OK! Start your engines...

Jeff and I woke up today and assembled our plan for pre-production.

We set up a V-Drum kit here in the house and wired him into my Pro-Tools. This works perfect. We are able to run through things here and get an idea of the arrangements before we go to the live room.

It felt great to get into a live rehearsal situation and to start banging this stuff out. We hit 4 songs today.

• "Erase"
• "The Edge of Darkness"
• "Fade into the X" and
• "The Mold"

Erase and Edge of Darkness are part of the little modern War segment of the CD. The other 2 are more personal lyrically.

We had to end by 6PM because I had a vocal lesson in Manhattan. Speaking of which, I sang out a few things in rehearsal today. I am very happy with the progress of my voice! By the time I tour in late summer it should be very strong!

We picked up some more supplies and I dropped one of my Les Paul's off with Mel "The Guitar Doctor" in the city.

Studio time is so much fun!

We ended the night with a stop off at McCann's. It was the first time I saw Tim Cain since the Eagles loss to the Panthers! He is ok! I watched the Rangers actually look like a hockey team and headed home to feed my cat. She was a bit depressed earlier today, however she seems much better now. She is passed out on my bed behind me as we speak!

Goodnight and I will talk to you tomorrow!

Chris

Greetings from the North Pole...

Global warming has taken over my ability to think straight!

Actually global cooling has turned NY into a Winter Wonderland!

Jeff and I decided to bunker in house today! We set up a V-Drum set, similar to what he used on the TSO tour, in his bed room here. Then I wired it into the Pro-Tools in my bed room. I sat in the hall with Haley and we jammed to 4 more songs. "Evil is as Evil Does", "Jealousy", "Beat Me, You'll Never Beat Me" and "The Fall".

All love songs! Jealousy is really coming out pretty cool!

Tomorrow we will go fire them up in the rehearsal studio. I believe we will see Dave Z on Thursday, if he can find Astoria in the snow!

I wandered to the gym amidst the blizzard and immediately returned after my workout with some pizza. I am on the "Fatkins" diet! All carbs!!!

At the moment Jeff, John The Greek, Haley and Raymie...our house guest for the week...are sitting downstairs watching "Johnny English". John is a school teacher and there is no class tomorrow due to the weather. Raymie is in town teching for Cyndi Lauper. I let him crash here with us because it is a lot more fun than some Holiday Inn!!! Haley is totally adjusted to being back in the city. She went from being depressed that there are no other cats around to being happy that she is the only cat in 24 hours!

I am going to watch the rest of this movie and actually work out my album budget. Scary stuff for one such as me!!!

Goodnight!

Chris

I found a Vox... thanks for your help!!!"	Global Warming, eh?

Good morning....

I fell asleep last night after a long phone conversation with an old friend, so I never got to make a rehearsal report. Haley just woke me up to get something to eat.

Yesterday was different! We woke up to about a foot of new snow. Jeff and Raymie shoveled out the mess in front. I guess every time they shoveled it on the sidewalk the neighbors complained. Every time they shoveled it on the street a plow knocked it back on the sidewalk. Most people just shovel it onto parked cars. There is nowhere to put it!

I did my vocal warm-ups after some business on-line and we headed for the rehearsal studio. Just in case we brought a shovel. This turned out to be a very good thing because it was very difficult to park! We had to shovel our way into a parking spot! There are no lots around the studio and Jeff had drum gear to unload. We eventually got the vehicle parked and headed in to make noise.

I like this room a lot. Nice and warm and really loud! I am just using a 100 Watt Marshall 800. I did manage to get 2 Vox pedals thanks to my dear webmaster's relentless search. One has arrived and it sounds great.

We pounded our way through the 8 songs we have been streamlining. Jeff is kicking some serious butt. Each song is taking on a new little life. This stuff is so frickin heavy!!! We stayed until we had enough ear blasting and headed back to the snow. It was easier getting out of the spot than in!

On the way back to our house we were discussing food possibilities. I remembered that it was Wednesday. It was Chicken Pot Pie night at the Cronin and Phelan! It is a little Irish Pub on Broadway in Astoria. It has incredible food. The Chicken Pot Pie is legendary! I have stolen the recipe! I will post my version one day...

We headed back after dinner. I had a brief conversation with Kemp before returning to work. She is doing a photo shoot on the beach in Miami. I had pot pie in an Irish Pub, in the middle of a snowy tundra...she was having lobster on the beach with the film crew and some famous actor who's name I forget right now. Tough life K.

Jeff and I went back to work at the house. Next up was the song "Saddamize". A neat little number about some modern political issues. Very sexy Middle Eastern feel. It is one of the most simple songs to play, yet a very difficult song to arrange. I have been told it is fun to dance to!

We played for another hour or so and called it a night. I ran to the gym for a quick night cap. It closes at 11, which kinda sucks when u r busy!

From there I headed to the grocery store while I discussed the schedule on the phone with Dave Z. I believe we will see him at rehearsal Friday. He is getting very busy with his own schedule, so things actually have to be organized...I stumbled my way through the snow and ice...slipping and falling occasionally! This was from all of the mopping these 2 guys were doing in the grocery store! That floor was worse than the street!

K called back after her dinner as I was checking out and I stumbled through the snow listening to the details of her feast on the beach. Didn't seem to make it warmer, but made the walk seem faster!

I entered my home to the scene of Jeff, Raymie and Haley watching TV. Rather amusing. I defrosted with some hot chocolate, loaded a few pictures in the computer and answered the phone...see top of paragraph for ending of the day! I am going back to sleep for an hour! It is 9:12 AM. Today we are working here...I think we will hit "Pisses Me Off"...this song is so funny! A lot of fun at parties. All Butcher fans will be pleased!

Goodnight...

Jeff on drums!	Raymie on drums!?	Haley seemed traumatized by being taken out of the country...NOT!

OK...

This is a bit ridiculous...

Trying to keep up with my studio diary, I keep getting side swiped!

Last night me and Jeff decided to take the night off. We are very far ahead in the work. We added in "Faces", "Remember", "The Dream", "Life" - A song which I recently decided to record once again!

Then we drew up an outline for the CD...

I have some new ideas about my music and the tracks I will record. I discussed it in length with the president of Black Lotus this morning. We all agree it will be a lot of work, but very interesting. I will give you more details as they unfold. I want to insure that you will get to hear as much of the music I have written as possible. We also discussed the release date and some live shows. Lots of exciting things ahead!

Remember my beach diary....well, if you read it...I met a girl on an airplane. Last night she was working in NYCity...so...I decided to forfeit sleep and business for a night out in a place with 125 semi-naked women. It was the first time I had seen her since the plane flight. Who needs sleep anyway!

Today we will run through a bunch of songs with Dave Z at the rehearsal studio...

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend!

I, for one, have a lot of work ahead my friends!

Chris