Input, output
14 September 2002It's been a quiet summer here at Arlotone headquarters, especially compared to one year ago when Anna Belyaev and I were cranking out the first release of Holiday Mornings. That album was my most time-consuming project to date, so a long rest for the first part of this year was in order.
That's not to say my mind hasn't been on music. In fact, I tend to go through regular cycles that I think of as "input" and "output." During an output phase, I'm performing, recording, and promoting albums. But the input phase is equally important -- that's when I read, travel, and listen to other people's music, which provides ideas and helps build momentum for upcoming projects.
So, during the last few months, I've burrowed deeper into the works of one of my favorite authors, Henry David Thoreau; I've dissected all 14 of XTC's studio albums, with the help of a book given to me by our producer from Holiday Mornings; and I've been converting my entire music collection, including about 100 old cassette tapes, to MP3 format, revisiting old favorites as I go. I even joined an Andean music ensemble for a while, and learned to play a South American wooden flute called a quena. Believe it or not, the quena has given me a fascinating new perspective on guitar playing that will surely have an impact on my future work.
Stay tuned, and when all this "input" starts to bubble over into some new "output," I'll be sure to let you know!
Holiday wishes
8 December 2002I tried for years to get one of my albums reviewed in Dirty Linen, the premier folk music magazine, without success. Then, out of the blue, my friend Dave Stoddard wrote to say, "Nice write-up in Dirty Linen!" They picked up the copy of Holiday Mornings I sent them last fall, and added a nice review to the first page of their "Holiday Hoopla" section this month. Hooray!
In other news, Holiday Mornings won a Children's Music Web award, and is on the nominating ballot for the Grammys.
What, you haven't heard the album? You'd better buy a copy now!