Mark V: The Opera - 3 Yrs, 8 mos later, INKS DONE; John Williams rocks; I'm not sure how I feel...

Not lettered yet, but within a week or so, and it's the story in John's eyes. I just got the last eight pages of inks from him... I don't know what I feel yet. The VERY LAST eight pages.

I mean, John gets it right, consistently, but more than that, John is witty and engaged with the story in ways that continually surprise me. You'll see. The thing too, is how accurately if sometimes intuitively he reads the script. Just a little uncanny.

We will be in physical print by November 1. Yay Berkeley Press! Dude!

The first Portland metro party is at Chapters Books and Coffee for their First Friday Artwalk in Newberg on Friday, November 4th, oh, say 7:00 p.m.. Schedule it and be there: it will be an event.

http://www.chaptersbooksandcoffee.com/ The um, Month of Sundays crew will be there also and we'll be showing off some of our cool new music to get the evening off to a good start. Artist John Williams, Brandon Buerkle, our letterer and digital editor, and myself will all be on-hand. We'll structure this with some reading, some book talk by Derek, Brandon, and John, and some q an a and discussion with the audience. We'll have copies on hand for folks that want a book. (We'll do drawings and giveaways and refreshments! It'll be fun!)

I have made arrangements for similar events in Portland and Eugene... I guess it's time to post a little tour schedule. I'll get that on the website menu soon... Big excitement, guys! Hope you can join us at one of these book events, they should be joyful...

Blue Pony on schedule, drops 9-1

The fourth in our monthly series of new and newly recorded Derek Lamson original songs, Blue Pony is a big steamy pop-rock love letter to all of you creative types everywhere... or is it? Adam Sweeney's artful mix - hot off the press as of yesterday - makes all the messy guitar work come off as beautiful pop architecture. April, Missy, Ruba do excellent work in backup, and Bill and Rich on drums and bass are building the road under us as we go... Tomorrow, right here. $2.99.

I was trying to figure out when I wrote this... and it can be some challenging for me to find a start date for any particular song, because a piece might start out as a tuning exercise or a warm-up and stay that way for awhile, and over time become a sort of a study, or sketch. Some of course stay there while others grow and morph, quickly or slowly into complete songs. For me, the very place I choose to share this with other humans is often what I remember as, more or less, the birthday of the song. 2016? 2014? It was a little gig at WHFs and Ruba and I sang this as almost-duet.

Derek's music: Adam Sweeney to mix A Month of Sundays. New song BLUE PONY to drop 9-1

Through talent and guts and faith and an amazing capacity for hard work, Portland's Adam Sweeney has pushed his music - and himself - into some pretty rarefied places. How many of us who write songs have ever performed in front of tens of thousands? How many have flown their band to Nashville for the mix-down sessions on the new album? (Whew!)

So when Our Joel Bock, who was going to be our mix-down engineer, had to bail on the project, with regret, for personal reasons, first we say go in peace brother and take care of yourself, and then I said now what...? Our Nate said call Adam.

I said, "Pulleeze... Nate...! Adam's in Australia... Adam's in Hong Kong, or Manhattan...! Adam's a rock star," I said, "He's not gonna have any time for this folky diy indie stuff..." Heck, I doubted I'd reach him. So anyway, we just had lunch. Adam and I. He sure as heck is a rock star, and his new album is just state of the art cool, blow your socks off music.

My little project? He's gonna do it: he's gonna mix the collection. Woo-hoo! It's just a matter of having a little window and he's got one. I was so stunned: I only hoped he could maybe help us with the next one. He said I want to do it, I want to do the project. Then he said really nice things about my music, and I am humbled and I am honored and thank you Adam.

Do you guys know what this means...? It means we just hired the 5th Beatle. Literally one of the best audio engineers of his generation. It means we hand him our recorded "tracks" (stacked like loose lumber) and he gets out the tools and finishes each one; takes the loose lumber and builds a house: sets the volume levels, FX, EQs, reverb, excises the bad, raises up the good, scrubs the vocals; it's the vital last step before your ears... It is, as you may gather, a demanding and painstaking art form, and he's really really good at it.

I also know this, personally, because in 2017, Adam hosted me and a crew of six into his studio to finally get a definitive quality recording of Come To The Table... such a collaborative artistic success ...

...that I am fairly sure right there was where the seeds got planted in my brain for A Month of Sundays. With Adam on board, we have the whole crew, we're green and shiny, and I feel confident about us being able to get these gifts across these stormy seas to hand off at last to you. One (or more) a month until my 70th birthday, June 28, 2023 - next June. Go see what we've already got for you...