well, we've been back in dallas for a few days now. it's great to be home, and the few days off were so needed before hitting the studio again. this time we're out at spaceway in duncanville. apparently mark led us to this studio, b/c tim and julie had no idea of its location until the day before, which was extremely surprising to them b/c that's where they got their start. sort of like coming full circle. by no means in the sense of ending where you started, but more like the scene in "the wall" where young pink keeps running across the soccer/football/whathaveyou field with the sun glare in the camera lense; something significant in your life that keeps popping up, no matter how infrequently.

anyhow, now it's my turn to step up to the plate. it's been such an interesting, fresh experience watching the songs evolve over the past month. annie and ryan did some amazing stuff in minnesota, a lot of which has made me rethink parts i wrote over just piano, bass, and drums. it's almost better this way b/c it's forced me to reexamine what i have and decide what i truly like about each part. it's also quite a challenge keeping track of all the different sounds i'm using and the tweaks i'm adding. it's not like we've been playing these songs live for the past few months. before i know it the album will be done, we'll be working up our new live set, and i'll be asking myself, "now, how did i do that again?"

evan