Studio Blog 1 (11-29-07)

2:00pm

My wife told me that yesterday and today, I've acted like a schoolboy on their first day of school.

I got up bright and early and got dressed, then proceeded to load up 2 amps, a speaker cabinet, 3 electric guitars and 1 acoustic (my trusty Taylor) into my Jeep. After I loaded up, I drove over and picked up Ash, who is filming the recording process. We stopped by Mickey D's for breakfast, then headed on to the studio. I got to the studio at 9am and unloaded all my stuff, getting set up for the day.

We got started a little after 10, with us all in a room hammering it out. Will Denton is playing drums and Joey Canaday is playing bass. These two guys were requested by me because they were in Steven Curtis Chapman's band for a while and I had met Will a couple of times. Stephen Leiweke, who is co-producing, played guitar and Jason Walker, who I co-wrote "I'm Clean" with is playing piano.

We listened to the song once and then went in to the big room to begin whittling away the arrangement to make it perfect. We took a measure out here, 2 measures out there and we changed one thing here and there, and we had the arrangement. We tracked the song 5 times and we had what we needed.

After we tracked it a couple of times, we saved my scratch vocal and I went to playing electric guitar, adding some umph underneath. But, after 2-3 times of me playing with the band, we had what we needed. And it was off to lunch.

After lunch we came back and fixed 2-3 trouble spots and suddenly, "Pleased" is finished and ready for overdubs. It sounds incredible already! We're getting ready to start on "Potential".


5pm
We started working on "Potential" and decided that we didn't like the feel of the song. So, we spent the last couple of hours reworking that song. We sped it up a little bit and moved Jason over from Piano to Rhodes through a distortion pedal and made the whole song just feel more mature. It's really, really different, but it's exciting to hear the difference. And it feels way better. It doesn't necessarily rock more, but it's a little more driving.

The players I'm working with are incredible. I've caught myself a few times almost laughing because it's so exciting to be around incredible musicians. They hear the song once and jump in and kill it.

It's incredible.

9pm
Well, the next song up was "Something Beautiful". We started working on it about 5:30pm and immediately Joey, the bass player, started messing around with a riff taken from the chord structure that we all thought was pretty cool. Stephen started to mimic it on guitar and pretty soon we had a riff to build the song around. We figured out the feel of the song after the riff and then started tracking to nail it down.

I laid down a couple of vocal tracks until we had a scratch track that was good enough and then I went out and played guitar on a couple of takes. My guitar part is down and now I'm listening to the guys track another take as I sit here and type.

Seriously, the songs have all taken turns for the better from my crappy demos (well, I would hope so). I'm excited to see how they end up over the next few days as we add guitars and keyboards and vocals.

I spent a lot of money today.

But it was completely well-spent.

The Studio - pre-production

Today, I head off to Brown Bannister's studio to work on pre-production of the first 3 songs we're recording.

I was supposed to start recording on Monday with another producer, but some things didn't fall into place, so he wasn't able to start working yet. So, Thursday is the day we start tracking.

I will have my computer with me in the studio and keep a running update of what's going on throughout the day. We've decided on the 12 songs and a possible 13th. I wrote or co-wrote all 13 songs. And I'm excited about the material.

The first 3 songs we're working on will be a co-production of Brown Bannister and my good friend Stephen Leiweke.

They will be:

Are You Pleased?
Potential
Something Beautiful.

So, tomorrow, I'll start my studio blogs.

I can't wait!!!

P.S.: Go check out the new version of Hero on myspace.com/chrissligh and tell me what you think. It's way different...but Brown thought the old version was a little 80's, so I took another pass at the arrangement. It's a little slower and piano based.

Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

Well, is it obligatory? Or is it needed? Probably not. The world isn't a better place because I ramble about life and the music business on the internet in my own little corner of the world. But you know, I'm better and my life is better because of this little blog. So, I guess thanksgiving is in order.

1) I am eternally grateful for the last year of my life. July 28, 2006, I made it past the first round of American Idol because a songwriter/publisher from Nashville, TN named LeAnn Phelan saw through my blunder of singing an original song and heard my voice and caught the vision for an image and an attitude I would carry until the 1st week of the semi-finals. So, I'm thankful that she saw past a fat guy in a little coat and put me on to the next round.

2) In February-May of 2006, I worked at BMW Manufacturing putting exhausts and bumpers on Z4's and X5's. I developed carpal tunnel and my hands were in so much pain that I literally could not squeeze a guitar. Scary for a guitar player. I then moved to a great job from May until I left for Idol at Level One, leasing apartments all across the nation. That job was an answer to prayer. And if I hadn't had that job, I could never have taken the time off to try out for Idol. So, ultimately God had a plan through all of this. So, I am thankful that it all was worked out for me to have a chance to make it on American Idol.

3) I am thankful for the fans who have been with me from day one. I remember reading my name on the internet before anyone had even seen my audition. I remember after my audition seeing on the American Idol boards people writing Sligh-kus and being fascinated and honored that people would take time to think about me, nonetheless write poems about me. And to have some of those same people (plus a lot more!) posting here on a regular basis is encouraging, exciting and humbling. So, thank you guys.

4) I am thankful for the lifetime friends that I have made through this process. It started with Rudy Cardenes. Then Blake and Phil entered the picture in Hollywood week (Phil & I were roommates and Rudy, Blake and I hung out all week long). Then at top 24, Sundance Head became a close friend, as well as Chris Richardson. Melinda and I hit it off the last day of Hollywood and got stuck in the Houston airport together for 5 hours with delayed flights. Gina and I hit it off immediately and stayed fast friends. Sanjaya took some time to grow on me, but became a close friend over the summer. And lately Haley has become a good friend of Sarah and mine. I could go on to everyone in top 10 or top 12, but I think the point is made. I went into it focused on relationships, and though I will readily look back and admit, I lost sight of that for a time, it is nice to come out on the other side with relationships being the most important thing to take away from this experience.

5) I am incredibily grateful for my management team. Mike Blanton and Mitch White have become close friends and I could not have gone through this whole signing process without them by my side telling me everything was going to be okay. I could not have made it past the freak outs that no one outside ever knew about without them patting me on the shoulder and telling me that it was all going to work out for good, even when it looked like nothing was happening or things were moving incredibly slow. They helped me to trust that God was in control. And I wasn't. How comforting is that. No one, including myself (no matter how much I try to convice myself otherwise) wants this idiot in charge. Of anything. Except this blog.

6) I am thankful to my family. My parents were in a tough spot. They are in an incredibly conservative religious denomination. Their peers would not see the good in their son (no matter how old) being a part of American Idol (if for no other reason but that it has the world Idol in the name). Yet, they were positive and encouraging and interesting all the while keeping their personal beliefs and standards intact. I can't imagine how tough it is to see your child go in a different direction than you had hoped, but my parents could not have done a better job of loving through the differences. So, I thank God for them.

7) Finally, and most importantly...Sarah. Good Lord, I don't know what I could've done without Sarah. She comforted me and consoled me and encouraged me through a process that was very tough and emotionally challanging. I went home way earlier than anyone predicted and, though I can see the good in that now, at that point it was a struggle and there was a lot of hurt. Sarah was there. Sarah is the most unselfish woman I can imagine. She would work 55 hours a week while I was on the show so that she could break away for 3 days to come see me once every 2 weeks. She literally and figuratively held down the fort. She was my rock. From a financial standpoint, I could not have followed this dream without her working hard to pay the bills back home. Sarah is the love of my life. She is perfect in every way. I am undeserving of her love. And on top of it all, she's hotter than heck. And I get to spend every night with her. How great is my life!

So, that's my list of thanksgiving. There's so much more that I could be thankful for, but words don't suffice. Thse simple words can't convey my heart, but at least I tried.

Just when things couldn't get any better....

Well, I'm sitting on my couch, watching football, my foot propped up by 3 pillows. Friday morning I woke up and got out of bed and crumpled because I couldn't put any weight on my left foot. I went the whole day in pain, but could put a little weight on my foot from time to time. Sarah and I went to see Steven Curtis Chapman and Sanctus Real play here in Nashville (more on that later) and by the end of the night, I couldn't walk any more. I woke up yesterday morning and my foot was swollen and bruised and I could no longer walk. In probing around my foot, I have found that the pain is coming from the bone coming from my 4th toe (the one next to the pinky toe). In playing sports, I have had sprains, I have had tendon strains. But this pain is much different...I asked some people who have been through stress fractures to describe it and also read some stuff online, and I'm pretty sure it's a stress fracture. From what I understand, with a stress fracture, they pretty much tell you to stay off of it, and you can get a booty if you want...so I don't really want to spend the money to go to the doctor. So, I'll be on crutches for a few days. And I'll be doing a lot of icing and heating of my foot.

Anyway, the bad is out of the way.

Friday was a great day (outside of my foot killing me). My friend Ash, who is doing my video stuff, was coming into town for a few days to do some video stuff with Sanctus Real, a Christian band. Sanctus Real is on tour right now opening up Steven Curtis Chapman with Bethany Dillon. Anyway, the tour's Fall leg was ending here in Nashville, so Ash invited us to the show. We showed up before the show and hugn out backstage with Sanctus and got to know those guys a little bit. We watched Sanctus's show and then Ash went back with the band to do some video stuff during Steven Curtis's show. Sarah and I stayed out for the show.

Steven Curtis Chapman is on my list of heros. Ultimately the decision to make a CCM record came down to the fact that 3 of the records that I looked at as life-changing were Steven Curtis Chapman albums. As he went through a list of his hits and some songs from his newly released album, I realized I was singing along with every song and knew every word. It was great to see SCC again in concert...it had been probably 5 years since my last concert with him.

Afterwards, we went out to Sanctus Real's bus and hung out for about an hour...it's funny musicians usually don't watch AI, but are fascinated by the show and what it does, so the band had quite a few questions about the show...it was fun to talk about it. We talked about my record coming up, and about their record they just finished. That was fun.

