The Sun Is Shining In My Eyes...

It’s been some time now since I originally planned on releasing my first record. Since it’s been finished I’ve been going back and forth and up and down and sideways with plans of what to do next. I’ve physically and mentally been everywhere, but at the same time I’ve been at a total standstill. Good news, however. The album artwork is finished. My wife, Cai, has actually been the mastermind behind any and all design or photos you all have seen thus far, and has done a simply amazing job depicting this record according to what I’ve envisioned. I should be able to show off the artwork by the time of my next post. Keep an eye out. Also: I now have a Tumblr as well. Check it out here.

Very Important News

So, as most of you should know, I've been in the studio for the past month or so recording the upcoming EP.  Corey (Rock Hard Recording) and I have come up with some great stuff and I'm very excited for you all to hear it.  However, since the both of us are taking the record quite seriously and want it to be GREAT rather than OK, I've made the difficult decision to push the release date back.  This past week was very stressful for me because I've been saying that the record was coming out this October, yet we weren't really all that close to done.  I kept thinking "What the hell am I supposed to do?!  We need to speed this along!"  

I don't want this record to sound rushed.  The whole object of the album, for me, was to make the listener feel a sense of freedom.  When I say freedom, I mean that feeling you get when you're standing in the middle of a field, swimming way out in the ocean, or running through the woods.  Those experiences are the best things about this earth, in my opinion, and I want to try and share that with everyone through this particular record.

Now that I sound like I just smoked a joint, my point is this:

I am not letting this album sound rushed.  We will continue on in the studio as we have been and take the time needed and make it great, rather than good.  Once I feel comfortable with a particular release date, I'll fill you all in on the details.  Thanks so much for reading.

-Josh

Here's a View at the Album

Has waiting been driving you insane?  Hopefully this will ease your spirits a bit!

It's called "Caught Me Knowing" and it's on the album! Enjoy!

Caught Me Knowing by sleepyheadtunes

A L M O S T

Gracious.

Hey, folks!  I imagine some of you may have thought the worst for Sleepy Head, but never fear!  The record is coming along nicely and I'm growing more and more excited as the recording sessions progress.  I'm afraid I still can't provide a release date, however I can tell you that I'm aiming for late September - mid October.

My good friend Corey McCall of Rock Hard Recording is producing this record.  They more we've gotten into it, the more the two of us really understand each other musically, and I believe that that is going to allow a fantastic record to come of it. 

I'm going to make this a short one, but I want you all to know that you'll see Sleepy Head all over the place in Greenville, SC and it's surrounding cities quite soon.  Keep you're ears and eyes open and keep checking the facebook and this blog!  Love you guys!

-Josh

Ch-ch-ch-changes

My. Goodness.

So it has been some time since my last update.  Lots to go over, so here's the scoop:

As you guys are aware from my earlier posts, I have officially moved into a great house in Greenville, SC.  There are still boxes and other misc. items strewn everywhere, but that's going to take some time.  I've got an excellent area for a production studio, and I've been getting pretty excited mapping out where everything's going to go.

As far as the album is concerned...let's just say that progress has been made.  A few songs are fully written and others are great skeletons to songs.  I've been thinking of just never coming out of my production room when it's done so as to catch up a bit.  Still no solid release date, but stay tuned.

I have a show planned in the far future.  It's on November 4th at Studio 8 in Greenville, SC.  I'm very excited about this one.  It's a cover show!  Artists and/or bands choose to cover any one artist and/or band.  Each set will be about 5 songs dependent upon length.  So, I'll be performing acoustic-driven renditions of Imogen Heap.  Like I said.  Very excited.  Mark your calenders!

That's all for now.  I'll be booking some more shows soon, so keep your eyes and ears open!  Thanks for reading.

New Toys!

Hello!

Picked up one of these babies yesterday:

It takes pictures like this:

UUUGH!  I cannot wait to go crazy with this thing.

This is but one of the camera's I'll be using for the pictures of the upcoming Sleepy Head record.  I'm also planning on using this:

 This one takes pictures like this:

I'll be using all film cameras!  As much fun as I have with DSLR's and Photoshop, I just absolutely LOVE the rawness and "mistakes" that cheap film cameras have.  My wife, Caitlin, will be taking all of the pictures (and giving me some pointers along the way).  Can't wait for you all to see them!

For all the music geeks, I'm going to be purchasing a Mesa Boogie Transatlantic in a couple of weeks.

I. AM. SO. STOKED. About this thing.

Depending on the direction I go, you might only hear the clean sounds it offers (which are beautiful) on the EP.  We'll just have to wait and see as the songwriting continues.   Stay tuned for more updates!  The ball will be rolling quite quickly, quite soon!

Thanks again for reading!

PS - In case no one's noticed yet, you can now sign up for my new Mailing List, as well as my Street Team on the left side of this blog page.  You can also do so on my ReverbNation page. 

Plans

Hey folks.

So in case no one's heard yet,

WE'RE MOVING BACK TO GREENVILLE! (SC, that is.)

Obviously, I'm excited.  BIG plans to follow the move, too.  Caitlin and I have had a dream for years to open up some sort of crafty type shop in a city with that sort of market, and Greenville is perfect.  For those of you not too familiar with Greenville, SC, it's kind of a miniature Portland, OR.  

As I mentioned in the last post, we've been reading the "Retail Business Kit For Dummies" book for a couple of weeks now.  It's helping us realize that our plans to open up a shop aren't nearly as far-fetched as we thought!  We just need to keep our heads on straight.  One great thing is that the properties that we've been looking at in Greenville are right on Stone Ave and Main, where they're planning on completely revitalizing and upgrading with housing, planting trees everywhere, and opening up new businesses in the area.  The area has been very up-and-coming for some time now, so I feel like time is of the essence for this shop to open.

Let's not forget about the music, though!  My band has been writing for just over a year now and we've narrowed down and re-written our best choice of songs.  We've done all of this with NO bass player, so I'm pretty proud of what we've done, even though no one's heard any of it yet.  If we can get rehearsing in the next couple of weeks, we'll work on getting some shows going.  So stay tuned!

Regarding Sleepy Head: I had a VERY busy work schedule in December, but it's died down rather abruptly due to the lack of retail business in January, so I'll be writing frequently again.  I've got one song completed so far (called Mistletoe).  I'm planning on releasing an EP when I'm done with the songs and once I've figured out what direction I want to go in, sound-wise.  If I go in the direction of Mistletoe, it'll have a very Bob Dylan-ish feel to it.  We'll have to wait and see as I keep writing.   I'll keep the updates coming as I've got more free time in January.  Thanks for reading!

Lately Listening To:

Soft Spoken Army - "Look"

As Tall As Lions - "Circles"

Starfucker - "Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second"