Joy!!!

Yes! We're back home and were glad to sleep in our own beds last night! Friday was amazing recording at Phil's and watching him work! He's got parts on three songs and skillfully wove his signature all around while keeping the song in fine focus! It was such a joy to meet him; he is such a down to earth guy with a very generous heart. It was sweet to see his own joy as he played 'blistering' solo licks and then listened back to the track with a warm smile of appreciation for his work!

Upon arriving home last night I downloaded the rough mixes Jeremy had sent me and tears filled my eyes as I listened; the solo at the end of Who You Are captured perfectly the feel of that song and put the words of praise into music! Great job Phil! If I would summarize this project so far it would be something similar to me buying an expensive picture frame to put one of my kids crayon drawings into! I feel like my songs are a child's attempt to honor God with the gifts He's given and He's taken those efforts, valued them and placed them into a very decorative frame.

What a joy to see this project come this far! My prayer is that it will bring joy to your heart to when you get to hear it. We're still thinking it will be sometime this fall before duplication is done. Thanks for your prayers and walking this journey with me!!

Love to you all,

Sam

Practice: If I had it to do over I'd have practiced more intentionally and prepared my songs more also...well no regrets though! The week has shaped up nicely! Today we're heading to Phil Keaggy's house to let him put parts on three songs then maybe hang around his studio a bit to listen through final tweaks and add some final overdubs. I'm really trying to simply focus on the task at hand and not get overwhelmed by all the sharp talent roaming around. My goal is not to make a million dollars or get any song on the radio but to simply be faithful to these songs and true to the gifts I've been given! Thanks to God for his abundant favor and grace!!!!
As it turns out all my tracking will be finished this week but Jeremy will continue to lay a few parts in after we leave, including his friend on lap steel and possible someone for female vocals. It's all cool, I'll be able to offer my input a few more time before the final mix, but looking at a finished master around mid august.

I'll check in again soon, have a great day

Sam

Provision! July 7th Nel and I spent the day enjoying beautiful weather and Chain o Lakes State park! We we're amazed as we walked trails at the abundance of Black Raspberries (Nel's favorite!). She remembers them as a kid as they scoured the woods for elusive plants and the rare find of a few ripe berries. This day was different however as this handful shows it seemed everywhere we looked beautiful ripe berries were reaching out to us!
This provision reminds me of this weeks events as Jeremy and I plunge into this project! Monday we laid scratch vocal tracks and my acoustic guitar parts on 4 songs, and as I became more tired (this really is hard work!) Jeremy finished the scratch parts for the hymn. Tuesday found us at Ken Lewis's home studio for him to do his magic on perc and drums parts for each song. It was surreal to sit there and hear these nashville dudes drop names like 'Mike' Card, Sixpence, Christine Dente, and others the same way I would mention local business owners or work acquaintances. Every one I've met so far though has been very accommodating and great to work with! yesterday we worked at another studio where Jeremy's friend Jeff Irwin put Bass and upright bass parts on the songs! 'Who You Are' is one of my favorites so far Jeff played his upright with a bow! Super Cool! Each day has been about 9am to 6 or 7pm and I get back exhausted! Today is more vocal parts and some final guitar work. See ya soon. I'll check in again later.

Love to you all!

Sam

Thumbs up and a mouthful of Skyline Chili Cheese dog! Perfect pre recording diet! (just kidding this photo taken several weeks ago) but anyway we're all thumbs up because we've got the final payment in hand for this upcoming week of recording, (Just to clarify duplication and packaging will be an additional expense but for now we are celebrating that we've reached this milestone! Thumbs up for dreams!!!) The strings are new and ready to sing on the Gibson aj and the yamaha sg2000 (although it may not get used because this might be all acoustic) either way they are ready to go. Final song list 1 About Yesterday 2All the Good Things 3Companion 4Who You are and 5Jesus I My Cross Have Taken. Arranged by Bill Moore this old hymn has beautiful lyrics and the new arrangement seems made for this project. It's time start loading so i'll talk to again soon probably when I can steal some time at the hotel guest computer.

Thanks for all your care and prayers, love you all

Sam