Final Mixes!!!!

While you were gathering with friends and family around the grill yesterday for the 4th of July, I locked myself in the recording studio for 12 straight hours...and finished mixing the new album, So Human!

Mike Manthei, the engineer, was gracious enough to give up his Independence Day celebrations too, so we could get this crucial stage of the album done.

That means all the songs are mixed...ready for mastering! We're getting close! We've got another couple of weeks to go...for mastering, etc. And the graphic design for the album isn't finished yet. So, it's conceivable we could have everything done by the end of July (though that's pushing it. Most likely mid-August.)

But you don't have to wait til August to hear some of the songs.

Listen now!

See the music player just to the right there? I put some of the new mixes there. You can hear the final mixes for:

So Human
My Cross
I'll Drive Yesterday
Open Up the Darkness
Come With Water

Thats just 5 of the 13 songs that will be on the album. Enjoy!

Sitcom Songs

I love sitcoms. I really do. Maybe it's because I feel such a need to laugh lately. Work is stressful. Gas prices and grocery prices are putting quite the pinch on my family. Sitcoms are a nice release. And I'm so thankful for Monday nights. Monday seems to be the toughest day of the week to go to work. But on Monday night, I get to watch 4 sitcoms in a row. First, there's Big Bang Theory (one of my absolute favorites.) Followed by How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement. Yep, Monday nights are a good time to laugh, relax and let go of the pressures of the day. If only life were like sitcoms. If only every problem was solved with a smile and a punchline after thirty minutes (22 minutes after you factor in commercial breaks!) Wouldn't that be nice? Christian music, I think, has become quite like a sitcom. On the rare occasion that a Christian song will address any real-life issues, they quickly resolve it with a happy-feel good ending. I'm not dissing that. But I wonder if there's room out there in Christian music for songs that don't resolve every issue in two and a half minutes. That's what you're going to find in my new album, So Human. Not sure how it will be received, but it's what I feel called to do right now. I want my songs to be an honest look at my spiritual journey. Yes, there's a "happy ending" to the album, but not to every song. You have to listen to the project in its entirety to get your sitcom smile. I'm not against the songs that are so popular in Christian radio today. I know there's a reason for them. But I also worry about those people who don't know God...wondering what they must think of this "happy feel good religion." Do we honestly portray Christianity in our Christian music? Anyway. Just something I've been thinking about lately...a lot.