So Yeah, I'm new to blogging and it's hard to know where to begin. I decided to write a blog as I countdown to a fairly significant event that's creeping up on me. The project I've embarked on will have taken nearly four years from start to finish and nerves are starting to grip me tighter every day. My project?? Well I decided I was going to write and record a full album, I imagine this is a common enough dream people have but taking it from the realm of fantasy to reality is a hell of a journey in itself.

Nearly four years in the making, that brings us back to November 2010 but in truth this is something that has been burning inside me since almost my very first thought. I realized from a very early age that music, and in particular, melodies and lyrics deeply affected me. Although life has brought me in many different directions, the desire, maybe the need to dedicate myself completely to this inward journey meant that sooner or later the opportunity would present itself, and from somewhere I would have to find the courage to walk the walk after way too much talking!!

We're nearly finished the recording of the album now, it's January 2014 and all that's left is the final vocals. I know this should be the most exciting part of the journey but to be honest it's the opposite. I've spent thousands of hours on this, trying to come up with new melodies, it's the melodies that give me the canvas, if I think of a melody that catches me in a certain way then I can write a story on that melody. The melodies are my foundation and although in a lot of songs, the melody is the only part you tend to remember, for me it's just a basic requirement, it's not a bonus. The melody immediately hits a nerve, if it doesn't I dump it and continue looking for a melody that makes me feel something. Once I have it, once I hit the nail on the head, there's a feeling inside that I find difficult to describe, it's pins and needles of the soul I suppose, there's no bluffing that feeling, I get it or I don't. Once I get it, I have my building block and away we go.

The next piece of the jigsaw is the story. I'll play the melody over and over and over again, in my head or on my phone or on my guitar for a few days. The melody gives me the mood of the story so now I know what kind of story I want to tell. I've been aware for a long time that I can articulate myself very well, I can tell a story, I can tell a joke, I can write a song but this is why I'm finding the current leg of the journey by far the most difficult. When you tell a joke or when you tell a story you're attempting to engage with people, you're reaching out, I suppose in one way you're setting yourself up for a fall. Now all I'm thinking is that this album is all written by me, people are going to know what goes on in my head, this is deeply personal and how do I deal with it if it all falls flat? How do you pick yourself up if no one listens to your story? How do you smile again if no one laughs at your joke? I'm safe in the studio, I'm in total control but now I have to let all that go and I understand that the moment is coming where I'm going to find out if I finally have that courage I was talking about. It's the courage to face whatever comes after this because it can only go one of two ways and both possibilities carry the potential to significantly impact on who I am.