

John Busby, Kerri Owens and Collin Smith , now juniors at UGA, are a part of incredible group of young people that I have had the privilege of getting to know over years.  I met each of them briefly their freshman year, and it has been an incredible encouragement and inspiration to watch how they have grown and how God has begun to knit them together as a family and as a creative unit. Last March, Collin began asking me some technical questions about recording music in a living room setting. Their vision was to gather their friends and record some songs they had been writing live. Through a series of events, they were eventually able to come see a session being run at 1093 for our other friends "The Welcome Home." Then we had this thought... "what if we did it here?" Another step taken. 

listening room, pc Addison Hicks

mixing in The Eagles Nest

Rehearsal at 1093

From that point on, they hit the ground running with songwriting and rehearsals. Nothing much happens on my end in the April, just a couple pre production meetings at 1000 Faces Coffee (got to get the good stuff). I continue to brainstorm how to set up the session. On April 29th we record. Full day, set up in the AM, Headwaters rehearsal in the afternoon. Then, we hit record. I am going to skip most of the technical reflections on our process because quite frankly, in this case, it didn't matter that much. The songs were incredible and they had the right heart. It couldn't go wrong. But, basically I tried my best to isolate the sources, chose microphones that would not bleed into each other, and positioned certain figure 8 pattern microphones to take advantage of the null areas in their polar pattern. We were also able to further isolate sources by strategically positioning the Gobo's, which are like movable sound blocking walls. Pretty cool and useful tools. I want to thank Josh Parks and Addison Hicks for their help on the production side of this record. Your help made everything go so smoothly. 

saving the truck

Quick side story, I almost drove my truck off a wall because the driveway ended at a angle i could not see when backing out of the driveway. Addison was my hero in that scenario, and all these amazing guys. 

Fast forwarding: We spend May, June, and July mixing and mastering slowly. Every is traveling and working throughout the summer so we take are time with it. We finish up the masters in August and get together at my apartment to do a final listening. John Busby makes us all amazing coffee on the V60 and we enjoy the finished product together. There is something so special about taking the time and fully appreciate a journey you have been on with people. Especially with making records because it takes so long to do, it's almost like you have climbed this mountain with your friends and you can finally sit, release your breath, and enjoy the view you all worked to get to. 

Looking Back: The entire process, to me, was a miracle. Every connection, how smoothly the recording went, the fact that no one hit any wrong notes the whole time, how everything sounded in the end, the amazing relationships and friendships that came of this... It's all such a miracle to me. What I said in the beginning of the post grows and truer and truer with each project that I work on. A dream is not revealed in a day. It's revealed through every "yes" that is said and every small step of faith that is taken towards finishing. John, Kerri and Collin went "yes" all the way from the very beginning. and now look what has come of it! They have created such a beautiful collection of songs for all of us to enjoy. I have been so encouraged by their humility, courage, and purity. They were aware of the temptation to rely on their own strength and were able to overcome and push through on their knees. From the very beginning they surrendered this to God. I truly believe God honored all of us. He honored our desire to make something amazing to be a light in the community. He honored our reliance. He honored the trust. The project was in his hands the whole time. 

listening party!

Looking forward: I can't wait to see what comes out of Headwaters in the future. But also, if they never did anything again, it would change nothing about what they just accomplished. Worldly success, to me, can be worse than failure for a human heart. It is not inherently bad, I just think we are inherently prone to forget who makes anything possible. Success confuses us, puffs us up and distracts us from the main point. We need to define success as again, the simple "yes." Headwaters has already won not because they gained a record deal, signed a publishing deal, gained followers or fame. They have won because they felt a pull in their hearts, and they stewarded their time, efforts, talents and energy to pursue it in faith. They stepped out their immediate sight and pursued a vision that required faith to achieve. I believe that this heart and this energy behind their music will release others to pursue their dreams in the same way. This whole album and process has been fire under my seat to run my race even better. Guys, I can't say enough good about this. Thanks for trusting me with your dream. 

I want to thank John, Kerri and Collin. I want to thank Mark Crafton for capturing the day beautifully. Thanks to Josh Parks and Addison Hicks. Thanks to Philip McClure for giving it art that captured it so well. You guys are amazing.

So, without further adieu, here is a link to the record on Spotify. Stream it, save it, share it.  and please, enjoy it deeply. Things will only get better.

Take a step back, find mountains soon.

A photo of the empty womb (credit mixerman). Paused for a moment.

