the end of november

well. i had momentum there for a minute and it left as quickly as it came. . .

events since cincy:

got home to nashville, recorded some acoustic versions of griffin's tunes for "promotions". did a fun session with sarah siskand for her publishing. she is a killer songwriter and singer. lex price assembled a great band with jonathan trebing on guitar, james digiralamo? on keys, himself on bass and me on drums. i really need to get some drums soon. i wish i could afford one of those all wood kits from the 40's. maybe i'll make some drums of my own:)
played a couple gigs with radney foster in atlanta and tuscaloosa. both were fun, but tiring by the time i got back to nashville . . . slept for a few hours and then met up with lex and peter bradley adams. peter is finishing a record at 'alex the great' with lex producing. i'll be playing drums on it, so we ran through some songs. . .tested the waters, i suppose. really looking forward to it.
got to spend some good time with lucy while meg worked at the beginning of the week before heading to chicago for thanksgiving.
time in chicago was much needed. good food, warm family, football, deep dish pizza. . . . . . .
went to schuba's and saw kyle andrews and horse in the sea. swell time with kevin and mindy.
out again the next night and played with griffin, who opened for over the rhine at the 'old town school of folk'. two sold out shows. great fun. and a solid dinner at some really authentic german restaurant in lincoln square.
the bears pulled out a win on sunday against the broncos. we still have a very small glimmer of hope:)

so we're back now and both meg and lucy are sick, and i'm taking vitamin c and drinking water like crazy. no sickness for me, hopefully.
gotta go sleep. lots to do tomm.

fav. songs/pieces right now: "Fugitive Motel" -Elbow "Work That"-Mary J. Blige "Gabriel's Oboe"-Ennio Morricone from 'The Mission' "29 Palms"- Brad Mehldau "So Small"-Carrie Underwood
ian

Cincinnati

just got back to the hotel we're staying at for the weekend. its actually a Comfort Inn Suite in Kentucky, but we are mainly here for cincinnati. Grandpa Vidal's 80th birthday to be exact.
Bob and Carol live in a beautiful condo overlooking the Ohio River and are hosting a family party for the occasion. i love that i'm here for family this time.. . i've a had an odd love affair withe the city of Cincinnati for a few years now. griffin really did show me the beauty of this town and introduced me to the many things to love about it. . . . mount adams, hyde park, the echo diner, mike's music shoppe, skyline chili, the taft theater and good hearted people.

aside from the fact that i haven't learned the guitar changes to "my favorite things" (of sound of music fame), which beth has put new words to, as tribute to Bob's 80th. . , i'm looking forward to some good times with family that i'm just starting to really know. . .
there's much more to write about, but i'm pooped.
goodnight


"It is considered to have been the first major American "boomtown," rapidly expanding in the heart of the country in the early nineteenth century to rival the larger coastal cities in size and wealth. As the first major inland city in the country, it is sometimes thought of as the first purely American city, lacking the heavy European influence that was present on the east coast. However, by the end of the century, Cincinnati's growth had slowed considerably, and the city was surpassed in population by many other inland cities." -Wikipedia

girl in gold

the learner. . . esquire. . .

Thursday, Nov. 8th

early morning. lucy was awake with the sun. . .
meg made a great lunch for me, and i made my way west.
good meeting with kate york about a new record for her. she is so gifted and so emotional with her writing and singing. .wow. . .
lunch with ricky young. fish and chips special at Dan McGuinness,. , ,, hopefully we'll be recording the beginnings of a new ricky young and slow films record. excited about both!
good hang with rusty ralston, who is in town and considering moving back here. . he took some pictures of me and juice. . . we'll see what happens:). . . .
time for sleep. . .
ian

Wed. Nov. 6th

wild storms last night in nashville. sideways rain, powerful thunder and rain leaking in the back porch. kept waiting for the power to go out. my phone died just as lucy began to cry and i tried reaching meg, who was still at work. . . . . kind of frightening actually. i laughed later, realizing that i always give juice flak about being intimidated by the weather. . .

this morning was cold. lucy was all over the place.
headed over to the studio on 16th and worked with Court on a tune that we've been kicking around for almost two years. weird how some songs take that long. they begin with great enthusiasm, get thwarted somehow, and re-surface later with more meaning and vigor. i think we're close with this one.

it was aaron's birthday today. hung out for a bit with him while he tried out his new xbox games. i'm terrible at those, so i just watched and sipped on some Chimay.

meg is making progress on Little Artisans and i'm getting ready to crash.

HEM

there's something that occurs, or comes over me. . .when i put on Hem's "Eveningland". it really speaks in it's own language. sure, it eventually can become lulling. . .
such a plain voice, light accompanying. . . . what is it that makes this sound so beautiful to me?
i'm home at 2423 brasher today while meg does a full day shoot. lucy is sleeping and i'm trying to get this house in order. i just finished my second round of dishes (we are without a dishwasher), and getting ready to read a bit more of "The Old Man and the Sea", which is on loan to me from aaron.
i might even keep listening to Hem while i do so.

Day One

for some reason, i've had a difficult time keeping up my blogging at myspace. in fact, i seem to have a more general problem keeping up with myspace in general. codes for this that and the other. . . .nonsense. i would just like to save my thoughts somewhere and give some pictures to those interested enough.

i really have no idea how long this will last, but seeing as though my life has never been more unpredictable and fun. . . i reckon i have enough material to bore anyone to tears.
so, this one's gonna be short. but i promise to get things moving here at the Scotch Ukrainian abode.