– So Where’s the New Album?

The summer has officially ended. I held on for as long as I could, but the kids are in school, the sweatshirts are on, and the clouds and rain have returned. My self-imposed end of August deadline has past and my new album This Journey has not been released. In fact, one could say it’s gone backwards. But before I tell you that story, I have to tell you this story…

I know I’ve been bad about updating lately (sorry), so let’s review where we left off: There were four finished new songs in the early part of 2011 – Energy, The Age Old Story, This Journey, and Water Colors. I like those recordings. They’ve served me well as a preview of the album to come and were a large part of my big promotional push into the Spring. By the time May hit and I had to take a couple months off music to pay some bills, I only had one more song written, Ride the Wind. I envy the prolific writers I know who have way too many songs to record and just pick their best!

Over the summer I was able to write two more that you’ve never heard before: Sunshine & Misery and Afterglow. I’m super excited about these songs – they rock! Two other key musical things happened over the summer:

1. I took voice lessons – people have already been telling me I sound different and better. It might be 20 years late, but I did it (and will continue when I am able)! Better late than never when it comes to the most important part of the band.

2. I bought a bass – this is a game changer, folks. No more MIDI bass on my recordings – Wow!

Schecter Studio 5

I won’t go into the boring life stuff that happened over the second half of the summer that really prevented me from being able to dig in and try to finish up the album, suffice it to say I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to work on it. Which brings us back to where we are today – I’ve now had a little time to work on it and assess where things stand. Aside from recording the three newer songs, the two major upgrades listed above (voice and bass) convinced me to crack open the previous four song recordings and give them an overhaul. I’m of course recording bass on all of them, but I’m also fixing some lead vocal spots I wasn’t particularly happy with, adding some harmony parts, and overall re-mixing. Some changes will be more noticeable than others, but I think you’ll find the finished album overall worth the wait.

So where there were four songs done there are now none done. But there are two very close (within final mix range) and of course the others are well on their way. If I can write a few more new songs before the end of the year, I still have a good shot at a release early in 2012. That’s my new goal and I think it’s well within reach. I hope you’ll stay tuned for more updates as it all comes together. Thanks for your continued support!

Written by Chris Klimecky