Change of Venue for SevenFishes.  I have relocated.  Still in Central PA, but I have moved to The Sweetest Place on Earth....Hershey PA.  Yay Chocolate Town!

 It also seems like it's the noisiest place on earth.   I live close to Hershey Park, and the fire station, and the train yard, and the state police academy, and wow, does it get noisy some times.  

 It's all good though.  I am really enjoying  the new digs, and am looking forward to being more creatively inspired.  Who knows, you may hear the police academy firing range on my next recording :)

I got a call (well, really, an email, but call sounds so much more personal) from a good friend of mine last week.  He has joined up with a guitarist we both knew from the PLOW days, who is putting a new project together.  They were discussing band related things, as bands often do, and decided to ask me in to jam.  I accepted, and this past Wednesday, I hauled my gear out, and went to rock.  I had a great time.  The guys are friendly, and the band has potential.  I think I'll continue to work with this group for a while, and see where it goes.

A little side note:  As I was loading my gear, one of my new neighbors (oh, yeah, I moved.  I should probably blog a little about that as well) saw me hauling gear and asked if I played.  I said yes, and it turns out that she and her significant other (not sure if they're married, dating, or just roommates, because I just met them a few days ago) are musicians as well.  Violin and guitar.  I'm looking forward to some back porch imrov throughout the summer.  That will be lots of fun.

I was really hoping to have hit the ground running for 2009.  Wanted to get some of these stalled projects moving again, get abck to recording, get the band fleshed out and on the road, and generally get my musical endeavors kick started.  Instead, it's three weeks in, and I've done none of it.  I need to overcome some serious inertia here.

So, time to list and prioritize.

1)  Get back in shape.  Yeah, it seems like a non-music goal, but I think a lot of my inertia problems stem from a lack of energy after the work day.  So, it's back to the gym, working on toning and stamina.  Hello treadmill, my old friend.  Nice to see you again.  

2)  Record two hours a week.  This is one of those short term, low effort goals.  I'd ideally be seeing twenty to thirty hours recording each week, but don't want to start at that level.  Two hours gives me time to flesh out an existing song idea, get a drum track built, etc.  Two hours should be enough to make pretty goodheadway on a specific task.  Enough to keep me focused on getting it done, and getting to the next task.

3)  Practice.  At least an hour a day, every day.  Just has to be done, and needs to be listed as a task.  My practice time has been dropping off significantly over the last few months.  Lethargy, al little feeling sorry for myself, missing my band mates, etc.  Shouldn't matter, practice must be done.  The rust is showing.

4)  Listen.  It's been a while since I took the time to get out and hear what's going on in the world.  So, I'm going to take some time and meet new musicians, check out new bands, and give some different music a real chance.

That seems like a manageable list, so I'll stop there.  If you're reading this, feel free to send me a note, check on progress, or just nudge me with a gentle reminder...I need all the help from my friends that I can get :)

John.