Years ago I tried writing some songs. Then I met a University of Utah medical student named Wayne Burton who had some recording equipment. Wayne was kind enough to offer the free use of his equipment and his time to record one of the songs - a recording which I intended to give to my wife as a Christmas gift. He was very helpful and gave me hours of his time as I learned more about the process. We ended up recording the guitar first and then I sang over the recording.

I learned a hard lesson after the process was seemingly over. Listening to yourself sing can be a very different experience than listening to a recording of yourself sing. Frankly, when I got home and listened to this recording, I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t like my singing voice. I put the recording away for about six months and only then could I bring myself to listen to it again.

Since then I’ve dealt with my initial misgivings and am grateful I had this experience. I recently purchased an acoustic guitar and hope eventually to record some more songs - even if it’s just for myself. Modern technology and computers are making it easier and easier for people to do for themselves what used to require studio time and thousands of dollars. So I hope to eventually have the recording equipment I need to do more recordings.

In general, I really enjoy the creative process. Music and artwork are a very important part of my life and I don’t merely want to enjoy what others have done. It’s a good feeling to actually make music, to draw, to paint (you can see some of my artwork here). My feeling is that a person has to accept where he/she is (talent-wise, etc.) and move forward from that point.

You can listen to the recording or download it by clicking on the title just below.

Many have already seen “New York Doll”, the movie about Arthur “Killer” Kane (bassist for the New York Dolls) who converted to Mormonism and managed to live the Mormon lifestyle without losing his desire to rock out the house.

One of the highlights of the film is a performance by David Johansen (lead singer of the New York Dolls) of two LDS hymns: “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” and “Come Come Ye Saints.” The singing is accompanied by very nice acoustic guitar renditions of these hymns. I’d like to hear more music like this. You can listen to these recordings to the radio blog.

Update: The Police are scheduled to open the Grammys on February 11th. I can only wonder what song(s) they will perform. I’m kind of hoping for “Synchronicity II” but I wouldn’t be surprised if they picked one of their bigger hits.

There are rumors that the Police and Van Halen (with original lead singer David Lee Roth) will be reuniting their bands and touring this next summer.

That would be a relief. Though these bands are quite different from each other, just listening to one solid album from either of them could be enough to slice clean through the the piles of grunge and indie crap that have been pounded into our ears for so long. Sting’s lyricism or Eddie Van Halen’s guitar riffs should be revelation enough for anybody.

Still, past history being what it is, my hopes aren’t too high. While these bands are brilliant, any single person in these groups has enough ego to keep the magic from happening.

Truth be told, I’m a little more concerned about Van Halen. The first question is whether Diamond Dave and Eddie can truly reunite the band. This would mean they have to manage being in the same room together for more than five minutes - nevermind a months-long multi-city tour. Also, they are saying that Eddie Van Halen’s 15-year-old son is going to replace Michael Anthony as the group’s bassist??!? While it’s undeniable that genetics can do good things, that still just doesn’t sound quite right.

I find myself watching American Idol and going through all kinds of different feelings. But every now and then a contestant comes along who sings so well that he/she makes my jaw drop to the floor. So far my favorite of the singers we’ve heard is a guy with the unusual name Sundance Head. Thanks to YouTube, I can share the joy.