Then Sarah and I went up to the meet and greet with SCC. It was great. In line was SCC's keyboard player Scott Sheriff...we talked for a long time just about everything (he's been with SCC for a long, long time), and decided we should hook up and hang out, so that'll be fun. Then we finally got to SCC. It was the most surreal thing...SCC comes, knows who I am, and thanks me for doing Christian songs on the show. Weird...I will never get used to people who I have loved for a lifetime knowing my name. I thanked Steven for his ministry in my life and told him that I was working with Brown (who produced most of Steven's biggest albums). We talked for a coupla minutes and then took a picture. It was one of the best experiences of anything that has happened through this whole thing...I got to meet SCC!

Yesterday, I woke up and was in a lot of pain with my foot. So I took some painkillers and they made me a little woozy. I was supposed to meet Clint Lagerberg to write at 10am, but I called him and we put it off till after lunch. So, laid down to take a nap. Then, I went and ate lunch with Ash and a tv host named Logan. After lunch, Ash and I went to Clint's house, where we worked on a country song for Phil. Ash filmed the whole thing, which was interesting. It's tough to ignore the camera. Clint and I got 2/3 of a great, great song that reminds of a Hank Williams Jr. type song. Clint and I will finish it on Tuesday.

I got home, and rested my foot a little bit then Sarah and I went to dinner with Mitch, my manager, and his fiancee Suzanna. It was a great, great time. We stayed till almost 12, just getting to know them better and talking about life, and some music. It was a lot of fun. Suzanna broke her foot this summer so she had crutches, so after dinner, we went to her house and grabbed the crutches...so I have crutches now.

So, that was the last few days. Good times.

Yesterday * Today

Yesterday, I had a writing session with a guy named Jason Walker. I was a little worried because I had never heard any of his songwriting and was worried that we wouldn't hit it off. My fears were quickly relieved, however. Yesterday was a great, great day.

Jason is a mainstream artist who happens to be signed to Word publishing. He is seeing some pretty good success with getting some stuff into tv and film stuff, even though he's not signed to a label. We started off by listening to some music then moved into writing. Jason is a piano guy, and a great, great piano guy, so he had a couple of ideas that we screwed around with. The first one was an upbeat piano rocker. We worked on a lyric for a while and just didn't find anything we loved. We went to lunch and hung out for a while, then decided to go lay down tracks for both of the songs at my house.

We drove to my place where we layed down the basic tracks for both songs, then we hung out a little while and just talked. We ended up really starting to develop a friendship so that was really great.

Go check out his myspace/jasonwalkeronline. He's got some stuff up there and it's great. It looks like for my Spring tours that Jason will be going along as my keyboard player and will be opening up for me. So, if that works out, that's gonna be awesome.

That night, Phil, Kendra and the kids and Haley came over for dinner. My wife made an incredible dinner for us - seriously she outdid herself. We had a great time just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. It's funny how these people who I didn't even know a year ago have become like family.

After dinner, I went up to my studio and worked on the lyric for the first song with Jason. And I think I wrote one of the best, if not the best lyrics I've ever written. It was one of those that just happened really quickly and just felt great. I emailed it to several people involved with the project and several songwriting friends and the response was incredible...the song is called "I'm Clean" and it will definitely be on the record and is being discussed as the first single.

This morning I headed over to Brown's house to discuss more intense stuff with the record. We sat down and listened to the 13 songs and he threw a couple of other songs back onto the table for discussion. We talked through production ideas and how the record will flow with having 3 producers and how to make all that work. We talked about different production ideas, also, in the sense of how to take each of my songs and make the feel different from each other and for the album to take the listener on a journer for that 40 minutes they are listening. It was a great, great conversation.

One exciting note from the Brown meeting was that he told me that apparently word had gotten around town that I was working with him, and he'd received calls from a few songwriters wanting to write with me. Haha...it's so fun being able to write and be a musician for a living.

Then I went over and wrote with a guy named Ian Eskilin. I was toast from the last couple of days and I'm starting to come down with some kind of sickness...so we didn't end up writing a song, but we have a couple of killer ideas that we're gonna get together in the next couple of weeks to flesh out.

Finally, tonight, Sarah and I went with Phil and Kendra to a big fundraiser for Rocketown, which is a teen center here in Nashville that Michael W. Smith founded and helps support. It is a concert venue (Elliot Yamin played here when he came to town), a cafe and a skate park all combined. It's pretty freaking awesome. I think I'm gonna go start skating...I'll be the loser old dude trying to rekindly his love for skating.

Anyway, Ronnie Milsap played and he blew my socks off...he did a medley of several hit songs and it truly was remarkable. And Smitty debuted an instrumental piano piece he wrote. So, it was great night all in all.

Tomorrow I meet with Brown again in the morning and then head over to write with a guy named Clint Lagerberg. Clint and I met the other day when I was writing with Jason and hit it off really well...so that'll be great fun, I think. Then at 7pm I'll be taping an interview with Way FM's syndicated show "Total Axxess"...I'll find out when it's playing and let you guys know. Then after that I have a photo shoot. So tomorrow is a long day. But I'm thinking it's gonna be a great day.

A special note

Every now and then I get notes from people just saying thanks for inspiration and for songs and what not. Obviously they mean a ton to me. When I get a note from a fan, especially something specific, it makes what I do worth everything. This is a note from a fan over on myspace that I shall keep anonymous, per our agreement. But this was a great note. From time to time I'll share these kind of notes. This one is very special to me.

"Hey Chris...

I am sitting here at my computer, trying very hard to muster up some words that sound half intelligent. There are so many things I need to say, but for you to understand, I suppose I will have to start at the beginning. So, if you will, please bare with me. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

I will start of by saying that, ever since your Seal song in the AI auditions, I found something incredibly appealing about you. Your voice was unique, your sense of humor was a light in the sometimes serious mood of the contest, and I loved how God seemed to shine through you. I am 16, a sophomore in high school, and currently working towards confirmation. I am so excited to be thought of as an adult in the Church. I have become much more spiritual throughout this process, which also excites me. And yes - this all relates to you. I read your blogs often, Chris, but I tend to just sit back and read, rather than comment. But, I did see your blog about songs a few weeks ago, and decided to come by and check them out! Just let me tell you, that I have had many songs that touched me for one reason or another, but I have never, and I mean NEVER, had any song touch me as much as "Empty Me Of Me" has. The message is so powerful to me, especially since I am going through a "spiritual reinvention", if you will. I don't want to waste your time, but I just wanted to let you know that I love what you are doing, and I will back you up 100% of the way. I honestly think that your music was a gift from God, meant to help me through this journey of mine. So thank you, and please keep it up. And keep letting God shine through you as he does.

Love and Happiness
XXXXX"

I wrote this person back and let her know that this kind of note makes a song like Empty Me mean even more to me than it already does.

So, thank you all for your support and love.

Negotiations

So, I get emails from Fox Broadcasting with news about tv shows and stuff like that. I guess it's one of the "perks" of being part of the Fox family. But I just got an email from Fox talking about the 2 hour Prison Break...that I watched 5 hours ago. Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose to send out a "news" email AFTER the news has happened.

Anyway, moving on from that rambling.

I felt like I had a pretty solid grasp of the way record deals worked because of my experience before the show. I had had label interest and had built relationships for years. I thought I had been really close to record deals int he past, but now that my deal is a lawyer's once over and my signature away from being official, I realize how far I was from being actually signed. It's interesting...I was closer than most people ever get, but so far away.

Basically, when I finally decided what I wanted to do with a label (and decided to go with a label instead of doing my own thing), I then decided which label I wanted to be a part of. Once I made that decision, my management went to said label and began more formal discussions (when you're courting, you talk in general terms). At this point, the formal discussions talk about deal terms: production budget, personal advance, promotions budget, how many records, etc. Then, once the label gets an idea of what we're looking for, they send over a deal.

The label I'm signing with literally does 1 page deals. To put it in perspective, the deal I signed with 19 Entertainment after Hollywood week was close to 90 pages...and that wasn't even an actual record deal. Anyway, the 1 page deal basically breaks down the 90 pages to what's important. Anyway, the label sent over a deal outlining everything. They started off on the low side of things, knowing that we would negotiate up.

Over the last couple of weeks, the deal was negotiated, and I can honestly say that everything I've asked for in this deal, I have gotten. I got the production budget I wanted. I got the advance I wanted. I got the number of records I wanted. I got the promotions promise that I wanted. Literally, my label has come through in spades!

The deal I'm signing is a 3 record deal. It guarantees 2 with the label's option for the 3rd. So, America will definitely get 2 albums from Chris Sligh. I'm hoping that the 3rd is a no-brainer, because that will mean that we have been successful from a sales and/or touring standpoint. The thing that is nice about this kind of deal is this: most major label deals are 1 + 5 deals...this means, you're guaranteed to make 1 record and the label has the option for 5 more. Basically, you're tied up for what equals to about 10 years. With my deal, I'm tied up for about half that time. Now, you may ask why that's important.

Well, it's a double edged sword, of course, but like I said if I make it to the third record, it means we've seen some success. If we see enough success, it may be in my best interest 5 years from now to form my own indie label (or sign to my own label, if I already have one). Or I can possibly sign with a larger company. Or sign to a deal with the same label again, but this time with even better terms (and believe me, I don't know that the terms of the contract could get much better). So, it simply gives me options earlier in my career than a major label deal.

Anyway, I hope you can tell: I'm excited. I was in Wal-Mart with Sarah today (we were getting the oil & battery changed on Sarah's car) and I checked my email on my iPhone and saw the final deal...I was very excited. One of the things that is very exciting is that there is a budget for a documentary and different video stuff. A friend of mine named Ash Grayson will be coming in to film the recording process. Ash did all of Hanson's video stuff throughout their careers till now...and he did some really great stuff. I just watched a couple of documentary's he filmed and directed and got very, very excited about how cool this video stuff could be. Ash will also be directing my music videos.

