I decided this year to commit to recording an album of the songs I’ve written. For the past few years I found myself playing more music, and the pandemic got me into home production. I also realized a new confidence in what I can do both creatively and in performance. Combine this with plenty of encouragement from my peers, and I have chosen to focus on this project through to the finish!

I had been a very active musician years ago, playing in a few bands and experimenting with solo acts. I then dropped music nearly altogether for career pursuits. I would still play recreationally, doing an occasional open mic, even learning banjo and harmonica, and writing songs as they came. But I generally felt like I wasn’t really a musician anymore, more of just a hobbyist, because I had no dedication to it. Though as my career life stabilized and I had some free time and attention for recreation, I began going to open mics more regularly, which then led to more opportunities to play.

When the pandemic started, I was going out to acoustic jams once a week. Those groups were full of friends and I was really enjoying the time to just play music. When that stopped, I did what most other people in music did, I turned to production to fill the void. Writing songs, recording, mixing, and mastering are skills I had some experience with from many years before. I returned to these with a sense that I actually knew what I was doing!

Now, years since 2020, I feel like I have the skill and material to offer an entirely independent album. I’ve edited and rehearsed the songs, recorded a few demos, learned the digital audio workstation, and watched many many many Youtube videos. My musical and personal community is supportive, I have the time and resources. I’m doing it! I even have a plan.

In a few weeks, I have scheduled myself time to record the audio tracks. Simple recording, just vocals and guitar, a few takes each. I’ll use the Ableton quantize feature to automate the tempo and program some simple beats to fill out the vibes. Then I edit and mix.

I’m still looking around for mastering options. LANDR is my first choice at the moment. Then there’s publishing and distribution. SongTrust seems to be the best publisher, and either Tunecore or Distrokid will be the distribution. I’ll also register a copyright and submit it to the library of congress. These are not necessary steps to put music out, but it’s all part of making it accessible to the most people today.

I still need to make the album art and liner notes. I also really need to have a release plan. Maybe there will be a pre-order thing, a release party, and a tour of little shows. I could submit it to radio stations, music reviewers, other blogs, and playlists. I will definitely go to local record shops with it.

Then, I can do something else! Deciding to focus on this album means ignoring many other things, even other music projects. I am still doing other things, but this album just takes most of my focus and free time.

I expect to feel pretty accomplished once I put my art out for the world. I can move on knowing that I have released a legitimate album. It’s a dream goal that teenage me had years ago.