Of course I don't miss the snow, the dirty air, the poverty, crime etc. The longer I'm away from it, the harder it seems to be to go back.
Many of the songs on the new record underwent drastic changes in arrangement, tempo and dynamics with the addition of the other band members.
I have always abhorred the business end of music.
Mostly though this desire just springs from an idea for a guitar lead, or vocal melody etc. that I come up with well after the recording is finished.
At the time I attempted to purchase the rights back for the 3 Homestead records, but the owner demanded an outrageous sum in the neighborhood of $10,000, about 10 times more money than I could get my hands on at the time.
Primarily I met my wife in Chapel Hill in 1997. We kept up a long distance relationship for a couple of years before I moved here permanently in 2000.
There's nothing remotely interesting to me about marketing music as a product.
This gave me an out of the contract and I decided not to do the record with Homestead. After that, they stopped sending me statements.
I followed most of the 80's bands into the 90's as most of those folks who hadn't moved away were all still active. However, there was a point when I lost track of the new bands coming up.
Everyone has other projects, other commitments, all with more upside for them than playing with a controlling old indie rock guy.
Cleveland is the place I grew up and lived much of my adult life, so it will always be a part of my soul.
I occasionally miss big city things, like major league baseball, a large art museum, more choices when shopping for musical equipment etc.
I probably had the most fun recording For Richer For Poorer in Nashville.
I don't think my music is changed enough. There are many songs that I end up scrapping because they sound too much like something I've done before.
The turning point for me was when the Supreme Court installed Bush in 2000, even though he got half a million votes less nationally than Gore. It was nothing more than a bloodless coup and that's when I really started paying attention.
They lyrical content has grown more introspective and less abstract. I don't know if that's good or bad... Sometimes it feels a little raw to be putting so much of myself out there.
In my mid 30's, after a decade or so of giving full time to the music thing and finding myself with about $10 in the bank and no assets other than my musical equipment, I realized I needed to get serious about making a living.
You can't get away from who you are I guess.
I tried for several months last year to put together a band for live performance, but could never get everyone together on a consistent basis.
Each of my records has a different focus, a different theme.
It was a serendipitous arrangement, and I now have enough income that I am not in danger of homelessness if the next record doesn't make money.
I am pretty detached from the local music crowd though.