Dive!: The Update

As I posted here, the album Dive! is an ongoing work of raw passion that is serving as my personal psychotherapy. I hope it's enjoyable to listen to - at the same time that I'm not terribly concerned with that. The line between art and entertainment is very much intact with this one.

That said, it's taking quite a while to write and record for a number of reasons and I'm not going to rush it. Originally planned as a spring release, then a fall debut, now - I'm quite sure that it's going to drop when it damn well wants to, even though we're quickly approaching a usable number of tracks. It just doesn't feel complete yet - and until it does, work will continue. Some other recordings may surface before then - in fact, I've decided on a couple of concepts that will probably be out in time for Christmas, but we'll see. One will be called "xxx Days" and will reflect a stretch of recording whatever leaps into my mind for x number of days (be very scared of that one.) The other will be an instrumental album of lullabies. The first tune, "Dare To Dream" began to take form yesterday.

It's been a bit of a tug-of-war, recording Dive! As I've explained to a few people, it hearkens back the Castaway trilogy that I released in the late 80's - songs of such brutal honesty and vein-opening candor that I can't believe anyone actually bought the stuff. But that was the artistic outpouring of a young twenty-something still not quite sure what the deal in life was all about. Dive! is more reflective and, perhaps, still very restless. My biggest worry is that people will either be put off by the edge of it, or shocked by the admissions, or even still, convinced that everything they hear will be a statement of absolute fact and conviction. Some of this stuff will be fictional - and then again, some of it won't be. There's the danger - in trusting that people will know the difference.

Basically, I don't care.

To paraphrase Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, what you've got in you, bring it forth and it will save you. What you've got in you, keep it hidden and it will kill you. Music is a pressure release, an avenue of emotion, and for so long, ever since those early records, I've kept myself just a little bit removed from the subject matter I sing. This summer, I began to take down the shields, open the curtains and once again let it all hang out. The response has been encouraging, and with that behind me - Dive! is once again chugging into balls-out territory.

Some of the songs I thought would be on the record are no longer passing muster, tunes like "April Fools" and "I Am An Artist". They've gone by the wayside in favor of fresher, more accurate tunes that will weave all of the album together into something that actually makes sense when listened to as a whole. The latest addition to the roster came about as kind of a surprise and basically wrote itself. Cobbled together and cannibalized out of a tune called "Your Dreams And You" which had lyrics written in October of 2006, the basic feel and chord changes came to me this morning while I was preparing to continue work on the lullaby waltz "Dare To Dream." Obeying the muse, and thanking her for returning this way, I leapt right into it, knowing that a chromatic dulcimer would be needed for the changes. Influenced by the great Sam Phillips and urged on by the recent work of She & Him, it's a deceptively perky tune about the falling away of scales, the healing of wounds through deliberate emotional self-mutilation; the retraining of a barren heart. This is "How To Cry":


How To Cry
Music and Lyrics by Bing Futch
© Copyright 2010 J.O.B. Entertainment Inc.

raindrops are falling from the sky
blue eyes have come to say goodbye
no reason to be upset
I've finally gotten used to it - since you taught me how to cry

I couldn't move and couldn't speak
back then I was such a freak
didn't know and sure didn't care if
the world reflected in my stare took notice - till you taught me how to cry

bridge -

every window shows a scene
close enough to touch, and when you do
fingers leave a smudge on the glass in between
your dreams and you

you came from miles and miles away,
didn't even know the time of day
found you sleeping in my yard
come, let's go stroll the boulevard - won't you teach me how to cry?

bridge -

raindrops are falling from the sky
this is where love comes to die
right here on the highest shelf
what's wrong, don't you recognize yourself - the one who taught me how to cry?
you're the one that taught me how to cry

You can hear a rough demo of this tune over at Reverbnation.

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I expect production to pick up on this album and the other projects. I've decided NOT to produce any more Mountain Dulcimer In The Band books until these recordings are finished. It's hard enough to focus without too many things going on at once.

That is the update - and I'm going back to working on this tune.

Back to Coshocton

Connectivity has been spotty and time sort of precious these past few days since leaving Morris, Illinois. The Gephard Woods Dulcimer Festival was an absolute blast - a beautiful setting and a whole bunch of time to kick back, visit with folks and pick a little. I only taught two workshops, so the rest of the time was spent hanging out and getting interview material for the podcasts. And performing, of course.

