Donna Beasley

Begin Again (My Middle Name)

Writing the song (2012): I wrote this while I was hiking the Smokies. I think it was Porters Creek in the Greenbrier portion of the park. I love writing while I’m hiking, especially when I’m on a lightly traveled trail and I can sing out loud. I remember there was hardly anyone around that day and I just sang and sang.

The first verse and chorus came pretty quickly. I was struggling to write any further. I shelved it for a long time. Then one evening we were sitting in our screened-in porch and I sang it for Tom. He flipped out! Loved it! He was like “Where did that come from…when did you write that?” I have since decided that I don’t want to finish it. I like how Neko Case uses pieces and snippets of songs. I think I will do that here. 

Pre-production: I see it as an intro to “In Good Time.” We have a demo of me doing it a capella and a couple of people who’ve heard it think I should leave it that way. I’m itching to record a better vocal for it. 

March 2013: Tom convinced me to write a second verse for this. I was sure I couldn’t do it. But lo and behold… I had been playing with the words sycophant, supplicant (one of my favorite words), and miscreant. In fact, I was thinking that I might call the record “Supplicants & Miscreants.” But I have since decided on another title based on another song I wrote. Anyhoo, Tom had some good ideas for drone-y drums. I like the idea of a harmonium. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013: Tom came up with this cool guitar lick the day before we had band rehearsal. I was going to write some sort of musical bridge but decided that I liked it just verse-chorus-verse-chorus. I find it hynotic. It was coming a hellacious storm while we were recording this. It fit the mood perfectly.

Thursday, August 22, 2013: Oh-my-gosh…are we IN LOVE with this track. It just became my new favorite thing on the record. Everyone played fantastically. 

Monday, July 14, 2014: First a Taylor Swift song by the same name, now a movie called “Begin Again.” That’s the problem with having an idea and just sitting on it for a few years. Some sort of zeitgeist happens and sometimes you find yourself a part of that. Folks might hear my song and wonder if it was influenced by these other incarnations of the same title. It was not. I began writing that song probably around 2012. 

I wrote the song because of trying to stay on a workout schedule and/or a diet and/or whatever new old thing that you think is going to bring you happiness and make you like yourself more. The wagon. It's GREAT until you fall off it. But you get back on. Oh, you DO get back on, only to fall off again. And again. And again. It’s pretty damned depressing. But the human spirit’s answer? Begin again. And again. And again.

Between 2014-2017: Scott Neubert recorded the mandolin part at his house, prodding us into working on the record again. Tom and I recorded the backing vocals on vacation in Dauphin Island, AL, one of our favorite places. 

Final credits 2025: Bob Britt and Tom Spaulding on guitars, Scott Neubert on mandolin, Steve Mackey on bass, and Bryan Owings on drums. Sonically, it's probably the best sounding track on the record. It was the first one Bob worked on after we gave him the tracks. We heard what he had done with it and were like YEEHAW! 

Distraction

Writing the song: Today is Friday, October 7, 2011. I wrote this song two days ago. It was conceived and mostly finished in one day. I’m still weighing the first line of the first verse, as I write the journal entry. I had the idea while in yoga class, during the period of deep relaxation at the end. The facility has unwisely placed two tables just outside the door to the yoga classroom. People gather there and proceed to talk and laugh LOUDLY during just about every yoga class I have attended. On this particular day they were even noisier than usual…thus the theme…”Distraction.” 

Saturday, October 8, 2011: Tom’s back home from NY. I sang him the song today. He loves it!!! Tom introduced a bridge. He wrote the music and part of the lyric. He had “all that silence that you hear would be gone if you were near.” I came up with “all that silence that you fear would be golden if I were near” – which, I have to admit, I thought was pretty darn good.

So, Tom decides today, because of this song, that he must own a baritone guitar. (I swear, guitar players!) Luckily, he found one online for sale locally and the guy was willing to trade a guitar Tom says he never plays. He’s getting the baritone tomorrow. 

Pre-production: I am thinking Shelby Lynne “Your Lies,” “Suspicion” by Terry Stafford, thinking (for some strange reason) of Christina Hendricks from “Mad Men.” I am hearing that big ole’ baritone guitar and am desperate to get Raul Malo to sing this with me. I have wanted to write something for him to sing for a LONG time!

We are LOVING the demo we made for this at home! Our friend Tony Paoletta, who is an incredible steel player, was over at the house and loved the demo too. Said he can already hear the steel parts. We L-O-V-E this song!!!

