What’s A Little Heartbreak?

So, my new (and very first!) full length, full band album is out now! Man, it’s been a long time since I had new music come out, and I think this one was worth the wait. I’ll skip the lengthy explanation of the who and what were involved with writing, producing, playing, and generally creating this thing from scratch, and just tell you this: it’s a 10 song soul-pop record, and you can get it on itunes or any other digital retailer today. Also, if you choose to purchase the album on today, release day, I’ll give you a free download of the songwriting demos of every song on the record. No artist I know…

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What I did in ’13 so far

I produced this EP, from my good friend and ridiculously talented artist, Holley Maher. Huh?! JT, since when are you producing? Um, I’m not. I tried to explain that to Holley when she asked me to do this, right after Christmas, but she didn’t want to hear it. In her defense, I have been quietly acquiring both the equipment and the skills to do some recording in my studio. Holley, as with most of my Nashville friends, has come over to demo new songs with me. And when she told me what she wanted (just a few songs done with a one-mic/one-take style, something really honest and organic), it sounded totally doable. It’s also a…

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New Year’s Day

I’ve been thinking a lot, over the past year or so, about life, human nature, expectations, happiness, and things of that sort. To even convey a fraction of the conclusions I’ve drawn would require me to stop writing music and write blog posts every day for a year, at least. But I’ll tell you what I’m thinking for the New Year. My New Year’s Resolution: BE LESS GOAL ORIENTED. Yes, you heard me right. I’m going to consciously work on setting and achieving fewer goals. Surely such a thing is anti-American, right? Maybe. But don’t call me Shirley. Here’s my thinking: we, as a society, are heavily goal-oriented. From gold stars in grade school to…

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Welcome Back!

To me! Everybody, start this video playing and get a big smile going, courtesy of Ma$e. I had one of those life interludes, where the bulk of ’11 was spent in grown-up domesticity, and the bulk of ’12 was spent recovering from that unfortunate turn of events. I’ve kept writing, recording, and playing a few shows here and there, but for the most part I’ve been off the map for nearly two years. BUT I’M BACK, BABY! Got a shiny new record coming out in spring ’13, full length, full band, pop-soul rocktacular extravanganza. I’ve never done anything I’m more proud of, and I can’t wait to share it with y’all. Planning some fun stuff…

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Studio: Week 2 Wrap Up

Man, these blog titles are BOOOOOOOORING. I need a good editor. Like someone who writes for The Onion (favorite headline ever: SOUTH POSTPONES RISING YET ANOTHER YEAR), or the NY Post. I’m clearly no good at it.

We’ve now got week 2 of production on the album in the can. This week was really exciting. It flew by, and we got a ton of stuff done. Monday and Tuesday we did electric guitars, with Gary Burnette lending his tremendous talents to the record. Gary’s been doing session work in Nashville for so long he has a pension from the union. Dude is serious. And I loved what he played. Wednesday and Friday we did lead vocals on 7 songs, and Thursday we did keys.



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Studio: Week 1 Wrap Up

So, my plans of blogging daily about the studio quickly went out the window, as many of my plans do (remember my idea for air-conditioned boxer briefs?). It’s a combination of the studio actually being way more busy than I was initially expected, me having ZERO time outside to blog, and, of course, my overwhelming lack of motivation in writing non-musical things. Nonetheless, I’m going to catch you up with week 1 (of 3) in the studio.


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In the studio: Day 1

Today is my first official day in the studio, getting ready to do my first official full length record. I could not be more excited.

I’m working with a talented Nashville producer by the name of Stephen Gause (Nathan Angelo, Andrew Ripp, Brad Passons, Michael Warren, Steve Means, and bunches more—www.stephengause.com), and even though we haven’t done anything but agree on a price (less than he’s worth and more than I can afford) and start kicking around possible song choices I’m thrilled to be working with him. I think we’re going to have a blast on this project—Stephen gets what I’m trying to do, and it’s right up his alley.



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Spain—Random Observations pt. 2

If you see what looks like a single line of bricks, it’s a sidewalk.

If you see what looks like a sidewalk, it’s a road.


If you see what looks like a road, it’s a highway.


If you see what looks like a highway, it’s an interstate.


