This one is for the hood (throw ya hands up)...

So what do you do when a jazz/blues rap fusion group wants the mix of their songs to consist of the vocal sound of NAS and Kanye West with the instrumental sound of Stevie Ray Vaughn but uses loops instead of real drums? You listen to a lot of rap CDs and old blues albums and ask God why you're there in the first place...just kidding, well, kind of. I spent most of my waking hours today in the studio trying to harness the sound these guys want and don't know how well as a whole I'm doing. I'm trying not to complain because I'm trying to see this as the book of James describes as "service in the name of the Lord," but it slips now and then. I'm just frustrated sometimes because the last guy who worked with these guys had like 20 years of experience doing this and not only is this my first project of this type, I'm a third year student of recording (17 shy if you can't count) and working with a group fusing genres together...ack! I actually left the control room today and hid in an isolation booth to pray...I was like, "God, I know I'm supposed to do this, I just don't know how, and I don't want to fail..." The guys eventually noticed and went looking for me. I don't want them to see me struggling.

Anyway, talked to a friend of mine, Abi, yesterday and it's always encouraging hearing from her. Right now, it's nice to hear from people outside of the studio. I love these guys, but I never see anyone other than the same 3 people everyday! I guess Abi is working at a One-Hour Photo Lab...weird, because I was a manager of a Lab myself for like 2 years...after this summer we should have all kinds of weird stories to share that only photo people think are funny...speaking of, this girl is going to be huge someday...I'm working on a couple of her songs when I get time and she is just incredible. Once I heard someone playing her old CD in the hallway of my dorm and I made that person play it for me from like midnight to 5 am! I asked who it was and hunted her down the next day. I'll try to get one of her songs posted when we're done!

Anyway, time for bed...g'night all, and thanks for the support...
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Rod

P.S. Check out the new Evanescence video for "Everybody's Fool." It's an interesting view of the entertainment industry.