- hold back ideas I really liked so I could have them to myself
- let the other writer lead so much that my voice didn’t matter
- not contribute enough or speak up when I wasn’t jiving with something

Learning to co-write wasn’t a natural thing for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some really fun times sitting down with folks, but quite frankly my overall track record sucks.

Except…now I’m gonna talk about her like I didn’t just send her a link to this finished post, but I recently started writing with Anna Harris and hoooooly hey. We have been FINSIHING things and starting new things and back and forthing and it’s been awesome.

Suzuki Mandolin.

Thanks, however, to the ease that email and the iPhone offer…we were sending lyrics and melodies and pieces of things back and forth in no time. I sent unfinished chunks of songs I had been sitting on for years and Anna was able to somehow tap into them and give them new direction. She sends me things the she’s stuck on. Sometimes that’s the worst part of the process for me…I’ll get a song to a certain point and just stop. Either I’ll get stuck on a bridge or how to resolve it or whatever, and the song just gets shoved aside. Having someone to bounce things off and also to encourage the process has been eye opening and really, shockingly productive.

I hope I’m not jinxing this whole thing by writing about it, but I doubt it.  Oh, and we’ve got a gig in Austin next week – June 6th at Flipnotics!  7 PM.  Be there, unless you’re reading this blog post in the future.  Then just…watch Netflix.  No, go see who else is playing at Flipnotics.  But seriously, come on over.

I demoed it so I could send it places. Which places to send it to…that is still the question. I’ve been researching pitching songs and how to get things placed with artists. It’s a new world to me but it’s fun to research (my inner history nerd declares) and who knows? Something might happen. I did find a site taking submissions for album projects by Nicole Scherzinger and Naya Rivera, so I sent it in…because pop music, heeeey!  You gotta start somewhere.  Naya is one of my favorite performers on Glee, so she should definitely cut this song. If she did, she would move up the ranks to be my all time favorite singer on Glee, I am pretty sure.  I’m positive that’s high on her list of things to achieve.

That’s big on the gig front. In other news…there’s a Kickstarter coming and EP 3 has studio dates in October at Rubicon. So excited…more news on that when I figure it out.

Life’s been busy being lived! I had a fun time in Arkansas and Oklahoma with Susan last week…we had one day where we woke up in Fort Smith, AR…drove to Okmulgee, OK for a private shindig, kept driving for a show that night outside Oklahoma City…she played the show, and we got in the van and drove to Fort Worth to sleep. That was a long day, but enormously productive. Also informative, as I learned there is an all-you-can-eat buffet in Oklahoma called “Chair Crushers.” I can’t make this stuff up. We did not go in.

One of the highlights was jamming at a music school in Texarkana with Lily, our dear buddy Tiffany Shea‘s daughter…Lily is clearly going to be a rock star. I hope she hires me to play keys in her band. Tiny, tiny keys.

Susan did a great set of tunes on Good Morning Arkansas in Little Rock…here are the anchors figuring out what to say for “Kick Back Friday.”

Amy Garland had us on her show, KABF Backroads, in Little Rock before our show at Hibernia Tavern that night. She is a gem.

And to top it all off, Susan and Elizabeth filled the room at Live Oak Music Hall in Fort Worth last week and it was magical. Magical like a unicorn.

My desert island disc list.

I almost feel the same way about Record Store Day as I do about Valentine’s Day…why do we need a special day to do something we should do all year round? But I get it, it’s important to mark the institutions and we as a society certainly love calendar excuses to shop.

I read some statistic that physical album sales have dropped 75% since 2001 (or somewhere along those lines). That’s huge. That’s why Best Buy is full of washing machines and not CDs any more. I’ll admit, too – I buy most of my music from iTunes. I usually hear about new things when I’m in the car or reading something online, and it’s easiest to satisfy the “I want it now” urge and press “Buy.”

At the same time, some moments forever seared in my memory happened in record stores. In Albuquerque, I grew up down the street from Hastings, where I would browse for hours and flip through the used stacks in hopes of finding something I hadn’t heard. Media Play was my favorite place to go in middle school…I met the guy that played Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there. Like the guy that did the martial arts IN the turtle suit. Hardcore. Media Play is long gone but Hastings is still there, and while it’s a bit more overcome with knickknacks and flatscreen TVs, there’s still music to be had.

The first album I ever bought by choice was Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Come On Come On” because I wanted to learn “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” at my guitar lesson. It was from Target…on cassette. I’m positive my mom bought it for me, but I remember the day.

Getting MCC albums on the day of release has sent me on quite a few shopping expeditions over the years, a memorable one being me forcing my saint of a college roommate, Beth, to drive me to 2 (maybe 3) stores in Albuquerque to get “Between Here and Gone” the day it came out. Why the first couple didn’t have it, I don’t know. I’m sure Beth was more afraid of returning home with a despondent roommate than wasting gas, so she dutifully drove me to Borders where we found it. (Hey, RIP Borders!)

