Finally...Rest

Well hello there everyone. I'm sipping a nice cup of coffee as I overlook the winter-chilled town of Monument Colorado. This is the view out my window (sorry about the quality, its just a shot from my MacBook). I went from December band mayhem to calm and isolated stillness in matter of hours.

To those who have been following my blog, my deepest apologies for the long absence. I talked to a lot of people on the Christmas tour who said, “Hey, how come you haven’t been blogging?” I’ve been realizing how much it has meant to people and felt bad that I’ve been absent from it. Thanks for being such avid followers and supports of what I do.

BITING OFF MORE THAN I CAN CHEW
I’ve talked a lot about seasons in life in my blogs. The reason for my blog absence is because this season (the last 3 months) was probably the busiest season I have ever experienced in my life-time. The summary of it all is that I have bitten off a lot more than I can chew. I hope to never do that again. I hope to learn from this that whatever I THINK I can do at one time is always too much than what I can do in reality. And that what I do in reality will always take twice as much time and effort as I thought.

FUTURE OF FORESTRY BECOMES LESS CORPORATE RUN
My life consists of more things now than I thought possible. In terms of Future of Forestry I have transferred all responsibilities from more of a corporate industry level to an independently run entity. 3 major examples are:

1) Booking used to be run by Third Coast Booking Agency (Nashville)
2) Management used to be run by Chris Nichols Management (Nashville)
3) Business management and accounting used to be run by Haber Corporation (LA)

Now guess who runs all these things. Yes, yours truly, little old me from my MacBook, cell-phone, and my gung-ho wife who has been an incredible partner with me in this. Do I know what I’m doing? Usually not. Am I figuring it out? Slowly, but surely.


WHY RUNNING THINGS INDEPENANTLY IS A GOOD THING RIGHT NOW
God has a strange way of directing me without necessarily explaining to us what is going on. Maybe its because if I actually knew what was going on I’d either freak out or decide to change course. Over the last 3 years, as things have evolved, I have realized how important it is to have ownership in my own art and direction. I’ve realized how much I care about my music and what I do with it, and that I want the music business I run to reflect the heart behind it. Often (or always), the bigger and more corporate it gets, the more you feel like its not yours anymore, and the less control you have to retain the identity you believe in.

I’ve enjoyed the process of stumbling through this but truly beginning to run things independently. I admit it’s been more than I can handle. I’ve worked a many 7 day weeks. I’ve also made a lot of mistakes through it all. I’ve got a list of promoters that I haven’t returned their calls. Yet in the end, most of the promoters I talk to tell me how much they love talking to the artist rather than to a booking agency. Its just me on the other end of the line.

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING OVER THE LAST 2 OR 3 MONTHS
With all of this on my plate, I found myself quite insane over the Christmas tour. Recording and producing the album was a feat in itself. Meeting a last minute deadline, coordinating the artwork, then figuring out how to make the album available on an independent level. Although the album is on Credential Recordings (EMI/CMG) it was not released under their marketing umbrella. This album was a first of its kind. We made it and sold it within a period of 2 months. It took TJ and I more work than we thought possible in that amount of time.

Meanwhile, I booked a last minute Christmas Tour, went to Germany to play in Dusseldorf, then flew back into LAX to start our one rehearsal day for the Christmas tour. But what made my full plate a mound of heaping food (in which large portions of it metaphorically fell onto the floor) was the recording of a live Christmas DVD that we pulled off at the last gig in Chanlier AZ…a very exciting event. I’ll tell you more about that later.

THANKS
Well, now I’m in a quiet place contemplating it all as you can see. Reflecting, enjoying,and thanking God for it all. And of course dreaming of what is next. I can never sit still. As soon as I wrap one thing up, I’m already planning the next. I’m already planning next Christmas season, another album, a live DVD release, and a bigger and better tour. I’m insane. And I know I drive the people around me insane. For those of you enjoy the roller-coaster ride with me, thanks for hanging in there.