It is Thursday of week 2. We have halted the recording for just a moment. Recording a record is difficult on everyone involved. It is the searching for deep things in you. It involves dreams, ego, pride and many visions and opinions. In my experience, I have found it to be a process that acts as a mirror to reflect what is going on within my own heart. If I am impatient, if I am prideful, if I am lazy, if I am willing to settle for something less than amazing - Recording an album will reveal it. The band is working quite fantastically and we have sprinted through the first 2 weeks. We have most of the skeleton of each song recorded and we are weeks ahead of schedule. 

We decided to take a night off Thursday and pray for the album. We prayed to be re-centered, to be filled again with love. It is easy to get lost in doing something and forget why you ever set out to do it in the first place. It's good to revisit your core values and revisit them often. The prayer was so powerful and I felt like God was able to lift some blinders for the band and remind all of us the point of making music. 

I always try to remind myself. The process to anything amazing will be filled with difficulty and pressure. That's the price of getting to the view, the hike. So I am not surprised in the slightest that we have run into this. It's just another opportunity to see God move boulders and to be lifted on his wings to victory. The record truly sounds amazing so far and will have such an impact on it's listeners.

This weekend I decided to go to the mountains. It was a beautiful day with friends new and old. It was one of the most special days ever, truly. We hiked Mount Yonah, experienced some local wine at Yonah Mountain Vineyards, ate some amazing Chinese food, watched football and even encouraged each other at the end of the day. We were together all day. I love days where you have no where next to go... Those days are good for the soul. 

Here's a picture from the top. We'll be back on this soon. 

One Step Closer

1:34AM on the morning of September 13 2017

Wrapping up my evening. We have been recording guitars starting at 5PM today. It was a joyful time. Today up to bat is New Realm's other guitarist John Dexter Burch. This is the first electric guitar session in the new Bloom studios space (aka my apartment). We set up the amps in the bathroom and begin. I discover a couple of the amp modelers in Komplete 11... and we are blwon away. The versatility, accuracy and creative workspace are insane. I'll give a screen shot. I love the layout and how they mimic some of the hardware and give hints to certain amp models... Very clever Komplete. Very clever. 

JDB in the track. Shoutout Thrill Will chillin

Komplete Guitar Rack is amazing

We ordered pizza, which is a recording project must. Dominoes > John's it has been decided. I like the dough of Dominos, though John's includes the coveted "Mana" yellow garlic nectar. This will be an ongoing battle within me. Anyways, things are going well. We are moving right along. More guitars tomorrow.  

1:30AM, been working on the website since about 11. I get way too OCD about these things. Letters, colors, certain spacings. Sometimes you get to a point and gotta let it rest until the morning. It's been a good day. A really hard day with a couple stones thrown down in front of me, but each is an opportunity to learn how to run a little different. I am blessed and thankful for God, grace and friends to make music with. Let's get some sleep. 

New Realm Update - Recording in a Tropical Storm

It’s 1:00 AM on the morning of Tuesday September 12th.

When a tropical storm occurs, it makes it a little tricker to get things done. Power was doing great today. Spent most of the day getting stuff ready for our Sunday service at Classic City. Got up early, went to the gym, even got to wear a sweater. Amazing. 5:30 hits. Black. We had planned to record guitars at my studio at 6:30. Evan and John Dexter Burch, who will now be referred to as JDB, arrive. We hungry. Attempt at chinese food at Golden Dragon, but due to unforeseen business we try Taco Bell, one of my favorite establishments. Even the bell didn’t ring today. We return home in the dark, empty handed, hearts even emptier. Evan makes us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I check to see if Studio 1093 has power and we decide to take a chance and go there. Power and no internet, which makes it harder but definitely workable. Turns out I couldn't update a program on my computer so we take a little field trip over to neighbor studio Chase Park to bounce down some Pro Tools 10 files to Pro tools 9. Evan and Bobby get restless in the process so Evan makes a bet with Bobby to slap him in the face and record it in slow motion. Bet goes through, Bobby gets slapped in face in slow motion. Bounces finish and we return to 1093 to cut vocals. It was an incredible night. Ended up using a vintage Neumann U67, my favorite vocal mic in history, to cut all of Bobby’s vocal takes for the evening. That thing just sounds right. We go for a couple hours and decide to call it a night. Lovely night of dancing, laughing and making slight fun of each other… love it. 

Shoutout to Vern, the MVP studio intern who has been such an incredible help. Thanks also to Holly and Will, other interns who have served the project. They are MVP’s!

I’ve gotta go to sleep, it’s bene such a hard day sitting at home.

