The calm before the storm...
Everything is coming together quite nicely for the "Rockin' Around the Town Square" concerts, at least from the front-end planning stages. Last weekend I wrapped up recording rough demos of my new arrangements for the rest of the band members to listen to and rehearse with, and then spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and catching up with a close brother of mine. It was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy some time off, especially after immersing myself into music and recording over the past several weeks.
After a few days of recharging the batteries, however, it is time once again to get back to work. During the past couple days, I've already begun to revisit and re-learn some of my arrangements from last year's Christmas show that will be used again this year. I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family and catching up with friends over the next few days - but after that it's back to work again. The first full-band rehearsal is scheduled for this Sunday afternoon, and I'll be meeting with Roger on Saturday to record drum tracks and to work on material for this year's "Rockin' Around the Town Square" shows. I'm excited to hear and witness the musicianship he will bring to the shows this year, as I've always been impressed with his feel and how well everything he plays fits perfectly within a song - one reason why I always enjoy working with him in a studio environment. These will also be the first live shows we've performed together, which should be a ton of fun.
One exciting new thing for this year's Christmas performances is the addition of some newly-written original music. While in the process of recording demos for possible inclusion in the Christmas concerts, many ideas were left on the cutting room floor for one reason or another (mainly because they didn't fit in with the overall theme); I'll probably revisit and finish some (if not most) of them for other future musical projects. Some of the freshly recorded new ideas include a couple piano-based tracks, as well as some of the darkest and heaviest material I've written, and more... so be on the lookout for news soon about this exciting new material!
As of today, 24 days remain until the first performance... the excitement and anticipation has already begun!
As always, stay tuned for further information... and have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!