The Last Time In Your Light A big sigh of relief. A huge breath as I finally relax and breathe. The newest BLACK SWAN LANE album is complete. Just got word from the manufacturer that the album is being shipped out. This was the longest we have ever spent recording and mixing a record. A lot of thought was put into this one and some tough moments were spent deciding which tracks to keep and which to put aside. If I can listen to them a few hundred times and still love them, they usually make the cut. We started recording this one at the beginning of 2012, right after the big US tour. Home,...

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For Andy... I started playing the drums when I was six years old. My folks bought me a snare drum the Christmas of 1976 which they later regretted due to the never ending pounding in the house. They decided to get me an actual drum so I would stop beating their furniture to death with leggo logs.  My grandfather was a musician in Detroit and I suppose they knew their was another musician in the family.  A couple of years later, I grew into a full set of drums and the pounding continued into my teens.  Early on, I was into heavy metal, but initially, I learned to play a full set of drums...

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June 20, 2012 And The Moon... After fourteen days of producing and recording the new Andy Whitaker album, it finally hit me.  We were driving to the liquor shop for additional supplies and listening to The Sun and The Moon's, Death Of Imagination, with the top down on the car.  How completely surreal.  I really haven't thought about the significance of this particular chapter of my life for the last two weeks, especially since we have been friends for quite some time now.  After the Chameleons U.K., The Sun and The Moon, was not only one of my favorite bands as a teenager, but their...

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Everything You Want It To Be   Someone recently wrote to me and asked what the hell happened to the black swan lane blog.  That was a great question. I have been posting some thoughts attached to the song of the month, but nothing on the BSL blog.  After the 8,500 Mile trek across the country, I completely neglected my blog.  I should be slapped, but I have some really good excuses.  First and foremost, I needed some rest.  Pulling the duties of musician, organizer and accountant on the road, along with the occasional friction between my talented musical buddies, took a big toll...

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Staring Down The Path North American Tour Journal Day 22 - 25 December 1 - 4, 2011 My first day back home in a real bed was strange.  I had grown accustom to the noise and vibration of the bus below my small bunk in the tour bus.  I was also “missing” the constant cursing and laughing coming from the lads surrounding me.  It was way too quiet. Chris and I slept late on the boat and raced home to get everything together for the short journey to Augusta, Georgia: John Kolbeck’s hometown.  Sam, the bus and the first band, Romeo Spike, were already at my house in Acworth waiting...

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Staring Down The Path North American Tour Journal Day 20 & 21 November 29 - 30, 2011 The trip from Washington to Atlanta was one of the worst of the trip.  John Kolbeck and I fell ill after eating Mexican food in D.C. before our show.  John was able to get to sleep for our journey back home, while I stayed up all night shaking and wondering if I could make it any farther on the bus.  At one point, I made Sam, our bus driver, pull over at 6:30 am so I could stand on solid ground for a bit.  I remembered I had an expired, anti-nausea prescription pill that I had packed for the trip,...

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Staring Down The Path North American Tour Journal Day 19 November 28, 2011 Washington, D.C. We left Hoboken in the middle of the night towards our nation’s capital in order to avoid rush hour.  We left with a couple of extra folks who tagged along and wanted to see the next show who would then catch a ride back with Justin Lomery to New York.  It was a cozy ride with 16 people to D.C. We arrived at a D.C. grocery store in the hood and walked to a local McDonalds for some coffee and a shower in the sink.  Little did we know, the club actually had a shower in it, which is always...

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Staring Down The Path North American Tour Journal Day 18 November 27, 2011 Hoboken, N.J. Hoboken should have been a 15-minute drive from Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge. It took exactly two hours on a warm, Sunday afternoon.  We found out New York streets and the New Jersey Turnpike can be absolutely crazy, even on a Sunday.  We still made load-in right on time, although our intention was to be early.  Parking was tough outside Maxwell’s, especially with a huge tour bus.  After circling the block a few times, we were given a space down the street from the venue,...

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Staring Down The Path North American Tour Journal Day 17 November 26, 2011 Manhattan After arriving back at our home on the bridge overlooking the Empire State building, we made a trip down to the 24-hour deli and surprised the staff with a large order of cheeseburgers at 4:00 am.  I settled into my claustrophobic bunk with a sore back soon after eating and watched Netflix on my phone for a bit, trying to forget the stress from the night before.  I woke to a new day and we were all mates again.  We went into the day with a new sense of togetherness and the show in Manhattan proved...

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Staring Down The Path North American Tour Journal Day 16 November 25, 2011 Brooklyn, NY After our Thanksgiving feast in Brooklyn, we settled back into our spot on the bridge for the night.  Just before parking, some of the group decided to take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge at 11:00 pm.  I opted to rest my feet and stay on the bus with a few others.  Our tour bus did not make the height requirement to enter the Brooklyn Bridge, so we had to make some turns and hit the Manhattan Bridge.  We then had to rendezvous with the rest of the group on the other side inside Manhattan. ...

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