and that's a wrap

Yesterday I laid down all my guitar solos for the new album. Which means...hold on...

THE ALBUM IS DONE!!

Much like waiting for Xmas morning to arrive, the anticipation of recording loomed large for many months. And when we tracked the drums back on May 4, I told myself "This will be over before I can blink." I was right. What seemed like an eternity was more like the Road Runner zooming by. 

No falling rocks though.

I approached yesterday's session with caution. Had solo ideas mapped out in advance but when you're in the studio, anything can happen. Happy accidents? Check. Felt like I wore mittens at times? Yep. Not everything worked but overall, things went very smooth. First solo was one take. Second solo, a few shots. Was a game of cat and mouse but in the end, as soon as the last solo was thrown down, we all said WE'RE DONE!

Mike won't start mixing the album until early July which is cool. Gives his ears time to re-adjust. After that, picking out the first single/video will be tough so it has to really pack a punch (and hopefully people will like it enough to fork over the cash to buy the new album). 

But this sense of elation mixed with melancholy washed over me as I packed my gear back in the car. All the months of rehearsals, then recording, seem like a blur now. I said to Brian "I feel like we're leaving summer camp and going back to school" and we laughed it off. 

He knew what I meant.