Converting a hotel room into a recording studio.

Over the weekend I headed up to Seattle to spend a little time with one of my very best friends, Jeff Tuttle. He was there to run a half marathon, I was not. Nope, I was just there to spend a little time with Jeff and catch up on all the goings-on in his life and offer him as much support as possible as he finalizes his divorce. We also had plans to work on some songs.

Originally, Catherine was going to join us, but she had to bail, so it was just Jeff and me. We checked into our rooms on Thursday, Jeff ran the race Friday morning and then on Friday, we converted my room in to a recording studio.

So, how the hell do you create high quality recordings in a hotel room? Honestly, it couldn't be easier, provided you remember to pack what you need. I, of course, spaced on something kind of important: the DAC, which is a box that converts analog signals to digital for the computer. Luckily, Guitar Center had a cheap one ($100), so I bought it and we were ready to ROCK. (Sort of, the tunes were all pretty mellow.)

I set up the laptop, DAC and mic and we started with Jeff laying down harmony tracks on Indecision, the song he sings on my upcoming album. In short order, we were done, and then we turned our attention to one of his songs, which is called Here and Now. It's a great tune about how he's coping with changes while trying to stay super present in his kids' lives (he as two). We decided to start with a simple drum machine groove and… DOH! Forgot my drum machine. Luckily, I was able to download Doggiebox, a beat sequencer I bought years ago but still have the download code for, and we were back in business.

Over the next few days, we mixed some sightseeing, a visit to an old friend of mine from my guitar school days and some good food – along with more music. Honestly, we weren't that productive but we did finish the basic arrangement for Here and Now. With any luck, the song will be done before the sun goes nova!

A good trip. Tomorrow I'm back in SF, where I will dot the last I's and cross the last T's for the release of Deep Salvage, which will commence on Thursday.