Album #6: In Unexpected Places

Life is a journey, and mine has taken me to some unexpected places.  That’s really what this album is about.  You can find it here — it’s available for free listen and download on Jamendo:

In Unexpected Places

Even before the album became available, I started writing about the process of its creation.  Now that it has gone public, I’m going to continue to tell the stories behind the songs.  As the articles are posted, I will index them here.

Cover Art

• Cover art preview (26-Sept-2009)
• High Resolution cover art announcement (30-Sept-2009)

The Journey to Completion

• The Phantom Zone (6-June-2009).  In Unexpected Places came nine full months after my previous album, Martian Winter.  Why the delay?  Find out here.
• Moments of Transition (1-August-2009).  Recovering from a difficult move, I honestly thought it would be 2010 before I recovered enough of myself to finish this project.  So in a fit of cosmic irony, finishing In Unexpected Places is actually an unexpected place for me to be now
• Change, Unchained (25-August-2009).  By this time, I had already written 23 “prototype” songs for the album, each less than two minutes in length.  But then it was time to head back to work . . . and a new school year.
• If the Future Never Comes (7-Sept-2009).  On this date I had completed seven of the 14 songs on the new album.  The title of this article, in fact, comes from the fifth track.
• The Finish Line (25-Sept-2009).  All the pieces came together.

Composition

• Many of the songs on In Unexpected Places came from a series of “prototypes” I recorded; I called this the “Rhythm Method” project (after the name of my first jazz band in Gainesville, FL).
• Secret Origins: In Unexpected Places takes you on a tour of the original versions of each of the songs on the album.  Some started as prototypes, others as full songs.
• Hydrogen Powered introduces a powerful drum sequencer I used for this album, Hydrogen.

Track #1: Waiting for You

• The lyrics.
• The bass and drums, featuring both standard notation and tablature.

Track #2: Set Free the Night

• The lyrics.
• The bass and drums, featuring both standard notation and tablature.

Track #3: Vanished Moments

• The lyrics.
• This song was part of FAWM 2009; you can also read the original composition article (Feb. 20, 2009).

Track #4: Poison on My Tongue

• The chords — actually a highly altered version of the blues.

Track #5: If the Future Never Comes

• Chords and guitar voicings, in both standard notation and tablature.

Track #6: My Own Avalon

• Conga drum line, in both standard notation and grid format.

Track #7: The Sky in Shadow

• Bass and chords, featuring both standard notation and tablature.

Track #8: Vertigo at the Edge

• This song was part of FAWM 2009; you can also read the original composition article (Feb. 16, 2009).

Track #9: Step Through this Window

• The acoustic guitars, featuring both standard notation and chord fingering diagrams.

Track #10: A Dream of Crows

• The chords — rich and complex.  Includes voicings in standard notation.
• The background story — 10% van Gogh, 90% Rough Collie.

Track #11: Tell Me, Madame Fortune Teller

• This song was part of FAWM 2009; unfortunately, in February 2009, I never got around to writing the composition article.
• Flash forward nine months later to the chords (Nov. 16, 2009) — includes guitar voicings in standard notation and tablature.

Track #12: One Last, Perfect Sunset

• The background story.

Track #13: Heartbeat of the Desert

• This song was part of FAWM 2009.  At the time, I never completed a full composition article, just a stub.
• Finally, months later, the composition notes, featuring chords in standard notation.

Track #14: Alone on the Tracks

• Guitar and bass, featuring both standard notation and guitar tablature.