Joe Bassett

There’s no place like home

joe — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:25:47 +0000

After our Nashville trip two weeks ago and then a DC trip this past weekend, I’m feeling a bit disconnected. I love traveling and there’s nothing better than sharing that time with my wife and daughter, enjoying yet another memory for me to hold on to. After a while though, that tether to home starts to tighten up and our house seems like precious air to my gasping lungs. This post-trip time is when we tend to circle the wagons and try to keep the world at bay, even for just a little while. After that, there’s a need for the normal routine… reconnecting with our local friends, getting back to our church, even just cooking dinner instead of eating out every night. I’m very much a creature of habit and being away from that for too long starts to wear me down. As much as this simple man loves to roam, I’m always drawn back home… eventually. It’s good to be home.

Grace and peace,
Joe

Back home and exhausted

joe — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:26:30 +0000

Well, I was going to post from the studio Saturday but we ended up putting in a nearly 12 hour day. By the time I got to the hotel I was beat and then we drove pretty much all day yesterday. So I’ll post a few pictures now that I’m slowly returning to the land of the living.

It was a great, whirlwind of a trip and it was so nice to hang with the Casella’s again and even more so now that we’re all parents. I finished up my guitar parts and vocals before I left and now Casella will be working on stuff over the next month or so… adding piano, guitars, vocals, etc and then mixing/mastering. I’m really looking forward to hearing it all when it’s fleshed out instead of just hearing it in my head. I’ll post a bit more as I get back in the daily grind, for now here are some pictures from the trip…

I’ll post a few more later!

Joe

PS, happy baseball opening day!

“You had me at barbecue…”

joe — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:50:39 +0000

We got to Nashville yesterday and since it was my one day off, hit some of our favorite places. We stopped by the Opry Hotel (very touristy thing to do but I don’t care, we love it) and mall and then went to eat dinner at Baja Burrito (a must every time we’re in town). Callie also got a bear from Build-A-Bear that says Nashville… it has guitars on it’s shirt.

This morning, we hit the studio and managed to track 3 songs (vocal and guitar) plus a few extra things. The Casellas took us to this awesome BBQ place for lunch and I had possibly the best beef barbecue EVER. We’ll be working again all day tomorrow and then heading home Sunday… I’ll try to post some pictures from the studio tomorrow as well. Can’t wait for y’all to hear these songs, we’re loving how it’s sounding so far!

Time to get some much needed sleep, talk to you tomorrow…

Joe

Nashville or bust!

joe — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:41:31 +0000

We’re getting everything packed up for a road trip to Nashville tomorrow. I’m heading out to work with Jeremy Casella again on a set of new songs. I love working with Jeremy and it’ll be good to get back into the studio and get these songs out for y’all. Plus, we just really love Nashville and any chance to be there is one we’ll take. This will be Callie’s first road trip, it’s a pretty long drive so we’ll see how it goes. We have Thursday open so we’re going to take her to all of our favorite haunts. Should be a fun and productive week!

I’m thinking of releasing this EP a little differently, possibly releasing it as a free download on this site… I’ll let you know more as I get it all figured out. I’ll also be posting pictures from the studio and keep you updated on our progress. So stay tuned for that.

Time to go finish packing, check the guitars and see if it all fits in my car… talk to you in a day or so!

Grace and peace,
Joe

Musings of a new dad

joe — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:03:34 +0000

I woke up at quarter after seven this morning.

To most of you, that is not a big deal at all and a lot of you probably get up earlier than that. But I’m a musician who stays up until 3am and wakes up some time between 10am and noon. Early mornings and I do not get along. However, that was all before I became a dad. Now I’m up early and trying to entertain a four month old by making faces, shaking rattles and watching my little girl grow up far too quick… all before my first cup of coffee!

Rhonda went back to work earlier this year so I’ve been doing the whole stay at home dad thing since then. If you told me that I’d be staying at home during the day with my kid when I was a teenager or in my twenties, I would have told you that you were crazy. Turns out that it’s pretty awesome and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. For the first time in my life, I don’t mind getting up early at all.

