Finally.
I'd had the idea in the back of my mind for quite a while to make some kind of recording of some of the songs that I had written over the years. I told friends, "Sometime in the next three to five years." I probably said it for at least that long.
I started to have concrete conversations with friends in the fall of 2014 to plan and brainstorm and dream a bit about what might be possible. I'm not generally a vision-oriented person, but I've lived in Nashville almost ten years at this point, and I've had the privilege of being involved in all kinds of recording projects in studios and houses all over town. I'd been able to be a part of and support so many of my artist friends as a side man for their records and live shows and tours. And over that time, I'd built up a community of musician and engineer friends whose skill, creativity, and experience I trusted to help me try to make my own record.
Most of the tracking and mixing took place in stages over the course 2015, spilling over into 2016, finishing up with the mastering process these last couple months.
I am so heavily indebted to all of the people who were involved in the creation of this project. So much creative input and graciousness and encouragement from so many people over a very long haul. I'm proud of it.
At some point, I plan on writing entries periodically about each of the individual songs, maybe with some background on the writing or particular memories from the recording process.
But for now, I'm content to just put on my headphones and listen. Finally.