Long absent from this page have been I. Much has been going on, mostly with Sarah Sharp, and new personnel at SugarHill Studios, and with my production company, which is now officially on the books as (drum roll), Dan Workman Music (trumpet flourish)!

Random thoughts:

Kevin Ryan and I will be finishing a song with Craig Byrnes next week--we're cutting vocals on Tuesday, and mixing on Thursday.

Jason Jordan (Esotype Records) needs a CD project. If you are not recording with me, I recommend him highly. If you need contact info, try www.esotyperecords.com.

For those of you that have visited the Dan Workman Music office in the SugarHill Building, you know that my decor and furniture situation has been kinda sketchy at best. Well, you are in for a big suprise. Logan and I went furniture shopping yesterday and bought a 'fake elephant leather' (Christi's description) couch. It looks great, and it's presence threatens to bring the entire room in to compliance with order and harmony.

Speaking of Logan, she is working out really well. Besides being totally on top of my affairs, she is organizing all of my previous (lame) public relations attempts.

The SugarHill gang played paintball again this past Monday. The bruise factor was very high, and Steve Christensen reports that the predicted soreness came on a day later than last time. Is this progress? This time we played a team from a research lab. It was the lab geeks vs. the music nerds. There was no real clear victory, but the music guys didn't embarass themselves too badly. (We won, actually).

Now about Sarah, Kevin is off growing his arrangements. Soon we will have three songs nailed down enough to start vocal production. This is a very very cool project. I'm not up for writing too much about the process at this point for fear of queering the nascent vibe we are constructing, but this project should be INCREDIBLE. More will be revealed.

I just recieved word from Jason Minus that the local Buzz affiliate is playing Ultra Magg songs (plural!), and will have them as a featured guest this Sunday. 94.5 FM here in Houston.

Also, Avalon (whom I produced last year) is playing with the local rock band, Goddess. This should be very good. 9/6 at the Last Concert Cafe.

Ok, I promise not to ignore my blogging duties in the (near) future.

thelove -dan

Big Doins Round Here!


First off, we inked the deal to produce Sarah Sharp's record!!!! WOOO-HOOOO!!!! This is going to be great! Kevin Ryan has his work cut out for him and all is as it should be at the moment. I will be burning up the pavement between Austin and Houston, and I'm sure the production process will yield some magic.

I am working with a previous client, Leslie Lundquist, (see her CD at www.cdbaby.com/lundquist/ ). We are talking about marketing her singing and CD selling career, and I am on the verge of a major epiphany about what 'success' is in this crazy business. This epiphany was continued by my talks with Eileen Faxas about her upcoming set of songs. More will be revealed.

I sat in at the 19th Hole, in The Woodlands, Tx. at a weekly jam session hosted by 'the other Dan Workman'. Dan is a superb bassist in the Texas Blues Rock category, and has hosted this jam for 7 years (!). He plays in a bunch of bands, most noteably, The Shadowcasters. His guests in included a keyboardist named Phil Miller who ROCKED, and Texas Legend, Scott McGill who just tore it up last night. I actually got to get up on stage and play a set with these guys, and what a thrill it was: Two Dan Workmans playing together with
Scott McGill. I was in heaven. These guys made me look great. I WILL be returning to do this jam again, plus Dan and I need to get a picture. Man, we just have to do some work together.


Finally, I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago about finding a person who I thought might be coming to work with me to fill Iris' (huge) shoes. Well, the deal is done, and her name is Logan Bosemer, and she is really cool. You will be hearing a lot about her, and undoubtedly, talking to her, and seeing her (on the pictures page). I am pumped!

Now I've got to go to the Mark Needs A Chick CD release show. I'm taking the whole family. What a great day.

thelove,
Dan

I'm back from vacation on Lake Catherine, Arkansas, where the livin is easy and the fellowshipin is incredible. Mark Flood joined Christi, Joe Ann and myself at the Murry lakehouse for a week of TOTAL relaxation -- although Mark did paint 7 paintings (!)

Today, Steve Christensen, John Griffin, and I mixed "Talk to Me" as performed by the Southern Backtones. This was a 'no holds barred' session in that the song will be on the upcoming SugarHill Tribute CD of hits recorded at SugarHill during it's 60 year history. "Talk to Me" was originally recorded by (?????--I'll have to fill you in later, I blank). The Backtones totally mutilated it....it sounds sort of like Radiohead gone Rockabilly. (See the Soundboard to check out a pre-mastered version).

Tomorrow it's off to Austin to officially begin Sarah Sharp's new record! Kevin Ryan and I will achieve escape velocity all too early tomorrow morning,... I'll keep you informed.

theLOVE

Dan

I shook hands on producing another Craig Byrnes song today. Craig showed up with three songs which were pretty well sketched out. Even better, Craig showed up with his business in order which allowed us to get started immediately. Schweet!

I met with Eileen Faxes about doing 4 more songs for her. I am interested in trying to take her music pretty far away from it's original form, and I am unsure how to remain true to the essense of her songs. This is going to be a big challenge, and I will be sure to write about where this process leads. I have never been in a position where I felt I wanted to so completely redesign an artist's songs. Eileen has been super cool, giving me carte blanche to morph away. I'm flying without the net, that's for sure.

I'm currently procrastinating over writing an article for a magazine. Time to go to work.

tl-Dan