Luckily, Austin has one of the most successful independent record stores in the country – Waterloo Records. They’ve been there since the 70′s and have managed to live through this giant shift in buying habits. They have added some knick-knacky things but this place is still obviously primarily a record store. Part of their longevity has to do with the community experience there…I have seen so many great in-store shows there, and met some pretty great folks there. Patty Griffin, Mindy Smith, Justin Townes Earle, and Shawn Colvin to drop names of amazing songwriters.

Terri Hendrix at Waterloo

If there is a new release I need on disc I get really excited to go to Waterloo on release day, which lately just boils down to people in my Top 5 list…whose catalogs I already have collected on CD. The OCD in me needs to keep things consistent.

I’m not worried about the health of the music industry…people will always want music in their lives. We know the methods of purchase or the mediums we purchase on are changing. Live shows have replaced disc sales in the income ranks for many artists. Instead of griping about it, the successful ones dig in and work with it.

In the meantime, take a moment to browse through the racks if you have a great music store in your town, even if it’s not Record Store Day.

Emily Shirley is great.

Katie Lessley is great.

Click their links!

Here’s a link to an article called “Writing advice from writers handwritten on writers’ hands.“  This title makes my head split open, but the premise is cool.   I decided to do my own.

I’m not sure if it was because I grew up a semi-only child (I was the only one at home because my older siblings were out of the house) or my introversion or what, but I can imagine alternate scenarios to my reality all day long.  Driving is one of my favorite things because it allows for daydream mode to take full effect (while paying attention to the road, of course).   Most of the time I subsist on daydreams of performing on David Letterman, but letting your mind wander is a great way to tap into new ideas, connections (which form more new ideas), and goals.  If you’re daydreaming about it, you probably want it, and I’ve had former daydreams come true enough to know it’s a good practice to keep.  Go forth and daydream, kids.

Erin: Greatest kid cereal – Capt. Crunch’s Crunch Berries or Cookie Crisp?

Cookie Crisp all the way because when you’re a kid, the illusion of getting away with eating cookies for breakfast is a real bonus, also the milk tastes delicious. In the Cap’n Crunch line I am a fan of the “bloody mouth” peanut butter variety. You know it hurts, but it tastes good anyway.

If you’re gonna eat Cap’n Crunch you might as well eat this for breakfast instead.

Rush Center, Kansas is where I spent many happy times as a kid, but I have never been there for St. Patrick’s Day, and I have never seen my Uncle Dave in a kilt. So this was a winning proposition right here.

Deb: Will you look at art in a Museum or gallery setting differently from now on, as a result of viewing an exhibition with a practicing visual artist? Do you think it makes a difference in art appreciation to experience a living visual artist speak about someone Else’s art?

YES, Deb. To fill you all in, Deborah Burge is an amazing artist in California, and when Susan and Elizabeth played in Huntington Beach at the art center, there was an art exhibition happening and I walked through some of it with Deborah. I was like walking through Giza with an Egyptologist or something, because Deb pointed out things I would just glance at and wander on by. She made notes on perspective and technique and form and shape, and after 15 minutes I felt smarter. If only a smart artist was provided ever time I went to a museum or a gallery.

John: If you could take a vacation to anywhere, where would it be?

I have never been to Europe, which is sad, and I really want to see Paris. I want to see all of it (London, Prague, Rome, Athens, insert major old city here), but for some reason Paris holds a mystique for me. Maybe because lots of artists and writers I love have done great things there.

Chad: Georgia O’Keeffe paintings…once you see it, can you ever unsee it?

I love O’Keeffe, though I gravitate toward her New Mexican landscapes rather than her flowers…but I do enjoy it all. She was a smart woman; I bet whatever you see she never wants you to unsee.

Callie: Why do stamps not have how much they are worth printed on them anymore? I have one stamp in the desk and one letter to mail, but I don’t know how much this stupid stamp is worth.

I have had the very same problem, Callie, which means I just end up using the unmarked stamp as adornment on the letter and stick another stamp on, which is probably how the post office has any prayer of staying open…making us overpay for mailing by anywhere from $0.03 to $0.50 at a time…which is a horrible business model…which is why we won’t get mail on Saturdays anymore. Thanks, USPS.

Thomas: Why is there no B# or E#?

Ah, but isn’t B# just C? Which is really just Cb? Whoa.

Tiffany: ambition vs. contentment. go.

Love this question…something I struggle with daily. I don’t necessarily think the two are opposites, and in fact I think ambition is best practicing with a sense of contentment, and that likewise contentment is best when coupled with ambition. Ambition without some degree of contentment can bleed easily into desperation, which hasn’t ever really worked out for me. Contentment avoids falling into ignorant stagnancy with paired with a little ambition. The balance sounds quite magical. I make it sound easy but as we know…it’s hard.

Justin: What is the most comfortable shoe you have ever worn?

Great question. I have a pair of red Adidas Samba shoes that I love and that have never hurt my pinky toes. They are a winning pair. As a general rule, I don’t like things on top of my feet, which means I have bought so many pairs of flip flops while traveling, thinking I could get through one trip with normal shoes. Latest pair: California. Comfy.

These flip flops rocked my 13k steps a day during SXSW.