I had the opportunity to share one of my songs in class and have it critiqued.  The song was pretty much done; I just needed to re-track the vocals, add some layers, and finish mixing. As soon as he pressed play, my teacher noticed some issues that I hadn’t.  The acoustic guitar and drums were not vibing.  Everything was performed on time, but they had opposing feels.  Basically, I had written a guitar part without drums in mind, and when drums were added they didn’t fit.  Ra

Eddie Van Halen is famous for his tapping technique, but he wasn’t the first to do it.  In fact, hundreds of years before “Eruption,” Niccolò Paganini (1782 – 1840) used a similar technique on his violin.  Jazz guitarists in the 50s and 60s did it, and Italian musician, Victorio Camadese, tapped extensively on his classical.  Van Halen changed the game by applying it to distorted, electric guitar. Skrillex is often called the inventor of dubstep, but the genre originated in L

I recently read Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon.  Austin is a writer who uses drawings, photos, and blackout poetry to illustrate his points.  Each chapter is a lesson on self-promotion.  Not only are the tips good, but it’s stuffed with helpful images.  I recommend it for creatives with no idea what to do after hitting “Publish.” My big take away is the importance of community and relationships.  The obvious but not so obvious fact is that we’re dealing with people when we s

I’m not the best guitar player, the best songwriter, or the best anything, really.  This is hardly news, but I bring it up because in the arts there’s a lot of sizing up that goes on.  People get their sense of self worth in how they compare to others and music is no exception.  Whether it’s shredding ability, writing chops, or local clout, we’re always comparing ourselves to our peers. When I was at McNally Smith College of Music, I quickly realized how many guitar players a

My original plan was to release a singer-songwriter EP every year.  I succeeded in 2015 and 2016, but in 2017 I procrastinated.  I kept giving myself excuses and putting it off.  Other projects took priority and after missing my self imposed deadline, I lost motivation.  I’m just releasing it now in 2019, and although that makes me happy, I wish I had done it earlier. I was trying to think of a better way to phrase this without using the old cliche, but better late than never

This is the perfect topic for today because right now I don’t feel like writing.  I’m in the school library sipping a La Croix, trying to get some work done, and no topic is calling out to me.  It’s not that I don’t want to write; it’s that I don’t have anything to say.  I’m uninspired.  This happens in music too.  I’ll be trying to write and nothing seems to flow, my progressions feel as bland and stale as every song I’ve ever heard.  It’s like I’m writing the same tune over