In like a tiger out like a lamb

I'm not really sure what the hell this is, how it's gonna read or even who is going to want to read it; but I wanted to put something down about what happened during the past year in regards to the band and the project that turned out to be more burden than beast early on but out of the ambition to do something more than drink, bitch and fuck came a bunch of really good songs, an album that we are very proud of and memories that I will never forget.

I'm sure most if not all of you have heard the given title of this post applied to that mind-fuck of a month, March where beaten and battered from December to February we circle said month as the time when winter loosens it's grip enough for us to wipe the crud from our eyes as we promise ourselves that this year things will change. Then we wake up and March greets us with a coat of freshly fallen snow and twenty-mile an hour winds and we say, "In like a tiger, out like a lamb" then we fall back into bed with the realization that even though we want things to be different, everything just depends.

Winter: The Singles (January - March)

Enter 2010 and your favorite band (add string of qualifiers here) starts it's 52 singles in 52 weeks project in a crowded practice space with equipment that barely works. Eight eyes staring at a dirty floor wondering what the hell are we getting ourselves into. All things considering, the first three months went pretty well. The schedule we were keeping was hard and the songs were coming but lost somewhere in the ignorance of loving music the cracks in the foundation started to form.

Favorite Singles: Ghost Shirt / Radio Fire / Zanne / Sleep

Spring: The Singles (April - May)

I suppose if you were to survey the members of Ghost Shirt this period would be the time where everything nearly fell apart. Dead-end jobs, bad decisions, too much drinking and not enough talking obliterated the bonds that made us who we thought we were, as a band and as a group of friends. The songs were still good but how long can you strike a rock expecting to find water instead of blood? Meaning: this is the part of the movie where all seems lost. The heroes have taken their capes and gone home, the devils are running the city and the heroine has lost all hope of salvation...all hyperbole aside, to simply say this was a rough time is not enough as each member contemplated hanging it up. But we made it through thanks to the songs and our friendships. The cracks in the foundation may have become big enough to damage the house but in the end there she stood, hobbled but proud. Eventually, decisions became better, the tap was turned off, and the conversations started flowing and by the end of May all was well in cartoon land.

Favorite Singles: Library / New City

Summer: The Singles (June - August)

The reverend, the wedding, the honeymoon and some of my favorite songs of the year. Branden was a beast as he unleashed some of his most cathartic and at times scathing lyrics to date. These songs were downright violent and beautiful and I suppose if you caught him in a good enough mood he would tell you that something bigger was starting to brew in that giant head of his. But if it was gonna come out then something was gonna have to change with the project, the pace of writing, learning, and recording a song a week was too heavy of a chain to allow any idea to mature. This time also featured some guest musicians sitting in (Shane and Micah / Dane Terry / Nate Rothicker) as vacations, weddings, and a honeymoon threw a wrench in the recording schedule.

Favorite Singles: Clay Stained Fingers / Pike Bishop / Electric Heart / No Audience

Fall: The Singles (October - December)

Branden came to me with an idea that he had came up with about the songs he was writing. It went like this:

Branden: "Listen to these songs" (Branden plays songs)
Me: "Wow, they seem to have a theme"
Branden: "Yep. I want to make an album, with all of us doing what we love"
Me: "I love trying new drinks, and looking at pretty girls"
Branden: "You're an idiot.
Me: "What about the project?"
Branden: "I think this could be bigger"
Me: "Sold."

Enter Sam and Merf:

(Branden plays songs.)

Sam: "Wow, let's do it. I have a kazillion ideas...(giggle)...(giggle)...(snort)...say what? don't fuck with me Haye"
Merf: "I took a poop at Tim Horton's today"

And so right there in an alley in downtown Columbus, we decided to redirect the project and to make an album that we all hoped would be good. The recording saw us and at our best--pulling good ideas out of nonsense, settling disputes during smoke breaks, wondering who in the hell broke into the practice space and drew Darth Vader on the wall--all while feeling the smirks and fielding the criticisms over "abandoning" our project (Thank you Chris DeVille). Initially we were going to put 16 songs on the album then we culled it to ten. Then we argued over how to release it, and when. Then we took some rough mixes to Wigginstock where we realized that maybe these songs were actually pretty good. What came out of this chaos was "Daniel". An album about something.

Winter (again): End of 2010

At this point we are ending the project. We will finish up the songs that are written and partially recorded but that will put an end to 2010. We didn't get 52 but I/we feel the sum is greater than parts, so if we disappointed then sorry but we ask that you cut us at least a little slack as nothing exist in a vacuum and if that's not good enough then I would be more than happy to have a conversation. You know how to find me. We now have a shit ton of songs to learn how to play since we only learned them well enough to quickly record them. We have a lot of shows coming up with some incredible local bands (see: show schedule to the right) and we have a tour coming the end of March.

Two-thousand and ten, in like a tiger, out like a lamb.

Jerk Shirts.