October 25, 2011: Played the demo for Elizabeth Cook and Tim Carroll. EC said I “own this vibe.” Nice praise! 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012: Tom and I decided yesterday that we need to cut the first chorus. The song is long. Sitting on my porch hours before the 4^th, drinking sweet tea, thinking about such things. And realizing that I need to get my ass in gear…I wrote this 8 months ago??? What’s my problem??? I’m not even kidding. 

Wednesday, July 14, 2013: Need to settle on a key. Looks like we’re going to give B a try. We need to cut the first two choruses in half. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013: Haven't yet heard what we recorded. It didn't totally thrill me when we were cutting it. But perhaps that is because it needs more instrumentation. It's a chill song. It requires patience. It just needs Raul to sing on it and take it up, oh, about 10 notches. Then I can die. I just looked at the chords I wrote down for the bridge. That is NOT what we’ve been playing, or what we recorded. Oops. 

Thursday, August 22, 2013: This is going to be nice. Just sparse now. Got to get put that Angelo Baldamente “Twin Peaks” sound on that bass. Sorry, Mackey. We gotta massage yo’ bass sound.

Summer of 2018: Scott Neubert suggested this incredible singer, Loretta Lynn's bass player, to sing the duet vocal which was intended to be replaced by Raul, upon his agreement to do it. However, Michael Lusk has one of the most incredible voices I've ever heard. Everyone I played the track for asked “you're really going to replace him???” It became THE decision of this record. We even thought about trying to get Chris Isaak for it. He lives in Nashville now. Ultimately, I decided to go with Michael's lush, beautiful, vocal. 

Around 2022: Tom had Paul Franklin out to the house to work on mmmlearn.com and I was the luckiest girl in the world to get him to play on three tracks, including this one. Legend. 

Final credits 2025: Scott Neubert on acoustic guitar, Bob Britt and Tom Spaulding on electric guitars, Paul Franklin on pedal steel guitar, Steve Mackey on bass, Bryan Owings on drums, Michael Lusk on the duet vocal with Michael, Etta Britt, and myself on the backing vocals. Etta sang the heck out of that bridge. I'd still be looking for those harmony notes if I had to do it myself! Bob played such cool guitar parts. 

In Good Time

Writing the Song: I was laying on the couch with the guitar next to me, knowing that I SHOULD be practicing said guitar. I reached over and started hitting the low E string and doing this slap thing like a bass player would do. Tom came into the room and I was mainly just trying to look busy.

I don’t know – somehow the idea came to me. I got up and took a walk around the block before it got dark and finished writing the lyric while I was walking. Obviously, it is full of biblical references. “When I was a child, I spake as a child…but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Then, there's the part about being changed “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Man, I was so steeped in biblical teaching that it comes out, whether I want it to or not and probably at times which I am not even aware. 

A lot of this record is about life and death and dealing with issues of mortality. This song is about hope – hoping for a heaven, hoping for spiritual growth on my part. I am not a child, but I don’t feel like a mature adult either, neither literally nor spiritually. But in the end, we become like children, so it’s a circle. The man becomes the child. The bible speaks of many lessons adults can learn from children such as humility. So, I think, spiritually speaking, I am somewhere in my first childhood. I have a long way to go. 

Pre-production: Once again, Tom picked up a guitar and, without much effort at all, played the appropriate, darn-near-perfect guitar part! I am probably more excited to record this than anything else I’ve written so far. Going to layer lots of backing vocals, which is something I LOVE, love to do!

October 30, 2011: Making a demo. This song feels very spiritual to me. Hope I can get that across on the record. 

April 7, 2013: I have been praying over this song the way Brian Wilson prayed over Pet Sounds. I hope it cheers people. 

May 7, 2013: Tracked this today at The Brown Owl studio. Didn’t do it justice vocally. Will definitely be singing this again. A little disappointed in myself. 

June 16, 2013: Working on this song today. The track sounds great. Bryan Owings' drums sound incredible. And Steve Mackey’s bass playing. This one has a Middle Eastern AND Eastern Tennessee feel! The task is to build, build, build the tension. We are looking at examples of this technique to learn from. Tom wants the first verse vocal to be extremely quiet. I can do that. 

Summer of 2018: Recorded lead and backing vocals at Scott Neubert's house. 