Also, I really got into cooking last year and I’m pretty sure it was a byproduct of my Food Network HD addiction. Last Christmas my gifts changed from the previous year’s video games and movies to dutch ovens and spices. Go figure. Today I’m slow cooking some chili (Thanks to my brother Brian for the recipe!) for our weekly Lost get together tonight with our friends Aaron and Candice. Thanks to the writers strike ending, we can look forward to a few more get togethers this tv season!

I mentioned a month or so ago that I was having writers block… thankfully, I seemed to have made it through and finished up a couple of songs. Now I need to figure out if they’ll make it on the next EP or wait until another record. It feels good to finally finish something… there’s nothing worse for me than having some random ideas that never flesh out. Now I’m looking forward to hammering out a few more and getting back in a groove again.

Lastly, I just watched the new Indiana Jones trailer on Good Morning America and it’s stinking awesome! I can’t believe we’re getting another movie (Raiders is in my Top 3 of all time) and as soon as that classic theme started I was sold.

Ok, the little munchin is stirring out of her nap so I’m off to play peek-a-boo…

Take care,
J

Super Tuesday

joe — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:22:35 +0000

If you’re in one of the 24 states holding primary elections today, make sure you go out and vote!

Joe

“They got debacled!”

joe — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:53:31 +0000

That eloquent title above is courtesy of Emmitt Smith on ESPN after the Super Bowl last night. Just let it soak in a bit…

It was a great game, I’m quite happy with the outcome and as a Tom Petty fan it was good to see them on the halftime show. Now it’s back to keeping up with the Ravens off season deals and gearing up for Orioles spring training.

One more thing… a week or so ago Rhonda and I watched a movie called “Once”. It was amazing. Basically a modern musical, it really captured that feeling you get when you connect with someone musically/creatively. There’s a scene when the two leads play together for the first time at a music store and it’s simply hypnotic. An absolutely beautiful movie with a fantastic soundtrack. I highly recommend it!

Talk to you later,
Joe

Some post-holiday random thoughts

joe — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:01:22 +0000

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that the New Year is treating you well. It was a busy time of year for us and I think we’re just now starting to recuperate. Rhonda and I have both been sick off and on over the last few weeks so our tree is still up. Yes, that’s really lame but what can you do… at least Callie likes looking at all the lights!

I’ve been trying to find time to work on some songs for an EP I’ll be recording in a couple of months. I hit a patch of writers block a little while ago so I’m just trying to write through it. That seems to be the only way for me to work it out… although it’s not that I can’t write anything, it’s that everything I write I think is junk. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel though so hopefully I’ll get back into a groove.

The Holiday Sale went well and I just wanted to thank everyone that picked up a copy of the cd… I hope you dig it! Thanks for supporting independent music!

I made it out to see a few movies over the holidays and I saw what is easily my favorite film of last year… No Country For Old Men. I’m a big Coen Brothers fan and this is a real return to form for them… a nearly perfect film.

Callie (and Rhonda) got me this for Christmas…

The Snoopy Snow Cone Machine. My girls are pretty awesome.

Well, Callie’s getting a little restless so it’s time to get back to my day job. Talk to y’all soon!

Grace and peace,
Joe

Holiday Sale!

joe — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:52:42 +0000

Hey all, it’s the holidays and we all survived Black Friday so I’m in the mood to give. From now until the end of 2007 I’ll be selling Nothing Hurts Like The Truth for $5.00 each (instead of the usual $13). Also, as an added bonus… I’ll be throwing in my first EP Promised Land for FREE! So you get two CD’s for the price of a Starbucks Gingerbread Latte!

I doubt that we’ll do this sale again so get in while you can. More than anything, I just want folks to hear the record so get someone you know a reasonable stocking stuffer.

Thanks and talk to you soon!
Joe

Thankful

joe — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 23:06:50 +0000

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We spent the day with our families and I ate far too much (Farewell diet until the New Year!). Here are a few things that popped into my head Thursday that I’m thankful for…

Friends and family
A church where we continue to grow as Christians and are blessed with joyful fellowship
The Christmas play list on my iPod (cuz it’s that time of year!)
Good coffee and homemade apple pie
The Office (especially Dwight)
That I’m still blessed to write songs and share them with you all (and all the friends who help me do that)
God’s wonderful grace, so much greater than our sin
My two beautiful girls…

In Christ alone
Joe