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Runner up for best couch at Couch by Couchwest 2014

The Couch by Couchwest 2014 awards ceremony wrapped up in the wee hours of the night, with awards announced on the CXCW Twitter and website. rushmore beekeepers (Zach and Kyla version) won one award and was runner up for another.

Best in Show – Couch (Runner up)

Runner up for best couch at Couch by Couchwest? Hey, I’ll take it! Aron Blue’s red leather couch would be tough to beat.

rushmore beekeeepers couch by_couchwest runner up 2014

That’ll do, couch. That’ll do.

Award for Not Playing Wagon Wheel

Okay, so everyone except one band won the award for not breaking the Darius Rucker Wagon Wheel Provision of 2012 (long before his version was recorded, CXCW notes). But hey, I’ll take that too.

Couch by Couchwest is a seriously awesome annual online music festival, open to everyone and completely free. (BYOB. And couch.) You can watch the performances from this year and previous years on their site, so don’t be sad if you missed it. Hop on the couch and get slothy!

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details: demo 1

Here’s a new song! I recorded this with one microphone in a hallway, taking advantage of the natural acoustics. As a fun compare and contrast exercise, I’ll be re-recording this song sometime in March with more of an electric full band sound. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

the highway stretches out further than i can see
with a choice of direction and everything waiting for me
taking in every sight i can
and hoping you are seeing the same things i am

there are times i don’t notice the details that surround me
other times i find i’m amazed by almost everything
like the feel of the road when i’m driving too slow
or how friendly people can be when they say “hello”
the crunch of leaves and dry grass under my feet
or the effortless way you look at me

some days i don’t leave my house and i’m perfectly happy
some days i can’t stand it, i’ll go crazy if i don’t leave
i need you so bad sometimes it hurts
but saying things like that just makes it worse

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some deeper meaning

Two weeks ago I started my Patreon project and realized that if I told people I was going to write some songs, I should write some songs. This level of accountability helped me complete 52 of 28. Inspiration hit me late that night, so I pulled out my guitar and played around with this melody until the words started flowing. Reassembling my home studio, Dirt to Mud, after a long period of neglect, I recorded vocals, two guitar tracks, octave mandolin, harmonica, and harmonium.

to get to where i’m going i’m gonna need a thick pair of boots
because i don’t know if it’ll be cold, it might rain or even snow
to get to where i’m going i guess i’d better read the news
because i don’t know what happened today and i know i’ll need something to say

to tell you how i feel, i’m gonna need some christmas lights
wrapped around a hundred trees, the lightest rain and the softest breeze
to tell you how i feel, i’m gonna need a few more songs
wrapped around this old guitar and sung kinda poorly to wherever you are

to get to where i’m going, i may need a map or two
i’ll follow the trail wherever it goes, till i find myself on the right road
to get to where i’m going, i may need to get some rest
when i fall asleep will i dream and find in my mind some deeper meaning

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hey, austin

Hey, Austin. rushmore beekeepers is coming to you at some point in the near future. That is, moving there next week.

Being in transition is rarely easy, even when the change is good. I’ll probably always feel somewhat restless; maybe that’s just one of those things that goes along with being a songwriter. It’s probably my neurotic and borderline OCD nature, but I like feeling settled. I like having my musical instruments out and ready to play; I like being able to make plans a month in advance, although I’d usually rather just stay home. (This could transition to amazing music overload really fast, especially in a place like Austin.)

I’m ready for a change. Las Vegas is a great place in a lot of ways, but I’ve been ready to leave for the better part of the last few years. Musically speaking, my favorite thing about Vegas is its proximity to San Diego, CA and Cedar City, UT (although I do not take advantage of that nearly as much as I should). I have some amazingly loyal and fantastic supporters here, some who have become great friends, but I can’t honestly say rushmore beekeepers has ever fit in with the local music scene. Some of my friends/fans are excited about my upcoming move – not because they want to get rid of me (at least I hope they don’t), but because they sincerely believe it will be great for my music.

How do people find a place they call home? How do you decide where you are going to live? Are these dumb questions? It seems like such a monumental decision, and some people just seem to know. There are so many fantastic places in this country, in the world. There was a point in my life I wasn’t sure I’d ever live anywhere outside of Las Cruces, NM, but now I feel like I’m on a quest for the perfect place or a way to be constantly exploring.

Back when Carrie and I were trying to decide whether to move to Austin, knowing that it meant leaving a fairly comfortable and secure life for an uncertain future, I stood precariously balanced on our couch and gave some (probably crazy-sounding) speech about how you can’t be afraid of the unknown or stay somewhere just because it’s comfortable, secure, and familiar. (I’m paraphrasing myself; I was being spontaneous.) I was telling this to myself just as much as to her.

As much work as it is for me to mentally prepare for meeting new people, doing new things, driving in an unfamiliar place, and the rest of the changes that come with relocation, I am constantly and painfully aware that I could get stuck in a rut and easily stay there for the rest of my life.

Don’t get me wrong. If I find the right porch to sit on, I will sit on that porch for a thousand years.

Here’s a song I wrote in Austin, about Austin, possibly over-romanticizing Austin:

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the octave mandolin

A little over one year ago, Carrie and I went to Joshua Tree to stay at the Joshua Tree Inn and see the place that Gram Parsons found so inspirational. While visiting Pioneertown, we met Eric Bevel, who, as it turns out, does some amazing woodworking. Somehow we started talking about musical instruments, and he showed me a really nice bass he had made. I casually talked to him about having him make me an instrument and got a business card, but it took me awhile to email him about making me something.

I’d been wanting to start playing octave mandolin; I’ve always enjoyed the sound, and I often found myself wishing my mandolin had a lower range. Having a fairly uncommon instrument I’d never played custom-made seemed like a great fit, so I contacted Eric about the project. He was excited and willing to take it on, even never having built an octave mandolin before. Since I’d been impressed by his work, I wanted to give him as much freedom with the design as possible. I gave him my feedback on body style, color, some of those things, and even those elements came out strikingly original.

We were in communication throughout the whole project (I got to see a lot of neat in-progress pictures, and since then have seen a bunch more), and we met at Kelso Depot in California for the exchange, in the middle of the desert, old time Vegas style. It was so exciting to play this instrument for the first time. Even being outside it sounded amazing (better than the fancy acoustic rooms in certain bigtime music retailers), and even after seeing all of the pictures I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of the instrument, and I’m still marvelling over all of the unique handmade touches. I just can’t believe people can do such amazing things with their hands. Most of my other instruments are factory made, and they still sound nice, but meeting the person who made this instrument, seeing all of this hand-crafted detail, hearing the difference in the sound of the wood, and knowing where pretty much every piece of it came from is something entirely different.

I plan on incorporating a good amount of octave mandolin into my new songs, so stay tuned! (Pun definitely intended.) For now, here is a little song I wrote on the octave mandolin. At different points, this song includes guitar and regular mandolin; I wanted to play around and see how it sounded with these instruments. Expect some more elaborate arrangements in the future. It’s going to be like a hootenanny up in here.

Also, if you think Eric Bevel’s work is absolutely amazing, unique, and beautifully crafted (which you should) and you want to talk to him about making you something, I bet he’d love it if you email him.

Two happy campers.

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