I think I may have determined the track order for the record. This may change, but right now I'm thinking:

1. Holy Cow (redux)
2. Funakoshi's Paperback
3. Hair
4. Happy As A Dog
5. New Soap
6. Checkout Line
7. Cocoon
8. Space Woman Yeah
9. Quiet Place
10. Emerald Plumes
11. Too Far (Jar?) Away
12. Meantime

Some of you may recognize the above titles from my college years. Believe me, they are NOT simple reconstructions of my previous four-track/live endeavors. They are re-imagined and re-engineered with muscle! More on the individual songs later...

IN BREAKING NEWS:

Greg Adams prepares for grand opening of new home studio! 

That's right, folks. Thanks in humongous part to my visionary wife, Laurie (thanks, Love), I finally have a decent, comfortable and welcoming atmosphere in which to record music at home! I've dreamed for years of having a small home studio and was finally able to amass enough savings (again, thanks to Laurie) to purchase an 8-channel portable digital recorder this spring. I've used the recorder for Good Guys Wear Wolf, my budding bluegrass band (no name--me and  my dad, basically), and The Niborians (me and my daughter Addy), but have yet to really settle into making more original music. That's all about to change.

Yesterday morning after a rousing karate class, Laurie said, "OK, I have an idea for today. You're going to hate me for the first stage, but you will LOVE me after the second stage." I never quite know what to say to such statements, so I just smiled and said, "Um...sure?" Laurie's mission was to clear out the north portion of the basement (mostly my miscellaneous crap and unwanted boxes of stuff), paint the floor and ceiling with water-proof paint, lay down some carpet remnants from her parents, then allow me to set up my home studio however I wanted. Damn! She was right--I hated the first stage. 

Before:

It was sweaty work: lifting, sorting, purging. We agreed anything that was going to Goodwill would go directly in the car; whatever we wanted to throw went directly into the trash. Laurie and I both found stuff we forgot we even owned, as well as check carbons and records of paid bills that were probably older than our daughter. Whew.

After a quick trip to Rice Lake--me to Goodwill for drop-off, Laurie to Menards for paint and supplies--and a couple of Arby's roast beefs later, we returned to work, covering the walls and floor with waterproof paint. The space felt so clean I could hardly believe this was the same space.

While the paint dried, we caught up on episodes of Sons of Anarchy (our daughter is at Girl Scout camp this week--wahoo!) and chillaxed. In the evening the work began again, this time rearranging and tidying up. The results? Well, I am totally stoked. What do you think? All that's left is thinking of a name. Suggestions?

After: