This Week: North Carolina.

This week, we head down to North Carolina in an SUV. To record vocals.

The drive promises to be 10 hours or so. Yay. I *love* long car drives.

I now have my mind squarely on finishing this thing. Which is good. Not everything may be to my liking, and I ponder occasionally on the rightness of that. I'm wondering if I should make a last play to have every little thing changed until I love every little thing. That could take much more money. And another year.

I originally thought I'd do another photoshoot, and hire a designer to do my artwork. BUT. I mocked up a cover, using photos from my last shoot. I like them. I've even come up with a tentative title.

Things are moving, humming, buzzing.

My thoughts turn again to performing live. *sigh*

I wrestle. I wrestle, I wrestle, I wrestle with the live thing. I'm not great at it. It doesn't feel particularly comfortable. But, I know that I get something from performing live that I don't get anywhere else in my life. It's a worthy challenge for me, to do it well. To get up on stage and come off it knowing that I've said what I wanted to say, exactly the way I wanted to say it. And I've had some good shows.

But the taste of the bad ones in the distant past stays with me, sticks in my mouth, lingering and nasty. I know I'll have to get over it - else what's all this album crap leading up to?

Nervous as heck, though.

jules

Will the Real Singer Please Stand Up?

Okay, we've started vocals on the album.

There has been a *major* change of venue for the main vocal session/mixing, we're headed down south to North Carolina in a couple of weeks to work with a friend of my producer. Who is even more anal sonically than my producer is. That should be interesting. So, I will be in NC doing vocals on my birthday, and that suits me down to the ground.

I got a little taste last weekend, we started vocals in the Brooklyn studio. I sang in the basement and shared the room with a few eager mosquitos.

Vocals are a complete mindfuck for me. I only sound a *little* on tape like I do in my head, and I am still getting used to the fact that I will never, never sound as good as I want to, or as good as I think I should. The best I can do is go for the 'tude, which I manage to achieve sometimes. The scratch vocals are pretty damn good, and my producer is lobbying to keep more of those original vocals than I am comfortable with. So, there's a task on my hands, to top those performances.

Gn.

My producer turned me on to Preston Sturges, a *great* writer director in the 40s/50s. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a subversive film, the anti-MGM. Wrapped in a slapstick, 40s film package. Very funny and weird at the same time. Also saw Unfaithfully Yours from Preston. Not as successful a film, I believe, but Rex Harrison was good, equal parts 'adoring' and 'nasty piece of work'.

I am currently reading John Biguenet's collection of short stories, The Torturer's Apprentice. This guy hits hard. Even for the stories that only last a couple of pages.

I'm writing songs like a crazy fiend these days, imagining the next musical project I will start after my album is done. Or even, before my album is finished.

Hm,

jules