There are always moments in the studio when the musicians and producers talk about music, production, performances, creativity, courage, and issues of the music business. I wish I recorded some of our conversations. Especially when Ben Wittman was in the studio. Ben, Ben, and I had some cool talks.

I know there are lots of artists following BeMyRecordLabel - and it’s these kinds of talks that artists love to listen in on. (I know because I’m one of them!)

Anyway, this is a clip of when I actually did turn the camera on. This discussion started with the topic of fans complaining about overproduction of CD’s.

I asked Ben Wisch (and Ben Wittman, who passed the question to the other Ben) how you walk the line between producing and overproducing a CD project. How do you know you’re doing it right?

This is his answer.

Ben also addresses an earlier discussion topic which was about BeMyRecordLabel — how much does the listener of a CD actually need to know about this behind-the-scenes stuff?

(Or would that be The Imaginary Pressure of the Self-Imposed Deadline?)

Last week I was back in the studio for just three days.  I flew into New York after a weekend performing and teaching in Augusta, GA. And I flew out at 5am on Thursday to do a Creativity Training and performance in Washington D.C. (I had one of those nights where I didn’t sleep at all because I kept jumping up thinking it was time to leave. Do you ever have those nights before early flights?)

My schedule is so busy right now that I was only able to fit this one small session in.

It’s interesting to do it this way.  A little unusual for sure.  (Many artists make a CD in one condensed block of time.) But this is working. The time off in between sessions seems to be giving Ben and I some space to live with our choices in the last session.  It creates a healthy detachment for each of us. We’re both relaxed and completely trusting of each others’ choices. Kinda sweet actually.

At one point in mid-September I got panicky about the deadline for getting the CD done.  Pressure started building up in my head. But after one of my nail-bitey days, my husband reminded me that there is no deadline.  BeMyRecordLabel is, after all, a very relaxed setting. (You are the only ones who even know I’m making a CD!)  When I let that sink in, I felt instant relief.

The worst thing some indie musicians do is that they begin recording, and then they book all of their CD release parties and performances in advance because they’re so excited about having a new CD.  When the recording takes longer than expected (surprise surprise), they ruin the last month of the process by rushing to get the CD done, rather than rescheduling the CD release shows!  (Yes, I’ve been one of those very indie musicians!)

So, this week I’ll give you a few peeks in the studio with Ben Wittman and Duke Levine.  By the end of the week, I should have a few new mixes for you to hear. (The new versions of the songs take a little longer because Ben has to take more time with all the new tracks - now that they’re blending with the earlier stuff that we did.)

Stay tuned!

I write this after a long day in the studio with Ben Wittman, drummer extraordinaire. The list of people he has toured with and recorded with is quite long and impressive: Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, Jonatha Brooke, Paula Cole, Erasure and others.

Most of our time was spent finding the non-predictable percussion and drum parts for the songs while leaving enough space so that the song didn’t get lost. (He loves the drum loops on these songs, by the way! )

Here’s a brief Christine-stalks-the-studio-with-her-crappy-camera video just to show you a brief moment of Ben Wisch at the computer recording onto ProTools — and Ben Wittman doing his first pass at “Wide Awake.”

A kajillion thank you’s to the people who jumped in on this contest!

BeMyRecordLabel has now surpassed the 10K mark in CD pre-sales - partly because of people who were willing to take a fun little chance on having a song written about them.

And the winner of the contest is from my own town!

Barbara Verba, from ASHEVILLE, NC!! Come on DOWN!!!

(And I definitely gotta get writing on this one! NYC is a week away! So, Barbara - let’s talk soon!)

Thanks to everyone who entered! If I had the time, I’d write a song for each of you!

Here’s another song for you to hear in process. The kitchen table version is similar to this one - without the drum and background vocals. This is very early in the process on this one.

As for the writing of this song and what it’s about:

It’s the first song I wrote for this CD. I hadn’t sat down to write in a while. And I felt - like I always do - like such a beginner. I’ve performed this song live throughout the last year - so it has changed here and there as the audience became a part of the experience. I’ve attempted several re-writes of this song as we worked on it in the studio (as it has a few flaws in my mind) - but nothing has worked. So I’m leaving it alone!

The big question is this:

Should the title be “How Not to Behave” ??

Or the more Prince-like:

“How Not 2 Behave” ??

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Hi Record Executives of the New Millenium –

Here’s a total of the Pre-Orders sold so far on my new CD since the July 21 launch of Be My Record Label. (Exactly six weeks ago.)

But first –

The Big Ticket Items

People want to know about the two big ticket items on the Pre-Order packages. (”The Executive Producer” and the “Private Concert” options.)

So far, no one has purchased the big ticket items.

With the exception of two purchases of the #4 packages — all of our sales so far have been purchases of the 1, 2 or 3 packages. Musicians, artists, and marketers are always curious about those big ticket items - and they write to ask me if anyone has bought them. So, with that out of the way…

Current Pre-Order Total:

$9625.00

Now — $10,000 is my first big milestone for this CD. (That’s a good budget for many indie songwriters.) The last time I posted the numbers just short of a big goal - Beth jumped in first thing in the morning and pushed the total up to $6000. (Then Anna and a few others jumped in as well! Thank you all ever so much!)

So for the Beth’s and Anna’s of the world — here’s a quick deadline reminder:

The big drawing for the chance to have a song written for you, about you, around you — or for, about, around someone you love — is going to happen NEXT WEEK. The drawing happens on September 8. I’m going to put each person’s name on a piece of paper and put those names into a hat. (If you entered twice - then your name will be in the hat twice.) A few more people getting into the drawing will push this number up to the $10,000 milestone.

Just know this…

If I post your song after writing it — you might have all kinds of people writing in about how lame your drum loops and Wurlitzer are!

Again, thanks for your continued participation in this strange little experiment!