Still Alive and Kickin

Changes and Good Times

Moving to Eugene Oregon was a major life change.  Gave up the recording and rehearsal studios in Raleigh NC and had to leave my bandmates of several years in North Carolina.  But, it has been a good change.  It took awhile to get into a groove. But hey, things are working out nice here.

Now it is time for me to ramble on about a bunch of disconnected stuff.

The World Has Gone to Pot

It is great to live in a state with legal marijuana, and lots of competition. The prices have gone down a lot, and primo buds are only 10 bucks more than rag weed was for an ounce over 40 years ago.  And now there is super primo, I mean damn, whew.  It costs more, but OMG, you have to be careful with that stuff.  Anyway, I don't use much weed, but it is nice to have a toke in the evenings sometimes and just relax and chill at home, without worrying about the cops busting you.

New Band

The new band line up in Oregon is solid.  Glen Weldon on drums/vocals and T-Rex on bass/vocals.  I am still looking for a fourth member, and may have found an organ/piano player.  We'll see if he works out (fingers crossed).  We are booked several times a month, venues are having us back, and total strangers are walking up saying, "Hey, you're Jimmy Haggard, I love your music."  

Music Business

I have a couple of music related things going on besides the band.  I am the Stage Manager (booker, sound guy, et al), for the Eugene Saturday Market.  I learned that in this city, that is a really big thing.  The people I work with are amazing and the music talent is off the hook.

I am also the Booking Manager for The Jazz Station in Eugene, and the President of the Rainy Day Blues Society (a 501c3).

Recording

I put together a new recording setup. In the past, I have always used analog boards.  Since the only thing I used the boards for when recording was the preamps, I decided to go with all preamps and no board.

The new setup has 16 Midas preamps with pure analog chain options, two Black Lion Auteur preamps (has two preamps in each unit, so actually four preamps), and an old Focusrite ISA ONE (developed from the original Robert Neve ISA 110 module).

That pure analog preamp array goes through a MOTU 24 I/O analog/digital converter (that's 24 channels in and 24 channels out), into my computer and my DAW of choice, Sonar Platinum.

That new recording hardware setup is going to be the backbone for recording new music with my new Oregon bandmates at N Street Studios in Springfield.  We are going to start laying down tracks in early June 2018.

Well,enough of my blathering for now.  Next time I promise to have something worthwhile for you to read.

Enjoy The Music! 

Jimmy Haggard