Phenomenal record here, called “Give You the Ghost.”

I’m a bit of a hermit these days when it comes to new music. Hat tip to friends who put me on to this killer record.

Here in is the continuing saga of the as-of-yet untitled EP with songs written, recorded and produced in my tiny attic studio. I’m aiming for 5 songs, releasing each as I finish them. Note that these tracks have yet to be mastered in a professional studio. What you’re hearing are exported files straight from Pro Tools without any post-production clean-up. Once the tracks are mastered, I’ll make the EP available for download.

There’s a certain amount of necessary growth with any song. Some remain in their raw forms – one guitar, one voice – while others explode into multi-instrumental songs. This song is of the latter. I’ve had this one laying around for more than a year now, playing it as a slow, finger-picked song. But I knew it had the potential to sound bigger. This is what came out of those efforts:

There’s an element of mid-90s rock in here somewhere. Hearing the chorus, a friend, somewhat accurately, blurted out, “Gin Blossoms”. Not my intentions, but, what the hell. (See original demo below)

This here is Track 3 off of what will be a 5-song EP. I had originally aimed for an 8-10 LP, but, me being me, I need to get these songs out before I get sick of them. That, and my schedule right now does not allow for sufficient time to bang out 10 tracks. Chipping away at one is hard enough as it is.

Just to give you an idea of where this song started, here’s the scratch take of “You Were Amazing” from some time last year :

My longtime buddy and soon-to-be-former housemate Senneca and I have been bumming around on short little diddies lately. The songwriting plan is very simple: There is no plan. Senneca plays some chords; I plink around on the mandolin and we write down whatever comes to us. The result is no-stress songwriting that’s been a refreshing change from my typical regimen. This is one we wrote in the course of an hour or so over the weekend, recorded on Senneca’s iPhone.

I’m nearly finished with Track 3 off the new LP/EP. Will post ASAP.

A lil’ something I’m working on.

Ya know, I’ve read my share of junk books in the past several months but, goddammit, John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” just slayed me. Beautiful, beautiful piece of fiction with some of the better characters you’ll find in a novel.

Highly recommended, if you’ve never picked it up. And, if you have, How cool is Lee?

The story of Mike Powell, a high school wrestling coach near Chicago, is proof of what a coach can mean to the athletes he/she mentors. Dealt a fairly shitty hand, Powell – fighting a debilitating illness – continues to teach his kids about what it really means to be a man. Sports Illustrated ran a story on Powell last month called “Man In Full”, and I strongly recommend any leaders, educators, coaches to give it a read. It’s long but worth it.

Last year, I was given the tremendous opportunity to play at my cousin’s wedding. It was easily the most memorable performance that I’ve ever had, hands down, and as equally stressful. A month before the wedding, Matt and his soon-to-be wife, Amanda, had requested that I play a song during their first dance as a couple, with one stipulation: the song couldn’t be a cover; it had to be one of my own. Matt and I mulled it over for a bit before coming to the very real conclusion that, at the time, I didn’t have a song appropriate enough for such a memorable occasion (other than “Harder to Stand”, which, lyrically, would be a poor, poor jumping off point for a marriage). So, I told Matt and Amanda I’d write them something in a few weeks and have it ready to play on their wedding day, October 1.

This is the end result, aptly titled “First Dance”. Crank it. This track isn’t yet mastered.

It took more than two or three months to get this recorded, in between daily reporting and pesky night meetings with the newspaper. On weekends, I’d tinker (there’s really not a better word) with it, fiddle with piano parts. The following week, I’d sneak back up to the attic and put down a bass line. Break for another week, then come back to do vocals. Go snowboarding, sleep and re-record guitars. Come home from work and mix. And so on. Glad it’s finally done. Onto the next track.

Lyrics:

Do you mind if I stay for a while,
and find a home in your goodness?
And usher the mornings in,
from here ’til eternity’s end?

(As sure as day is night,
a spinning world and turning tides
For you my heart will yearn
as sure as dawn’s return).

