Circumstance having granted us a month-long reprieve, it was satisfying to return to the studio on Friday, May 28.  The producer Mr. Joe McMahan and I met at the House of David with a clear set of objectives – to finish any overdubs which could only be captured in that space, as it would soon be occupied indefinitely by other recording artists.  Primarily, this meant we had to finish the few remaining vocal tracks, since the vintage Neumann tube microphone (cmv-536) – which had been an integral part of my vocal sound – was property of the studio.  Also, if any additional piano parts were called-for, we knew it wise to make use of the beautiful-sounding Baldwin grand piano while it was still at our disposal.  Once this was all finished, and if there was still time, I had also hoped to lay down the basic tracks for a new song entitled ‘The Golden Age’, which had not been ready to record during the initial sessions.  I am pleased to announce that we did all of this and still had time to consolidate and copy the entire album’s files (with the help of an engineer named Mr. Adam Bednarik) to a hard drive to be transferred to Wow & Flutter – Mr. McMahan’s studio – where we will mix and render them to be mastered.

‘The Golden Age’ needed a sparse arrangement – or else it would not have been feasible to track it this late in the process, as the logistics of setting up and conducting a full-band session would be too time-consuming and expensive to justify doing so for only one song.  This session was merely my-self on guitar and vocal, Mr. Ryan Norris on piano, and the aforementioned Mr. Bednarik on upright bass.  In the end, – due to the pure creativity of these instrumentalists and Mr. McMahan’s clear vision and respectful guidance – the song became everything I had hoped it would be, and more!  With that, it pleases me to exclaim that we have moved into the next stage of this album project, and thereby a huge step closer to its release!  I am so eager to reveal it to you that I can scarcely contain my glee!

Also, I would like to make mention of my recent efforts to improve upon this web-site, particularly this Journal.  It had been my intention all along to blur the lines between reality and imagination – as cosmically-speaking, I find that there is no such distinction.  But, it eventually occurred to me that this was creating a chore for the reader, to decipher real-world information from the smatterings of my creative mind.  Therefore, I have created two categories – ‘News’ and ‘Musings’ – one being Non-Fiction, or a place to garner ‘facts’; and the other being Fiction, or ‘the free realm of my imagination’.  I do hope this will clear up any confusion and/or concerns with regard to my mental health.  Just so you know, this post has been categorized under ‘News’.

Good Day!
Mr. Hazelwood

Photo by: Amy Hall

News   ~   Musings

Dear friends,

As the release of our album ‘The Golden Age’ is drawing nearer, I have decided to re-establish this periodical to be in first order, a source of News.  In the past, it has served me well as a place for my creative Musings, but the season has come for me to focus my efforts on busy-work.  However, as I may still be inclined to engage in the occasional act of creative writing, I have narrowed my post categories down to these two. I thank you whole-heartedly for your interest, and hope you will visit regularly as there are many exciting announcements to come!

The author,
Mr. Joseph Hazelwood

It is appropriate that I should begin to-day’s edition with a statement of gratitude, given that my arm will not allow me to write anything else.  Admittedly, my curious nature would often call me to explore all manner of cynicism, despondency, and other such delusions; but over time that subtle, life-affirming voice of my intuition has become sweeter and more alluring than the misleading exclamations of habit.  I am eternally grateful, to-day, to have discovered an overgrown path to this high vantage-point, from where I might survey my-self and my surrounds objectively – revealing Universal Truths which stand to serve my highest Good.

Nothing is as it seems,
but only as I deem. 

 ————————————————————————————————————————-

I have received many letters, as of late, inquiring as to the status of my up-coming body of works, Days of the Visceral.  Therefore, I shall take this opportunity to make the following promulgations: 

~ We have not scheduled an official release date as-of-yet.  From prior experience I have learned that it is not wise to do so without a final rendition in-hand.  The success of an album release has everything to do with inertia, and there is the possibility of unforeseen circumstances which might compromise that force of Nature had I instigated it in haste.

~ In our initial sessions which spanned the breadth of three days, we were able to capture a total of eleven songs, in full live performance, with up to eight musicians.  Currently, my plan is to include all of those tracks as well as one other – The Golden Age – that is yet to be recorded.

~ As the studio – The House Of David – is currently occupied by another recording artist, – Justin Townes Earle, I’m told – it will be at least a fortnight before we are able to return to the task of Mixing.  Once we are engaged, this process might take a week – as will the final process of Mastering. From that point, I expect duplication to take a month.  This suggests at least two months before I actually receive the first copy.  This would in-turn insinuate that we will be releasing an album in the Autumn.  Perhaps a safe prediction would be my birthday on October 7.

~  I have selected a series of paintings by my good friend Ms. Wendy Walker called Moody Landscape to be incorporated into the artwork for the album’s packaging.  I will post an image of the cover here as soon as I have completed the design.

~ I am intrigued by the concept of releasing the album on vinyl as well as compact disc, although I have not investigated the logistics of this undertaking.  If there are any opinions of this topic among my readers I would surely welcome them!

On-going,
Mister Hazelwood

Dear Friend,

I write to you from the depths of a fiery Heaven. From this optimal vantage-point at my writing-desk I have a clear view of my garden where a rose-vine has inched itself fully around the trellis and has taken the liberty of igniting itself in a multitude of sanguine explosions.  There are other varieties of flora in this inferno which serve to contribute subtle flashes of azure and amber to the flickering display.  That the ornate wood-work of the trellis has not fallen to coals within my hour of its contemplation would seem a miracle, since – if perception is reality – I truly am gazing at an efflorescent manifestation of Dante’s Inferno.  Naturally, my sustained interest in this display has begun to ignite a wonder-lust within that chamber of my heart which is responsible for impelling me into action.  With objectivity, I surmise that this transcended perspective will soon be inadequate for that capricious child within me and his curiosity for detail.  Through prolonged strife I have learned not to protest these arbitrary excursions, for he will stamp his feet and threaten desertion lest he have his way.  It is a fool’s errand, I say, as we are certain to confront dualities at closer examination of this blazing botanic scene that can do no other than depreciate such a spectacular vista!  Yet, here do I stir in abating its proximity.

On my way, I am reminded of a similar occasion where, from afar, I surveyed the scene of a lush, rolling pasture.  From that abstracted perspective I was sure that I beheld the very feather-bed of God.  So comfortable and serene did it appear that I could have reclined there all day in a state of relaxed repose. But as you might suspect, this is forsooth not what occurred – as my pesky brain-child would not allow it.  For no practical reason that I can surmise, I found myself on my feet – trudging through brush and thicket for the better part of a day.  However, I did revel in this opportunity to convince the irksome lad that we had quit our own Divine pallets in pursuit of a ‘greener grass’ which by Nature would perpetually disappear like an oasis in the desert.  I must admit – discreetly, of course – howbeit, that I did find a strange physiological fulfillment in the wake of those exertions.

Alas!  I am now within range of the floral flame and am not surprised to find it extinguished.  Moreover, had I not been fully conscious en route, I might have insisted that this soft, thorny bouquet of roses is an entirely different arrangement from the one which had so vehemently alighted in the frame of my picture-window.  In fact, I believe I will take metaphysics over the testimony of my experience here, and proclaim that this very rose-bush is quite another thing!  Interestingly enough, my new perspective has given rise to a better regard for the close-up view!  I now stand intimately in the midst of a beautifully delicate display of scarlet petals which is uniquely Divine and incomparable to that which I observed earlier.  However, I will not readily admit this to Boy-Wander for he will surely have me gazing into a microscope….

Zooming in,
Mr. J.S. Hazelwood