I mentioned this in the Protean Mean blog, but a few weeks ago Jenn & I were discussing the idea of structuring our free time in a better way. Maybe toying with the idea of a set schedule in which to get the stuff done that we “need” to do. I tried to adhere to a schedule a few years ago…it obviously didn’t work. Ideally I’d love to have set time to do all of the various things I like to do (album reviews, regular website work, recording, writing new songs, practicing guitar/bass/piano/vocals/lap steel, etc.). Unfortunately, I’m horrible at time management; I always have been, and it’s a very difficult habit to break. So in our conversation I mentioned to Jenn that the idea of my “solo album” is always in the back of my head, and more importantly has been in the forefront of my thoughts since I finished the Protean Mean demo a couple of months ago. We talked about the need for such a thing as a “James Solo Album” and even though I’m sometimes reluctant, Jenn encouraged me to finish and get it out there. Introduce it to the world. She’s right in that it would be great sense of accomplishment for me. I also agree with her that even though some of the songs are repeats from the current PM song list, there are enough differences in those original versions that it would make for an interesting comparison and would present them in a different way.
I appreciate her views on this, because what she said has definitely grounded me and made me realize that not only do I NEED to finish the album, I WANT to finish the album.
Tonight I was looking through various word documents on my computer and eventually landed on the tracklisting for the album. I looked at it and thought about it for a while, around 15 minutes, and had the idea of, YES, I should spend my evening practice time running straight through the album. I haven’t played through the whole thing in a year or so and it was a lot of fun going through all of the songs. I had written out the possible tracklist, but I was unsure on a couple of songs. Well, you’ll be happy to know I have officially settled on a final tracklist and I really like how the whole thing flows together.
So here we go - I’m really going to finish the thing. I’ve determined that it’s what I want to do right now. It’s been “in production” for far too long and it desires to be completed. If you’re any sort of a regular reader to this blog, you’ll remember how I was going to finish at various times back a few years ago. I think my first “official” finish date was August 1st, 2005. Yeah, THAT LONG AGO. Various dates have come and gone and my most recent thought, at the beginning of the year, was that I’d finish it before the election. Well, we have 30 days until Maverick or Goose becomes our leader and I know that realistically I won’t finish it before November 4th. No big deal. My promise is that I will finish it and it’s now re-become my top creative priority. I really don’t have that far to go, a few bass tracks, drum programming, vocals then mixing…and I’ll be done. It’s a tall order, but it’s time.
So, in anticipation of that moment when you can download it here, I present the final tracklist to my first solo album, Square One (times are current estimations, final times will vary slightly):
- 10K [3:16]
- (The Last Romantic) Part 2 [4:49]
- The Big Yellow Bastard [3:20]
- KC [5:37]
- Travelers, Merchants & Masters [4:10]
- M.E. [7:14]
- Big Red Bus [6:02]
- Mine [4:55]
- Larry [2:44]
- Niagara on the Pacific [3:29]
- Rings [3:40}
Total Time ~50 minutes
You heard it here first. I’ll let ya know when it’s done.
NP: Bryan Beller - Thanks in Advance (a fellow bassist’s solo album, his second, and I’ve been devouring it constantly for the past few days. Great stuff)
October 7, 2008, 
6:56 am 
Good luck with your time management!
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