“ . . . the best kept secret on the American indy rock scene.”
    - Craig Bickhardt, Ninety Mile Wind, blog for songwriters

“As observant and nervy as ever . . . illuminates what good songwriters help us to see and feel.”

        - Michael McCall, Nashville Scene, December 2007

JULY 2008

Would Have Been a Picture if I Had Been Able to Take One

“One Man Walking” Recorded live with one overhead condenser mic. Like the old days, all ya'll. (In the name of full disclosure, the harmonica was overdubbed but played in one take.)

Thanks again to Scot Hamlin at Hamlin Guitars for his 000-14. 

Zen teacher Bernard Glassman says in his book Bearing Witness that what we have in common is our diversity. That's a simple way of saying we are all the same. Although we aren't truly all the same, we do have in common a knowledge that we all remain very few steps away from joining those on the sides of the highways, in the alleys, under the bridges. Don't look away. Be a witness.  LISTEN HERE.

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. READ MORE.

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

Come see me at the coolest house concert series on EARTH: Hillbilly Haiku, August 16th in Lebanon, Tennessee!

Click here for June 2008 news.