So, I will be meeting later this week with the producer of my record (Brown Bannister) to decide when we will actually begin recording. We will actually be using a lot of my demos as the outlines for the actual recordings, so I've been making sure the tempos are right, the arrangements are right and the songs are right. Right now, a big thing I'm doing is going through and making sure every lyric is as great as I can get it right now. I'm taking each lyric and rewriting what needs to be rewritten.

I'm excited about this record. I think that we have a great possibility to sell a lot of records. Obviously, nothing is promised, but I couldn't have a better team around me, from my management, to players to producers. I'm pumped.

Songs

Well, the record deal has been negotiated and has been sent back and forth and next week (fingers crossed) I'll be signing the deal. It's a great deal. Once the deal has officially been signed I'll announce the name of the label, but know this: I'm excited about the deal, I'm excited about the label and people at the label, and I'm excited about making this record. If I sign the deal next week, then Monday of the next week I should start recording. I have 3 producers that will be working on the record. Brown Bannister will be producing the whole record. He will be co-producing several songs with Will Owsley (of the band Owsley - you need to check out this band...it was one of the bands that Blake and I connected on very, very early - we both loved the band, so it's really cool to have him work and play on this record) and several other songs with Stephen Leiweke (who produced HPF's first album). Brown is one of Christian Music's legends, so it's incredible to have him signed on for this record. He is taking a significant paycut to work on this record - it's pretty great to have someone of his stature believe in the project.

Anyway, the title of this post is "Songs". I'm going to talk about the songs that look like will make this record. I love the double meaning of make here...they will make it on the album and they will make the album. Anyway sorry for that. These are the songs that look like they'll make the album...obviously in the studio that could change, but here's what it looks like right now.

Running Back - I love this song. I rewrote the lyric with Tony Wood and rewrote the chord structure on the chorus and it went from an "off-the-radar" song to one of my favorites. The message of God's mercies being new every morning is something important to me, since I'm an idiot and need mercy & forgiveness a lot. On the 1st verse I tried to paint a picture of morning coming...there's not a lot of tension until the pre-chorus. The 1st verse is just a poetic picture of the sun rising. I don't think I've ever seen the line "Stars go down in the Western sky" or anything like it...I'm sure it's been said before, but I haven't seen it said like that. The 2nd verse talks about the idea of darkness covering up my faults, only for light to stream in, illuminating my sins. The message is definitely one I need to remind myself of. Musically, it has what I call the signature Chris Sligh brooding verses, building pre-chorus and soaring, epic chorus. I can't wait to hear what Brown does with this song.

Empty Me - I wrote this song with Tony Wood, too. This one, though, we wrote together from start to finish. He had an idea for a chorus and then we wrote about my life in the verses. It's idea that fame and fortune can tear lives apart and one can buy into their own hype. My prayer is to empy me of me and get rid of the stupid things: pride, the selfishness...to be filled with God. We feel like this is going to be the first single...you never know till you get in the studio, but everyone feels really good about this one.

Know - I think this is my favorite song that I've ever written. It was on the HPF album.

In a Moment - this ballad seems to move people. It was also on the HPF album.

Cry Tonight - again...a song from the HPF album...another favorite of mine personally.

Love Is Raining Down - one of the things I wanted to make sure with this album was to walk the fine line between making an album that we can take to radio both on the CCM and the mainstream side (i.e., look at the first 5 songs) and making an album with songs that we think will work live and just rock out. This is one of the live/rockout songs. It has an aggressive dance/rock beat, an 80's synth rock sound and a lyric where I tried to describe coming out of a depression into a celebration of dancing because of love raining down on me.

Good Intentions (Loaded Gun) - this is another live/rockout songs. It is very aggressive guitar rock, again with a dance/rock beat. But what will be different with this song will be having a huge string sound on the song. The lyric basically talks about the idea that love is a loaded gun that we should let go daily but we usually hold onto. I love the line at the end of the chorus that says, "Love can change the world, but it's gotta start with my heart"...because that's where it all starts.

Somewhere - this is from the HPF album...I chose this one over some of the others from that record because it's one of those songs with the anthemic sing-along chorus that just works live. Plus it rocks faces off. And I love singing it. This was the hardest decision, honestly, from that record because there were other songs we thought about...but this one just works live, so in the end, we chose a live/rockout over other songs.

Hero - again, from the HPF album. We chose this one for possibilities in tv/film. Plus it rocks out pretty good and has always worked live.

Pleased - we're not sure on the final arrangement yet, but the message is what puts this song on the record. The idea of checking ourselves to make sure we are living like we should is an important sentiment. Melodically, this song is a favorite of mine. From a message standpoint I love it, too.

Something Beautiful - I love this song. I mean, obviously I love each song on the record, but this one just feels really great. Plus, the message of finding beauty in the things that normally beauty isn't found is a cool idea to me. It is crazy that beauty is found in 2 wooden stakes nailed together to kill a man...yet it's what my belief system is built on. There's something beautiful about that.

Grace Finds Me - I wrote this one with Chad Cates and Nate Campany, both very distinguished writers. This one is a cool little 6/8 rocker that feels really good. I love the lyric on the chorus. It's cool to look back as we thought through things that find each other like grace finds me.

Potential - This is a favorite of mine. It conveys a very personal idea of never quite feeling grown up. I think it's something that a lot of people can identify with. Plus musically, it's one of the only 2 ballads that will be on the album.

Anyway, as I said before, these could change, but right now, these are the 13 songs that I think will make this record.

And the thing that's nice is that I think you guys have heard all of these songs at one point or another...or have had the chance to hear them.

Dreams are built on this....

I have had a great trip so far.

Last night I got in and hung out with a pastor and his wife who have become like family to me over the past 7-8 months. We ate and watched football and then the last of the Red Sox game. It was a great night. Then I came to my place here and crashed.

I woke up early, went for a walk, watched ESPN and then headed into L.A. from Laguna, where I'm staying. I hung out with my manager for a little bit, then had a big meeting with my agent on the acting side of things. We are working on a gameplan of how to approach the acting side of things and how to make all that happen. It was a really good meeting and an encouraging one. Obviously, when it comes to entertainment, nothing is promised. But my agent is excited and encouraged after learning some of my background and the fact that I actually studied acting and the theory of acting and the method of acting. So , in turn, that was encouraging to me.

Tomorrow I have two meetings with heads of casting for major studios. Wednesday, I have 2 more meetings with studio casting heads and also with casting directors for tv.

Apparently there are several strikes looming over the entertainment industry, so tv and movies may very soon be screeching to a halt. So, it may take some time to get a series going or some movie roles nailed down. But most actors never get through these doors. All I need is for one casting director to take a chance and then I just have to deliver.

Just know this: it's going to take hard work and a lot of patience getting into acting. But I'm excited about the possibilities. Who know? I may never get the chance to do acting at this level. But there's always that chance that I can live that dream also! It's early. So bear with me.

I mean, I'm still developing the sitcom idea. Once we figure out some of this stuff with the strikes we are going to pitch the show to various networks. It's a cool idea, I think, and a somewhat novel way of looking at the sitcom genre, so it could be cool. Also, I'm developing three screenplay ideas...one a drama, one a comedy, and one a family comedy/drama. I think I'm going to be hooking up with a couple of writers to work on the drama. I'm going to have to go back and look at my textbooks from my screenwriting courses from college, haha. I have the ideas, I think...I just need a technician to help me take them to the next level (or up 15 levels). I am just trying to be proactive in all of this as much as I can.

So, anyway, I'm excited, apprehensive and thankful all at once. I'm getting to live the dream. I mean, a year ago, I would've killed to walk into CAA, hang out with an agent for a couple of hours and leave with 4-5 casting appointments in hand. In fact, most young actors would kill for that. And because of one silly turn of events (me actually making it on AI), dreams are coming true.

Though I'd love to be a huge, popular, well-respected actor and would love to be able to fulfill more dreams down this road, I honestly would be okay if this was it. Today was a huge day for me, and I can live with that for a long time.

Dreams are built on hopes for tomorrow.

I'm just an optomist who can't wait to see what is waiting for me.

Working Feverishly

Well, I leave tomorrow morning for sunny City of Angels. I'm excited. But I am working feverishly to get caught up on demos. I wrote 8 songs this week and finished up 2 other songs. So, I have 10 demos that I'm trying to get done to throw into the mix for my record. As I said before, we have 15 that we're mulling over, but I'm hoping to write better songs to knock some of those 15 down the totem pole. I think I succeeded this week.

I wrote with Tony Wood on Wednesday and we wrote a new song and he helped me finish the lyric for another I had. The song we wrote together (well, he wrote lyrics, I wrote music) is called "Between Two Forevers" and is the idea that an end could come at any time, so we should live life to the fullest. The lyric is gorgeous. I put music to it, but am re-writing to make it even better. This lyric deserves my best shot musically. The song we finished was called "The Movement" but when we re-wrote the chorus and pre-chorus, the name changed to "Good Intentions". I really, really like it. It's very agressive musically and the lyric is really cool, and different for me. So I'm excited. I mean, we spent 4 hours just rewriting the chorus, so I hope it's good.

I wrote with Sam Mizell yesterday. Sam and I pushed out a song called "Hurts Just a Little Bit" which is a soulful piano mid-tempo rocker that talks about the idea of "if it hurts just a little bit, you're probably doing the right thing". The lyric and music on that one is really freaking cool, too. I am struggling to figure out if it fits on my record, but even if it doesn't it's one of those songs I could see getting cut really quickly. It's really cool.

Then later yesterday, I worte with a NY writer named Nate Campany and a Nashville guy named Chad Cates. We churned out a great 6/8 rocker called "Grace Finds Me". The lyric on the chorus is:

Somehow the night finds the day
Fall finds the spring, the rain finds the sea
And just as the wind finds its way
Jesus, each day
Somehow your grace finds me

I'm really excited about this one. I think this could be a strong CCM single. And that's what I'm trying to get right now. So, hopefully that works out.

