Where I've been part III

Hey again! I'm here, breathing, living, loving...

Last left off talking about getting a band back to being a "band." That was last summer, 2009.

I guess most of where I'm at today relates a lot to the last year.

Last summer, I spent a lot of time playing solo acoustic cover shows. Not exactly my first choice of work, but very happy to be working none-the-less. What can I say? I needed the money! Unfortunately, I think I overdid it. By the end of the summer, I was playing 7, even 8 times a week. These aren't 45 minute sets and out. These are 4 hours, 3 sets, singing 40 plus songs by myself. I'm convinced it took a major toll on my voice.

While working all last summer, I moved to New Haven. I wanted to spend my last year in college close to the university so I didn't have to make a commute. It also served as an incentive to keep working (rent money), thus further damaging my voice.

Between fall and winter, I made several attempts to record vocal tracks in the studio. Nothing spectacular really came out of it. Going to school 6 days a week, playing cover jobs, then trying to squeeze in rehearsals, and recording overwhelmed my vocal cords.

Early this past winter, some things changed. I decided to start taking vocal lessons again with my good friend and vocal savior, Suzanne Vick. For a moment, things got better. Then, out of nowhere things got worse.

At the same time, we moved recording operations from Horizon Music Group to White House Productions. Without any bad blood or hurt feelings, we just needed a change of scenery. I was hoping this "renewal" would make me feel better about singing. Unfortunately, my voice was still giving me trouble.

I started getting really frustrated. Here I was hoping to have "Amplify" out in the fall, and it was winter already with Spring around the corner. I figured I could either let myself be consumed by the frustrations of having my instrument taken away from me, or start relaxing, focusing, and re-building. Fortunately, I chose the latter.

For the past 4-5 months, I've made some changes. Mostly, NOT singing. Yes. Even though, I still have to do the obligatory cover shows to earn grocery/rent money, I've been focusing on exercising, doing my best to remain stress free, and letting the vocal cords heal. After some scrutiny in the studio, my vocal teacher, my friend Scott and I came to the conclusion that the cords were probably swollen and I needed to rest them as much as possible. So, that's really what I've been trying to do.

What all this comes down to is this; for most of the Spring up until now, I've completed college (yay!), been resting and working on my voice, doing my best to remain stress free. I think it's working (knock on wood), and I'm feeling much, much vocally stronger as of late.

It's kind of funny... A friend of mine was telling me about a conversation he was having with some of his friends. Apparently, one of his friends said, "Whatever happened to that Seth Adam guy? He was doing a lot, but then just dropped off the earth." Well, if any of the above can explain where I've been, I hope it can. I've been here all along. Unfortunately, most of the time struggling. But I feel like with the accomplishment of graduating college, focusing on what I need to do to keep my voice strong and healthy, combined with a better, stress-free attitude about things, I'm ready to jump back into music again. Actually, more than ready... I'm hungry!

I'm not going to anticipate anymore release times for the new record. All I'm going to do is focus on playing one or two shows a month with the boys (simply to keep the wheels greased) and doing my best to finish recording "Amplify." I want to get this record out badly - I'm so proud of the work we've done so far, and I'm really excited about the songwriting. However, I never want to go back to the feeling of losing my voice again. I want to put my voice first and put out a great record. When we finish it, you'll know about it. Until then, we'll be working... I'll be working.

As for blogging, I've got a lot to say. Time for me to get back into some entertaining blog entries instead of explanations about "where I've been." I've also got several new projects in the works, including a folk trio with Gerry and my friend John Jackson. I'm also putting together a "Tuesday Night Band" for the open mic that I host on Tuesdays. But again, it's all about keeping the voice healthy first.

After 5 years of college, focusing on fine arts and graphic design, I'm happy to be getting back into music.

Rock & roll...

-Seth