I’ve been threatening the world that I’ll start a blog for some time now… in my mind (Cue diabolical laughter)!!! That is, the threats have only been issued in my mind… not that the blog would be in my mind… erm… maybe I should start this post over. Oh whatever!

I figure if I’m going to give paper playing a go for the next few months, it would be worthwhile to blog about it. Most people who aren’t involved in the process of creating art, view art mostly as a finished product. Some get a look behind the curtain, whether it be a band rehearsal or a visual artist’s studio. I think it could prove useful (and hopefully interesting to someone other than me) to journal about and during the process.

Whenever I’m interested in an artist I’m curious about how they do what they do. I want to know what went on, how they came up with that concept – it’s hard to explain how much really great concepts piss me off and inspire me at the same time, how they crafted that verse, how they play that riff. The curiousity is stronger when it comes to music because it’s the art form I use, but it happens with poetry, prose, film, painting, etc. I guess art does that. This blog is my opportunity to record the “behind the scenes” without it being doctored, cleaned up or decorated.

I’m guessing it might help me as an artist if I journal my own process; to see where I started, where it took me and what it ended up being. I’m convinced art has a life of it’s own and it leads you just as much as (or more than) you lead it… but let me abandon that train of thought before I start sounding spooky or mystical. Too late?

It also would help me to see myself through the lens of paper playing. I think I’m finally not afraid to see myself and to capture a snapshot of a “now”. I’ve always disliked journaling because when a “now” becomes a “then”, the raw realness of who I was is very uncomfortable and sometimes just ugly. My memory has a wonderful way of self-sanitizing. There are benefits to forgetting as much as I do but I’m sure they’re drawbacks too.

This blog will serve as a history. It may only be a history of an attempt but God-willing, it will be history of a successful project and the story behind an album. And if God is willing, it will be the story of a miracle; maybe a small and specific miracle but a miracle none-the-less, because when I look at what I’m attempting and the comprehensive lack of resources I have to pour into it I’m sure miracles will be required.

So, that’s the “why”.

“… It will not be perfect, but it might be good…”