Anyway, I must run to finish demos. But before I leave, I thought I'd let you know, I put "Good Intentions" up on myspace, so check it out and let me know what you think.

Also, I put up an acoustic demo of another song called "The Breakdown". Let me know what you think.

No News Is Good News?

Haven't really had a lot on here lately, when actually my life is extremely busy of late.

Obviously, I've been writing. I just wrote another song that I'm really, really pumped about called "The Breakdown"...it's about the idea that there is this weird dochotomy in life that being broken down is somehow beautiful. You can't truly love without defenses being broken down; you can't truly give yourself to something or someone without barriers being broken down; there's beauty in the breakdown.

Kevin Max and I, I think are becoming friends. How weird is it that someone I have idolized to some degree is now becoming my friend. Anyway, we're working on a couple of ideas right now that are really strong, I think. We're getting back together on Thursday to work through and hopefully finish a song or two. We may possibly involve a guy named Will Owsley who produced Kevin's Blood album and was the lead singer of the band Owsley. Owsley has become a friend also.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting with Brown, the producer who'll be producing most of my album. We are listening through songs and figuring out the 5-6 songs that are definites for the record...basically we're defining the record we're making. We'll also be talking about who will be playing on the record, who will be producing other tracks on the record, etc. So, tomorrow, hopefully, we'll have a definite vision of what this record will become.

Wednesday, I'm writing with one of my lyrical heros, at least in the CCM market, named Tony Wood. Search Tony's name and you'll find he has written songs that you know and that you love. He's a fantastic lyricist, so I'm excited to see what kind of ideas we work through. I have ideas for lyrics, but he's the technician who'll take the ideas and make them great.

Friday, I'll be working with a guy named Sam Mizell who is had like 6 number 1 CCM hits last year. This will be interesting. Sam's style of writing isn't my personal favorite, but he is great at what he does. If he's as talented as I think he is, it'll be cool to pull him to where I like to write and have him make me better while doing something different than he normally does, or maybe we'll meet somewhere in the middle.

I've been working out 3 times a week for an hour with a trainer, plus small cardio on my own on off-days. It's kind of cool to see my endurance growing quickly. I actually can run a pretty good distance now, so that's exciting. Plus my face and stomach are rapidly growing smaller, so it's nice to at least see those things tone up.

Next week, I fly to sunny L.A. to meet with publishing, labels, tv studios, casting directors and film companies. I have a busy 4 days. I also will hopefully be writing with a writer who had something like 5 number one hits on the mainstream side last year. CAA has done a great job with lining me up with people who will help me on the acting side of things while my management is chasing down some ideas on their end that look very promising. In the next few weeks, I may have some exciting news on the acting front!

Finally, it looks like my label hunt is finally coming to a close. Recently, a label has stepped up to the plate and really made it worthwhile to work with a label. There's a lot that still has to happen before a formal announcement, but let's put it this way: I'm excited. It's a label that's been in the hunt from the beginning, never fallen off and stayed true to making great music and helping me build a career off the great building blocks we have already.

So, stay tuned. My guess is that, if everything goes to plan, within a week or two, I should be announcing my label home.

So, believe me, no news is good news.

Co-writing 101

Today, I cowrote for the first time. Well, not for the first time, but for the first time successfully. I've never enjoyed cowriting. I'm very private about my writing. Ask Sarah...if I'm writing, Sarah can't even be in the same room as me. I'm weird about it. So cowriting has never really worked for me.

Today I went over to Chris Eaton's house to attempt to cowrite.

Chris is a Brit who was signed in the 80's and 90's to Reunion Records (Smitty's label), and has been a successful songwriter for a long time (he wrote a huge hit for Jaci Valasquez in "God So Loved the World"). Brown hooked me up with Chris as my first co-write session. And I'm glad he did.

We kicked butt today. I got there about 10:30am and we just hung out for a few minutes, then I let him listen to several of the songs we're sure will be on the album to give him a context of what the album will be like. He asked me if I had any musical or lyrical ideas, and I played him a little acoustic thing I had. I told him that I really didn't have a stripped down kind of song, so it'd be kind of cool to work on a piano or acoustic song. Chris is a really great piano player, so my acoustic riff quickly turned into a very nice piano riff.

Lyrically, I've been thinking about the idea of being almost 30 and feeling like I'm still a kid. When do we grow up? Those kind of questions. So, we took that idea and formed a lyric around it. The name of the song is "Potential". It's definitely the most vulnerable I've ever been lyrically and the song turned out to be one of my favorite I've ever written. So, I'm excited about that one.

After that, Chris started playing a Celtic sounding piano riff and we quickly wrote a simple worship lyric. I got the idea to put a modern rocking chorus with it and suddenly we had a song. We quickly fleshed out the 2nd verse and I threw down an idea for a bridge and within an hour, we had a great worship song...I can hear churches singing this song all over. I don't think I'll record it, but I think it could be a really big song.

So, today was a great day writing wise.

My cousin is in town, too, so that's fun to hang out with him. We're watching Monday Night Football as I write. Anyway, back to football. Cowboys better win. Romo is sucking tonight.

The New Life

Well, life has changed considerably. Sarah and I are in Nashville...well, Franklin...and enjoying life. We love our new house. We love our new neighborhood. We love our new life. It's awesome.

We have a 3 bedroom/2.5 bathroom house in a Franklin neighborhood called Fieldstone Farms. My next door neighbor is the head of Warner Brothers Christian publishing. We have a Publix and Blockbuster down the street from our house and just last night, I was stopped by a songwriter who has been a part of records that have sold 200 million records who stopped me in Publix wanting to write with me; then in the parking lot, I was stopped by the producer who co-produced the MuteMath albums just saying hey and thanks for doing MuteMath all summer. Only in Nashville.

Next week, I'm writing with a guy named Chris Eaton who has written number 1 hits on both the CCM side of things and the mainstream side of things. Wednesday I'm writing with Kevin Max. Over the next coupla weeks, I get to write with songwriting heroes like Tony Wood, Chris Rodriguez and many many more. It looks like we are going to be starting the album around November 1.

I'm also excited because over the last week or so, we've kind of moved the direction of the record from a straight up Christian record to making a crossover-type record, which is exciting for me from an artistic standpoint. On Tuesday, the producer who is producing most of the record (Brown Bannister) and I are getting together to choose the 5-6 songs that are definites for the album and then choosing 7-8 more that are possibles. Then as I write between now and November 1, we'll figure out what songs are the best 12-13 to make the record.

Last week was a frustrating time for various reasons. It's nice to be back to being excited again. I think hopeful suits me better than frustrated.

Life is good. I can't wait for music to start pouring forth and for label news to be out.

Wasting Time

Well, I'm sitting out on my porch listening to the packers packing up my furniture and, I presume, getting ready to start carrying stuff out. I feel a little guilty. Sarah and I have moved 4 times since we've been married and every time it's been a stressful, miserable experience that involved me lifting a lot of boxes and carrying my wife's too heavy furniture. This time, I fell a little guilty because the movers are doing all that for me while I write a blog entry. But you know, the guilt is not enough for me to be anything but happy to be sitting writing a blog while they pack up my house.

This is the beginning of a new stage of life for Sarah and me. Sarah, I think, is going to pursue her dream of doing interior design, and it looks like we've got a place for her to work and learn. So that'll be exciting. She's an amazing designer naturally so it'll be fun for her to be able to do what she loves for a living (even if she doesn't make a lot of money at first).

I'm excited, tomorrow I start my workout regimen and, afterwards, head in to work on some finishing some of the songs I have written. I'm a little worried. I've never worked with cowriters before. Well, I have, it just wasn't a good experience. So, I've never worked with pro cowriters before. With the new songs, I feel like musically, they're really close...just the touch of a fantastic producer, I think will shore that stuff up. Lyrically, they're a little further away. I just need a technician to take my ideas and make every word perfect. So, I'll be sitting with some lyricist, showing them how the songs go and letting them work their magic. I think that this could be a big breakthrough for my songwriting. I hope...I'm nervous, but hopeful.

Wednesday, I think I'll be doing some co-writing, having a meeting with one of the producers I'm working with and then I'll be heading over to another producer's house to start work on some more intensive demos. These demos should become the basis for the album, so that will be exciting. Studio work is my favorite...I love being behind the board and creating. Obviously, the touring side of things is ultra important to me...I can't wait to get out on the road. But the creating of the music is so much freaking fun for me. So, it'll be fun to start getting more serious demos done.

Still not sure what will happen on the label side of things. The more I've researched and thought and looked into the whole indie thing, the more I think it could work. However, after all the research, too, I feel like the right label could be great, too. So, the next few weeks are going to be vital. I would have loved to have had a label decision by now, but ultimately I've come to realize that this decision is the most important, so I can't sign with a label simply to have a sense of accomplishment. It has to be the right fit. Looking at friends who have gotten signed in the past, and looking at past Idols who have gotten signed, the right label fit makes all the difference.

So, I'm sitting on the porch wasting time. Dreaming. Looking forward to the next few months. These are the good times.

Copeland Farley

Copeland Farley was the baby that I spoke of in the post a few days ago that did not have long to live. After holding on for 8 days, she finally passed from this world.

Please keep my manager's family in your thoughts and prayers. The parents (my manager's daughter and son-in-law) are the same age as Sarah and I, so it has brought a lot of thoughts to Sarah and I...I can't even imagine the pain of seeing a child, especially one this young, pass away.

Home

Well, after hearing that song at least 700 times over the summer, and having it bring back memories of my AI demise every time, I am finally home.

It's good to be with my brothers. My brother Jon is 26 and Allen is 19...they both live with Sarah and I...well, for 1 more week. Jon and I went to eat dinner with Sarah and I was able to eat at my favorite Mongolian Buffet. It was fantastic (though I think that the place we went to in D.C., Carmen, was the only place that has ever been better).

