Holy Moses, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted. Sorry folks - *wristslap*.

The good news is that my silence is not for lack of music-making. Between a waterfall of writing and arranging, plus a crazy good week tracking at Audities, I have tons to tell you about.

The projected release date for the new record has been moved back quite a bit. After recording the tracks, David Kean (producer extraordinaire) and I decided that we need more time to give the songs the attention they deserve.

We’d originally planned to record, mix, and master the project in a single week, but instead we spent the whole time recording the music. I’ll be back in the studio for another week this summer so we can mix and master it.

I can’t even express how excited I am about the new songs. They are sounding great so far, with outstanding contributions from some amazing session players. I’ll post about each of these in detail soon, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some proofs that arrived today from the photo shoot for the album cover.

These were shot by Courtney Nicole Townsend, who is a dear friend and (I dare say) an incredible talent.

Which of the four photos is your favorite for the cover of the new record? Let me know in the comments.

I’ve started working on a new record!

The songs are in various stages of undress, being written, re-written, or mocked up in my home studio. I’m in love with all of them, and can’t wait for you to have a listen.

I’m thrilled that I’ll once again be working with David Kean at Audities in Calgary. The insane collection of instruments at the Foundation gave us spontaneous, unexpected colours for the tunes on Somewhere Along the Wire. I can’t wait to see what happens this time around!

The release date is set for March 20th, the first day of spring 2010. I’ll be suspending “Cover of the Month” for a while, but wait… don’t leave just yet! I’ll still be posting to announce live shows, and giving updates on the recording project as it progresses.

In the meantime, check out this video of my sister’s crazy marching band. I’m not a fan of marching bands in general - in fact I was kicked out of my high school music program for refusing to participate in one - but these guys are a little different.

Anybody who arranges the music of Bjork, Mingus, and Zappa, then parades it all over New York is a-ok in my books. They get extra points, too, for this rendition of “Hyperballad” - one of my all-time faves.