Green & Grey…Finally!

Greetings & Salutations!

Well, that’s it. Tracking complete, mixing complete. The mastered recording and artwork have been delivered to disc manufacturers and digital distributors alike. By the end of this week, our new album Green & Grey will be out in the world, available to all, well and truly out of our hands. It’s an odd sensation, I must say.

I’ve only experienced this particular sort of accomplishment a handful of times, so it has never really had the chance to become old hat — but this is a special case. It’s very difficult, in fact, to remember a time in the recent past when the pressure to finish this album wasn’t buzzing in the back of my mind. From the point at which we began writing in earnest back in the spring of 2007 until now, the changes in every other facet of my life have been astounding in both number and scope, yet the need to finish what Matt and I started with this collection of songs has remained a constant companion. Being able to finally let it go feels good, absolutely…but strange.

The release of Clarity felt different. That album had a relatively long creative gestation too, but we were riding the crest of a wave at the time. The FloydShow touring machinery was well-oiled and in constant motion, and though that proposed its own set of challenges, it certainly kept us in shape; propelled us forward, superseded any personal issues and made the act of being a working band about pragmatic as it was ever going to get on our level. Also, though it took a long time to write, the act of actually recording Clarity only took about six months. It felt simultaneously like a genuine time capsule, and the next inevitable link in a chain.

Green & Grey, by contrast, took far less time to write and far, far more time to record. And as Matt pointed out in his excellent blog entry, it wasn’t band business that kept us from finishing sooner, but simply the business of life. So much life, so much change, so many challenges and setbacks…and, to be honest, so many temptations. Every time we had to pick up the thread again, painfully aware of our lost momentum, it felt almost like starting from scratch. We had to re-examine and reinforce our reasons for continuing to plug away at this thing, month after month, year after year.

And finally, what it came down to was this: we loved these songs, and we wanted to share them. Sure, we may be sick to death of them right now due to the amount of time we’ve spent endeavoring to pull them into existence, but ultimately that endeavor was worth it, because now they do exist. Every challenge that swept over us (and them) along the way has been worked into the material, infused it with the life that we’ve been living for the past five years — the highs, the lows, and all the in-betweens. Hopefully, it comes across in the listening that such care has been taken, that we poured everything we had into this music, and that it will reward your attention as a result.

We don’t harbor any illusions about the state of the world, the state of the music business, and our place within either of them. We know that, relatively speaking, very few people will ever hear this music. Of those who do, most will dismiss it, some will dislike it, others may enjoy it casually but never give it a second thought. We’re zen with all of that. But we also hope there will be those who love what they hear, who internalize it, who make it a part of their own story as it has always been part of ours, who listen — like the song says — with their lives attached.

Speaking for myself, this experience has left me with a greater appreciation of our ability to make music at all, to participate in that amazing world…and I can’t wait to turn that appreciation into rock glory this Saturday at our CD release show. This will be, in all likelihood, a one-time-only event: the entire album performed live. A celebration, to be sure, and hope you’ll be there to join in.

See you soon!

TB