Take One!...

Last week, after two solid days of rehearsal, the band went into the freelance studio at Madison Music Foundry. I was playing keys, Nate Rentmeester was at the guitar, Rob Jolin played the drums, and Matt Pea did double duty playing the bass and running the recording equipment. It was an amazing experience, and we were able to knock out eight songs in two days. Granted, the vocals have yet to be laid down, but we came out with solid rhythm tracks. They have a nice space over there, and the folks at MMF were very accommodating. You can find some nice pics of the process here.

Two weeks until vocals...

Does the Nigerian Prince Need Piano Lessons?

The other day I mentioned on Twitter that having been a piano teacher, I get the occasional spam email fishing for some personal info. Thought I'd share the latest one--this one's pretty typical. Perhaps I should start teaching private grammar lessons instead ;)

-Josh


Hello,

I'm Mr Kelly Freeman during my search for a music instrument lessons teacher that would always take my Daughter (Lara) and I found your advert.Your advert looks great and it is very okay to me since you specialize in the area I am seeking for her. My daughter will be coming to the United States of America before the ending of May for 2 Months. She is just 14yr Old and also a beginner,I want you to help me teach her music Lessons during her stay in the United States of America because i will not want her to less busy, i want her to engage in something to keep her busy during her stay.

So, kindly let me know your charges cost per week in order for me to arrange for the payment before she travels down to your country.I would also like to know if there is any Text Book you will recommend for her as a beginner so that she will be reading privately at home after the lesson during her stay.

Please Advise back on;

(1) Your charges per 1 hour twice a week for 2 Months?

(2) The Day and time you will be available to teach her During the week?

(3) Tuition address?

I will be looking forward to read from you soonest.

Best Regards,

MR KELLY FREEMAN


--Yeah, I'll get right on that!

First Project M Post

So, over at the Project M website (found here) we are encouraged to blog about the experience. I thought I would share my first one here as well :)

"The Great Outdoors"

Here we go! I am so excited to be a part of this season of Project M. This week's meeting was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed meeting and spending some time with the other contestants. The impromptu after-party at O'Grady's was particularly enjoyable! I look forward to not only spending the next few weeks with these guys, but also the connections and friendships that are sure to bloom.

Our first challenge actually got me pretty excited. Earth Day... I have always been a nature nerd :P As I thought about this first challenge, I started remembering everything from reading "Your Big Backyard" and "Ranger Rick" when I was a child to camping as a teenager--especially recalling the times I would spend with my grandfather in the woods of central Wisconsin.

I was born and raised on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, but my grandparents lived in Ripon, WI. I'd come up and visit every summer! My grandfather owned a couple tree farms up near Princeton, and we'd make sure we spent plenty of time there. He taught me almost everything I know about the outdoors and our stewardship of this planet. A lifetime member of the Sierra Club, he was personally instrumental in acquiring some of the land used in Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. He has always been a hero of mine, and I feel like this challenge is the perfect topic to dedicate to my Grandpa, Joe Mills. I hope you enjoy the song half as much as I have enjoyed this unique trip down memory lane :)

-Josh

Pre-game Stretch

I was selected as a finalist in Project M this year. I'm very excited and a little nervous! The website is here. Filming begins next week, and I'm really looking forward to meeting the other contestants. We'll also receive our first week's challenge on Monday... no idea what to expect! Constraints tend to help the creative process, so hopefully the challenges won't be too broad or vague.

Today I'm working on getting my songwriting chops ready for next week, so I decided to pull some old backburner tunes out of the cellar and see what I could do with them. Things are going well, I think. Right now, I'm looking at a tune I based off of a whole-tone scale. The melody and chords of the verses are done, but the lyrics are out-dated. So, I'm rewriting the lyrics, and I need to come up with a chorus and/or bridge. I'll post the tune if and when I finish it ;)

Wish me luck!!

Project M Entry

So, I figured I would bite the bullet and enter a songwriting competition. 105.5 Triple M in Madison, WI started their second annual Project M competition. It looks like it would be a lot of fun--every week the finalists receive a writing challenge and have to come up with something awfully quickly! All of the submissions and challenges are going to be videoed and posted online.

I decided to enter with my song, "A Lot of Road to Go." I will find out on April 2 if I have been chosen as a finalist... crossing my fingers!

First Album Rehearsal with the Band

I had the guys over to my house last night for the first four-piece rehearsal of my upcoming album. Rob Jolin was on drums, Nate Rentmeester on the guitar, and Matt Pea played the bass. On the docket were three of the more rockin' tunes--"Lot of Road to Go," "Where Are You Tonight," and "Together Alone." Nate and I had played through these tunes a few times already; tonight was really Rob and Matt's introduction to them. The boys took to the songs extremely quickly, and as the evening progressed, things actually started tightening up! Big props to Nate for making such quick work of translating my ramblings into "drummer-speak!" My favorite comments of the night came from Rob--"I can't wait to get my full kit in here and start opening up!" and "I am pleasantly surprised... I figured we'd be in here playing some Joshua Kadison."--don't worry Rob... there will be plenty of sappy slow stuff on the album too!!

I Try to Be

Let's see... It's been almost a year since I've done anything with this blog. We'll just act like nothing happened and continue as usual... Here is a song that I found while rooting around in my old Google Docs. I did a little tweaking of it today, and I think it's pretty much performance ready. I put a fun little bass part in the left hand that I'm awfully proud of (I just need to practice it a bit more!!), so come to my next solo show and request "I Try to Be" (do infinitives get capitalized? I don't know.)

I Try To Be

I don't know what to say, I don't know where to go
With all the lovely ladies I meet out on the road
It's painfully obvious each time I try to speak
I ain't no Casanova, though I try to be.

I go out to the club, I sit down at the bar
Old friends come talking at me, I don't know who they are
I smile and nod politely though I got no memory
I ain't no Merriam-Webster, though I try to be

It seems that every time I sit and write a song
Every other line starts to sound like Elton John
I'd be flattered, Lord, to keep such company, but
I ain't no Amadeus, though I try to be

I thank you all for sitting here and listening to my tune
I didn't change your religion, didn't make no ladies swoon
We're all just out here drinking, we're one big family
Cause we ain't no proselytizers, and we don't pretend to be

Come down front and have a beer, your first one'll be on me

We're all best friends tonight, 'least till that clock strikes three.