I am so excited about the band's latest project, our live studio album, and just returned from a long afternoon of mixing. I really think this album is going to hit a lot of people at the right time. I just read an interview (forget which mag) with Radiohead, which is arguably one of the best bands in the world. Their songwriting, musicianship, and world vision are phenomenal. Something they talked about rang very true to me. They used to consciously try to make every album so different from each other one that eventually it became a construct rather than an organic process. I'm putting this all into my own words, of course, but the main idea was when they finally came out with Kid A they realized they were breaking barriers but not necessarily making the music they most wanted to. They actually talk about making lush POP songs. So watch out alterna-fans, Radiohead is self-professed pop! Pop should not be seen as derogatory, but rather as what it is; simply something accessible enough to reach a large audience. The term is colored by the quality of music for which we use it. OK....I'm heading somewhere with this. I identified with their desire to no longer strive so hard to be different but just to make the music that was inside of them. I don't think I've tried to make this live album so different from The Floating World, and in not trying, it has become so. My hope is that it WILL reach a lot of people even if this means it receives a "POP" label. Who knows where people will shelve it, I don't care as long as they are listening.

Wow...the interesting things that can happen once you have a website. And I'm not just talking about this weblog. My webmaster just informed me last night that one of the pictures off my website is getting "placed" on some unusual websites. Teenage punks (and I do mean fans of punk-rock, not trying to be derogatory here) and people with their own, shall we say, "interesting" websites have for some reason decided to adopt the picture of me seemingly about to smash a guitar. Amidst inexplicable images, there's little ol' me with my guitar, running around dressed in black. Had I known this photo would have a cult following, maybe I would have tried to make some money off it! Well...some people say it's all about the marketing. :)

I sit here in Columbia, MO during history's worst tornado month. As the clouds churn and swirl, so have my thoughts and musical inspirations. This has been a time of incredible creation and change, and the weather seems to reflect that. Just three days ago the Hilary Scott Band had an amazing and experimental experience, getting forty or so of our friends and fans into a studio and recording an entire live set complete with audience noise and our own on-the-spot inspirations. Although I'm sure this is done by others, it's not a FREQUENT occurrence, because it is fraught with possible problems and can be a logistical nightmare. But we managed to find an excellent engineer in a very resonably priced studio, and we were musically ready. Add on top of that the fact that our fans are respectful and excited, and you have a "you should have been there moment." I am so happy with the results, and thrilled that, in a way, we proved ourselves. We've always known that our live shows are where we shine, but the proof was in this pudding. I can't wait to release the CD. Anyhow, directly after the last of the audience members left, a tornado watch went into effect, complete with sirens, and we hustled into the basement. We all agreed if we were to die, at least we were doing what we love. Now that we've had a tornado warning every day this week, the fear that started as sharp and poignant is now of a dull sort, like I've been here one too many times. But as my percussionist Michael mentioned to me, there may not be any real mountains in Missouri, but those changing, looming clouds are moutainous, awe-inspiring, and impressive. We will be moving to Chicago soon, but we won't forget these incredible storms. There's nothing quite like a thunderstorm in Missouri. Someday I'm sure one of those storms will blast its way into a song.