It's good to be with my puppies. L.G. & Tucker recently got fixed, so they aren't very happy with their mom and dad. Oh, well. I was tired of them peeing on everything. Well, actually, I hadn't really had to deal with it for the last year or so, but Sarah was tired of it and I talked her into allowing their nether regions to be altered.

It's good to be with my equipment. That's right I said equipment. Maybe I could say my stuff...maybe I'll just let that one go with a smile. Anyway, I have had the chance to get some fantastic equipment over the past few months and it has been waiting for me at home. So, my new guitars and new amps got a little face time with daddy today. We talked about the future and I made sure every one of them was tuned for rocking and then did a little classically-trained rocking out. It was fun. Though I was disappointed with 1 piece of equipment - a distortion pedal called the Metal Muff...I had read it could give a warm bluesy tone, but apparently all it does is Metal. And since I'm not really a Metal guitarist, I'm afraid it will end up on ebay very soon. Anyway, I was excited about that.

Finally, it's great to be with Sarah. In our house. Together. Not in a hotel. Not in the American Idol bubble. We stayed up late watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy that I downloaded on iTunes. We also watched a couple of episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We don't have cable so I couldn't watch Monday Night Football (why, NFL, did you give it to a cable network?!!) It was probably better that I didn't because I was able to not feel remotely wussy by watching a chick show because my wife was in the room with me. Fantastic! A get out of jail free card.

Side note: I am pumped about the NFL this season. As always, I went through this last week and made my weekly predictions. This week I was 10 of 15 right...better than Boomer, right? Anyway, I love football. I love the NFL. I love Indy and can't wait to see them in the Super Bowl again. However, I should point out that the Super Bowl is going to happen in the AFC championship game, when Indy plays New England. Has anyone seen how great Moss and Brady are together? Holy crap! I hate the Pats, but Brady has never had a receiver like Moss and Moss has never had a QB like Brady. I'm saying this: if Moss stays healthy, he's going to break records this season...my predictions are 1700 yards and 20 touchdowns. He's 30 and playing like he's 25. But I digress. Sorry non-football fans.

It's 1:45am. I should be sleeping, but I'm still used to this crazy schedule I've been on for nearly a year. Stay up late. Get up early. I'm looking forward to tomorrow being able to sleep in. Though I'm pretty sure the puppies I love right now will be hated in 6 hours when they are licking my face to release their bladders somewhere other than my pillow. But hey, the glass is half full, right?

At least I'll be home.

Struggles and life

The last couple of weeks have been pretty tough. Obviously, the tour has come to an end now, and though I'm excited about the next stage of life, it's difficult to imagine life without all these people with me every single day. So, it has been difficult to say goodbye to this stage.

But even harder have been things going on in my "real life"...the life away from music and touring and career...even harder are the things that really matter.

My manager's daughter was pregnant and 8 weeks before the baby came, the child was diagnosed with a disorder that causes the child to be either stillborn or die within a short time of birth. They had the baby last week and, though the baby didn't pass right away, they have slowly watched a beautiful newborn child slip away. They think the child will die very very soon. Though I only know the parents in passing, over the last few months, I have come to love my manager and to see the pain it is causing him is tough to watch...and tough to empathize with.

I also recently received a call from one of my closest friends in the world to tell me that his family is going through a terrible crisis. I think that they will make it through, but it's tough to see a close friend have to go through so much pain.

So, please keep those two situations in your thoughts.

Finally, my wife and I are moving in a week. I am now officially unemployed. And October 2, I start an intense diet and workout program with a nutritionist and personal trainer. 3 incredibly stressful things are happening all very soon. So, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

Blessed

I really need to shave. I mean, like 3 days overdue for shaving. I just left my razor in one of the many hotel rooms we've been in lately. I can't remember which one. But I really need to shave. Later today, I'll have a runner go out and buy a razor for me so that I can shave and look decent for the show tonight. I just got into the hotel I'll be in for maybe 8 hours and looked in the mirror and was reminded once again that I really needed to shave. And it got me thinking on how blessed I have been by this whole American Idol experience.

Sure, maybe it's because things are coming to a close: 3 more shows to go; in 5 days I'll be sleeping in my bed. So maybe I'm just a little reminiscent. Or maybe I'm just delirious because it's 4:36am and this weird schedule I'm on has me sleep for 4 hours, wake up go into a hotel room, take an hour to settle down and then to sleep again. Or maybe I'm just blessed.

I remember a year and a half ago, going to the grocery store and staring at razors trying to figure out which one I should buy because we literally didn't have the money to buy groceries, nonetheless a $15 razor. Sarah and I had made the choice for me to turn down several high-paying job offers over the years in order to continue to pursue this dream of mine. We were poor, hurting and trying to make the best of it. But it wasn't easy. Financial matters are the number one cause of divorce, and though you say for better or worse, when it's worse, all you can think about is surviving and that can come in the way of being a good husband or wife.

When we started this whole American Idol thing I was making $9 per hour. Over the course of a few months, I had moved up to $13 an hour, but that's hardly crazy money. We were living paycheck to paycheck. I would work 40 hours a week and the band would play 5-10 shows a month on the weekend. The band had made a decision to move over to the mainstream from playing churches and youth groups, places we were making great money to playing places where we were getting paid nothing. How Sarah ever put up with it, I don't know. So much work for so little money.

Then American Idol happened. I didn't know that much about American Idol. I didn't know if you got paid. I didn't know about the tour. I didn't really know anything. But it looked like a good opportunity. I didn't think I'd make it, but a friend offered to pay for the first trip down to Birmingham, so I took it, and now over a year later, I'm coming to the end of my American Idol run. Dreams coming true, money in the bank and eternally blessed.

I'm blessed because for the first time in my adult life, I have money. Not a lot of it, but I actually have money in the bank. I am by no means a rich man financially, but I have the ability to buy the equipment I want and need, I am able to buy nice things for my wife and we are able to make a move that we have wanted to make for years but never had the money in moving to Nashville. I will probably never be "wealthy" but for the first time we're able to be comfortable.

I'm blessed because I have the most giving, wonderful wife who I am truly undeserving of. But she was there before the whole American Idol thing. But this whole experience has caused me to really understand how much I appreciate her even more than before.

I'm blessed because I have come away from this experience with 9 great friends. Some closer than others, obviously, but 9 friends (10 if you count Shyamali) that I know will be lifelong. Phil and I will be living 5 minutes apart and Melinda is close by. In the fall, I'll be co-producing a project for Gina. Haley will be coming in and out of Nashville meeting with my management, trying to find the right fit for her musically. Rich and I are hoping to go see some NFL (yes, the Colts are going to kill the Broncos) together. Blake will always be my brother. I mean, to get 10 friends you love out of this is way more than I could've hoped.

Finally, I have intentionally created a culture with my fans that I hope can continue throughout whatever career I am able to have. There is a line between fan and friend that I think can never truly be crossed because of the distance between us. But I want for the Chris Sligh fan to feel as much like they are my friend as possible. That's what this blog is for. There have been some down times on the blog, there have been times of bad decision-making on my part on what to challenge. But we've found a place where we can come, hang out, have fun, discuss and simply be friends. And that's just the way I wanted it to be.

I am incredibly and inexplicably blessed.

And just some encouragement to those struggling. Without being cheesy. Without being over the top. Just know that the blessings are there already. The blessings are there for you plain to see, even though it's hard sometimes in the tough times. But stay the course...blessings are there and there's more on the way.

9-11

Today is the anniversary of that sad day 6 years ago.

I remember I had worked till about 3 in the morning the night before, so I was fast asleep when my best friend called me. He told me to turn on my tv. Unfortunately at the time I didn't have a tv. So, my roommate and I got in our car and drove over to Circuit City and literally sat in shock as we saw the 2nd plane hit. Then in utter disbelief as the towers came down. I didn't cry, but I remember just sitting down on the floor of Circuit City, people walking past me in and out of the store, me staring at the tv with my roommate.

Anger, frustration at being helpless, fear that by some chance I knew someone marred by this tragedy...it was a day I'll never forget.

I think that this is that moment that everyone from this generation will hold on to and remember where they were when it happened for the rest of their lives. My parents and the generation before this do that with JFK. Sure, JFK seemed to hold the hearts of a nation...but 9/11 went straight at the heart of a nation.

I don't think the answer is war. I don't think the answer is hatred of a nationality or people. The answer is in understanding that this world is a dirty place. There is none good, no not one. It is by the grace of God alone that we are able to live in America, but it does not make us superior. It makes us lucky. We should defend ourselves, but love our enemies.

But most importantly, we must remember.

Ramblings 8-30-2007

So, I'm looking at a new t-shirt I bought that is the front cover of Abbey Road by the Beatles.

Have you ever wondered if it would be quite as iconic if, say, Ringo were out of step?

I'm guessing not.

The Choice

Since early 2001, I have focused on attempting to make music my career. In 2001, when I started, I felt strongly about Christian music and Christians being involved with Christian music. I was in love with the music of artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Chris Rice, Bebo Norman, Caedmon's Call, Third Day and many more. When I first started this journey, I was a straight up "Christian artist" whatever that means...to me, it meant I sang music that the mainstream or people outside the church wouldn't "get"

I got into Christian music as a teenager (behind my parent's back) and honestly believed in it at the time. It changed my life in allowing me to see that music didn't have to be crappy to be done by Christians; that lyrics could talk of a relationship with Christ without being stupid or cheesy. I always listened to mainstream music but my main staple was always CCM (Christian Contemporary Music). However, over the last few years, I felt that CCM had made a leap into more cheesy and un-poetic (if that's a word). There were bands that broke the spell of the typical, so to speak, but for the most part, I became fed up with CCM. In the mainstream, there's as much or more bad music, but CCM is such a small world that it created the problem of not being able to find great music as often as I was on the mainstream side of things.