If you see what looks like an interstate, it’s a runway.



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Spain—Random Observations

I’m tired today, but I thought I’d share with you guys some generally interesting things I’ve observed about Spain.

I’ve yet to have an easy time showering in Spain. My current shower has about 60 seconds of hot water, maximum. The hot water heater is the size of a large lunchbox, and I know this because it’s mounted on the wall of the bathroom. So I have time to wash my hair or my body with hot water, but not both. I have ended up taking a lot of cold showers. There’s a metaphor there, but I can’t quite get to it.

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Spain— Bus Trips

Wrote this two days ago, but have had no computer access until now:
I’m typing this on my phone as I take an 11 hour bus ride from Valencia to Sevilla. I’m planning another week of classes in Sevilla this week, and then a week and a half of pure sightseeing/solo studying before I head back home.

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What’s A Little Heartbreak?

So, my new (and very first!) full length, full band album is out now! Man, it’s been a long time since I had new music come out, and I think this one was worth the wait. I’ll skip the lengthy explanation of the who and what were involved with writing, producing, playing, and generally creating this thing from scratch, and just tell you this: it’s a 10 song soul-pop record, and you can get it on itunes or any other digital retailer today. Also, if you choose to purchase the album on today, release day, I’ll give you a free download of the songwriting demos of every song on the record. No artist I know…

+

What I did in ’13 so far

I produced this EP, from my good friend and ridiculously talented artist, Holley Maher. Huh?! JT, since when are you producing? Um, I’m not. I tried to explain that to Holley when she asked me to do this, right after Christmas, but she didn’t want to hear it. In her defense, I have been quietly acquiring both the equipment and the skills to do some recording in my studio. Holley, as with most of my Nashville friends, has come over to demo new songs with me. And when she told me what she wanted (just a few songs done with a one-mic/one-take style, something really honest and organic), it sounded totally doable. It’s also a…

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New Year’s Day

I’ve been thinking a lot, over the past year or so, about life, human nature, expectations, happiness, and things of that sort. To even convey a fraction of the conclusions I’ve drawn would require me to stop writing music and write blog posts every day for a year, at least. But I’ll tell you what I’m thinking for the New Year. My New Year’s Resolution: BE LESS GOAL ORIENTED. Yes, you heard me right. I’m going to consciously work on setting and achieving fewer goals. Surely such a thing is anti-American, right? Maybe. But don’t call me Shirley. Here’s my thinking: we, as a society, are heavily goal-oriented. From gold stars in grade school to…

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Welcome Back!

To me! Everybody, start this video playing and get a big smile going, courtesy of Ma$e. I had one of those life interludes, where the bulk of ’11 was spent in grown-up domesticity, and the bulk of ’12 was spent recovering from that unfortunate turn of events. I’ve kept writing, recording, and playing a few shows here and there, but for the most part I’ve been off the map for nearly two years. BUT I’M BACK, BABY! Got a shiny new record coming out in spring ’13, full length, full band, pop-soul rocktacular extravanganza. I’ve never done anything I’m more proud of, and I can’t wait to share it with y’all. Planning some fun stuff…

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Studio: Week 2 Wrap Up

Man, these blog titles are BOOOOOOOORING. I need a good editor. Like someone who writes for The Onion (favorite headline ever: SOUTH POSTPONES RISING YET ANOTHER YEAR), or the NY Post. I’m clearly no good at it.

We’ve now got week 2 of production on the album in the can. This week was really exciting. It flew by, and we got a ton of stuff done. Monday and Tuesday we did electric guitars, with Gary Burnette lending his tremendous talents to the record. Gary’s been doing session work in Nashville for so long he has a pension from the union. Dude is serious. And I loved what he played. Wednesday and Friday we did lead vocals on 7 songs, and Thursday we did keys.



+

Studio: Week 1 Wrap Up

So, my plans of blogging daily about the studio quickly went out the window, as many of my plans do (remember my idea for air-conditioned boxer briefs?). It’s a combination of the studio actually being way more busy than I was initially expected, me having ZERO time outside to blog, and, of course, my overwhelming lack of motivation in writing non-musical things. Nonetheless, I’m going to catch you up with week 1 (of 3) in the studio.


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