Artistry is a Work-in-Progress

In 2017, I simultaneously released three albums of original music. It was a collection of thirty-three songs that I had written over the previous two years, during which time I was also working on my dissertation and then adapting it into a book. Whenever I needed to take a break from academic writing, I would pick up a guitar and work on songs. Once I was in the editing stage of the book, I started recording the music. 

Whereas in scholarship, I try to be as specific and succinct as possible, when writing a song, I tend to paint in much broader strokes. With that in mind, I think that having a well-honed balance between these two rather immense projects allowed me to be more productive with both without getting burnt out on either.  

For all intents and purposes, Weather Patterns was the first of these albums that I wrote, then Mechanical Bull, and then Good Night, Fahrenheit. All three of them were recorded in the first half of 2017 and then released in June of that year. A savvy listener might be able to hear the steady improvement of my mixing and mastering skills on them if listened to in that order, as well as on my two subsequent albums: Better Days and Embers. I'll be the first to admit that my abilities as a DIY artist are a constant work-in-progress. 

That said, I hope you can appreciate the songwriting on my earlier work, even with the somewhat limited production value. In my experience, I often find that the best way to grow as an artist is to create.