I pray that power comes back to us! Night!

New Realm Week 1, Day 2 - The Late One

Thursday and Friday, we have passed hump day. Finishing and starting are always the hardest parts. Thursday has been a terrific day for us. Evan, New Realm’s guitar player, got off work in a fortunate turn of events and was able to come record some electric guitar parts for the record. I LOVE recording guitars. To me, they fill such an important role in a composition. It’s a little different than the importance of drums and bass, or vocals or keys for that matter. It’s like the icing on the cake that makes the cake shine and look delicious. Evan and I began the day by getting him some food. Guitarists gotta eat. Did you know Schlotsky’s makes a sandwich size title “Large” that is actually massive? It looks like a personal pizza except its a gourmet turkey sandwich. Anyway, I am digressing. 

Evan Reece rippin on the archtop

The boys

We feed Evan and then we go on a hunt for a vintage AC30. After making a few last minute calls, we are unable to find this grail, so we head to the studio. I choose to record 2 main amps. One is a Matchless Lightning that I used to own but traded it for a vintage guitar, and the other is my little champion, the trusty ol Fender Blues Junior. I. Love. This. Amp. It never sounds bad, nomatter what you plug into it. For those reading this who care about the more technical side of this process read the next few sentences. If you don’t care for it much skip to the next paragraph for a more condensed update :). I decided to set up three microphones in the recording booth. One was the legendary SM57, another a Coles 4038, and the last a Royer 121. I like the sound of the ribbon mics in front of the amps versus the dynamic SM57 because often they sound smoother, warmer and seem to “sit backwards” in the whole soundscape. I set them up, run them into pre’s, and can easily a/b/c the sounds to see what works best for each particular situation. I found that, as always, the blues junior was amazing for some of the quieter, more melodic applications and the Matchless sang beautifully for the rhythm parts and some cleaner ambient sounds we were creating. Shoutout to Earthquaker devices for helping shape some of our sounds. 

We break and go eat at Agua Linda on Prince. Quesadillas are good for all. Bobby eats a burrito that is roughly 1 foot long. Laughs are had over mexican food, then back to the cave we go. We attempt some guitars, but it was getting late. We break out our best friend JUNO and rip into some more synths. Bobby and Drew hang around for a while, and Drew exits. Bobby and I stay at the studio until about 3:00AM to compose an interlude that I think is unfolding beautifully. 

Thanks Will for letting us record the Nord

Vintage Rolan Juno

Often in the recording (or creative) process, the best ideas are the ones that are never planned. We must be willing to explore and to say yes to something that makes us uncomfortable. That’s how growing happens! My favorite environment is one where people are searching for something unsung, together. I love this particular part we wrote because it was a spontaneous deacon and we didn’t have a tight grip, or grip at all, on how it needed to look. We just created. I can’t wait to share this piece with yall.  I get home and in bed around 3:30 because we decide to play halo after returning to the apartment. We’re fully addicted. 

Beginnings: New Realm Week 1

Whew! We are two days into the project now. It has been an incredible time of exploration, reaching, and sound hunting. Tuesday (day1), we tracked drums and bass mostly with a couple of acoustic takes sprinkled in. After we set the foundation, we were able to begin exploring with percussive elements and sprinkles to put into the mix. My favorite moment from yesterday was when we stumbled upon a vintage synth on the other side of the studio. There is a song we are working on that has a sparse, electronic vibe that needed some extra mojo pads and synth basses to fill it out. We found this vintage Juno 106 sitting on the plate reverb chamber in Studio B and decided to plug it in and see how she sounded. It was perfect and heavenly. Not much we can show you just yet, but think about the intro to TV series "Stranger Things." Those sounds were created with machines like the Juno 106 and other vintage synthesizers that operate like this one.

I'm at coffee this morning. We're starting at noon these days so I am trying to take the mornings to clear my head before we go deep in it again. Creating requires a lot of focus and sometimes your brain can feel like spaghetti after long days in the studio. But, we are energized and excited about how this is coming out. I think that these are the best sounding drums I've been able to record to date. I found that one of the weapons used to achieve the sounds was the Epirical Labs Distressor to 'extend' the kick and snare hits, hard to describe but to my ear sounds like they phatten up. Then I am putting a Coles 4038 on the opposite wall of the drum room and smashing that through a limiter. This effect can make the drums sound HUGE!! and we all know we love HUGE drums. 

I'm excited for today. My studio goal each day is to try something that I haven't tried yet. Yesterday was hardware synthesizer, I wonder what today will be....