Final credits 2025: Guitars and piano by Tom Spaulding, Steve Mackey on bass, and Bryan Owings on drums. Etta Britt wanted to hear the lead vocal sung an octave higher on the last chorus. Good call, Melissa!

Bad Man Down

Writing the song: This is the kind of song you write when you wake up at 3am to the military channel playing a documentary about the capture of Saddam Hussein. It was written in the early morning hours of Thursday, September 29, 2011. I stayed up half the night to finish it despite having to work my day job the next day 

Intel had led Special Forces to a spot that looked liked like a dead end. They thought he had gotten away, until one soldier, on a last look, said “something’s not right.” His eyes were drawn to one particular patch that, indeed, turned out to be a camouflaged hole in the ground. Upon lifting the lid, guns pointed at his head, Saddam proclaimed “I am Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq and I am willing to negotiate.” 

As I was watching the program, I thought about Hitler dying in his elaborate underground bunker. I thought about Osama bin Laden hiding in caves for years while the US military pursued him. Bottom line: evil will always be brought to light. 

Post script: Today is Oct. 22, 2011. A few days ago Gadhafi was captured in drainage pipe, beaten and shot to death by his captors. Today they’re reporting his last words as “Do you know right from wrong?” Dang. What a line. 

The mole reference: We’ve had a mole problem for two years now…we cannot kill the little suckers!! Soon after Amy Winehouse’s death I was walking the yard, stomping on molehills and thinking about the analogy to her life. She had all his talent and enjoyed worldwide success. She was atop the mountain, yet she chose to go underground with her drug use. And the path she chose created a lot of damage for herself and everyone who loved her. 

The chorus: I had been playing with old philosophical question “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear, does it make a sound?” I wanted to apply it to a person and put that in a song. 

Pre-Production: Tom and I are at odds in our initial production ideas for this song. I hear it as a tele-driven, chicken pickin’, train beat song. Tom hears it as a bluegrass song. Of course, how we play it live will depend on how many pickers we have with us. But how to record it???

July 2, 2012: We’ve gigged this out several times. It definitely works better as a full band number and Tom has been playing electric. It was a LOT of fun when we did it as a 5 piece recently at the Family Wash with Tom and Scott Neubert trading off on their respective instruments. 

July 7, 2013: Playing around with Easy Drummer and trying to find the right beat, since Mr. Producer says “no train beat!” Party pooper. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013: Well, this was fun as hell to record! We tracked three slow songs in a row so we were ready to wake ourselves up a bit, especially since we had just eaten lunch. Tom had resisted the three chord train beat treatment. He held out as long as he could. But it was undeniably that!

Thursday, August 22, 2013: Geez, this is FAST! I’m not sure how I’m going to sing all those lyrics at that tempo. I think I need to re-sing. The vocal tone is a little weird. My voice sounds very thick, and I sound like I’m struggling to get in all the lyrics. Scott’s electric guitar needs to be replaced with a Tele. Can’t play a by-gawd fast trainbeat song without a Fender Telecaster!!!

Summer of 2018: Tried singing a vocal at Scott Neubert's house. This is too darn fast and is not the right feel for my voice. Hmmm.

October 21, 2021: Recorded this and one other track at Kevin McKendree's Rock House Studio. This took up most of the time we had booked, leaving little time for the other track. It certainly was a process, with the pressure on Bob Britt to come up with a feel that made sense. I'm still not sure what we have. I only know that I love it. 

Final credits 2025: Bob Britt on guitar, Kevin McKendree on keys, Steve Mackey on bass, and Lynn Williams on drums. I couldn't love this track more. We barely did anything to it post-recording - it's very much like we recorded it. 

Bound for Glorious

Writing the song: As usual I was trying to finish not one but TWO songs I had started (about trains). I don’t have a train song. It’s time, by gosh. But did I finish either of those songs? No! I wrote a whole other damn song that didn’t have anything to do with anything. I was in the house by myself. Tom was out of town. I was trying to clean house and write. But finally I was at the dinning room table with a tablet and pen and just going at it. Obviously, the title “Bound for Glory” is associated with Woody Guthrie. I was conscious of that. But I don’t know where the play on words came from. It just popped into my head and out of my pen. 

I had to do a little research on trains to make sure I was technically correct in my train references. I envision something between “The Fountainhead” and “Mad Men.” Even though the era far pre-dates “Mad Men,” the line “he waited on the platform hat in hand” brings up the image of Don Draper looking deadly in a fedora. 