My band began to take off and get noticed, we had record deals on the table, but never had anything actually work out, and after 4 years of doing everything I was told to do to make it in CCM, I decided to take my band into the mainstream. It was a tough choice because at the time we were pretty consistently making $1000-3000 a show, and in the mianstream we went immediately to making nothing or at the most a couple of hundred bucks.

But immediately the band began to gain traction. In 4 months from the time we started to play shows in the mainstream, we played more "big" shows than I had in the 4 years of working the CCM industry. Then my friend talked me into trying out for AI and after making it to Hollywood, I had one of the biggest managers in the mainstream (with a list of big discoveries a mile long) contact me about the band, and ultimately decided that AI was the way to go...if I did well on American Idol instead of being a bottom of the totem pole band, trying to make it, we or I would be at the top of a label's priority list to make sure I/we were successful.

So, when I started the AI journey, I was pretty decided on being a mainstream artist or in a mainstream band. As I made it further and further in the competition, instead of thinking about all the possibilities on the mainstream, my heart kept bringing me back to CCM. It was really strange. I didn't really want to be in the CCM market, but my heart kept on returning to having something to do with it. Originally, I thought I would have a mainstream deal and just siphon the record back to the CCM market somehow. But the more I thought about it, I kept feeling that I was supposed to be a CCM artist.

It was weird...I actually felt like I was fighting God on it for a while. I really didn't want to be a CCM artist. But as I surrendered it over to God, I realized that I was passionate about making great music within the confines of CCM. In fact, this realization has happened really in the last 3-4 weeks. I have become very passionate about making music that would be equal or better than I would ever do on the mainstream with lyrics that deal honestly and freshly with my relationship with Christ.

Many people who aren't religous and who aren't "Christians" will wonder why I made this choice. Believe me, if I couldn't I wouldn't have. At one point I had multiple mainstream labels involved in the chase, but I decided several weeks ago to move on from those labels and focus on labels that would allow me to focus on a Christian record. The label's that I'm excited about are all labels that will not only allow me to make this kind of record but will allow me to succeed with this kind of record.

This last week, I met with the team that will be mine for the next few years. My management is a perfect fit. My booking agent is someone I respect and am lucky to have on my team. My day to day manager is one of the most fun guys I could ever imagine having on board. And the producer I think I'm going to be using for this first record literally produced several of my favorite CCM records of all time.

Will I sell fewer records? Probably. Will I make less money? Probably. Will this allow me to fulfill my dreams? Definitely. Will this allow me to make a career in music? Well, here's hoping.

I am lucky to be in the position of having choices to make. It doesn't make the choices any easier, but the choice has been made.

And I couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the memories

Well, today is the official day that we are released from our contracts with 19 Entertainment. I actually got word of my release a couple of days ago, but today is the official day. It's excited to move on, but it's with whimsy that I look back on the last year of my life.

I am thankful to 19 Entertainment for a lot of things. I am thankful that Nigel and the judges gave me a chance. Before Idol, I was at a place in my career where I was frustrated because, though things had happened with labels, nothing had ever quite worked out. Now, because of the show, I am signing with management that I have always dreamed of signing with and I'm about 95% sure I'm signing with the label and A&R guy that I fell in love with 5 years ago.

There were some really great times over the last year and some really crappy times, mostly of my own doing, to be perfectly honest. I put myself in stupid situations and the last few months have been great to extricate myself from some of those situations. It's nice to finally be at a place in my life where I can make choices and stand behind those choices as my own and feel confident enough to allow disagreement with those choices without defending myself. It's a nice place to be, honestly.

19 and American Idol have changed my life for the better. And for that I am eternally thankful.

I am glad to have had this experience.

I am now looking forward to putting this behind me and making a great record and touring on the validity of that record. As I said in the previous post, I have 3 new demos up on myspace. Check them out and listen while I'm able to have them up there. Please continue to come here...I'll have new content up soon.

And thank you for being with me on this incredible journey.

Ramblings for the day (8-8-07)

So, 2 days ago, I started a ramblings about Chuck's. I think I'm going to make this a feature of my blog. Sometimes I just think of really stupid things and feel like making a blog about it. I'll call it ramblings.

Today's rambling:

Today, as Rich, Mindy Doo and Kiki were singing "I Heard It Though the Grapevine" I thought through the lyrics. The lyric on the 1st verse says:

"Oh, I bet you wonder how I knew
Baby, 'bout your plan to make me blue"

And it got me thinking about the word "blue". If I wrote a song today that included the word "blue" in that context, I think it would be thought of cheesy and over the top...I think mainly because the word "blue" is not really used in that sense in our vernacular today. However, I got to thinking...when Marvin Gaye wrote that song was it cheesy then? Or was it part of the common language, so it was accepted? And I wonder if blue will ever be vernacularized again in modern language?

Just rambling.

Happy Day

Well, as some might have heard already (it's posted on youtube and it happened in front of 15,000 people)...Gina got engaged tonight to her longtime boyfriend Joe. Joe is seriously one of my favorite people in the world, and he's marrying one of my favorite people. Congrats to Joe and Gina.

It was great to watch...good day for all.

The Tour

So, the tour has been going for a few weeks here. I am having the best time of my life. Everything about this reminds me that this is what I want to do for a long time. Obviously it's tough being away from Sarah - till Minnesota, we had been apart for over 3 weeks - but we just made a rule to not go more than 2 weeks without seeing each other anymore, so hopefully that will cut down on the feeling of missing her...though it is obviously different than being together.

But everything, from the performing to the interviews to the comradarie among all of us on tour....it's just all incredible.

I have the problem of focusing too much on trying to be musically perfect and forgetting the performance aspect sometimes. In college, I studied classically and was taught to never look like I'm straining or really even move around...it's taken a long time to get away from all that training. Classical training in this regard has held me back. The training has been great for my musicianship and being able to keep my voice through a lot of singing situations. But from a performance standpoint it has stunted me.

Also, as I moved into performing non-classical music, I was surrounded by conservative Christians who encouraged me to never allow my performance to take away from the words of the music. When I would really let loose (which for me might be jumping out of time with the music), I would have someone talk to me about really allowing God to come through instead of me. So, this was another thing that stunted my growth in this area.

When I moved away from this time of Christianity, I began to perform with musicians who were a little bit snobby and every time I'd attempt to go crazy on stage, they'd give me these high-brow looks like I was crazy. Yet another thing that stunted my growth.

Then about 2 years ago, I finally got with a band that really wanted to go crazy on stage. And I finally started to learn. I started to see bands in concert and watch how they moved, how they rocked out, how they went crazy. So, basically, in 2 years I've had to learn what most people learn from the beginning of their perfomance careers...and not only learn, but unlearn everything I've learned for 10 years.

So, with that said, I am having fun, learning from Blake and Phil...Phil lately has been watching my performance and critiquing me...it sucks because he usually tells me I sucked, but it is also great because with every show, I'm getting things to work on, and really working on them. I think that that is the thing that I am most excited about...I want for my life to be full of learning experiences and this tour is allowing me to grow leaps and bounds because of great interaction with people better than I. This for performing is kind of like what it was like hanging out with session musicians and producers in Nashville...I just watched how they worked and learned.

I have a long way to go to be a great performer, but I have the fundamental elements: people say I'm a good singer; I feel pretty confident in my musicianship; and reviews are saying that I am a great songwriter. Now, if I can continue to lose weight (I've lost 15 pounds on tour so far) and continue to grow as a performer, I think that I can become the artist that I really want to be. My goal is to be the best at what I do. I'm realistic enough to know that that will never happen...but striving for excellence will only make one better.

So, to those who voted for me...I thank you. Otherwise, I would not have the tour as a learning experience.

Ramblings (8-3-07)

Have you ever noticed that Chuck Taylor's have been the shoe of choice for the alternative crowd for forever. I mean, you never see preppy people wearing Chuck's. Why is that? Why has the cycle never come around to preppy kids wearing Chuck's?

Weird.

A question makes me think

In the thread below, a commenter (-Di) asked me a question quoted here:

"I have a question. It is in reference to your comment about making great music to sell records. How do you define success in the area of selling records?

The reason why I ask is because there are artist I like who have a modest core group of fans but their singles are rarely top 40 material. (e.g. Michael Penn, as far as I know he's a one hit wonder.)

If you put out an album that you feel is the best music since Mozart and for some reason it does not sell, in your opinion would that mean the song were not as good as you thought?"

And it got me thinking...in a very good way.

As a side note, just a little about me: sometimes I get a question from someone here or in real life and it gets me thinking. I can be overanalytical at times, honestly. But it some ways that can be a good thing. I want to be able to explain why I do what I do, and how I do it. So, the questions got me thinking about one thing, which lead to another and suddenly I have a medium sized blog post. Anyway, my mind works strangely, but maybe this will give you a glimpse into how I work.

Some of my favorite records of all time: Sufjan Steven's "Illinoise" (which I'm listening to as I write), Sigur Ros "Takk", even Mute Math's debut....they are not commercial successes (in that they haven't sold buttloads of records) but there is no question in my mind that these are albums that live up to every measure of artistry and songwriting that I hope to someday reach. Most people don't even know that names of these groups, yet they made albums that I would be proud to call my own.

However, if I do make an album that is commercially successful, it does not mean necessarily that the songs were good (do I need to actually point out crappy records that sold a ton of records? I think you get the point), and I would hope that with the next album I would challenge myself to write better songs than ever before.

On the other hand, perhaps I will make an album that is not all that great and it translates into a small amount of sales.

The final thing that could happen is that I make a great album and it happens to translate into commercial success. This is what I hold to...I have to believe that if I make a great record it will sell well because it gives me hope. However, the realistic side of me knows that great records do not necessarily sell. And there are so few spectacular albums anymore (in my opinion), that how realistic is it to think that I can make one of them?

