Earlier this year I had 40% of the Denton band TOMKAT in the studio for another live session. Andrew McMillan (guitar) and Katrina Cain (vocals, piano) showed up with stripped down arrangements of 2 songs from their latest album, Icarus. TOMKAT are a band that has slowly been gaining ground and much deserved notoriety in Denton and DFW, helped in part by recent performances at SXSW and rave reviews of their album by such critics as the Huffington Post. I'm not sure how to unhelpfully stereotype their band into a meaningless genre corner: it's perhaps pop, dream pop, jazzish electronica, dance rock, music that one might groove to, not sure. What I am sure of is that they are very talented and

So last night I played a pretty cool venue in Dallas call the Rustic. It's located in uptown, which means that it is trendy, mildly expensive, and full of people much more attractive and classy than me, which is of course not saying a whole lot. Regardless it was a great place to play despite the inclement weather: we wound up dominating conversations at tables close to the stage inside instead of serenading hundreds of people outside on the patio. I had a great time, because I got to play with a good friend of mine, Gary Kyle. I've known Gary for about six years. He hired me to play guitar when I moved to Denton in 2012, apparently not perceptive enough at the time to notice that I had abso

So today's session was with Denton darlings Pearl Earl. I had to say I was very much looking forward to it and was definitely not disappointed. The ladies that make up the band, Ariel, Bailey, Chelsey, and Stefanie, are all great musicians and very easy to work with. They are a lot of fun, but at the same time they approach their musicianship and the sound they're going for very seriously. Ariel's guitar tone is very complex, with a lot of modulation as well as delay on top of a pretty sweet distortion and octave pedal. It serves their songwriting well though as it creates a very psychedelic vibe, combined with Chelsey's trippy keyboard tones. Bailey (drums) and Stefanie (bass) are tight and

I first met the guys in Jamsara through their drummer, Mich Polan, who had done several sessions at the studio for other artists. Mich is a fantastic drummer, which suggested that whatever musical project he would be in would be equally impressive. So I went to hear them one night at Andy's bar, and found this to be true. I was immediately blown away by their creativity, musicianship, sense of melody and dynamics, as well as the fact that it just seemed like they were having a lot of fun on stage playing. After the show we got to talking and I introduced myself to the guitarist, Jared Sachs, and a few months later he gave me a call. I thoroughly enjoyed recording and mixing their self titled

Today's blog is basically a link to another blog, which is run by Carmen Washam, a local photographer and friend of the studio. Carmen is just a great person: fun, creative, compassionate and talented behind a camera. Here's a link to the write up about our photo session with her, enjoy! Carmen Washam Photography

So here's a video I did a few weeks ago about my thoughts on how to get bands prepared to go in the studio and record. Recording is hard. It's stressful. You are on the spot with your ability to perform in a controlled environment. It costs money. You lose objectivity over time as to whether something really sounds good. Here are some tips to avoid all of these potential pitfalls: Practice Plan for spontaneity Visit the studio beforehand Make a daily production schedule Meet with the engineer/producer I elaborate upon each of these points in the video. I want bands to succeed in the studio. I want them to enjoy their time, be happy with the product, be encouraged in their musicianship and in

This is the first blog post in honor of the new website. Check back regularly as I will be providing info and thoughts about current projects, as well as recording in general and the occasional observation about the life of an artist on planet earth. I hope you enjoy.