Saturday's weather was perfect, a little hot, but kind of windy and simply gorgeous. After my workshops and musical set - I went over and hung out at the booth of Greibhaus Instruments, where I met Jerry Cripe and Nancy Lewis. Jerry was interviewed by Ted Yoder (whom I also met) for a recent Dulcimer Players News podcast and it was great to meet him in person. His solidbody electric dulcimers are quite a thrill - with sweet tones and wonderful playability. Dan Landrum, DPN editor, let me play one on a couple of visits to his home in Chattanooga and I secretly lusted after one. Funny thing, that.

Jerry handed me an endorsement deal after I sat and played for a spell - he's building me a solidbody dulcimer in exchange for some publicity and references; my first dulcimer endorsement. This comes at a great time, as I'm just about to begin recording some projects and wasn't happy with the solidbody tone I've been getting from the Lapblaster. Don't get me wrong - it's great for rocking out with the band, but it doesn't have the dulcimer tone that I need for some other quieter situations. Jerry's instruments sound great even unplugged, so this was an amazing offer and I'm looking forward to receiving the instrument in about a month or so.

Saturday evening found a large group of us dining at Maria's, an Italian restaurant. Got to spend some time hanging with my friend Lauren and Ken Kolodner, which we did again Sunday morning at McDonald's. Lauren's just a cool chick, great hammered dulcimer player - and Ken is a phenomenal player also, not only of hammered dulcimer, but also fiddle. He graciously played some tunes into a recorder for me to learn later during the Friday night jam at the Days Inn and we got to know each other a little better. Ultimate respect. There were so many folks there that I got to hang out with, Keigh and her brother David Lynch - the Jackson family, who brought smiles and farm fresh eggs, the wonderful Susan Trump. I roomed between Dan Landrum and the legendary Brian Bowers, though I didn't see or meet Brian until Sunday, when he complimented me on my set; very cool. Unfortunately, 60 m.p.h. winds and rain ended the festival early during Brian's set on Sunday afternoon and the crowd dispersed pretty quickly. I met a lot of new friends, some of whom came out specifically to see me, and that's something that I'll probably never get used to. I mean, wow Talk about a mind-blowing thing. When someone tells you that you're the reason they've driving for miles, how humbling is that? That's not something I'll ever take for granted - and I hope I'll always be able to spend time with the people who make those journeys.

The drive out from Illinois wasn't too bad - stayed in Connorsville, Indiana overnight and then continued on to Charleston, West Virginia where I stayed at the home of Bob Webb and Heidi Muller. Bob is a consummate performer and producer; we had a lot of fun hanging out and talking late into the night before arising on Tuesday and heading down into the city where he and Heidi sponsor a Music Mentor program for inner city and at-risk kids. Considered the "bad part of town", these kids were full of love and appreciation for the mountain dulcimer, which has been instilled in them by a year-round music program designed to help them find outlets and alternatives to drugs and violence. One of the kids there was Shalor Gore, 2nd place winner of the youth mountain dulcimer contest at the Vandalia Gathering. 1st place winner, Hunter Walker, was also there (we met in Townsend, Tennessee when I played at the Pickin' Porch earlier this year) and we had a good time playing and jamming later on that evening at the home of Jim Probst, out in Lincoln County - true country in the hills of "Almost Heaven." These kinds of trips are just amazing, there are blessings to be found everywhere.

I left West Virginia this morning and am now shacked up in a Super 8 located next to Roscoe Village, where festivities will get underway on Friday. Didn't get to visit with Kendra Ward and Bob Bence or Jerry Rockwell like I wanted, but got here nice and early, which means I can catch up on some of the mountainous editing that needs to be done for Dulcimerica. Upon arriving in Coshocton, I made a bee-line for Wildwood Music to say hi to Don and Marty (who is celebrating a birthday today) and to play some of the exquisite mountain dulcimers they've got hanging on the wall and hidden in the back. I can't afford a $1700 Blue Lion, but it was sure nice to pick on it. I can't even afford a $500 David Schnaufer model McSpadden, but it was nice to pick on it. I might be able to afford a, well, nevermind - perish the thought.

Reason number four that I love my wife: no matter how many instruments that I bring home, she never threatens to turn them into firewood or sell them on eBay. That is one of the marks of true love.