Lee Carlson

New Home In Calgary

 I have officially moved to Calgary from Canmore... oh ya, I forgot to mention in the last post that I was considering moving to the city. Actually we may not have even planned anything as of last post, oh well... Things are great in the big city! More to do and see and more opportunities to be made. I will be teaching guitar at Axe Music as well as a few select students at home, and of course playing local gigs I have also posted a new clip of a tune on my myspace.com page. The tune is called For Evermore. Please stop by and check it out. www.myspace.com/leecarlson

CD progress is still going well, I bet you have heard that before... But seriously it is, Fall is here so release should be VERY soon. Remember Fall lasts until December 21 so I still have a bit of time to meet the Fall deadline... Anyway, hope all has been well with everyone, and until next posting,  I leave you with a picture of the new house nicely situated on a peaceful cul-de-sac in picturesque Lake Sundance!

Album Update

The tracking is tacking longer than I thought, as usual... so I am not going to set an exact release date now. At first I was thinking the end of July would be reasonable, but now I am going to say in Fall, which is very close! When Fall arrives I will then say Winter... just joking... I have also had to change CD manufacturer and design companies, so a little delay there too. 

As for my sore tendons and muscles, all is well now! A little rest, a little ice and more exercise did the trick. Speaking of exercise, I took up biking again this summer, mountain biking that is. I used to ride BMX street but haven't for quite a few years as I had a tendency to injure myself, a lot!  

With summer winding down now and Fall on it's way, I am trying to enjoy every bit of warm weather while it lasts... a cup of plump coffee and a seat under my favorite tree will work!

Album Progress

Progress on the album is steady as usual, though not as fast as I would prefer. Actually I would prefer it was already done... patience Lee, patience! I am starting to over come the "perfect take" syndrome, and accept the fact that I am not perfect... yes, it is true, I am human... and realize that I may have ten takes that work, they are just all slightly different from each other, and choose one. A tough decision sometimes!
On a bit of a negative note, I have pulled a muscle or tendon in my forearm that acts up every couple days or so, so I am taking it easy right now. I basically only record, no intense practice sessions or extended jamming for awhile. Not really sure what I did to it, could have been mountain biking or playing too much, who knows, probably a combination of things. I am not a musician who freaks out about these types of issues because I truly believe in the bodies ability to heal! Of course that doesn't mean I go out and abuse my body, just take care of it a little more until things are healed, then go abuse it... Just kidding!

The Perfect Take

Recording went well today. I am working on a tune called "Beyond The Never". If any of you have done any amount of recording, you know very well the frustrations that can occur from trying to acquire the perfect take! Wait, I said it went well... well it did, I probably did about 50 takes of the main melody of one section, and in doing so I improved enormously on my phrasing and vibrato! Yet, I still wonder if I will ever feel I captured THE take... ah, perfectionism at it's worst...
On to the topic of gear:
Lately I have been a little dissatisfied with the Dunlop JazzIII picks I have used for about 4 years. The main issue I have is the "chirping" sound they make when striking the string, I prefer a smoother, yet still defined attack. Before the JazzIII's I used the Dunlop Delrin 500 2mm picks. Very smooth but lacked the definition. As I had no other picks around to try, I thought I would give the Ibanez picks from my collectors addition Steve Vai Secret Jewel case a try. Why use the picks that came with a collectors item you say... why not! Anyway, I absolutely love them, and not just because I am a huge Vai fan, these picks really do what I am looking for. Sorry no picture, my camera broke.
Now to find a music store that actually stocks Ibanez picks...

Debut Solo Album

Welcome to the new location for my blog!
Progress on my debut solo album is going extremely well, and I am shooting to release it at the end of July. Currently all drums, bass, keys and rhythm guitars are done, as well as a few lead parts. The rest of the lead guitar parts are in the works. The album is entitled "Essence Of Time". I will keep everyone updated as I go.