Lester Norton

It’s alive!

Lester — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:26:10 +0000

Finally figured out what the hell was screwed up with the site after the hacker attack. What a PITA!!

Ghost Stories

Lester — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:18:57 +0000

Finally found my title…

Come pick me up

Lester — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 01:09:24 +0000

“What I do and what all musicians do is easy. All we have to do is sit down for a couple hours a week and write a song or two. That simple task is all the world asks of me, so I do it. The other musicians who don’t are just lazy, because again, we aren’t being asked to tar rooftops or clean out dumpsters. We just have to write a couple songs!” – Ryan Adams

On the one hand, I agree with him. It’s not rocket science.

On the other hand, not everyone is Ryan Adams…

When life gives you laments, make lamentade!

Lester — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:27:21 +0000

I’m fairly confident that most (if not all) the songs I’m writing for the new album will be character-based stories or laments. As I said earlier, “Eli the Barrow Boy” has become a model for me in this regard. It sounds like something that was written in the 19th century, not the 21st. I’m aspiring to do the same thing…to come up with characters from different historical eras and sing about their trials and tribulations. I’m not trying to turn into Colin Meloy. I still plan on making my own sounds to go with these stories. But, yeah, if I become a cheap Decemberists rip-off, there are worse things.

I know there aren’t a ton of you out there hanging on my every word, but I’d like to hear from those who are–especially if you’ve got ideas for characters or stories. I plan on doing ten-to-twelve songs, and (assuming I get rights for “Eli”) that means another nine-to-eleven that need writing or discovering from the public domain.

Movin’ on…

Lester — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:56:46 +0000

One of the most paralyzing things I do to myself is fret about not getting stuff done. So, this is the last you’ll hear about how I wasted the last two Saturdays.

On a positive note, I did finally record the slide guitar part for my brother. But it sucks, so I’m going to redo it again. See how positive I’m being?

Leaving (and returning) on a jet plane

Lester — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:08:25 +0000

Interrupted from all but the rambling thoughts bouncing in the echo chamber of my brain, I’m traveling this week.

Weekend Update

Lester — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:08:20 +0000

Despite my utter failure to do anything that I planned on doing Saturday, I did manage to work on a few songs this weekend. One of the traps I’m falling into is running chord progressions on the acoustic (with maybe some harmonica riffs). That’s not necessarily “bad” but it leads to a lot of acoustic-y songs. Gotta remind myself to plug in the Les Paul, or this will be a decidedly folksy album.

On another musical front, I booked our plane tickets for Maine this summer and informed the guys. So, Revolver is primed for a reunion sometime between June 28 and July 7. I can’t remember when we played last, but I think it was a jam session in Jim’s garage in 2001? Should be fun.

I talked to someone who has attended the open mic at Rainforest Coffee. Sounds like it might be an ok fit for some acoustic stuff. We’ll probably try it out in a week or two (assuming they don’t close before then).

Good Times, Bad Times

Lester — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:57:19 +0000

I have to face the fact that posting every day in this journal isn’t always going to contain shouts of joy, nuggets of wisdom, or announcements of progress. Some days just suck for writing, recording, or whatever. And I just had almost two days worth of it. Bleh.

Hopefully tonight I’ll get back on track to get that slide guitar part recorded for my brother, at least.

Corn cobs and candle wax

Lester — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:51:39 +0000

Got home from choir practice last night around 10:30 and started working out some chord progressions and harmonica riffs. I think I have the beginnings of a half dozen songs.

One of the things I’m working on leads nicely into a cover I did of the Decemberists’ Eli, the Barrow Boy. I think I’m going to include that track on the new album, and it’s kinda setting the tone for some of the other songs. We shall see.

By the power of Vampire…

Lester — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:25:42 +0000

Had a meeting with my brother last night where we went over a bunch of things. We cracked open a bottle of Vampire wine (I know, but it’s really pretty good) and got to work.

Each of us is going to be working on a CD this year. His will be more straight-up country. So, we ran over a couple of songs he’d like to cover, including Lost Highway, and I put down bass and slide guitar tracks for it (we had rhythm and a scratch vocal track from stuff we did last year). I need to re-record the guitar and mix it down. Then he’s going to record the vocal in a professional studio that he has free time available. I also need to start working on Sing Me Back Home for him.

We got the creative juices flowing and worked on two or three compositions (at least the chord progressions and some rudimentary lyrics). I think I found my muse, and she’s looking kinda dark and scowling…

Finally, we banged through some folk songs in Carl Sandburg’s Great American Songbag and called it a night.