Tom came home and I sang it to him pretty much as is. He picked up a guitar and put the chords to what I was singing (which I could never have done). This is a melody, and a song, I would not have written if I hadn’t been taking the vocal classes from the Nashville Jazz Workshop. I thanked my coach, Ron Browning, for his influence and his introduction to so much good music I was missing out on – jazz standards. 

Pre-production: I played and sang a demo of this. Nothing fancy. This is the only song we are going into the studio with on this first session without the band having played it live. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2012: Magic happened today when we tracked this at The Brown Owl studio. It gave me goose bumps. Mackey killed it on upright, Bryan hung back the most tasteful way possible, Neubert played acoustic in a way I’ve never heard him play before. We did either three or four takes and we were done. Everyone was complimenting the song…SMILE!!!!!!! I sang a couple of good vocals. We will definitely get a keeper out of one. This is one of my favorite songs and favorite tracks I have ever recorded. It is making me feel SO good about the record I’m making. 

June 15, 2013: Played the track we recorded for Scott. “Magic happened,” he said. Why, yes, yes it did. 

September 9, 2013: I’m thinking that this arrangement might be a bit much. Gotta do what’s best for the song. Geez, I cannot get motivated to work on this record. It seems insurmountable. Maybe that should be the album title: Insurmountable. 

Monday, July 14, 2014: We’ve played this out a few times and I’m going to play it at a writer's round next week. It seems to garner people’s attention. I certainly like it!

Around 2017: Recorded the final lead vocal at The Brown Owl Studio. Fortunate to sing it with Them Rubies a few times and hear Etta Britt and Jennifer McCarter singing harmonies on it. Sadly, the track is not so good sonically. I wonder if it can be saved, honestly. I don't really know what happened. Stressing me big time.

Final credits 2025: Acoustic guitar by Scott Neubert, electric guitars by Bob Britt and Tom Spaulding (one of my favorite solos Tom has ever played), bass by Steve Mackey, drums by Bryan Owings. Special kudos to Bob Britt for cleaning up the funkiness (the bad kind) and for making this track sound SO good. It's my baby. 

Witchin' for Water

Writing the song: I had been turning the theme over in my mind for a long time and knew I wanted to write something called “Witching For Water.” But I had to figure out the story. I wrote it while my husband was on the road working as a guitar tech and I was painting the trim inside the house. First thing I had to do, before playing him my new song, was convince him that it wasn’t about him!! So, let me state for the record: the views contained therein do no reflect songwriter’s marriage in any way, shape, or form! 

I have to give my producer/husband credit for my favorite line of the song. I had written “witching for water IN the cruel sun” but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to say. Something he’s good at – examining my work of blood, sweat, and tears and making helpful lyrical suggestions instantaneously. So, he suggested “YOU’RE the cruel sun.” The rest of the song is presented in metaphor, it was the logical progression of the lyric. That’s why I think it is crucial to have an outside pair of eyes (which you trust) to read through your lyrics. 

This is the first song I wrote for my third record. I think I wrote it some time in 2010. 

Pre-production: Just hearing a big ole’ electric guitar with a delay. A Buddy Miller kind of thing, maybe. We have never gigged this song. We need to start doing that and then we’ll figure it out. The guitar sound is going to be the most important part of production. And a good vocal. (No pressure there.)

July 1,2012: Working on this song tonight. We have a demo that has steel on it but I don’t think that’s the way to go with it. 

July 17, 2013: I have tracks for the demo we did. Need to work on this before we record next month. I have a couple of melody ideas. Since I’ve been taking all these vocal classes I don’t think the high parts I was worried about are going to be an issue. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013: Tracked this yesterday at The Brown Owl studio. It came out as a riff rock song. Not my usual style. I'm anxious to hear what we did and perhaps live with it a little. Felt a little weird while we were cutting it. But I'm a nervous ninny. 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013: Tom is working on guitars tonight. 

October 21, 2021: Recorded this track in about 30 minutes at Kevin McKendree's Rock House Studio. What we had was too heavy. Had to go in a different direction. Can't go wrong with a shuffle. Ever. 

Winter 2024: Sat in Bob's studio while he and Etta sang the backing vocals on this. SO MUCH FUN! He put rocking guitar on it, which took me back a little at first. But I love this track and now I have a fun, upbeat song on my record! So hard for me to pull off usually. I think my risque lyrics embarrassed Etta Britt a little. Who knows where these things come from. 

