Collecting my thoughts...
...is getting harder these days for some reason.
I'll give you three points of interest in my recent life:
1. I went to my first real industry event on Monday, the ASCAP Country Songwriters Awards, which was held at the Ryman. It was tons of fun, my boss won songwriter of the year and one of our writers won song of the year, so that was a great start to the night. After that, we spent a couple hours at the AT&T Tower (formerly Bell South Tower (aka the Batman Building)), which included a view from the 27th floor that is breathtaking. Nashville really is a gorgeous city.
After that, we went back to the office, where we had a surprise party set up for the writers: The reception desk was transformed into a bar, there were candles all over the place, and the conference room was full of really comfortable couches and everyone decided we should leave it like that (didn't happen, but I wouldn't be surprised to show up to work one day and have all the furniture back in place permanently). A great night all around.
2. I just finished The Kite Runner, which I thought was quite good, particularly early on. The middle got a little tedious and some of the plot revelations were kind of transparent, but I loved the ending in all of its unconventional splendor.
3. Two new Christmas albums came out yesterday, and they are both excellent. The first is the new Michael W Smith, It's a Wonderful Christmas. I absolutely love his first two holiday albums, and this one follows in that grand tradition quite well. The instrumentation is grand and elaborate, bordering on cinematic at times and full on embracing the genre at others. There is the right combination of instrumentals, choral numbers, and solos, and almost all of the music is original, with the traditional "What Child is This?" the one exception.
The other is Jars of Clay's Christmas Songs. I have been waiting for this album for quite awhile, ever since they recorded "Bethlehem Town" for the City on a Hill Christmas record, and there were high expectations for this album that could have easily gone unattained. Thankfully, they were at least met if not exceeded, as Jars has created a very unique album that is both reverent and playful, traditional and modern, and all Jars of Clay. The album flows along quite effortlessly, and one song blends into the next, not in the bad way where everything sounds the same, but in the way that everything seems to fit together perfectly.
I highly recommend both for anyone who even just sorta likes Christmas for a couple weeks in December. Definitely worth the money.
I'll give you three points of interest in my recent life:
1. I went to my first real industry event on Monday, the ASCAP Country Songwriters Awards, which was held at the Ryman. It was tons of fun, my boss won songwriter of the year and one of our writers won song of the year, so that was a great start to the night. After that, we spent a couple hours at the AT&T Tower (formerly Bell South Tower (aka the Batman Building)), which included a view from the 27th floor that is breathtaking. Nashville really is a gorgeous city.
After that, we went back to the office, where we had a surprise party set up for the writers: The reception desk was transformed into a bar, there were candles all over the place, and the conference room was full of really comfortable couches and everyone decided we should leave it like that (didn't happen, but I wouldn't be surprised to show up to work one day and have all the furniture back in place permanently). A great night all around.
2. I just finished The Kite Runner, which I thought was quite good, particularly early on. The middle got a little tedious and some of the plot revelations were kind of transparent, but I loved the ending in all of its unconventional splendor.
3. Two new Christmas albums came out yesterday, and they are both excellent. The first is the new Michael W Smith, It's a Wonderful Christmas. I absolutely love his first two holiday albums, and this one follows in that grand tradition quite well. The instrumentation is grand and elaborate, bordering on cinematic at times and full on embracing the genre at others. There is the right combination of instrumentals, choral numbers, and solos, and almost all of the music is original, with the traditional "What Child is This?" the one exception.
The other is Jars of Clay's Christmas Songs. I have been waiting for this album for quite awhile, ever since they recorded "Bethlehem Town" for the City on a Hill Christmas record, and there were high expectations for this album that could have easily gone unattained. Thankfully, they were at least met if not exceeded, as Jars has created a very unique album that is both reverent and playful, traditional and modern, and all Jars of Clay. The album flows along quite effortlessly, and one song blends into the next, not in the bad way where everything sounds the same, but in the way that everything seems to fit together perfectly.
I highly recommend both for anyone who even just sorta likes Christmas for a couple weeks in December. Definitely worth the money.
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