Russ Barrnett: Tracking complete!

And now, for some very exciting news; Russ' album is completely tracked! For our final recording session, Russ and I felt it best to fill White Lightning (my minivan) with as much recording and musical equipment as possible, drive two hours to his home in Granby, Connecticut, and finish the album in the company of his dog, Gibson.

Every moment of the 36 hour recording session, from recording vocals, to eating lunch, to sleeping, to picking the most appropriate shaker, was streamed live, online. It was really exciting, and something I plan to do again for future projects. Recording in Russ' home reminded me of how hampering it can be to record in school; by the time a studio is booked, equipment is booked, equipment is delivered (or not), instruments are set up,  microphones are set up, and lunch break is over, no one has the energy to actually be creative or spontaneous. Not to mention, the next student is undoubtedly coming in two or three hours earlier than one would like.

Guess I have some repressed frustration... But back to the favorable side of things: what comes next...

Russ and I just launched a campaign on Kickstarter.com to raise money for the mastering and duplication of the record. I would divulge the compelling and action-packed details, but wouldn't you rather just see the movie...

A Room Within A Room: Volume 2

It's been exactly ten months since my last blog post. My bad. Long story short, summer got very busy, and my pursuit for blog-success shifted to my band, Baba Jaga. (That blog can be found here.) But let's not live in the past; what's done is done, and I'm here now, aren't I?

So now for the good stuff: Russ Barrnett and the New City Mission Bell Band.

I'm back in the studio, working alongside a very good, very talented, aforementioned friend of mine, Russ Barrnett. With the help of Clay Wilson on the bass, and additional guest musicians to be announced, Russ and I are working on his first ever full length album. There's no doubt that I make the best music when I'm with friends, and Russ just so happens to be one of the greatest people I've met since getting to college.

I've been hoping to collaborate with Russ since the first time I heard him perform freshman year. The kid's a triple threat: fantastic songwriter, beautiful lyricist, and a killing musician - a true groovester. I'll soon be uploading video from our sessions; each session we have is so much fun, and so different.

"It's good to be back.