Final credits 2025: Guitars by Bob Britt, keys by Kevin McKendree, bass by Steve Mackey, drums by Lynn Williams, backing vocals by Bob and Etta Britt. Britt happens!

If the Lord Lets Us Live

Writing the song: Today is Monday, July 9, 2012 and I FINALLY finished this song today while driving back from Sevierville!!! I’ve been writing this song so long I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t trying to finish it!! I was visiting my mom in the nursing home. The title is based on an expression she used all the time when I was growing up. I thought it was so silly. I mean, WHY wouldn’t we live till spring? What could possibly go wrong? How could things be any different than they were right then? After losing my dad and now my brother, I thought that if I couldn’t finish this song on a drive back from Sevierville that I wasn’t much of a songwriter. I just kept breathing these heavy sighs when I wrote that last verse. 

Pre-production: Tom has already come up with a pretty guitar part (“finish it already, he’s been telling me”). It really is a great guitar part. The most obvious route is to do an acoustic guitar and mandolin treatment. But I have heard electric on this all along. I’m hearing double time in the bridge and maybe in the outro. I’m itching to do a speeded-up outro on something this record. Maybe this is the one. I was hearing it as more of a rocker. But whenever I play it, it seems more pensive. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012: I’m hearing the outro with Tom playing his guitar part then letting a B3 play that part and fade it out. 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012: We’ve done a nice demo with acoustic, electric, vocals, and backing vocals. Tom’s in love with this song and with the demo. I’m pretty happy with it. It might be epic, it might be merely ok. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013: Tracked this today at The Brown Owl studio. Bryan’s drumming has certainly taken this song to a different place. I was disappointed with my vocal. This was probably the worst vocal I sang all day. Poo. 

Saturday, June 29, 2013: Tried to record a vocal to this today. Not working. Wondering if the track is not right? Not very inspiring, Tom and I both say. Feeling discouraged. It seems pretty far from the demo we made and loved. Ah, yes, the “we’ve fallen in love with the demo and we can’t get up” syndrome. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2013: Tom worked on this track, took a bunch of stuff out, stripped it down. Sounding better. I’m working on ways to sing it better. I’d like to try some ukulele on the first verse. Maybe just uke and vocal. Can’t hurt to try. That’s why they make erase buttons on Tom’s fancy software.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013: Tracked new drums for this yesterday at The Brown Owl studio. Bryan replaced the original stick approach with a softer brush. I haven't yet heard the new version. I liked my vocal better on this one than any of the previous vocals - which were atrocious. Stink.

Thursday, August 22, 2013: Listened to this briefly. More in the ballpark, this version. Need to spend more time. Probably sing it…again. 

Summer 2018: Sang this at Scott Neubert's house. Tried a lighter, forward placement of the sound and that seems to have worked!

Around 2022: Bob is trying to help us decide on the final arrangement. Them Rubies recorded this and it was a great version. But Tom thinks my track should be MY track and not worry about the TR version. Tom had the idea of layering the outro with lyrical lines from the verses. I like it! This was another one Paul Franklin played on at the house. Just legendary Paul Franklin. Playin' on my songs at my house. That's all. Etta sang beautiful bgvs. 

Final credits 2025: Guitars by Bob Britt and Tom Spaulding, pedal steel guitar by Paul Franklin, mandolin by Scott Neubert, bass by Steve Mackey, drums by Bryan Ownings, backing vocals and tambourine by Etta Britt. Mom always thought it was silly that I would write a song based on something she would say. 

Do Tell

Writing the Song: This is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. I distinctly remember being out in my back yard pulling weeds from between the cracks of our patio stones. I had recently received a text message from a friend (John Eddie) who was especially full of himself that day. I remarked “do tell!” at his bold statement. I liked that expression and it had been floating around in my head ever since. Funny how little things like that can spur a song idea. 

I especially like the part about flying “a key on a string till the lightning strikes.” I intended for the first and third lines of the first verse to say one thing. Then the second and forth lines to echo the sentiment, while making a more serious statement. “Life is a kite you fly with a key on a string till the lightning strikes.” This is about the time in our lives when we’re willing to take chances…try anything...experimentation. Then, “Life is a kite you fly till the lightning strikes.” With maturity and life experiences come caution. Everyone eventually experiences a time when they feel like they’re just waiting for the next bad thing to happen. I think this was actually a premonition of my brother’s death and my mom’s sickness. I wrote this in the summer of 2010, before the life changing events that took place that fall. 

