Is This Something?

A few years ago I started a side project called Log Variations. It was rooted in an earlier idea involving a stage prop, one of those motorized fireplace sets with a jumble of logs surrounding a molded plastic window behind which an amber light bulb gives off a cozy fire-like glow. It's a piece of kitsch so wonderfully fake it becomes its own unique object. My original concept was to have the "logs" open for some of my solo shows. I would activate the fireplace about for about ten minutes while playing some crackling campfire sound effects interspersed with spontaneous synth stabs and abstract field recordings. In 2021 I revisited those recordings, created a few more, and released them on cassette under the title Log Variations. Then I started an Instagram account devoted to photos of fires, logs, and other log behavior. Next up was a video component of burning logs and their corresponding soundtrack. 

Little attention was paid to any of it, but that's beside the point. It was exciting to me because I didn't really know what the project was supposed to be. That's my favorite kind of creativity. The kind that starts as a vague idea, then pulls you further down a crooked path, introducing itself along the way. It was also well outside my usual role as a writer/performer and didn't come with the looming expectations of a concert or an album of songs. For Christmas that year, I made a handful of Log Variations calendars for my family, matching the best looking photos of the year to their appropriate seasons. I still post log photos on occasion and have continued to collect sounds ranging from ax chopping and chainsawing to the systematic stacking of a cord of firewood. I don't know what Log Variations’ next phase will be and that's one of the reasons I love it. It reminds me to just lean into everyday creative habits without always looking ahead toward a bigger, more ambitious goal.

I recently wrapped up promotion on a more conventional singer/songwriter album. It was one of the most satisfying releases of my career and took a lot of effort to realize. I’m ready to move on, but as I enter the new year, I find myself between obvious follow-up projects. I have some ideas, but nothing has asserted itself as my primary focus. I'm not going to worry about it too much. We all need fallow periods. Time to collect new information and replenish our library of experiences.

In addition to being an indie musician and writer/editor for an online music database, I also keep a daily journal, write essays and poems, and keep meticulous notes. I feel I might benefit from sharing more of my writing in a public space, so I’m starting this blog. As with Log Variations, I’m not exactly sure what it’s going to be, but I’ll figure it out as I go along. I get dozens of interesing ideas every day. Some snowball into bigger concepts while others fade out as quickly as they came. Sometimes I just have to sort through them and ask “is this something?”