Lazy Sunday CLIV: Behind the Songs, Part II

Subscribers to my SubscribeStar page have enjoyed (I hope!) a series of retrospectives about the songs from my debut EP, Contest Winner EP.  I’ve dubbed this series Behind the Songs.  Today, I’m dedicating the second of two editions of Lazy Sunday to look back at this series.

Here are the second and last three tracks in the series, in case you missed them.  Access to the full articles requires a subscription to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more, but you should at least get a good taste for the pieces with these previews:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CLIII: Behind the Songs, Part I

Subscribers to my SubscribeStar page have enjoyed (I hope!) a series of retrospectives about the songs from my debut EP, Contest Winner EP.  I’ve dubbed this series Behind the Songs.  As such, I’m dedicating the next two editions of Lazy Sunday to look back at this series.

I’m thinking of compiling these posts—which are quite detailed and lengthy—into a short ebook, which I might also offer as a PDF download with future purchases of Contest Winner EP.  I’d expand these pieces with some introductory and concluding remarks.

In the meantime, here are the first three tracks in the series, in case you missed them.  Access to the full articles requires a subscription to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more, but you should at least get a good taste for the pieces with these previews:

Here’s to an enjoyable listening experience for you.  And if you haven’t already, pick up my EP and my other work on Bandcamp!

Happy Sunday—and Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

SubscribeStar Saturday: Recording Contest Winner EP

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

For the past six weeks, I’ve been writing about the six tracks from my 2015 release Contest Winner EP, the only recording of my original songs I’ve ever released.  I’ve released several other albums and singles, but  I’ve written a lot of other songs that I have not recorded.  Indeed, I plan on doing some simple cellphone videos of some of those unreleased tunes for subscribers in the coming weeks.

One reason I have not written another album is because I hit a songwriting drought somewhere around 2015.  Sitting down and writing songs is difficult and time-consuming, and while I love it, my schedule grew increasingly hectic around that time.  I began teaching very late nights at a local technical college (I could only keep it up for a year—even I can’t work that much), and the Artsville Songwriting Competition, which gave me the incentive to write regularly, folded.

Still, I have managed to write a few more tunes in the intervening years—maybe not enough for a proper album, but certainly enough for another EP.  But that leads to the other reason I have not released a second album:  the recording process is tedious and expensive.

It is also super fun, despite the long hours and late nights in the studio.

Today, I’m going to give a brief overview of the recording process, way back in 2014 (yep, it took me over a year before I finally released the album).

To read more of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.