The title says it all. I challenged myself to write and record an album in one weekend and I’m proud to say that I actually did it.
Stream or download it for free below then check out the story of the project.
The Story Behind This Album
It was all done in the last weekend of July but it was a long time in the making. I’ve been holding myself to a higher standard since the end of the
Home Roots Tour and I created a daily writing quota. It’s gone a long way to helping me feel the way I felt when I just started writing songs. During those first days, there were times when I would write six or seven songs in one weekend. Songwriting in those early days for me was adventuresome and I would write non stop to figure out my style. Touring and the business end of my music took time away from my music and even though I would still write, it wasn’t as prolific or as exploratory as it had been when I just started. Which isn’t bad, I was just focusing on different aspects of my music. After the Home Roots Tour, I really wanted to write more and challenge myself to produce songs that would help me grow as a musician and as a person. Since starting my quota, I’ve written several songs I have yet to release (so you can expect a lot more coming soon) but I also wrote several general ideas and one liners that never went anywhere. These started adding up as I finished notebooks. When I realized there would be a weekend when I would have the house to myself, for some reason I wondered if it would be possible to write and record an album in that weekend.
I knew writing that amount of songs alone would be pretty doable so the challenge came in writing enough material in one weekend and also having time to record them well enough to sound decent.
I started thumbing through my notebooks since after the Home Roots Tour and picking out those one liners and ideas so I would have somewhere to start when I started writing on that last weekend of July. So when the weekend arrived, I was excited and prepared to write more songs in one weekend than I ever had before. My brother, Levi James, helped me out by sending me a few line ideas when I started to slow down. He gave me the starting line for “Guilt Tourist” and I was able to get past a writing block moment. When all was said and done, I wrote ten songs during the span of the weekend and was able to record all of them too. A new personal best for the amount of songs written in a weekend.
Listening to On a Weekend at a House by the Road
Listening back to all the songs in the order I wrote and recorded them, gave the entire project another perspective. I won’t share what I noticed when I listened back but I think knowing the timeline is an important aspect to these songs, so I wanted to give you that context as well. That’s why I made a little timeline so you can follow along with the songs based on the time they were written and recorded. Maybe you’ll find what I found or maybe you’ll find something else, but I don’t want to spoil an initial experience you might get for yourself.
Raw and Unedited
The songs here are first draft and unedited. Would there things that I would change about the quality of the recordings or the lines in the songs? Most definitely. But that wasn’t the point of challenging myself to write and record an album in one weekend. The point was to let go and just do it. The point was to see if I could. I never planned on releasing these songs before doing the exercise but I think there’s something cool here. Enjoy.
Lyrics and Lyric Pics
On a Weekend
I visit you in the city on a weekend at a house by the road I visit you in the city on a weekend at a house by the road Well I’m told the showdown is the best in town with those among the residential fold Eyes as big as poached eggs looking just like could burst Eyes as big as poached eggs looking just like could burst It’s a curse to search with such a heavy yoke when you’ll never satisfy everybody’s thirst Did you listen intently to the table head after roll? Did you listen intently to the table head after roll? There’s a goal when the smile shone like the crest of a wave trying to hide its undertow I visit you in the city on a weekend at a house by the road I visit you in the city on a weekend at a house by the road Well I’m told the showdown is the best in town with those among the residential fold In a town that talks to itself in its sleep Try to stay woke enough to see The steampunk sentences so new and antique Are only just a dream Before it’s too late And the bubble deflates Face the one that’s different from what they write about And the longer I wait Only propenciates The need to tie a halo to my ears before heading out I visit you in the city on a weekend at a house by the road I visit you in the city on a weekend at a house by the road Well I’m told the showdown is the best in town with those among the residential fold
AI and I
The morning was bathed in blue light before I ever stepped outside I can’t trust my feelings unless I track the night so I love sleeping with my baby AI My baby AI and I agree It can take whatever it needs while it’s still growing teeth And that will teach it to help me Yes that will teach it to help me A delivery came to my front door step and I had no idea why It was a breakfast I didn’t expect ordered by my toddler AI My toddler AI and I agree It can take whatever it needs from the fridge for my groceries And that will teach it to help me Yes that will teach it to help me A message came through when I got to the shop that now would be a great time to buy So I can remain on top, just me and my pre teen AI My pre teen AI and I agree It can take whatever it needs and I give it more pages to read And that will teach it to help me Yes that will teach it to help me Finally a question came through as it was suggesting something new After predicting The World Set Free It told me exactly what to do based on historical cues Because it knew what would happen to me My angsty AI and I agree It can take whatever it needs to fix issues in the constituencies And that will teach it to help me Yes that will teach it to help me Please help me
Do You Want to Sleep In?