And this, appropriately, will be track 1 in what I predict to be an 8-song record that I’ll be tinkering with this year (Quick word: Last year, I had planned to do a record, got about four songs in and thought, “Nah, let’s start over”. I’ll put those songs out sometime).

I’ve got about five other tracks in the queue, ready to get laid down. Per usual, I’ll post the songs as I finish them. Hope you like.

Keep in touch,

Lou

Early today, our Kickstarter campaign finished up after 35 days on the circuit. Not only did you, faithful friends, help meet our $3,000 goal, you obliterated it by a cool $400. That, for lack of a better word, is rad.

All I can say is thanks. Thanks for your time in following our project. And, certainly, thanks for contributing your hard-earned dollars. All for a film that a large majority of you have yet to see. We hope to change that very soon.

There were about 100 of you who donated. It’s been fun going through the list of names — I see some of my longtime friends who I grew up with, Charlotte, NC coworkers and friends (looking at you, South County Regional Library), a couple of “Oh wows” (Anne Flournoy?! TED Fellows?!) as well as a few folks who are relatively new in my life. Truly blessed to know you. Thank you to:

Mandy Caster
Nicolas Pakler
TED Fellows
Chad Luzier
Matthew
Mark A Brisky
Dan Gigante
Matt
Rusty Mott
Josh Karst
Jayson Greene
Mark Riley
Debby Mooney
Ritter4life
Jamie Shaner
Lisa Scanlon
Ann Hurlburt
Nichole Gonzalez
Maggie Perrigo
Jeremy Neely
Rick Trietley
The Froebels
Stephanie Farr
Michael Mitri
Emily Hurlburt
Saprina Wilkins
Cherie Lunger
Valerie Goole
Jim Sauer
Ashton Neff
Michael Cole
Bill LaRue
Sue Swihart Bastiani
Charles Fiegl
Dave Demarest
Ryan Michelle
Kelli Dochstader
Dale and Pat Metler
Roseanna Wilson
Crystal Luzier
Delon Basdeo
Peter W. Taylor
Jonathan Sean Kugel
Margaret Kunz
Bill Brand
Joyce Sico
Anne Flournoy
Susan “Gidget” Landgraf
Matt Retchless
Jeff Telford
Matt Alpaugh
Kevin Fleischmann
Madeline Z.
Jon Barton
Nicholas Waldron
Pat Waldron
Rob Hurlburt
Connie Mooney
Ben
Daniel
Valerie Hedlund
Mike Connelly
Kelly
Stacy Orlowsky
James H. Perry
Tony Burke
Piggy and Tink
Justin Follett
Sandra Dorn
Elizabeth Budnik
Joel Colombo
Kelly Hoolihan
Jason Ortiz
Jeff Streitel
Lindsey Glover
LORI
Ed Dittenhoefer
Krista McConnaughey
Katie
Richie Barie
Aaron Kiffer
Seamus Mooney
Lisa Helms
John Bennett
Katie Kemp
Haggs
Bryan Greene
Molly Josephine
Mary Karst
Brad
Mary Kallenbach
Ed Kowalczweski

Next up, Hurls will be entering “Zeus” in precisely 17 film festivals AND putting together the DVD packaging for those who received a copy as a Kickstarter incentive (wait until you see what Hurls’ insanely talent sister, Emily, put together. SICK.)

And, on the music front, I’ll be releasing a new track off the record sometime in the next two weeks. More on that shortly.

My good buddy, Matt Alpaugh, has a very rad site up at www.indiefieldguide.com. Recently, he’s been posting similarly rad videos of his and his new wife’s excursions.

One of his most recent videos features a mumble-y song of mine, called “Dirty Dozen Dimes”, a leftover track from the Zeus Soundtrack project. Have a look (and listen), and then be sure to keep regular tabs on the Alpaughs, their site and Matt’s band, These Are a Fisherman’s Favorite Dreams.