Friday, December 31, 2010

The Year That Was

Wow, has it been a long time since I've posted anything.

Now that I'm starting work on a new album in earnest, it's time to reactivate the blog. So, let me begin with a short recap of my busy musical year that was 2010.

  • I completed two albums, The February Project and The Structure Creates Itself. These are available for streaming and download at my BandCamp web site.
  • I acquired a ridiculous number of additional guitars. Too many. My studio looks like a guitar forest. Expect selling in the near future.
  • I conducted my first recorded forays into guitar synthesis and substantial keyboard work, and I acquired an electronic wind instrument to be used in the next phase of Getting Beyond Just Guitar.
  • After completing The Structure Creates Itself in April, I spent the remainder of the year successfully expanding my guitar chops through incessant noodling, and I also began rethinking my lead guitar sounds, focusing on a somewhat less distorted, but fatter, sound. Expect new music in 2011 to sound considerably different than previous Council of One albums.
  • I had a hell of a lot of fun exploring the deep recesses of 1970s jazz and funk. I'm now regularly listening to artists I had barely heard of, or was completely unaware of, a year ago, such as Donald Byrd, Eddie Henderson, Bobbi Humphrey, David S. Ware, Bennie Maupin, Joe Chambers, Julian Priester, Roy Ayers, Bobby Hutcherson, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. I also started listening seriously to certain legendary funk and soul artists whose music I hadn't fully appreciated before, such as Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan & Rufus, Rick James, and the Temptations.
  • I stopped listening to rock and metal almost completely by mid-year. However, the sad loss of Ronnie James Dio, one of my musical heroes, put a lot of his music into rotation in my media player. Otherwise, my new rock acquisitions were few: mainly new albums by Joe Satriani, Black Country Communion, and Eric Johnson, as well as expanding my Jimi Hendrix collection. Rock and metal just don't inspire me much at the moment.
  • Way too many cool concerts to list here.
On the negative side, my old habits of procrastination roared back during the last half of the year. While I played a lot of guitar, I wrote a grand total of four bars of music during that period. I set aside time over the last two weeks of the year to begin working on new material, but I didn't accomplish much, since my studio is a bloody mess at the moment. That will change, I promise. In fact, that sounds a little bit like a New Year's resolution, doesn't it? More on that tomorrow.

I hope your year was as creatively bountiful as mine was, and that you have a wonderful 2011, however you choose to spend it.

Happy New Year!

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