In July of 2014 I made the realization that I needed to go into the studio. I’ve always had a passion for music, and recording an album is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. July wasn’t necessarily the perfect time to go straight into the studio, as I only had several finished songs, but I had many ideas and recordings saved onto my phone, computer, and scraps of paper around my house and I wanted to see if I could give myself the motivation to complete enough of them for a full-length album. So, I gave myself a deadline. I told the backing band that rehearsals would start in January, giving myself six months to finish writing, and it worked. By the time December rolled around, I had around ten potential songs ready to be rehearsed with a backing band, and I knew exactly who I wanted to be in it.
I was able to get both my former guitarist Christian Phifer, who can shred with the best of them, as well as my high school friend Trevor Kirkpatrick, who holds tempo like a metronome, to play in my backing band. The songs were complete and the band was formed. At that point all that was left to do was count the days until the first rehearsal.
When we finally played together, my songs came to life like never before. It was no longer just me, alone in my apartment, hammering chords and singing a stale melody. The thundering of Trevor’s drums and the crooning of Christian’s guitar breathed life into my music, and it was like I was experiencing my songs for the first time. After that first rehearsal I knew that with these two alongside me, my music was going to take a monumental step forward.
One month and many rehearsals later, we went into the studio and finished the first chunk of my debut solo album.
Those words are going to take some getting used to.