Image info: An image I took near the lake in autumn, where the coin now sleeps.
I apologize in advance as today is somewhat of a philosophical message of progress. Anything worth a damn in life is a challenge… it’s hard… you have to wake somedays staring at a huge wall of water, knowing it’s just going to crash on you and there’s nothing you can do about it. The shimmering ray of hope is just beyond that wall… your ability to see that, to believe in why your paddling at all, and to stand there defiantly while the wave crests over your head and her creeping shadow crosses your own before it all tumbles on you.. takes courage and conviction. Well, Diamonds Hadder feels like that sometimes. It’s like I’m paddling out over the swells and occasionally they kick me back a little, but, I am a little ways past the 1st breakers now. Dazed and confused, yet defiantly swimming with the taste of blood in my mouth and a focused rage and fire in my heart. Here’s a little Wednesday update on Hadder things. It’s been a very busy and uplifting week as I'm now adrift on a calm flat.
New Music: Life in the new tower is great. I love the place. All the little tools needed to complete this first big picture are scattered all around me. Spring has found it’s way into the tower… thanks to a few trips into the hills of Bok with my green thumbs. African Daisey’s are swaying in the tower to the delightful hum of “Long Is the Road” and “The Crying Game”. All focus is on the record now… the final push of it. "Long is the Road" is turning out to be one hell of a closer for the record. It’s in a little listening stage right now as I fine tune the end of the song and sculpt the build-out so to say. I seem to have rounded the corner on the solo section of the track and found a rather pleasant key of notes that seems to work. Maybe later in the week or next I’ll upload Video Sample #2.
I’ve talked about this before, but in order to finish the record and close it out, “The Crying Game" and “Ballad of the dead Rabbit” both have to be reopened and produced a bit, with some new re-sings. Both tracks will lose about 4 or 5 minutes off the DEMO versions as they will be condensed, less progy and more focused around the choruses. Both those tracks were recording in a different studio, saved from a studio that literally burned in the BOK fires of 2018, (an event that was actually prophesized in the lyrics of the dead rabbit) so they needed to be transferred to the new tower. I did “The Crying Game” this week… it was a lot of behind the scenes work.. it took 2 days to convert it over. My ears are a little more in tune these days and I’ve already taken the track down quite a bit, it sounds like a song now and not a 13-minute opus. “The Dead Rabbit” will go through the same process. I’m using these little breaks between tracking work on “Long is the Road” to accomplish this final work. I’m not taking on any new tracks or material… this last push will close this record out. I hope to be celebrating the completion of it in the coming months and move on to more fun things that come with a record release.
Ramsay/Evermore material is a little idle while I put all my energy into capping this first Hadder record. I will say I am very excited about the Ramsay side project and I do see something happening with it, perhaps as the year progresses things will become a little clearer on that front. Who knows maybe a tour with both projects could take place.. it’s a vague notion anyway.
Stargazer Crew: The “Headless Cross” and “Rainbow in the Dark” covers are moving along wonderfully. I’ve posted a few short videos of “Headless Cross” in my News section the last few weeks, just vocal mixes from my studio as I was tracking. Some “Rainbow in the Dark” clips will be coming soon as well… spending a little more time on this one as it’s such a famous song and it deserves a little extra vocal attention. This project is all just side work done during my break time from Hadder work. It’s fun and I’m honored to be a part of it. If you haven’t heard it yet, this group of fellows and I also did a cover of “Stargazer” from the Rainbow Rising record, you can find the track and the music video on the front page.
Last little things: Between the War in Ukraine and the return of the goat… it’s been a rather eventful spring to say the least. I did all the honest planting I could have done this past autumn, this winter was a bit unkind on some fronts.. but this spring is surely a truthful breath of fresh air. I’ve mended a few broken strings and dug a few new holes for next year while I was weeding the current flowers of the day. Now, before the fogs come this year, I’m settled in the tower, me and Ezra… and mattix..… doing my best to listen to the daises as they dance to the winds of change…as I stare out past this first row of breakers… at that next set in the distance… I’m hopeful… ever hopeful.
Prayers for all the people fighting for simpler things this day.
Video Info: A poem I wrote for "The Crying Game" that was based on the story of Niobe from Greek Mythology.
Farewell
-j