Hey girl, hey girl, do you want to sleep in? Hey girl, hey girl, let’s go back to bed again There’s nothing outside except rain and noise pollution So let’s rest easy now with the only solution The only thing that I want to see Are the backs of my eyelids please Hey girl, hey girl, do you want to sleep in? Hey girl, hey girl, let’s go back to bed again Gopher’s always in season, I’m familiar with his hole But I won’t go-fer anything until tomorrow Let’s seal the room up tight So it’s as dark as night Hey girl, hey girl, do you want to sleep in? Hey girl, hey girl, let’s go back to bed again I got a head full of landmines and drunken elephants And I know that they will stumble soon and they’ll be nothing left of it Let’s take our weary heads Right on back to bed Hey girl, hey girl, do you want to sleep in? Hey girl, hey girl, let’s go back to bed again
No Bones About Him
There’s no bones about him, cosigns to hit bottom in an old spanish ship He calls for new hires in the shadow of spires to man this dangerous trip So put your backs into it and let’s row, boys and girls, row If we ever return home, it’s thank to our own But for now we row for no bones There’s no bones about him, can’t recall when he lost ‘em. It was sometime before his debut We know who bought ‘em, years ago we caught ‘em but there was nothing we could do Except put our backs into it and let’s row, boys and girls, row If we ever return home, it’s thank to our own But for now we row for no bones You don’t know him well, you hardly can tell what he even means by a nod Keep your time and stay in line against all odds There’s no bones about him, we lost when we fought him so we know how his vision narrows As we leave the bay and see the land fade our bones get cold to the marrow As we put our backs into it and let’s row, boys and girls, row If we ever return home, it’s thank to our own But for now we row for no bones
Jailbreak Documentarian
I can’t lose my balance in the alley, the walls will grab me here And take away my calm escape to make fools of all those near A lens smuggled in from the valley helps me record it all Propped up on the bed as I tie down these threads to help slow my fall I’m a jailbreak documentarian. Angle: autobiographical I’m a jailbreak documentarian. To be archived by librarians only if I’m ever caught again I got new clothes from my cousin when I met him the next day He asked me to sign my jumpsuit so he could sell it on Ebay The pigs were out by the dozens, I have it in my b-roll Now I sit for my follow up interview to fill in all the story holes I’m a jailbreak documentarian. Angle: autobiographical I’m a jailbreak documentarian. To be archived by librarians only if I’m ever caught again I’ll be known behind bars for my Oscar...
Guilt Tourist
Cocktail rings around my eyes and sleep lines on my face Backtrack to a desolate house and a weary worn out grace Big talk in a small room all about how I was wrong When I never even joined the gang and never even tagged along But now you have me believing that all hope is gone You can share what the weather’s like and you can offer me discounted tickets To a first class all around planned guilt trip but I’m already a guilt tourist I got burned by my past, that light never throws a shade And nobody ever cares to see all the changes I have made Everybody looks at me like I don’t know the language But I understand glares perfectly and it worsens my anguish And now you have me believing that you need me vanquished You can share what the weather’s like and you can offer me discounted tickets To a first class all around planned guilt trip but I’m already a guilt tourist
Pick a Bus
Pick a bus. Any bus. Take a chance, use some trust. It’s make or break. It’s boom or bust. Don’t tell us to change or cause a fuss because it’s only the whispers of bad luck and you can go anywhere for just two bucks. So pick a bus. Any bus. Pick a bus. Any bus.
New Irish Rocket
Since he was a guest at the estate he tried eating as proper as possible But using tiny silverware for finger foods just felt ridiculously comical So he laid down his fork and knife and put some bread rolls in his pockets And he made an old Irish exit like a new Irish rocket The station called him for questioning for apparently he was acting too suspicious The estate owners charged him with insanity when he was just following traditions So he told them where to meet him. His visit was too shocking. And then he made an old Irish exit like a new Irish rocket While they were all where he told them he’d be, he went back to the empty estate He ate the rest of the food, all with his hands and left with the silverware and plates He is a proud man and you don’t want to mock it For he’ll make an old Irish exit like a new Irish rocket He sold the silverware and plates to their neighbor across the road And he never looked back even once as he disappeared into the unknown He left all the money at a free clinic that night even though the doctor had locked it And he made an old Irish exit like a new Irish rocket
If It Takes Years
I’m in for the long haul, I got the phone call for a bounty I can retire on But your deeds in Tulsa make this personal. Get ready to put the miles on Because I have so many questions and I don’t mind if it takes years to grill you And after I hear all your confessions, I don’t mind if it takes years to kill you You can’t hide in this city, I’m worn knuckle made and I have plenty of help from those you’ve betrayed. Bitch, I slay. You think my grade? Ha! Just show your face, name the place and the day, you will lose. Now let’s review: you stole the goods from the Appalachian and said it was all for the good of the nation. Your righteous talk makes me lose my patience when you spent to to change all past conversations. Understand me, you break families and the Deep Web wants you exposed as badly. I do the job every time I am hired with so much success I am an outlier. Just try to run, you’ll see I will not tire, I’ll corner you just like a forest fire. Did you think I’d give up after your stunts at the World Cup? You just make it worse upon yourself I’m closing in on you. Just missed by an hour or two But you don’t have anywhere else And I still have so many questions and I don’t mind if it takes years to grill you And after I hear all your confessions, I don’t mind if it takes years to kill you
Flash of the Wild
There’s light in the way you move and honor in the way you shine A fresh step in spring with no shoes far from common city lines A flash of the wild, a flash of the wild You’re all the things I love A flash of the wild You’re a wolf and a crow in the mountains aware of similar dreams Wash my face in the peak snow melting and flowing in crisp forest streams A flash of the wild, a flash of the wild You’re all the things I love A flash of the wild It’s new each and every day rays poke through canopies A patch of moss where we can lay to hear songs of wild canaries An escape to a wonderful bliss, I can’t pull away my eyes A breathtaking kiss and beauty that fills the skies You’re all the things I love A flash of the wild
