I've just gotten word that the lacquer has been cut and the vinyl LP should be shipped and ready just in time for an April 10 release show at Norb Andy's in Springfield, IL. With it's haunted history and nautical themes, Norb's is the ideal setting to navigate these tracks with a live audience. Many thanks to new owner Chris Radunzel and his staff for supporting local music.

Music will start at 9pm with a good-luck-following-that set from Micah Walk and Dave Littrell. I'll be selling the album at a "thanks for coming to the show" rate of $10 for the CD and $15 for the vinyl. Get it on your calendar by joining the Facebook event.

Last fall I called up my friend Kevin Ohlau (Jewels/Black Fortys/Young Loves) with an idea. I wanted to get together this winter and spend all day drinking tea and recording music. I also wanted to be completely unrehearsed to capture the spirit of when we would sit around the piano hashing out song structures and harmonies. The final ingredient was that it had to be done live, in one day, with two microphones, straight to tape.

Everything fell into place a couple weeks ago as we climbed the narrow attic staircase to David Brown's Jurassic Park studio in Carbondale, IL. The space was perfect. Low light, angular ceilings, wooden floors, and the constant hum of traffic on Highway 13 below. David was completely on-board with our shambolic approach to making this record and served as our producer, engineer and spirit guide without complaint. (He also saved us from near disaster as I attempted to order pizza from Quatro's...in Connecticut. How did I not remember 549-5326???)

After 8 hours of transcendence, fatigue, failure, and triumph we emerged with 6 new songs that will be part of a cassette and digital release this spring. After working on my first release "Some Big Mystery" in almost total isolation, it was refreshing to see the magic created from spontaneous collaboration. I'm really proud of what Kevin and David brought to these songs and can't wait for you to hear the result.

Here's a rough mix of what is to come.