The 2010 Project 2011 Preview Series: Part One

Posted on February 12, 2011 by chrismooremusic

Welcome to part one of my video preview series for The 2010 Project.  This is one song that has survived numerous incarnations and track listings for what will ultimately become this album.

I vividly remember writing this song.  It all started by just messing around on the guitar, the capo having been left on from playing a different song.  The condo was dark, no one but me was home, and I just walked around, strumming away, adding line upon line.  At the time, it had meaning, meaning which has shifted a couple times following a couple of life experiences, but the feeling has never faded when I play it.  And that, for me, is the true test of a song.

So, enjoy what will be track one, and check back again for more!

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ChrisMooreMusic.com is officially up-to-date!

Posted on January 30, 2011 by chrismooremusic

Hi all,

Just a quick post tonight/this morning.  I wanted to announce that, after literally a full day of work, this website is finally off the ground.  As I had planned in August but never gotten around to, ChrisMooreMusic.com is now not only a blog for The 2010 Project but is also home to my complete discography, lyrics, concert dates, bibliography, and more.  It took a long, long time to format the lyrics properly and to complete about a hundred minor face lifts to the site, but I think the effort has been worthwhile.  It’s been months now since Chris-Moore.com — the original home of my music for almost my entire tenure with Fusco-Moore Productions — was wiped off the face of the world wide web.  It was a sad moment for me at first, but I decided to embrace the change.

Perhaps the best aspect of this change has been my increased control over the content on the site.  To be certain, ChrisMooreMusic.com is a much plainer site in many ways, but it is also a well-organized and, as of today, content-rich environment.

So, search around.  Try out all the links and lists and such, and I’ll be back soon with more news from the studio.  Or, to be more accurate, from the spare room in my condo that houses my computer and microphone.  Regardless, I’ll be jamming with Mike Fusco this Thursday, and I have no doubts that I will go into next weekend with the urgent desire to dive back in to the recording process for The 2010 Project.

As a final note and treat (I hope), check out the cover artwork for my new album.  It’s featured under the lyrics tab; just click on The 2010 Project (2011).  This is probably temporary artwork, as it is the product of me goofing around for far too long on what was originally supposed to be a simple place-holder for the eventual cover art.  But I kind of like it, and I hope you do too.

– Chris

Posted in CMM Announcements, The 2010 Project | 1 Comment

There’s a jumpstart around the corner!

Posted on December 12, 2010 by chrismooremusic

By Chris Moore:

Yes, I’m still around, still tinkering on the guitar (though much less than I’d like to be), and still working on the album (if only in the confines of my mind).

And still bloggin’!

Hi there.  It’s me.  Been a while.  I’m writing this very brief post as a means of previewing the good shtuff that’s finally finally finally just around the corner.  Let’s do this thang list style:

1) First my grad class final is in two days, so after that passes, I’ll be using that time again to work on the 2010 Project.  Which will, by that time, practically be the 2011 Project.

2) The album order has shifted yet again, as I’ve been working with new songs, jettisoning the old ones, and I’m itching to get back to recording.  It’s been over two months since the last 2010 Project session!

3) The end of the year means big doin’s around the Weekend Review as I write the final music reviews of the year (about six left on my contract) and assemble the end of the year lists (which are improved and expanded for 2010), all of which has traditionally been posted at the Laptop Sessions blog.  I will continue to post all these lovely lists there, but the decision needs to be made some time early in January: to continue at LS.com or to work exclusively from this site.  I’m torn, considering that I love the LS.com project and how big it’s gotten, but at the same time, the social fabric feels all wrong and I miss the camaraderie that once existed, at least between two of the members.  I may need to solicit advice on this one.

4) Finally, all the original music goodies:

– Starting in January, I will begin a series devoted to the new material here on the CMM Blog.  Each post in the series will highlight one song and will include lyrics, some back story, and a live acoustic performance. This will all lead up to the release of the album in early to mid 2011.

– Recording sessions will recommence during my winter break (the last week of December), and so will the 2010 Project entries that followed the first seven days of recording.  Expect pictures and clips and, hopefully, progress!

– Last but not least, I leave a tidbit that begins today…  my blog is back on Twitter: @CMMBlog!  A couple months ago, I had issues and had to block my Twitter account.  While my personal account remains blocked, the CMM Blog account is up and running and that ugly “ERROR” message is finally removed from the face of the blog.

So, in short, there’s lots coming soon.  Even this post, which I promised would be brief, is bursting towards 500 words.  Take this as a preview of lots of good stuff around the corner in 2011.

Now, if I could only decide what to do about the title of my album…

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Day seven: I finally go electric!

Posted on October 10, 2010 by chrismooremusic

By Chris Moore:

At the behest of fellow singer/songwriter Mike Fusco (www.MikeFusco.com), I finally took the time this weekend — or, rather, wrenched it out of the cold, dead hands of my academic productivity — to continue the recording sessions for The 2010 Project.

The results are electric.

I’m not commenting on the quality or energy of the recordings; I mean that I literally began recording electric guitar for the first time since I began committing these songs to tape (or, to be more precise, file).

 

My electric setup... doesn't look like much, but boy is it fun!

 

This development is a long time coming.  It all began when I re-strung and polished my two guitars at the latter part of this past winter.  Then, after finding my Zoom guitar pedal destroyed by battery acid, I purchased a new and improved version.  I played around with it quite a bit this summer and even wrote down configurations that I thought might work on the songs I knew I’d be recording.  A month or so ago, I stopped in at my local Radio Shack to purchase the parts I would need to hook my pedal directly into my laptop.

Finally, yesterday, I put all the pieces together.

 

My electric setup... ten minutes digging through old parts and two Radio Shack purchases later, I can finally rock out!

 

The song I chose to work on first was “Socrates’ Gulps.”  This seemed a good choice, as I wanted one reverby guitar on the intro and outro, and another crunchier attack on the lead guitar.  I ended up messing around with the different effects available for quite a long time — I definitely checked off more items in the enjoyment column than the productivity column — but I finally recorded the electric tracks for “Socrates’ Gulps.”

Unfortunately, I’m back to school work on two fronts (classes I teach and the class that I take), so it may be another week before I get to record again.  Still, having the setup and knowing that it works is at least half the battle in recording an album, as anyone who has ever tried will tell you.

Soon, I’ll be adding bass tracks to the songs that are almost complete, and at that point, I’ll share a preview or two.  Until then, thanks for checking in, and I’ll keep you posted!

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