We're Buying a House!

My wife and I are buying our first house. Today began the five-day attorney review period. We are excited, feeling blessed, but also quite stressed out.

We have three, young children, so on top of the ordinary stress of three under five, the usual music business stress—bringing home the green, finishing up a new record for summer—and the fact that we are expecting our fourth child in September, we have gotten to view homes for sale, negotiate, and scramble with finding an attorney, an inspector, and locking in a mortgage rate. Yum.

We love our children. Each day we feel inadequate to parent them. They deserve better. These facts make us rely all the more on Jesus for the strength and wisdom to parent and lead our children well. And, it gives us all the more reason to remind our children that they have a Heavenly Father who is perfect, who will always treat them fairly, who is always there, and who loves them unconditionally, without even a single lapse in displaying his affection for them. In Jesus, they do get better.

We trust and pray that our new home—our first home—will be a place where our children feel safe and loved—but only so that it reminds them of the much greater belonging they should feel for being a part of God's family, adopted as his sons and daughters, by His grace.

We trust and pray that our presence in the community will be a shining witness of God's grace in our lives and that through us, the Holy Spirit would work miracles in our midst, building meaningful relationships with our neighbors and helping many to understand the good news of the Gospel in new and extraordinary ways. May our home help us to do that.

We trust and pray that our marriage and our home will be filled with compassion and grace, generosity and an eagerness to share, and will resonate with Gospel melody: Christ's love for us on display through the mundane and the magnificent.

We are financing our home. But we do not presume upon God's grace to provide for our family's needs. We submit ourselves to his loving care and, in faith, believe that he will do what he says he will do: give us all that we need to live by faith.

He has called us to steward the resources he has given us to the best of our abilities, always seeking to honor him with what he provides; and for many—including us—we believe that this means operating within the broken mortgage banking system.

Why? Because buying and renting cost nearly the same. It's about monthly cash flow. We could rent, but buying allows us to reinvest our money. Yes, we are "stuck" because of taking on a mortgage, but we are also putting down roots, committing to invest ourselves in a particular community—for the long haul.

And we can't wait.

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade? That is the Question

Reason 7's Rack Effects and Virtual Instrument Modules

I use Logic Pro for almost all of my recording. I like the interface way more that Pro Tools, and I know all of the key commands, and I love the virtual instruments and plug-ins. I'm currently running Logic Pro 9.1.8, which is, most likely, one of the very last updates to their version 9 software. A while back, I raised a stink about certain features not being in Logic Pro, the lack of updates, and how Propellerhead's Reason software was constantly being improved, where Apple's Logic seemed to be stuck inside a major corporation unwilling to innovate for their pro audio users. Enter Logic Pro X. Finally, an update. A big one. But is it worth it?

When Reason 7 came out, I vowed to leave Logic Pro behind, but that hasn't panned out—at least not yet. I was in the middle of several really big projects (and still am) and had started them in Logic, so it's difficult to migrate them over—especially to Reason. It's just such a different kind of animal. Much more analog-like, and definitely in the baby stages of development when it comes to key commands and back end features. Of course, Propheads would say they've stripped out the junk that is rarely used and left what is musically useful.

Also know that I exclusively use Reason 7 to create electronic music for Argo the Ship, and I love it for that platform.

But I'm thinking about testing out Logic Pro X to see if the updates are useful enough to make the switch up to version 10. Why? Probably because I'm familiar with Logic and by sticking with it, I don't have to waste precious minutes learning a new interface. I can spend more time creating instead of fiddling, figuratively speaking. Pro Tools is out. It's down to Reason 7 and Logic X, both of which I know, use regularly, and love.

Taking the plunge with a trial in mid-November...

Life After Kickstarter

This past Saturday (well, very early Sunday, actually), I completed my very first Kickstarter campaign. And, I am happy to say that our project was successfully funded! One of the "bands" I'm heavily involved in, Restoration Project, needed to raise funds–$10,000, actually–to cover recording and production costs for a new EP series. Firm Foundation will be a collection of remade Sunday School songs, featuring familiar melodies but with additional lyrics and new music. We are so, so happy with how our campaign did, and we'd consider it a success on every level.

Last plug before I get to the meat of this post: Even if you missed our Kickstarter campaign, you can still pre-order our Firm Foundation series in the resproj.com web store. The first EP drops in November; the second in summer 2014.

