29 October 2001
Next Steps

Lots of stuff happening these days. Scattering seeds on a garden plot and watching to see which ones take root. Actually, I used that as an analogy for the songwriting process in an interview with the Mountain View Voice recently. It was the hokiest thing I said throughout the whole interview, and I'm sure that's what will appear in print. *grin* Anyways...I've been feeling tugs on the couple of lines I've cast, publicity-wise, so stay tuned for a less flippant biography in the near future. Then there's the fact that Waking Hour has pulled out of the red ink (woohoo!), and the game plan was to put it up for sale at other stores and websites once we reached that milestone. We may sell our entire supply yet. I'll cross my fingers.

I've also been playing the occasional show with a group of guys -- two of whom sessioned on the album -- and it looks like we're reviving the idea of putting a band together. It'll be a collaborative deal, not just a group of musicians backing me up on my songs, and the prospect has me hopping with anticipation. Much as I've come to enjoy playing live solo shows, and much as I've always loved writing songs on my own, I've come to a place where I crave the company of other musicians: people who can take a scrap of melody or a short motif and develop it into something I would never have thought of alone. Maybe this time I'll finally push off my island and drift somewhere beautiful and unexpected.

None of the above-mentioned full-band shows were open to the public, by the way, in case you're wondering how you missed them.

My old friend Ned Tozun (one of the four people thanked in the first section of the Waking Hour credits) recently released his first album with his band Legends and Deeds. It's fun seeing our musical lives develop in parallel.

Take care, all of you out there, and I'll check in again soon.

- VT