I moved to Charlottesville from my rural, south-central-VA county in December 2008, to take a job I'd just landed. In my head, I'd defied odds. I saw myself as a cripplingly cerebral but practically useless pseudo-adult. I felt my brain, in its small-town country stupor-cum-recluse's atrophy, couldn't process fast enough for my survival. I doubted... Continue Reading →
Best Dead Masterpiece, Dissected by the Artist (Pt. 3) Alternate Title: To All the Bickles I’ve Loved Before
[In September 2020, I began a series of blog entries discussing the themes and inspirations of my dark chamber-pop album Best Dead Masterpiece, scheduled for release on BandCamp in January 2021.] Before anything else I ought to say this: to my knowledge I have never been personally acquainted with any young men that have perpetrated... Continue Reading →
Gifted is Gross
Was doing some homework at the behest of my new career counselor tonight and thought of the phrase “talented but unfocused”. Googled this phrase and some similar phrases and wound up finding this beautiful, dynamic, dead-serious-yet-self-undermining, know-the-rules-to-break-‘em article about the highs, lows, and in-betweens of being a gifted individual and a multi-potentialite. After being labeled... Continue Reading →
“Sympathetic Characters” Release
This weekend was much more productive than last (being neither too nasal to record voice, nor in a Benadryl stupor, helped) and I finally pulled together the single release I’d been planning. The recordings aren’t album quality, but there’s still quite a bit going on in them, some of it totally unexpected, and anyway, I... Continue Reading →
On The Graduate and My Forthcoming Single Release, with a Weird Digression at the End
I have a peculiar history with The Graduate. I grew up hearing Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits in my parents' record collection, which laid a foundation for when, probably during my high school days, I was finally introduced to the movie through what must have been a Blockbuster or Movie Time rental. I remember liking... Continue Reading →
Best Dead Masterpiece, Dissected by the Artist (Pt. 2)
[In September 2020, I began a series of blog entries discussing the themes and inspirations of my dark chamber-pop album Best Dead Masterpiece, scheduled for release on BandCamp in January 2021.] (I strongly encourage you to pull up Lambchop's Wilco cover, "Reservations", and listen to it while reading this entry.)I've always been intrigued by unconventional... Continue Reading →
Quick Album Update.
Don't have much time tonight... though I've got a long weekend coming up, so it won't be long till another post on the thinking behind the upcoming album. For now, I'll just mention that all album tracks are currently in the hands of longtime engineer and producer Bryan Walthall of Studio Image Recording in RVA,... Continue Reading →
Best Dead Masterpiece, Dissected by the Artist (Pt. 1)
Hello to anyone new who might lately have stepped into me… you know, like an unseen hole in the yard you sprain your ankle in, or a mud puddle that's a little sloppier than you bargained for. I've been meaning to start a series of posts exploring different conceptual elements of the upcoming album. I... Continue Reading →