So what's it like to complete a successful Kickstarter campaign?

Three things come to mind when I think about our work and what it means:

1. It's Just Beginning. Maybe you'd think that there would be a respite for project creators after a successful campaign; but the truth is, instead of getting easier, the work gets harder. I expect the next 60 days to include a plethora of sleepless nights as I work to complete these recordings well before Christmas.

2. Obligation. I have to tell you, I was blind-sided by this: the feeling of obligation I have towards all those who have pledged towards our campaign. I don't want to let anybody down. I want these to be great recordings, great songs, and I want to finish them on a really, really tight time table. I want these songs to be as good as I seem to make them out to be.

3. Gratitude. So many people gave so generously. I am grateful to them, and I am grateful to God for placing his hand over our campaign and bringing in the necessary funding. It makes me hopeful for the future, too, that we could, potentially, successfully do this again in a year. On that, we'll see...

Thank you all for your continuous support of my music. I do hope these new recordings will make you proud to be a part of this work.

Review: John Mayer's Paradise Valley

People have been hating on Mayer in recent months. Including me. But let's take a step back and think about what we are really doing when we criticize his work: we are assessing it based on what he has already released and what we've come to expect and like—a poppy, rock sound with good hooks, but most importantly, solid lyrics from the heart. Nothing too witty, just true.

Musically, Paradise Valley must be judged on its own merit. It's different—as different as Born and Raised. Stylistically, I'd call it easy listening. Closer to Rod Stewart than Ed Sheeran. It's not my first choice in style, but I could see myself chilling to this record, if the mood warranted it.

Lyrically, on first listen, I dare day this is a return to the thoughtful Mayer we all once loved. No repeating a single phrase for an entire chorus. He sounds genuine again. Not over-worked and striving to please.

When I listen to this, and John's last album, I can't help but think of the song Stop This Train and how it was really a foretelling of his emerging sound.

I suspect I'll be streaming this album a lot when it drops. Thank you, Mr. Mayer, for coming back to us, even if your label's marketing department failed you on designing your album cover.

Stream Paradise Valley for free this week on iTunes:

http://new.itunes.com/r?v=2&la=en&lc=us&a=B%2BqtFMGnLLahoTQO4d%2B8aGOR%2B0mdfzql2CR1noc6w8L6yqSaWtzelvYOrQuN5QCC&ct=AX4h9O3

Donate Now! Restoration Project Kickstarter Campaign

I'm in a songwriting collective. We write, record, and sing new and old hymns. We're called Restoration Project. Less than 48 hours ago, we launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to record and produce our next EP series. You should donate. Here's the link to our project:

http://kck.st/13SvBmM

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New Albums Out (Last Week)

This past week featured some pretty terrible new releases. If you're looking for bad metal, you could listen to the new Black Sabbath. If you want late–to–the–party pop rock, you could listen to Goo Goo Dolls. But it wasn't all bad. My favorite record of the week was easily Jason Isbell's Southeastern.

Check it out here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/southeastern/id644761037

Another album for the week is Eleanor-approved Jimmy Eat World's Damage. Nothing new, but fun summer music. I'm sure some high schooler who just got his license will deem this the best record of the summer. Check out the song Byebyelove:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/damage/id636268673

Let me know what you think!

New Music Review: Phoenix's Bankrupt!

You've gotta know something.

This week, I'm really diggin' Phoenix's new album, Bankrupt!

And who ever said that nothing good comes from France anymore? Well thanks to this group, you can't say their music isn't any good. Next observation: these Frenchman sing in English. Again, what kind of French dudes are these? Well, I'll tell you: darn cool ones.

Their new album is exploding with synths.  The vocals and harmonizations remind me a lot of psychedelic Beatles era stuff, and the synths bring me back to early 90's pop. Catchy, in-your-face. Michael Jackson-esque, at times.

But strap yourself in because this album is *loud*. Probably too loud. Wait... I'm listening to "S.O.S" right now... This album is definitely too loud. Yeah, ear fatigue, as they call it. Check it out. But be warned: it's best played quietly, cuz this stuff will smash your brains in from both ears.

Take a deep breath when track six comes (Bankrupt!). It's a much-needed ear break. And sounds pretty dang cool, too. It also helps that one of these guys knows music theory.

Here's a link to the album on iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bankrupt!-deluxe/id602320012