Just a couple of weeks before Christmas in 2000, I called Corey Miller and Jon Lauman to see if they would be interested in recording a song as a Christmas present for friends and family. To my surprise, they were open to the idea, and we started work on “Let the River Roll On (Without Me)” as quickly as we could.

A few things needed worked out before the project could be finished. I didn’t own a quality acoustic guitar then, so I borrowed one from Chris Trueblood. We also didn’t have enough time to create cover art for the CD, so I contacted my sister, Sue, to see if I could use one of her paintings. With the borrowed guitar in hand, and photographs of a great painting taken, we then set about recording the track and mixing it.

Corey took the tasks of engineering, recording, mixing and burning the CDs. Jon and I worked on printing, cutting, folding and assembling the packaging. Finally, we all signed them. All in all, it was a great experience with only minor hiccups, and our friends and family really seemed to enjoy the music.

I’d like to do another one someday. Until that day comes, I hope you enjoy “Let the River Roll On (Without Me)” as much as I enjoyed making it with a couple of my best friends those many years ago!

Let the River Roll On – YL

The weekend has passed. Marj worked all day yesterday while I did some miscellaneous work around the house. G-Pa drafted me to do some painting, but that didn’t happen. He had done all that he planned to do by the time I finished with my scheduled engagements.

Katie had a birthday party to attend, so she was gone for the better part of the afternoon. I was with Kelsie and her friend Teresa at a carnival. Walking around a packed school with two 5-year-olds was not too difficult. They had fun doing a ring toss, getting their hair colored orange and having their nails painted. By the end of the day, however, they were both bears. Why do they do this? They are so cute otherwise.

Today, our church voted Jon in as a Trustee! This is a wonderful testimony for his walk with our Lord! Jon has changed a lot from the long-haired rock and roller that he once was.

For the first time in what seems like forever, I’m going to bed early. There are projects that I could be working on, but they can wait until tomorrow.

YL Habitat/Indianapolis, IN

I can honestly say that I am worn out. Although I’ve done virtually nothing strenuous today, I feel as though I’ve done three days of construction work in one.

YL PROJECT ONE began working on “Won’t” for possible inclusion on a benefit compilation album that Chandler is working on. I will talk more about that later, if necessary. Jon did not remember the song from our last performances in 1998. However, he liked what he heard and came up with a good foundation on which to base an electric arrangement of this song.

I had the pleasure of watching The Stepchildren perform last weekend. They seem to have more and more fun on stage each time I see them. Jon’s chops stay in good form playing with this group. It sometimes occurs to me that his sanity may also be kept better because of this band as well. The ‘performance bug’ has not been tended to in YL PROJECT ONE. However, The Stepchildren play semi-regularly. I snapped some pictures of their last set from Saturday night.

One more thing before unconsciousness sets in. Sleve the Slim has ‘officially’ lost the title of ‘The Hutt’ around here. Sox has won the title hands down. One should not question that this ferret is well fed. However, the others are questionable. I’ve seen them put a fight or two to get their space at the food hole.

Today has been one of those low energy days. I was hoping to get a lot accomplished with the archival tape, but I didn’t get anything done with it. However, I did get a basic idea of how I plan to approach people to help when YL Project One returns.

Jon was by this evening to practice and play ‘Delta Force.’ We ran through some of the material that we have been working on since December 1998. I believe that we played for a little over an hour. It was a little harsh on the ears without low end, but it was still fun to play music with Jon again. We discussed, briefly, my idea of waiting a couple more months before returning to active duty. He agrees that it would be a good idea. Tentatively, the YL Project should return to active duty sometime around April of this year.

Neesie and I spent most of yesterday in the New Beetle. Our trip to Nashville, TN went very well. I only had to back track once. Otherwise, the directions we received from Mapquest were right on the money. Weather was decent and we missed traffic both ways due to the Colts playing Tennessee at home. It was a good thing that I did not wear my Colts jacket.

We arrived at Antarctica Studios an hour early. Not intentionally, mind you. Nashville is in a different time zone than Indianapolis. John, the owner of the studios, stuck his head out and greeted us about a half an hour before opening. John mentioned that he recalled my email RSVP for the event and was glad that we had made it down. He then handed everyone outside an index card and asked us to write our name and question on it.

Around 11:00a, Nashville time, we were allowed in the studios to sit in a lobby to wait a little longer. They chose Robert’s ‘Let the Power Fall’ as the backdrop while those of us who were trying to find that ‘one nagging question that we always wanted to know’ looked as if we were taking the SAT.

At 12:00p, we went into the room where Robert was going to speak. He arrived shortly thereafter. For the most part, the questions that people asked him seemed trivial. However, in retrospect, so did mine. He was gracious enough to answer the questions thoughtfully and honestly. Although, he did ask each person who had their question selected what had brought them there. A question that no one could answer. Most of the group blamed curiosity. I proclaimed that my car had brought me there when asked. An answer that was accepted, but not the one that he was interested in.

I learned a little bit about Robert during the Q&A session, but I really feel that I learned more about myself. I had a lot of fun and look forward to applying some of the ideas and views that he spoke about to my own life and way of working.

Another interesting thing that was part of the Q&A session was the break music. Robert brought several CD-R discs with him of the new King Crimson record. If the whole album sounds like what was on those discs, we are in for a very different style of record for them.

The recognition event on Saturday night went as best as it could. It only marginally held interest for me. Neesie and I spent the evening around my two cohorts and rushed out when the event was over. The gambling was not as bad as I had thought it would be. It was solely for raffle tickets.

It’s been a good day, but a long one. A fortune cookie told me of some interesting changes about to take place in my life. I can see that it may be correct. Very good news caressed my ears this afternoon. More on that when the time is right.

Congratulations to my niece, Jennifer, who gave birth to a baby girl last night! Also, congratulations to my sister! She’s a granny 5 or 6 times over now!

Jon and Carrie visited tonight. Neesie and I enjoyed their company at Chi Chi’s this evening. Topic of discussion: pet behavior and doggy drool. Might I add that this was not particularly pleasurable to Carrie, as it seems that the Devil Bug has moved in on her again.

‘Caught in the Storm’ was my subject this evening. I’ve not figured out how to get this track to clean up. I ran it through my normal techniques to get the levels up to par, but parts of it are coming out distorted and such. So, it has become my guinea pig. However, I’m tired and need rest. I will return to this debacle if I have time tomorrow night after my chores.