And to be honest, over the last few weeks, I have been torn a tad. I feel like I have a niche that I feel comfortable in...I feel very comfortable writing songs I think that an audience can sing along with and have familiarity with early on in their listening experience. However, lately, I find myself messing around with ideas of songs that are completey non-commercial, experimental and raw. Songs that feel the best underproduced and emotional. So which side of me do I feed? Maybe both...I can always have songs in the bank for later use, or for side projects. But ultimately it comes down to the creative process for me.

So, my creative process, though cloudy of late, comes down to this:

1) Emotional connections are what tie and artist to a consumer for life. When and if I can connect on an emotional level with a listener then chances are that listener will buy my next album and maybe my next. How does one connect on an emotional level? I don't think it happens any other way than simply being honest and raw and dare I say emotional from both a lyrical and musical perspective. So, as I write, I attempt to force myself to expose myself in ways I haven't been able to before. So I hope to connect with you in a way that you can understand and feel as if you've experienced the same things perhaps in different ways.

2) Music, ultimately, is what will sell a song as a great song. You can have the greatest lyrics in the world but if the melody doesn't make sense and doesn't tell a story, then the point is lost. So, as I write, I attempt to tie the lyrics as best as possible with the melodies. Songs are stories...maybe not a linear story that tells of this person and this person and how they fall in love or how they make it (a la one of my favorite songs "Living On A Prayer"), but a story. Ultimately drama in the music is what forces the story forward. For some songs, the drama is a loud and soft dynamic change (think "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), some songs the drama is in a slow build to a climax (think Coldplay's "Fix You"), while others the drama is a small change between the verses and choruses. But ultimately the music will sell the song.

3) Production can make or break a song. I have heard songs of mine that I thought were okay songs turn to great songs because of the way the song is produced. Production is like onions...they both have layers (sorry, Shrek) My favorite productions are ones that have layer after layer of things that you find the more you listen to it. This doesn't mean necessarily that the songs must be over-produced...listen to a White Stripes or Racanteur record and you'll find how underproduction can still provide layers that suprise you in multiple listens. The way a song is arranged is important. Sometimes having an interlude between chorus 1 and verse 2 can hurt a song, while with other songs, the interlude is necessary to promote the mood needed in the songs. With the songs, this is one of the most important things. Instrumentation is also part of this: believe me, instrumentation can break a song...think if the Beatles "Blackbird" had been done with full band...the moment would not have been the same (same thing with "Yesterday"), whereas a song like "Mama" by My Chemical Romance could have been done with just a mandolin and been awesome, but there is drama when the full band comes in.

4) I just try to write what comes natural, then re-write, re-write, re-write to make it better. This is the tough part. Most songwriters will tell you that re-writing is the toughest part because it's easy to become married to certain sections of a song, even when those very parts are what is making the song not work. So, I try to force myself to rework and re-write and never become married to something even after it has been recorded (i.e., there are some songs from the HPF I will be re-recording and I am actually rewriting some lyrics and reworking some parts of songs). I actually think that these things kind of build off each other. None is more important than the other, but I usually start with #1 and move through #4. Hopefully, at the end I don't realize I've wasted my time on a crap song (that's happened more than a few times).

So, as I write, I try to make sure that all these pieces fit together to make a great record. What may come is a very uncommercial record that I love, a commercial record that I hate, or, hopefully the happy medium, of a record I love and the consumer loves.

Anyway, I understand that maybe this is a little more in depth into my head than what was asked, but a question was asked that made me think, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts. So, hope you like it. Sorry if you don't.

10th Place

So, I thought I'd share a little bit about what I'm learning. Obviously it's important to find what one needs to learn as they walk through life.

1) One thing that I learned over the last few months and am simply being reminded of now is that it is okay for people to be better than me. I have been a big fish in a little pond for a long time, and when I see that there are performers who perform better than I, there are singers who sing better than I...well, honestly, at first it was somewhat hard to take. It was a humbling experience. Every night of the tour is a humbling experience for me, and I believe that is great. It is also challenging to become better at what I do. And, instead of being defensive about someone being better I feel freed to support them in being better than I...it's actually quite a freeing experience.

2) It should be obvious, but it seems that people don't think of it like this: I came in 10th place...I am close to the bottom in popularity of the top 10...simple right? Certain performers get incredible responses every night. I feel like I am challenged to go out and make new fans every night. Then when I see, as I did in San Diego, a group of like 50 people all wearing Chris Sligh t-shirts, I am excited and feel lucky to have fans. The reviews that I've seen of the tour have all been very kind to me, but ultimately a review is just a review and one person's opinion. I just have to go out and play as well as I can for 10-15 I'm on stage every night and then enjoy the ride...and hopefully show people a glimpse of what's to come.

3) This is the most fun I've ever had. The one downer is that Sarah isn't a part of this. I feel like I get to make a living with no pressure. Some contestants have pressure to perform at a certain level. Most people don't remember me, or remember me vaguely from the show, so it's a blank slate...I just have to go out and do my thing. Others have expectations to live up to. I set up my studio in the dressing room in almost every city and during the show, when I'm offstage, I work on demos. So, almost every day, I'm being creative, working out song ideas, helping other contestants with song ideas, recording demos, then on top of all that I get to go out in front of a crowd bigger than anything I've played before and will probably ever play again. This is fantastic!

4) Ultimately, I have to make great music to sell records. Before American Idol came around, I had several labels after me. If I had signed with them a year ago and not had American Idol, what would have sold me was the music. Coming in 10th place is great because I have the experience of being a part of this whole amazing process and to make great friends, but there are no expectations on me, other than to fail. So, in September-October when I hit the studio, if I can make a great record, then it will be the music that sells itself, as opposed to hype from the biggest show on earth. Now, granted, AI has definitely aided in making great fans...but it's the music that will do that talking, I hope. And if I don't make a great record (God forbid) then Darwinism goes into effect.

5) I have also learned that there are going to be some ultra successful contestants this year. Just take my word for it...I have heard songs coming from people that I never expected. It's going to be huge!

Some New Music I'm Checking Out

Now, these are all pretty new to me, so I'm not completely sold on any of them quite yet, but I'll say this: on the first few listens they're all pretty great new bands.

RUTH - Secondhand Dreaming

Ruth is a new Tooth and Nail band. I'm wary of T&N bands because T&N usually takes the attitude of putting out as many bands as possible and seeing what sticks. However, bands like Anberlin and Mae have gotten me, and I've heard a lot of great things about this band, and they do not disappoint. The songs are pop/rock similar to what my band does. They are definitely influenced by Switchfoot (the lead singer's voice is so much like Jon Foreman's that I actually wondered if Jon was making a guest appearance). But the music is strong and the lyrics are thought-provoking and deep. Check them out on iTunes...you may like and love.

JONEZETTA - Popularity

Jonezetta is an older T&N band that I have been wanting to check out since they toured with Mute Math, but have never gotten around to it till recently. I am now officially kicking myself for not checking them out sooner. They write catchy, hooky, danceable pop/rock. Some songs are in the dance/rock vein like some of the Killers (without the synthesizers), most of it is just well-written melodic yet rhythmic pop/rock. Definitely check them out on iTunes.

PLAIN WHITE T'S - All That We Needed

I've listened to these guys the least. On first listen they are really, really great. They mix pop/punk with elements of alt-country - or at least that's how it feels to me. It's really kind of interesting. They never quite go to the pop/punk but they imply it, if that makes sense. Basically, they seem to be a great rock band. They are not my favorite band, but they are great. Again, check them out on iTunes...you may really love them.

PAUL McCARTNEY - Memory Almost Full

I bought Paul's last album and, though there were some moments, it was kind of a disappointment. I think I've made it clear that I am, however, a huge Paul McCartney fan...I still think he is what made the Beatles great. Anyway, my expectations were not incredibly high, but I started to hear a little buzz. Sir Paul left Capitol records to go with Starbucks new imprint (which is a genius idea, btw). I actually got the record at Starbucks. And it is a really, really good record. I am very pleased. I swear his voice sounds better than it has in 30 years. Weird, right? And the songs are all great. You don't even need to check this one out...go to Starbucks, buy a mocha frapaccino and this record. GET IN YOUR CAR NOW!

MIKA - Life In Cartoon Motion

I like this guy, but the record is very uneven for me. He is definitely a pop artist, but at times he is reminiscent of Freddie Mercury and Queen. Some songs are great. Some songs are very weak. Hopefully he gets to a second record because I see a lot of potential, but this album is definitely one you should buy certain songs from, instead of the whole album.

Now, go get some new music.

Discussion Thread

Discuss.

The Secret Brotherhood of Secret Brothers

Well, it's 8:30am. I haven't woken up this early in a while, except on Sunday.

Yesterday, the guys debuted their group number for the rest of the cast and crew. It was exciting, and it went really well. I think this section, being that it's something never done on the Tour before, could be a highlight. Then we basically went throught the entire set list in order.

It's funny because all season long, everyone involved with the show would talk about how great this bunch was....we genuinely like each other, we get along, we don't have a diva in the bunch (well, maybe every now and then, but for the most part no divas)...there just isn't a lot of drama in our group. We thought that surely past years were probably like that, too...that producers and crew were just being nice.

Then we got into rehearsals. Literally by the third day we were able to run the entire set from top to bottom. Our tour producer has been blown away...said usually it isn't till the second week that we can even get through the whole set. The video producer (for the little clips they show during the show) and I have gotten to be friends and he was saying that he's never had this much fun on an idol tour...that everyone is fun to work with, he hasn't gotten any divas, and, most of all, everyone is really funny. He thinking about putting together a 2 hour movie of outtakes from these videos.

Basically, the jist is this: we are having a ton of fun. Everyone is learning their stuff and the set is starting to gel incredibly well. I've heard that the first few shows every year are not too tight because everyone hasn't had a chance to run through stuff from top to bottom...we're running stuff from top to bottom 3 days into it. So, I think that the Sunrise, FL people are going to not only be the first to see the show, but they're going to get a good show, too.

