Smoke and Ash

Writing is so weird... creating is weird. The variety of ways you can get to where you need to be on any particular piece of creativity... you just never know how it's going to unfold, what the end result will be, and how it will relate to where you started and what you intended when you started.

In general, I find it's just best to as open to the possibilities as possible... work hard, be honest... be ready for anything. I finished writing (really, rewriting) a song last week and was curious as to when I had first started experimenting with the chorus... I knew it had been around for awhile and gone through (at least) two completely separate versions and several other false starts. According to my writing book, I first jotted down the words to the chorus in April of 2009... so about 10 months before I finally hit upon the "right" setting for them.

In between, I can trace the evolution (and de-evoluation) of the song until last week... truly a bizarre map... But... all's well that ends well. So...

SMOKE AND ASH Is this any way to live? Filling the silences with words poured through a sieve Into your heart Until it pulls apart Is this any way to die? Falling into days until we close our eyes And moving on And moving on No it's not okay if you go And go fading away into smoke And ash from fires we'll always regret Is this any way to be? Sorting through photographs and dreaming of the sea And who we were So unsure Is this any way to try? We pack up boxes and stack them to the sky To build a wall Until they all fall No it's not okay if you go And go fading away into smoke And ash from fires we'll always regret

jbg

Of Cats and Men

We got a Cat, a six month old male adopted from PAWS... he is, as yet, unnamed... he came with the name Bandit, but it doesn't suit his character and we haven't hit upon a good moniker.

He and the dog have gotten off to a pretty good start... Hendrix has been remarkably sweet and tolerant, and Cat is already showing signs of warming up to Hendrix... Adding a new animal to the 2010 mix has been an interesting twist... we have so much going on that we were unfazed when Cat's initial vet visit revealed he had a common parasite... the treatment was 5 days of oral medication followed by a bath... somewhat surprisingly, the oral medication administration was way more trying than the bath. 

Now that the medical trauma is (hopefully) over, we need a name...

Stay tuned.

J

Hope

Life is strange.

The winter solstice... 3 years ago yesterday I heard the first inkling of what Paper Arrows would become... a rough mix of the radically reworked Look Alive.

This winter solstice was my first day in a new life... a life completely rooted in playing and teaching music.

I have a lot more to say about that and a host of other things...

I hope this new life will allow me to write a bit more often here... 

I hope 2010 will be as wonderful and exciting as it seems like it will be.

I... hope.

XO

j

Echo in Disguise

You're never alone if you've got me So let's fly to the coast and sleep on the sea I opened my eyes and saw you were there Reading the news and breathing the air I am paralyzed An echo in disguise That's alright What you say, I'll say (You say, I say) Word by word Day by day by day...

jbg

Back

Wow... Where have the weeks gone? Looks like 2009 will be characterized by barely-monthly postings here. We did the Chicago Triathlon in August and I thought once that was over, I'd have more time and energy to dedicate to this... But, alas.

So... In sum: We licensed the second Paper Arrows disc to a bunch of shows on a couple of TV networks (MTV, E!, Oxygen).

We signed with a college booking agent for 2010 and are hoping he gets us out on the road.

We (not Paper Arrows, but rather Andrea and I) did the Chicago Triathlon... and it was an incredible and successful experience.

We traveled to NYC (twice) and Vegas for weddings.

Quell initiated and finalized plans to release a couple records in the next six months not by Paper Arrows.

I've been continuing to plug away at writing the next Paper Arrows record... mostly writing early in the morning, routine I started back in the spring... I have to say, it's been challenging. I have about 15 or so songs done... very few have come easily. I keep waiting to kind of turn a corner on this group of songs but it hasn't happened yet...

I'm usually a two-for-one writer, i.e. I need to write two songs to get one that is good enough to record... meaning I'd like to have about 20 songs done before I think about recording... out of the 15 I have, maybe 6 or 7 are what I would consider strong enough... so I'm pretty close to the two for one ratio... Still... this record hasn't quite crystalized yet... the other two Paper Arrows records, maybe just by default and subject matter, had very clear turning points from a writing standpoint... songs I wrote that kind of focused the projects...

Although, upon further reflection... I do think I have the first and last songs written, the bookends... and that's something. So... I will keep pushing in the mornings, keep writing on the train... keep on looking for what this record will be... I know it will show itself.

Eventually.

jbg