Moving Forward With RoxX

Spent two days in studio this week with Tommy recording new vocals for new songs, including a totally different collaboration Tommy brought me in on.  We finished vocals on "Life Is Good" yesterday and all that's lacking on that tune is the guitar solo.  Today we re-visited one of our most recent unreleased tunes "Eleven Or Bust" and totally re-worked the vocals.  I sing this song in a gravelly voice and it's almost a call and answer song.  We removed the gravelly voices from the "call" portion and replaced them with sweeter sounding smooth voices and it's totally changed the entire sound of the song.

Tommy mapped out the background vocals and recorded them himself, today he broke them down to individual voices and had me re-record them in my voice.  Yeah, I was totally unaware of the structure of background vocals before today and I have a great new respect for everything he's done to teach me as we go along.  We're going to stick to this new method of recording vocals, meaning we will have to revisit most tunes after lead vocals are recorded to re-record backing vocals as needed.  And yeah, I'm jacked.  Hearing MY voice doubled in 3 voices in a 4 part harmony kind of made me sit up and wonder what IS possible in the future.

Tommy has already sent me two more new tunes to write lyrics for and he's shown me two more he's got in works today.  He's off of work next week too, hoping I can finish one of the two songs I have now so we can get ahead of the game before his work schedule picks up again.  He'll work "regular" from January-March with the madness hitting prior to the spring furniture market.  Yeah, Tommy's a studio photographer in the furniture industry by trade.

We're still having fun and using RoxX as therapy and a getaway from everyday stress and we're both quite humbled at the fact that we are in a position where we are writing and recording music much in the vein of our own favorite bands and artists.  As a matter of fact, the new song "Life Is Good" is another very Rush-sounding tune, yes it was intentional on my part, and Tommy challenged me to open up on the final verse.  His instructions were "Go full Geddy!"  I didn't think I could pull it off but surprisingly did it.  We took a break and began on the backing vocals.  Went even higher on them, unreal hearing myself singing those notes!

"Realize you must have the dream to begin to make it come true in your life my friend
The Golden Rule was so outdated just yesterday it seems
Be the light of day - Fight the dark of night - 'Cause life is good!"

"Life Is Good" - RoxX (unreleased)

Feeling Relieved, But Not Backing Down!

Yeah, with the legalities surrounding the 2016 election now finalized I am feeling somewhat relieved that the media hubub about electors flipping votes turned out to be ANOTHER loss for Hillary, as she had five electors choose other candidates.  For the record, that's the most of any candidate in 100 years, and before you blow a gasket, Mr. Trump lost two himself.  And the terminology calls these folks "faithless voters" and yes, I agree that there has been a MAJOR lack of faith across this nation the past decade or so.

I'm beginning to also feel good that the majority of America believes as I do as opposed to the more liberal agenda pushed by the media psychopaths.  Anybody else notice that since the election the name-calling and accusations from that side haven't slowed down a bit?  I've heard the most absurd suggestions SINCE the Electoral College vote was made official, such as attempting to have Trump declared "mentally unfit" to serve.  Same folks have no idea how high the President-elect's IQ actually is.

Nope, I don't think I'll be backing down any time soon, I shall continue to call things like I see them on the political front.  And I do wish the best to both Donald Trump and incoming NC Governor Roy Cooper, after all, what they do affects all of us.  I also applaud Governor Pat McCrory for initiating the repeal of HB2 the same day the City of Charlotte repealed the nondiscrimination bill that created the need for HB2.  I am somewhat surprised, but history will scratch it's head wondering how McCrory got beat in 2016 and continued to work for the people of North Carolina until his term expired.  I really thought HB2 would be a carrot that the GOP supermajorities in the NC General Assembly held above Roy's head for the next four years.

Now, everybody pay attention to all of those offended by a law who pulled their business out of our state and be wary of spending money with them again in the future.  The NBA and Bruce Springsteen come to mind first, along with the NCAA.  Perhaps North Carolina could create a special user fee for our state's publicly owned facilities and require pro basketball, rock concert promoters and college tournaments to pay a use tax which could be used toward public education or such.  If they complain of such donations, that doesn't help their public relations at all.  Just a thought...

Merry Christmas ya'll.  Be safe out there, aiight? 

My Personal Sanity

My personal sanity walks on all fours.  He's bi-racial, well actually he's black and white.  Kind of monochrome color scheme.  My sanity wakes me up several nights a week for a snack and has made himself at home both on my lap and on my desk.  He has already became the central figure of our household and makes demands on our time and attention.

Being someone's personal sanity is quite an undertaking but this individual seems up to the task and happy to be a part of our family.  We don't know his history before he showed up on my son's doorstep a few Christmases ago, but he's obviously traveled the world and is quite cosmopolitan in his attitude.  This street-educated fellow is quite fastidious and always looks sharp as a tack because he knows appearance is important.

The personal sanity business picked up earlier this year after my previous sanity became seriously ill and passed away.  I had already found new candidates for the job opening but the boss wasn't ready.  Out of the blue we get a message on Facebook from our adopted son Dave and he's offering to drive me a new personal sanity all the way from Maryland.  And the next day, he did.  

Pip, named from the Dickens classic, is easily the largest cat I've ever owned.  He's a sweetheart that loves to see someone make a move toward the kitchen because he knows that's where the kitty treats live.  He sleeps at my feet, often taking up half of the bed and wakes me up by patting my nose with his paw.  That normally results in me making a trip to the little boy's room and then following him to the kitchen downstairs for an early morning treat.  

Pip has been messing with the blinds in the kitchen lately so I cleared a spot for him on the table next to the window so he can see outside into the woods.  A couple of hours later I hear something hitting the glass and Pip making strange little sounds.  No wonder.  I walk to the window and there are squirrels outside hanging on trees and the privacy wall chattering at Mr. Cat.  I guess he told them.  He's inside in warm and cozy while they're outside looking for a nut.