Want to take a guess as to what I did not do this morning before work? Also, what I didn’t do at all over the weekend or during last week?
Go on and take a guess. I bet you’ll never get it right. I won’t be able to do anything about it for the next two days either, but I bet you still can’t guess.
It’s a super secret. No one will ever know.
(insert frustrated sigh of failure to play any guitar or work on any music projects or ideas here)
I have barely done anything musical in the past week. I told myself I was going to work on Quarantine Tunes Volume 7 this month, and I have done some work. I just haven’t done enough.
I have one song ready to mix, but it’s been ready to mix for about a year. I have one song ready for lead guitars but, again, it’s been ready for about a year. I have three songs ready for vocals and I have been trying to get myself into a place where I can record them (meaning in the car in an empty parking lot at the crack of dawn) but I’ve failed to get it done all week. Tomorrow, maybe? I also have two songs ready for rhythm guitars but I just haven’t been able to make the time to record the tracks. I will, I just need to get myself motivated.
Motivation! Why do you vex me so? Get your ass in gear, Robert! Do something! Play the effin’ guitar, you bozo! Make some music!
I played guitar today. I worked on two songs. I used the direct out and cabinet sims off of two amps, which broke my amps and speakers rule for the re-recording project, but I didn’t wake Harry so that was worth it.
I played like dog shit, but I played and that’s what matters. I needed it. I have more to do so I might sneak some more playing in later today.
Sigh of relief.
The Smashing Pumpkins put out a call for a new guitar player. They are asking for resumes.
Should I send one?
Right then. It’s 2024. Enough of that crap that was 2023. Let’s get our shit together and make some music. In February I will dive head first back into the RPM Challenge, but until then what am I going to force upon myself to jump start creativity and make me feel like I can be a musician for a few weeks.
In other words, what are my musical goals for January 2024? There are three.
First and foremost, we are hoping to start auditioning singers for the cover band. My playing is utter shite right now so I need to get into shape. I need to find out what songs we are going to use for the audition and practice the holy hell out of them. They all used to be second nature but that was almost four years ago. I have to make them second nature again.
Second and second most, my 1979 Gibson ES-335 Pro needs to go into the shop. The same shop my Les Paul Custom spent time in a few months ago. I think it needs new frets, and I think it might need a new wiring harness as well. I need to get things going this month so that the guitar will be available for me to use on February’s RPM Challenge album.
Third and third most, it is time to get back to The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, where I take old songs from old writing projects and clean them up, edit them, rewrite where necessary, and then record a slightly higher quality version. This project is also known as Quarantine Tunes. There are six Quarantine Tunes albums on my alonetone page. I told myself that I was stopping at six but then about a year and a half ago I started work on volume seven and also sort of started thinking about volume eight. What can I say, I am a nerd about this stuff. Last night I added two more songs to the volume seven to-do list. I plan to spend January working on volume seven and hopefully finishing it. That should put my brain into a good recording and playing space in time for February.
I am also slightly overwhelmed by a scary compulsion to go out and buy a new guitar. I need to fight that urge. I want a Les Paul Junior or a Firebird, but I don’t need them. Hopefully playing the shit out of the guitars I already own will calm me down on the online shopping front… hopefully… I think.
So there you go. Practice, get the 335 fixed up, and record. My three musical goals for January.
Bring ’em on.
A super rough mix of a terrible performance of a really bad song. My first Record Every Month Challenge song since September. I’m back, babie! My finger tips are killing me after recording the lead guitar parts today. Yikes!
I played some guitar today. I finished tracking two songs that could be December’s submission for the Record Every Month Challenge. Both songs really suck though… so… yeah.
I feel gross using the facebook/instagram owned twitter alternative app, Threads. Really gross.
That isn’t quite enough to stop me right now though. I am such a social media hypocrite/whore.
Anyway, someone asked, “what are your guitar goals for 2024” or something along those lines. I responded with a few. I figured I would port the response over to this post and maybe add a thing or two because I ran out of characters on the app. First, does the embed code work? I tried just sharing a link the other day to see if that pulled anything in, but it didn’t. I found that each post includes some embedding HTML code. Betcha a dollar it doesn’t work…
Post by @reallytallredheadView on Threads
https://www.threads.net/embed.js
Based on the preview function in the editor, it didn’t work. Oh well. Here’s the text I wrote:
I want my cover band to finally get back together after a covid-hiatus and an exiting singer.
I want to write a shit ton of songs, record listenable demoes of all of them, and maybe have one or two that don’t objectively suck.
I want to play a bar gig for the first time since Feb 1, 2020.
After getting my 1978 Les Paul refretted a couple of months ago, I want to do the same with my 1979 ES-335 along with maybe getting a new wiring harness so that all four of my guitars will be in gig shape.
Me: https://www.threads.net/@reallytallredhead/post/C1ch8b9LyTx
Yes, kids… I just quoted myself. I dun did that.
Anyway, there are a couple of things to add.
I want to replace all of my guitar straps with heavy, leather straps like the one I have on my 50th birthday present Les Paul Standard. I have amazon shipping one for my Les Paul Custom and it should arrive tomorrow.
I want to buy either a Gibson Les Paul Junior, a Gibson Firebird, a Gibson Les Paul Standard with P-90 pickups instead of humbuckers, or a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. The order I wrote them is from most wanted to least most wanted. The chances of me buying any of these is about 0.0000001%… so there’s a chance.
With all of these goals in mind, mostly I would just settle for playing more. That’s what I really want to do.
I didn’t play guitar at all today, but I did take a few Hipstamatic pic of my #1, my Les Paul Custom. Shake to Shuffle and all that stuff.
HoHoHo
Oh thank heavens, I played some guitar today. I worked on two songs for Record Every Month. My finger tips are sore as hell, but I played my Les Paul Custom with the new frets and it felt really good. Really good.
I seriously over did the obligatory pics.
Inside the Red Head's Head 