Fantasy Football

This is my fifth year doing fantasy football. I've won before but believe it or not there is still skeptics. Two of my best friends have had disagreements about FANTASY football and now they no longer play together. As a result I am now in two leagues. I spent most of the off season saying I wasn't going to play but I settled on a better idea. I'm going to win both leagues' top prize this year. That's right. This isn't your usual calendar song. This is a declaration. I'm gonna kick ass in both arenas to teach you all a little lesson.

Lesson 1: I'm a fantasy football legend. Don't forget I went worst to first. The only person I'm competing with is myself. The only way to top myself is to take both leagues.

Lesson 2: It's more fun to win than to lose. I said I was coming back this year to have fun. FUN=WIN.

Lesson 3: You might not ask me back next year. When you see how effortlessly I spank your teams you might want to "scale it back next year to allow more even competition."

Class is now in session. Enjoy the football season and have my trophies ready. I want Rolling Rock as my victory drink. Go Patriots!

Fantasy Football

Seasons Of Love

It's been a long stretch since my last posting. I found it difficult to find inspiration. Life has given me plenty to draw from. With the new home came many big changes. I am so happy here but have found the process of getting here all consuming. I had to force myself to sit down and work on music. That is not how inspiration works. You can't just dial it up. So what happens when you have a dead line but your muse is on summer vacation? That's where the craft comes in. By sitting down and pulling music out of yourself your opening the door for when inspiration returns. Sort of like priming the cosmic pump.

Like last month I used this drought of creative juices as an oppurtinity to take an older song that never fully completed the writing stage and gave it the treatment it deserves. I was so content with the guitar when I wrote it I never bothered to write words. I sang it so many times making up words as I went that certain lines became permenent. I just filled in the gaps around those lines gave it a spit shine and I was on my way to posting in July.

The space to work on the Calendar Project here in the new house is very comfortable. A great place to make music. Now that I have the PC set up and all my guitars and wires and various recording junk easily excessable it's just a matter of time before another little folk song will be born in my cozy corner of the house. I'm eager to get to work on August and keep the creative energy flowing. The pump is primed. Insperation come on in.

Seasons Of Love

Junebug

Transition. That's where I'm coming from this month. Our apartment is in boxes. The pictures are off the wall. These are physical examples of what we as a family are going through. Change brings allot of feelings and responsibility with it. We are so excited to have a yard, so scared to have a mortgage, so stressed from moving, so proud of progress. Responsibility comes in the forms of taking care of the house, leaving the apartment in great shape, changing our address. The larger effects of transition reach far beyond where you hang your hat. It's the changes in your character that each transition brings that matter most. I know the house will bring character changes within me. I hope to feel more secure. More inviting. More driven. Children experience transition masterfully. My kids have been wholly committed to change since the notion of moving was first introduced. It's nice having them to teach me things throughout this experience. I keep my mind open for them because I know how hard it is to raise good parents.

"Junebug" is about transition. The transition into the after life, the journey into your own future. These are inevitable transitions. I wonder if I'd know myself if I was able to look ahead. Would that journey's effects on my character make me unrecognizable to myself now? I just hope Future Craig is anything close to what I'm aiming for. I'm aiming to be somebody who handles transition well.

I recorded the song in an empty apartment. The tracks I sent Bluesman Jay to work with sounded like an empty apartment. When he sent it back with his contributions it sounded like a house I'd like to call home.

Junebug

LOST Theories Revisited

In March of 2009 with the help of Bluesman Jay I posted some of my theories as to what was happening on LOST up to that point. I ended that blog posting with questions. Who is Jacob? What is the Monster? Why is Locke back from the dead? We now know the answers to those questions. Jacob is the guardian of the source which is the heart of the island. It's not what is the monster but who. It is Jacobs brother who became the smoke monster when Jacob through him into the source. John Locke isn't resurrected as we once believed. It's the Man in Black who has taken Locke's form as part of his plan to kill Jacob and destroy the island. In light of all that has taken place since "LOST Theories" was posted Jay and I felt that we should revisit the song and take a look at what those theories turned out to be. Once again Jay did the backing vocals and added the sound effects from the show. This time he also laid down drums. It was an awesome television experience and I doubt we'll ever see anything like it again. If you missed it or just want to take the journey again check it out on DVD or Blue-Ray. You can also watch full episodes with limited commercial interruption on abc.com

Tonight is the last episode so we wanted to have it posted today. Making the song with Jay is part of the fun of watching the show for me. Maybe the'll make a movie and I'll get to write a song about it. Namaste!

LOST Theories Revisited

Happy Birthday Riley!
5!!!!!

The Nicest Guy In The World

I'm not sure what the universe is up to. Life has been so busy unfolding lately I'm not sure if I'm living it or just witnessing it. It's every facet of life to boot. The barbershop has been experiencing some growing pains. My daughter seems to have turned into a young lady. Our goals of a home are inching closer. Our dog is crippled with arthritis. Route 9 has decided to take a break. Most importantly my Grandmother passed away.
These aren't all bad things of course but life, good and bad, can be exhausting. It's no mystery to me why I've hit some writers' block. After loosing Jaime last month I posted a song early in the month. With all the living I've been doing since then it feels like an eternity since I've posted a new tune. With that said I did manage to come up with this little ditty.
With the end of the month approaching I started laboring on adding layers to the song. This grossly over complicated it. I decided to start over with another live take. As I was recording Lennon came into the room and started singing with me. She brought to the song what I couldn't, an honest optimism. I decided to post that version with one small overdub because I felt that moment was very candid. She sang because she felt compelled too. The finished track is charming. When we got Lennon's school picture I was surprised by the beautiful young lady I saw in that photograph. What happened to my baby? That's the same way I see this recording. A snap shop of a young girl coming into her own.
That's the magic of watching life unfold. In the same month I lost one of the most influential, amazingly loving women I'll ever know, I see my daughter start to become one.

~This month's song is dedicated to Janet Bowden 1931-2010
I love you more than tongue can tell.

The Nicest Guy in the World

I So Love You

Got some terrible news yesterday. Don't know what to say. Words couldn't touch it. I send my love and prayers but that doesn't scratch the surface.

In Loving Memory
Jamie A. Pavao

I So Love You

Craig 2.0

I worked all month on an instrumental. It is in an alternate tuning so my guitars are all in open D. I am getting more accustomed to that tuning just because every time I go to play that's the way I'm already tuned. I was still tweaking the instrumental when it came time to record it. The end of February has a way of sneaking up on ya. I was doing allot of playing as preparation for the recording. It was already the 25th and I didn't want to do a rushed recording of a song it took so long to perfect. I was messing around with this finger picking riff and decided to make it a song. Twenty-four hours later the February song was written, recorded and awaiting post production and posting.

I double tracked the guitar. Punching in would have been tough with a song like this so that meant I had to play it beginning to end perfectly, twice. I was about 81% through the song the first time when I mouse ran across the floor right in front of me. I fought the urge of screaming and jumping on my chair and instead kept playing and captured the right take. I got 81% through the second track when the damn thing ran back the other way. I again held my composure and captured the take the song needed.

There is a sweet line in there for my wife. She puts up with allot when I begin to feel the pressure of the deadline. She liked the "Craig 2.0" idea. I always know if the song I'm working on is any good by her reaction. My goal every month is to surprise her with what I'm working on. Better get to work on March.

Craig 2.0