It’s not a sad song, though. It’s wistful. I don’t have any answers. And I have to learn to be ok with that. ‘Cause you know what? I hate to tell ya, but you don’t have any answers either. We’re all in the same boat, or rather, we’re all flying the same kite. 

Pre-Production: We’ve been gigging this out quite a bit. Tom came up with the awesome banjo lick on our 6-string. We’ve been doing it as a trio with our friend, Scott Neubert. I’m liking it less with a full band. But I’m sure it just needs to be worked out and run past my ears a few more times. You get set in your ways. 

July 1, 2012: Been gigging it a bit and am liking it better with the band all time. Tom had an idea to have a marching band drum playing during the solo…LOVE IT!!! Can’t wait to hear that!!! Should be fun to record (or possibly a nightmare?). 

May 7,2013: Tracked this at The Brown Owl Studio. My vocal was crappy. I’m not sure how to sing this song to my satisfaction. 

2018-2022: Honestly, I don't remember if this was one I sang at Scott's. But somewhere along the way I sang a vocal I was happy with. I think I sang the do-do-do backing vocals (that, admittedly, are a little on the pop side) at my house. Paul Franklin played steel at the house. 

Final credits 2025: Guitars by Bob Britt and Tom Spaulding, pedal steel guitar by Paul Franklin, six string banjo by Tom Spaulding, dobro by Scott Neubert, bass by Steve Mackey, drums by Bryan Owings. I hope people hear this and think it's as cool a song as I do. 

Sweetest Release (for Dennis)

Writing the Song: “This is a hard one,” I sigh. In November 2010 my brother died very unexpectedly of a heart attack. Many people said it was the biggest shock they’ve ever had. I still feel that way. Two weeks after his death, my mom was found on the floor of her trailer home, where she had been lying for two days. She was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a laundry list of serious ailments.

Against her wishes, she was placed into a nursing home. Boy, did my family’s lives change in the blink of an eye in November 2010.

While my mom was in rehab, I became concerned about the only item of any real value in her home – my grandfather’s guitar. I was 200 miles away and the only family close by was either elderly or dealing with my brother’s death. I decided to bring the old Gibson home with me. What a sweet guitar this thing is, oh my!!! I so enjoyed playing it. I was walking through the house one day and started writing what began as a love song. I soon realized that it was something deeper. I picked up my mom’s guitar and “Sweetest Release” poured out. It was one of those rare times that I gave little thought to rhyme, meter, or writing the perfect song. I just said what I wanted to say. 

Pre-Production: I’ve gigged this out once with a full band. We need to work on the dynamics. I’m sticking solid to the lyrics, I don’t want to cut anything. But it feels too long right now. I was thinking acoustic. But Tom came up with this beautiful and moving “Wrecking Ball” sounding electric guitar riff. I am already thinking that this song should close the record. I am talking about the day when I am with God. What more can be said? 

July 2, 2012: Sitting on my porch after a cooling rain working on it. Is this song too long??? It’s over 4 minutes. 

July 14, 2013: Ugg. This song stresses me out. I like it, in some ways, and in other ways I think it’s boring as hell. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013: Recorded at Brown Owl. This came out SO WELL! I wanted at least one song on the record with a whisper soft vocal. It seemed appropriate for this one. We had played it out once and it kinda fell flat. We didn't have the dynamics right. So that was our main challenge - to figure out the high point of the song - where we needed to build it. I think it came out beautifully. Can't WAIT to hear this one!

Thursday, August 22, 2013: This is going to be beautiful, once we get it right. My prayer is that someone could listen to it and find comfort in it. I do.

Winter 2017: Comped a vocal at Anthony Aquilato's house using all the vocal takes we had. Ugh. Not happy with it. Don't know what happened?? I loved my vocal at some point. Feel like I'm back to the drawing board with this one. 

About 2022: Had Viktor Krauss put an upright bass part on. Beautiful. 

Around 2024: Bob made a different guitar track for me to work with. Later, recorded vocals for hours at Bryan Clark's house. Very nice of Bryan to have me over and work on this with me. But no sir. We didn't get it. Rather, I didn't get it. 

November 29, 2025: The last track on the record to be finished. Everything else is 99% done. At the moment, I'm working with a harmonium app I downloaded on my phone. I think I need to start fresh with this track because, for one thing, the darn thing is too high. 

Final credits 2026: