Old lyrics are actually good

I just dug out my old lyrics for song number two, and I don't know why I didn't like them. They're actually really good, better than the song I just wrote. So suddenly I have two songs written. As soon as I finish recording number one, I'll move on to this one. This is great. Puts me right back on schedule for playing open-mic nights this summer.

Better guitar takes after breakfast

I cheated this morning and made a big breakfast before recording my guitar. I think it helped a lot. I did three new takes at 10% faster tempo than before, and while none of them are perfect, I'll do some editing to make it sound like two perfect, double-tracked takes. Should work well. I'll re-record my vocals this weekend, and maybe I'll finally get this first song finished.

I'm learning why people don't record music early in the morning before breakfast. My schedule isn't making this easy.

Not so bad

Ok, I waited a day to hear my recording again, and now I like it and want to show it off! But I know it can be way better. Hopefully soon I'll record it on a day when I'm playing better...like I was this mornin'. Then I can finally move on to the next song.

First full recording not so good

This morning I finally made a recording with vocals. It has its moments, but overall it's not too good. So I'm a little frustrated because I've been working on this song for several weeks and I'm still not playing it very well. On the other hand, it's good that I'm continually challenging myself. Maybe I'll be a better guitarist in the end.

Playing guitar is kind of like sports for me. You have your good days and bad days, and most are in-between. Thursday I'll pick the guitar back up and try again, maybe try it a different way. I won't give up.

Course it doesn't help that I'm doin' all this before breakfast.

Lyrics finished to first song

I just passed a milestone by finishing the song I was writing. It's been months since I finished a song and more than a year since I wrote one I halfway liked.

I changed the title from "Savin' Grace" to "Southern Hills," which is now a metaphor for savin' grace. The song is obviously about salvation, though.

I need to make some changes to my backup track, which means recording all the guitar parts again. I've made enough updates to this song that the old track just won't work. Then I'll record my vocals and put a demo together.

Then it's on to the next song, which has some old lyrics that I need to either work on a lot or scrap altogether.

Savin' Grace

In the last couple of weeks, song #1 has acquired a guitar solo, a chorus, a title, and this morning almost a first verse. It's called "Savin' Grace," and it's pretty much gonna be about the experience of salvation by grace. I was pretty frustrated with it this morning until a few words entered my head for the first verse, and I finally felt like it was heading somewhere.

The bridge is gonna be the complicated part. It's an unusual song in several ways, one of which being that the bridge will have far more lyrics than the short verses and chorus. So there's still a lot of work ahead, but it's all lyric writing. Once that's done, the song will be ready for live performance and a solid demo recording.

Have a Track

This morning went well, and I finally have a recording with percussion that I'm happy with. It's crude, but it's something. It lacks a guitar solo, so that will be something to focus on in the coming weeks. It also still lacks any lyrics whatever.

I have to be at church early tomorrow, so I probably won't work on this song again until Tuesday, but I'll try to think hard this week about what it should be about and maybe stick a lyric or two in there to get my mind goin'.