Here Comes An Album I've Been Waiting For!

What's up everybody? It is currently 9:10am on February 26th. I still haven't gone to bed yet from the previous day. Why? Fiddle.

It's not a big deal though. It's not often I stay up all night, but in the last 12 months I have spent a lot of time touring in a van and driving all night and I have become conditioned for this kind of thing. I can't do it all the time. Just when the situation calls for it. I joke with my friends about being solar powered. When the sun comes up, I always get a second wind that lasts me through the rest of the day. And I'll sleep good tonight.

This whole experience has built another house on Memory Lane. This is the sixth time I have been in a studio and for those of you who know me, you know that I'm a studio rat. I love the creativity that happens in there and it is especially nice when you are accompanied with talented individuals who understand their craft. Out of all the times I've recorded before, this experience has definitely been the one where every time I thought I knew what was happening, God changed the plan. But of course the end result... I believe this to be my strongest record yet.

Since being here, I have seen and done so many things that have had nothing to do with my album. It seems that God keeps putting me in situations where he wants me to serve others. In the process, my album is still close to completion and I'm pretty sure that most of you will be pleased by the sounds. I've waited over a year to finally release a full length album, and now it is right around the corner.

Since I arrived, the family I have been staying with has been going through multiple family crisis' and any one of these things on their own would be bad enough, but at this point they are all piling up, and it has been wearing down on the members of this family. The father is a Christian single parent trying to raise two early-teenage sons and is experiencing attacks from all different angles in his life. For the sake of this family's privacy, I will spare you the details but I can tell you that they are going through a horrible ordeal, and though at times I feel like my presence here is insignificant, I'm glad that I can at least help them with what I can, and pray with them. I hope that God uses me to encourage them.

The engineer on this project is Doug, an old friend of mine from back in my teen years who spent a great deal of time building a studio career in Times Square, New York where he worked for one of the most historic recording studios in the industry. God led him out to Arizona where he is taking that experience to help artists out here get their music out fairly inexpensively with a huge "label" sound. Because he is not charging the price that his experience and time are really worth, he is also supplementing his income as a subcontracting pool table technician. While I've been here, Doug has had four studio projects going at once while sitting on several pool table projects, while recently finding out that he was going to have to move out of his house to a new place! He works really hard and does very well at what he does, but I worry for my friend as I am afraid that he is going to burn himself out. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to help him. While he has been working on my album, I've been helping him move as well as helping with the pool table work.

One of Doug's friend's, is a young lady who works at a convenience store next to the studio. She is not a follower of Christ (YET), but has really been backhanded by the circumstances in her life. She has struggled through drug addictions as a teen which resulted in some permanent physical conditions that can sometimes completely hinder her from living a normal life. For a few months, Doug has gone in and bought coffee there and has talked with her and struck up a pseudo friendship with her. When I got a chance to meet her (during a coffee break), she explained to Doug and I how she was getting out of a harmful roommate situation and had gotten an apartment not far from the studio. Her problem was that she didn't have anyone to help her move. She only had just a few boxes but some were fairly heavy. Doug immediately spoke up and volunteered us to help.

That's what I love about Doug. Doug is sincerely a man who, if there was only one apple left in the world, he would choose to feed someone else rather than himself. You are all my friends, so I confess to you, that in my flesh I do not always display that kind of mercy. It's definitely something the Lord is working with me on. So as you can imagine, my flesh rose up and then sunk inside when I heard Doug say that we could help her move. In my mind I said, "I just met this strange girl at the gas station next door and now I'm getting dragged to go help her? I've got music to record! I don't even know her. It's not my problem." Then I thought about Jesus sending his disciples in two's. I figured if I went, then it would give accountability as well as maybe just hurry the thing along. Isn't it ironic how flesh can work sometimes? We find ourselves occasionally saying, "I don't have time to help this person! I have to attend to my music ministry!" She called her dad, and then Doug and I drove over together in Doug's car to her dad's house where we got to help both of them move a few things over. In the process, I got to tell the father where I was from and what I was doing in Arizona, and even got to share that I was a Christian. Since then, Doug and I have seen this girl when we go to buy a coffee next door and each time I look for the small windows of opportunity to share the light of Christ. I've been able to share about my wife Shanon and the benefits of a stable Christian marriage. Hopefully the memory of the two musicians next door lending a helping hand will just be one of the many things that God uses to draw this young lady into the Kingdom. Pray for her. Her name is Lauren.

When I arrived here, Doug informed me that the violinist that he had planned on bringing in for the album had torn a ligament in her hand and was not able to play. I found myself praying and praying for God to send someone to fill the role. I had no budget for this, and everyone who played on the album volunteered their time, so I was looking for a skillful player who would be able to work within our not so vast budget. The girl who had torn her hand was Heidi, a full time violin player here in Phoenix. Her life is her instrument. She as well was not a Christian, and I found myself praying that God would heal her hand and allow her to come play the music so that she may hear the message in the music and come to know Jesus as her Savior.

One morning I was getting ready to leave for the studio and I was praying for just that when she called Doug on his cell phone and told him that she was able to play her violin that day. She had not been able to play it since Christmas. She had been able to play for a few minutes and said that she would come by the studio to see us. I was excited and was happy to meet her. I gave a few songs to listen to with the lyrics and chord sheets. My prayers continued. She later came back into the studio after feeling that her hand was getting stronger. She had been playing for longer times each day and was ready to track. Unfortunately, when she did, she felt that her hand was getting sore and we had to reschedule. Shortly after, her doctor insisted that she get back into a hard brace again. This was disappointing to me, but my faith hasn't wavered. Her hand IS getting better, and I hope that the copies of my music that she now has will encourage her while she is down. Heidi is an amazing person. Pray for her.

So now what? Well Doug put an ad onto Craig's List for a skillful violin or fiddle player who would be willing to play on my stuff in exchange for some free studio time. Enter in Scott Jeffers. Scott is one of the best fiddle players I have ever had the chance to play with. He lives here in Phoenix and plays in a band called Traveler that mostly plays a blend of fusion and world music. He is quite well known to this local area and had a very impressive demo. Mr. Jeffers came in last night at about 1:30 in the morning and played fiddle on my song, "Image." He is a first class musician and an extremely easy guy to get along with. Scott did a fantastic job and after he was done we got to sit for a while and talk. I really enjoyed our conversation and I hope to be able to call on him again the next time through.

So now today we are tired but the end is finally in sight. We finish mixing today and the mastering of this project starts tomorrow. I'm leaving Arizona and going back home to Tennessee on Wednesday to be reunited with my wife and to enjoy some time off for her birthday. Keep checking back for more updates on the new album, release dates, and stuff like that.

God bless you all and thank you for your prayerful support.

In Jesus,
SL