HOT in HOUSTON

Driving to work this morning was a real sweaty, squinty ordeal. Houston has settled into it's Swealter Phase for the next three months. Opening the door to the hyper airconditioned confines of the studio felt really good this morning.

Finished mixing Craig Byrnes' song; 'Blue Day' last night in Studio A at SugarHill. The song came out fantastic. Kevin Ryan's arrangement and recording was top notch, (as usual), and Craig's vocals sat in the mix incredibly well. Stand out moments for me were the transformation of acoustic guitar counter-melodies into some crazy, delay and Leslie-frenzied tone chunks. I hope Kevin feels the love when he hears how I deconstructed the parts. Looks like I'll do another song with Craig, because this came out well. Craig was really cool in that he let me and Kevin run with his ideas pretty far. He did a great job setting us up for the job. Thanks for the killer song, Craig.

If I haven't mentioned it, I did see Jason Jordan, and Jeff Price, (and drummer Lance), perform a full set as MiracleVersesMan last Thursday at Walter's On Washington. These guys are simply incredible -- an astounding balance of over-the-top raw energy and melodic finess. They are leaving on tour tomorrow. Check them out at www.esotyperecords.com.

I am continuing to work on Courtney Powers' songs. We are writing together with Kevin's help. I may also take on a few new songs with Cuban Diva, Eileen Faxas. If so, I want to take her 'ballad tendencies' to some heretofore unvisited territory. More will be revealed.