Summer time is the perfect time for songwriting. Although lots of workshops happen out of town in the summer months I can generally open up my schedule to create the larger space needed for creative exploration. When my management and I started talking about a new disc I felt it best to clear the deck during the summer months while I have access to the family cottage up north.
Mornings it's nice and quiet before anybody rises and so by about 8 am I take my morning coffee down to the dock and sit at the desk my mom (writer Lilly Barnes) and I share. Thats already late in the day of the lake which remains dead calm and smooth after dawn, things tend to get more dramatic as the day moves on. The desk in the boathouse looks out on the changing weather and whether meditating, writing lyrics or playing with chords and melodies on my portable cassio it's the perfect creative place to be.
A meditation at the top of the session helps clear the mind of the little drama's and prepare to dig into the process. I write longhand in a book transferring to the computer once a song is being shaped and rewritten....
By noon the cottage stirs with life and my brother (Jazz drummer/composer Daniel Barnes) comes down for his morning swim and I move myself off to other activities to get the blood going again before continue to work lyrics throughout the day up in the cottage.
Much of the last disc "Domesticated" (including the saucy title track) were originally sketched in the boathouse before I travelled to Montreal to put the finishing touches on the songs.
This summer I have a new batch going, most of which were started in NYC last summer. ..(More about those songs and that experience as the blog continues).
To have a preview of the "Domesticated" tunes check out http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/domesticated-ep/id406730900
Enjoy Your August People! (See you in Sept Winnipeg!)
No comments:
Post a Comment