The things we think and do not say.
(Why I Might Be the Fictional Football Player Rod Tidwell)

Okay, so that’s just my favorite character in one of my favorite movies. And that’s the title of the mission statement that opens Jerry Maguire. And that doesn’t have a heck of a lot to do with this month in Nathanland.

My mission statement lately has reflected my intent to keep writing, play an occasional show, and produce as many solid recordings as I can in my tiny home studio. And how, you say, do I do that? Well . . .

When I took a break from the music business back in the 1990s, everybody still used tape in some form. Now there’s only one major tape manufacturer, and $60 buys you enough sophistication to make decent records on a laptop. My set up is a combination of a Roland BR-1600CD all-in-one digital recording unit (16 tracks and capable of recording, mixing and doing a reasonably good master without anything more than a couple of good microphones) and Apple’s Logic Pro 8 running on a MacBook. I’ve got a dozen microphones, a couple of good preamps, and a bunch of solid instruments.

It depends on what the song calls for, but I have a few acoustics to call on: Two Mossmans that have deep, wide tone, a Larrivee that can sound bright or gutsy, as well as a beautiful small-bodied guitar made by Hamlin Guitars and luthier, Scot Hamlin that made its debut on my latest acoustic track, “Flood” which you can hear on MySpace.  I also have a terrific Eastman Mandolin courtesy of Picker’s Exchange in Chattanooga.

For full-band tracks, I do almost all of my electric work with a telecaster inspired guitar made by Bruce Bennett of Chattanooga. baritone guitar is a Danelectro, bass is a Fender Jazz strung with Labella Black Nylon. All my electric slide work is with a Hagstrom loaded with P-90 pick-ups and I use and endorse the Jetslide so I can switch easily between playing standard and slide.

Drums are generally recorded in my garage and tuned and set up like those old beat up Motown sets.

More next month . . . cause if you’ver read this far, you’re probably a gearhead like me.

In the meantime, listen to a few songwriters like Doug Lang, Don Henry, and Angaleena Presley. They’re good, dammit.

Come see me at Music on the Square in Lafayette, Georgia on July 19th and then, at the coolest house concert series on EARTH: Hillbilly Haiku, August 16th in Lebanon, Tennessee!

Click here for June 2008 news.