Well, I'm off to a meeting about that big offer. Gonna investigate some more and see if it's truly worth putting off my record.

On that note, though, I should tell you guys that, for some odd reason, I've been writing a ton lately. I haven't had enough seperation to figure out if the songs are great yet, but the ideas are flowing. Now that I've got Pro Tools up and running, it's VERY NIIIICE! In betwen my songs, I run into the room where I have my studio set up and lay down demos for new songs. Yesterday, it was kind of cool - one of my frends was sitting at the piano in the hallway at the studio and was stuck on a chord progression he was working on (he's not really a piano player), so he asked me what I would do with it (he had like a 3 chord progression). We went into my studio room, laid down a drum loop and proceeded to put together a really good song. It will probably be on his record - we have to finish it, but I've written long enough to recognize a great idea.

Anyway, life is good.

And to the core group - I love you!

Lol

Rehearsals II

So rehearsals have been doing great. As we speak, I'm sitting in one of my friend's room with another of our friends watching Saving Private Ryan. Giovanni Ribisi's character just got killed. Such a great movie. There's a moral dilemma over whether to kill the German who killed Ribisi's character. Hmmm. Good stuff.

So, rehearsals are great. We're starting to get all the music down, now we're all just working on memorizing lyrics. I was lucky to have gotten to do several songs that I knew pretty well, so the lyrics have come pretty easy. So, I've been able to take time to work on stuff.

I recently purchased Pro Tools to record demos on tour. I've used Logic in the past, so it was a tough choice to move over to Pro Tools, but it was a necessity...it's the industry standard and everyone I work with uses it, so my demos needed to be on that platform. But I know very little about Pro Tools, so I've had to learn all the tricks to get stuff going. One of my friends has been a Pro Tools user for a while, so he's been helping me learn some stuff, but I bought a Pro Tools book and have watched the instructional DVD a couple of times. Basically, though, I've progressed enough to do the basics of recording.

So, today, we ran through the whole set, and it's a mighty fine set, by the way. In between the several songs that I get to be a part of, I set up Pro Tools in a little room and worked on several song ideas that I've had swimming around my head. It's great to be able to lay down ideas. I'm writing songs for several other contestants now, so that's kind of cool. I'll be juggling the tour with writing for me and writing for several other people. Who knows what songs will get used on poeple's albums, but I'm kind of honored to be able to write for other people.

Plus, I just got the biggest offer of my life a couple of days ago. Again, I can't go into details but it would includedoing somthing that will be a HUGE honor and it will be a great chance to raise my profile a little bit in the entertainment business. I don't know yet if I would take it because it would mean that I would have to put off my recording career for a little bit. So, it'll be a pretty tough choice. We'll see what happens. More on that later.

Anyway, the opening number is coming together quite well. It's crazy and stupid, but it get's the show started in a great, great way, and once again it is something never ever done on the AI tour, from what the tour producer says. So, that's pretty cool. It's one of the only group numbers that involves the whole group of 10. There are quite a few "group numbers" that involve a few of the contestants but this is one of the only ones that involves all 10.

The guy's number is being worked on all day tomorrow. We've got to work on what exactly we're doing, but as I said before, it's something that has never been done on the tour, so a couple of firsts this time out.

Finally, me and the two friends I'm hanging out with tonight are working on a new number that will possibly be added to the show. If it works out, it could be pure genius. In a very, very funny way. I think it could be really, really cool.

Anyway, more about the tour, etc. in a little bit.

Thanks for hanging out and sticking around, through all the stuff the last couple of days.

Peace and love.

The Dan Band, Part Deux

Last night a group of us went to see the Dan Band at the Avalon. There were six of us, plus one of the back ground singers from the show, who is also joining us on tour as a background vocalist. This is my second time seeing the band, and for the second time they were incredible.

For those of you unfamiliar, the Dan Band is a comedy band based out of L.A. There is a full band (drums, bass, guitar, keys) then the lead singer and 2 background singers/dancers. Dan is a normal looking guy who wears a mechanic's outfit, while his two background guys wear nerdy glasses, suits and ties. The band then performs all female covers, adding in dancemoves, hand motions and added lyrics. All for the funny.

The genius of the band is that the band proper is incredibly tight, the background vocalists are incredible and Dan, the lead singer has an incredible voice. And the 3 singers are actual really great dancers with inventive, funny choreography. It really is one of those things you have to experience at least once.

Anyway, it was a great night for all. One of the other contestants and I were very tired, so we went back to the hotel while the rest of the group went to a club for a few hours. I was a little miffed because my friends got to hang out with Paula and they met David Hasselhoff (gosh, I still want to make him cry). But, then I remembered that to sing you must have sleep and yesterday all day at rehearsals, I had a terrible headache, so the extra sleep was well-worth my while.

So, things are going great. Thanks for asking.

Rehearsals have started

I flew Tuesday to L.A. to start rehearsals for the tour.

La-La land is as beautiful as ever...I really love L.A....not sure I'd ever want to live here simply beacause I hate traffic and it takes so freaking long to get anywhere. The hotel we're staying at is nice, and for the first time, we each get our individual rooms, or suites in this case. We've all had fun hanging out and being back together. It really is cool to see how well everyone on the tour gets along with one another. We just really enjoy being together...it's rare you get 10 singers who are as talented as this group is and not have egos raging...but even the people who made it the furthest are just as normal as when we started all this 9 months ago.

I gave a couple of teasers before, but let me give you more to whet your appetite. Then you can discuss what you think the teasers mean.

The show opener is something that has never been done on the idol tour. I can't give details quite yet, but I'll put it this way, we are getting it started in a really hip, cool way...literally nothing like it has ever been done on the tour.

The guys are doing a group number doing another thing that has never been done on tour before.

So, discuss those two.

The way the tour works this year is a little different than past years. More on that later, but the solo sets are being done in a different way than before. I think it'll be much hipper the way we're doing it this year. There's also not a lot of group numbers, which I've heard there were several of in past years.

Rehearsals are going well. Everyone is pumped up and excited because forr the next three months 4-5 nights a week, we get to be with the fans.

It's going to be great.

What I Did On Summer Vacation

Well, I'm sitting in the Cancun airport typing on my MacBook Pro (best purchase I ever made outside of Sarah's engagement ring), getting ready to fly back to Charlotte. My wife is sitting beside me looking as beautiful as ever, with a dark tan she's quite proud of. We got to spend a lot of time in the sun relaxing, so it's been great.

We got here Friday a week ago. We landed in Cancun airport, got our luggage and then our rental car and we were off. One problem. Sarah, who was taking care of all of the traveling details, had forgotten to ask for directions to the house. She had gotten some basic clues from emails wih the owners of the house we stayed in (like what resorts the house was in between) but we had no idea how to get to the house. We had emailed the owners, but (we found out later) they were at a golf tournament for the day and missed our calls and emails. Just as it was starting to get dark, we decided to try down this little street beside one of the resorts and we lucked out! It was the right one. We went to the property manager's house, got the keys, and literally as darkness settled we got into the house. It would have sucked to try and find the place in the dark, so we were quite happy.

Most days, we just lounged around the house. The house is about 4000 square feet and is about 50 yards from the beach, and it was sunny every day except 1, so we would hang out at the house and just tan and relax. Every day, we would head into Playa del Carmen, the closest town (Cancun was about 30 minutes north of where we stayed) and got dinner at a nice restaurant, but for the most part we just stayed at home. Playa has a Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and several large Americanized stores, so a couple of meals we bought food, brought it home and I cooked. It was nice.

My favorite day was on Tuesday. We went to a water park of sorts called Xel-ha. Basically, it's a natural water park, right on the ocean. There's an inlet with coral reefs throughout, a river that empties out in the ocean, a place to swim with the dolpins, assorted restaurants and tons of stuff to do. The day pass that we got was all inclusive, so we got all our meals, free drinks, snorkel equipment, towels and lockers. We pretty much snorkeled the entire day except for lunch. It was great.

There were certain places where the fish were fed, so it was fun to swim there as hundreds of fish surrounded you waiting for food. We swam all the way out to where the inlet turns into the ocean and there were some huge Grouper fish that were bigger than Sarah...they were being fed, so they were swimming past us, brushing against us, getting food...it was awesome.

After lunch, we went up to the top of the river and snokeled down the river, stopping a couple of times to jump off 20-30 foot cliffs (that was fun). Then I talked Sarah into giving up her life vest so that we could dive down into the water. That was when the real fun began. The last 3 hours, we just spent out in the water, around the reefs and rocks in the inlet, diving down to find all kinds of fish and coral and cool stuff on the bottom (the deepest the inlet gets is about 25 feet, as far as I could tell).

So, that was a great day.

Overall it was a very refreshing vacation. There were things (like my iPod) that had been bothering me for a while that I got to take care of, finally. There was music that I had been wanting to listen to in depth for a while that I finally got to buy and listen to. From a creative standpoint, I was nearing empty...I was just tired and needed a break. Now, with batteries recharged, I'm all pumped up to write more new stuff that will hopefully make the record.

I'm excited.

I have said this before several times, but thanks once again for all your support. This blog has changed a couple of times, but I think it's changed for the better. I have decided to refrain from using names of fellow contestants, unless I receive specific permission from them. I may use general terms when talking about friends, but I think it will be best to refrain from names on the blog. Also, I will focus mainly on music stuff and personal stuff here. I may write about the tour, but I will try to focus on stuff that happened personally. There are a lot of people out there that feel the need to tear apart every word I write hear and attempt to use it against me. I could care less about them, but I would hate for their stupidity to ever get back to my friends and for my friends to question even for a second that what those people are accusing me of is true. So, from here on out, I will do things in a way to avoid questions. And eventually the tour will be over and life will go on and the people on here will be the fans, not the "haters".

I love you all and say it again: thank so much for your support and love.