Oh my friends it looks as though we are closer than we thought to finishing this record. I suspect that aside from a possible, leisurely sax/trumpet overdub session we should be able to complete tracking in the four day stint we have scheduled this week. Our progress is due in no small part to our fabulous strings players. Big thanks to Beth, Josh and Veronica. They came in on Saturday and tracked their bits thus completing two more songs. Hallelujah!

We've spent this week working out songs for this Thursday's acoustic show in Quincy, MA at the Beachcomber. We've rearranged some tunes from Leave Your Light On and Fan the Fury. There may even be a new track in there. It's actually been a lot of fun working within the acoustic bounds. We may have to do more of these shows. It's kind of a nice way to really showcase the songs.

So that's all been very good news and one of my greater solaces in a time when this wedding business is becoming increasingly irritating. I'm not much the kind for traditional anythings and now that the fun of picking out our outfits has waned and the phones calls from home have increased, I'm trying to set my mind on the cruise that will directly follow the reception. I really would have been extremely happy exchanging rings at Boston City Hall with a great big dinner with friends and family, but I'm sure after all this dust settles all the chaos will be overshadowed by our immense joy... and this awesome cruise! Until then we'll continue trying on those rings.

I'm also in the middle of a reading frenzy. I'm on three books and must recommend them all to you. The first is a classic: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I'm sure Henry's mentioned that we've been on this Holmes kick ever since we saw the Downey movie (thanks Brendo for the recommendation). The Granada series is pretty fantastic too. It's a very easy world to get lost in. Also on my shelf is Revolution in the Head given to Henry and I by our friend Ben. This book recounts the details on all the Beatle recording sessions. Need I say more on why I'm so in love with it? Now I know how those crazy tape loops on Tomorrow Never Knows were made. The third is a book by rock n roll poetess Patti Smith called Just Kids. Thanks to James for the heads up on that one! It chronicles her friendship with artistic soul mate Robert Mapplethorpe, a true artist in his own right. A glorious story set to a New York 60s/70s backdrop. I can't put it down.

One more thing I'd like to mention was a documentary on an event Henry and I participated in called One Night Band. If you're not familiar, the basic idea is they took all these Boston musicians and broke them up into bands with people they'd never played with before and some they'd never even met. These groups went back to designated rehearsal spaces to write three songs and learn one cover which they would perform later that night before an audience that didn't know what to expect. We were very happy that Boston Band Crush asked us to take part and even better was the proceeds when to Zumix, an organization that introduces kids in East Boston to awesomeness of playing an instrument. Really, everyone should play something. We'd be much happier human beings. You can check out Henry and I in that docu below.

One Night Band: The Movie from Band Crush on Vimeo.

Cheers,

Jen