Slackjaw's Forum

I was out at Western State Hospital yesterday helping some troubled teens learn how to be in a rock band. I’m not really one of those people who feels held back in an endeavor like this—by the fact that none of them could really play an instrument. Well that’s not true exactly, there were a few who knew a little bit of guitar, and one who could play a little bit of drums, so there was a pretty good jumping off point. Up till then, my only experience in trying to get a bunch of non musicians together and teaching them how to play, was years ago after a night spent drinking up in Seattle. I used to record in a warehouse space I called the Brown Bag Studios on 9th and Virginia and on that night I wound up teaching Sweetie and our friends Linda and hubby Rob, how to play just enough to rock out and have some fun. Of course it helped that Rob knew how to play some drums—helped some, anyway. My friend Jeanlizabeth has worked at the hospital for years now, but just recently was able to procur...

Now that fall is almost here, The Shed™ where I do my recording and mixed my last CD, is starting to get a little cold. For that reason I've moved a good portion of it into the dining room, where, since we don't own a table, I've managed to claim a section of the room for my own nefarious purposes. I’ve also added a few new items, like a decent pair of monitors, a new mic and an updated Protools system. (7.2 Yeow!) so I’m feeling pretty stylish. This winter I plan to start the long process of recording and putting out another CD. I’ve been writing a lot of new songs lately, and that in turn has made me want to get them onto disk. Funny how that’s changed;”get them onto disk”—how tape has become as obsolete as camera film, at least for me.