Recording

As I write this (in early November 2021), I am in that highly anticipatory phase of the album recording process: all of the tracking (instruments, vocals) is done, and my producer/engineer is now mixing* the 11 songs I recorded in his studio over the summer. So my role in all of this is more or less over, and the rest is pretty much in the hands of my immensely capable and talented recording engineer/producer! (Ricky Rodriguez of Bomb House Recording in Morganton, NC).

I was kinda preparing for disappointment with this album, if I must be brutally honest. But don’t get me wrong! I wasn’t at all concerned about the recording process itself; in fact, I was looking forward to it! And I have absolute faith in Ricky’s ability to make my widdle singy-songs sound marvelous! No, I had braced for a letdown because I thought that my second set of songs might suffer from “sophomore slump”.

I gotta say, I was wrong to worry - I’m really thrilled with the way these second album songs came out! I guess there’s something to say about lowering your expectations!

In all seriousness, it’s easy - REALLY easy - for us songwriters to look back at our pieces of art and see only the flaws… “I shoulda used a diminished chord instead of a minor there. Why didn’t I clean up that lyric line? Too many choruses! Not enough choruses!” And on and on and on… it’s exhausting.

But in the end, those songs are, um, done. Yes, I said it. They are DONE. And flaws and all, they get brought to the studio.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but it kinda takes some courage and major leaps of faith - and bruising vulnerability - to bring songs into a studio to record (or to record them at your own digital audio workstation at home for you tech-y types). Because there is a constant tug of war between “I want people to hear my songs!” vs. “These songs are not good enough!” 

But I end up asking myself: why not record them? I could easily leave those songs on the shelf, maybe play them at gigs now and then, maybe sigh and wonder what if I had recorded them? To me, being a complete singer-songwriter involves this final step, this last plunge into the great ocean of self-doubt and coming back to the surface with a handful of shiny pearls…

By the way, the album of 11 original songs by yours truly will be out in 2022, and it’s called “Like A Luna Moth.”

Hope you like it.

*mixing = adjusting the sound of each instrument track by adding effects (if needed), balancing the volumes (aka “levels”), etc.