6 – Later Minnesota –
I’d say the “Later Minnesota” years started after 2002, basically after I started “recording” my songs. At first I was using a fairly old computer to record with. But, in 2005 I decided to commit to a small Project Studio and bought a rack mounted system just for recording. Now, I had two computers: one for “business” and one for “recording.” The business one got replaced soon afterwards (like, it died), which was good because it was getting too old to handle the newer software.
I was really interested in making CDs during the years between 2006 and 2012. I mainly used them for demos. To be honest, the quality on them was marginal. Yet, it was during these years that I developed the idea some professional CDs: “Me, Myself, and Alice,” “Midnight Writer,” and “Me, Myself, and Others.” And, yes, I had enough songs for the first two and was thinking I could get enough for the third, with “a little help from my friends.”
Also during this period, I renewed my interest in the Minnesota Association of Songwriters (MAS). I was not diligent in attending meetings. But, I got around a little to meet and work with others interested in writing and performing music.
And, that is where I am now. Both of my computers died in 2015. I really wanted to replace them with high-end Macs. But, financially, that was out of bounds, way out of bounds. So, I settled for a high-end Dell and it’s been working great. I’d been trying to work with my iPad for recording. It’s OK. But, just not the same.
I continue to improve my style, attending workshops and watching all the videos I can find online. I joined SongTown, and that has helped, too.
Also back in 2015, I started my “Symphony.” I work on it bit-by-tiny-bit when I can. However, I fear it will become my “Unfinished.”
Plus – Second Life ®*
Yes, this could be considered Later Minnesota, but is a class by itself because it is so different working in Second Life (SL) than in Real Life (RL). When it comes to performing, that is where I’ve done most of it: online. Plus, I have four songs written specifically from events in SL (“Come Sailing with Me (on a Second Life Sea)”, “When Dragon Stopped By”, “Sing Me A Sweet Song”, “To Esther”). And, my lead-in and closing songs are very SL related. There were a few years there where every Tuesday night at 9pm Central I’d do a one hour show, and mostly following a very talented singer/songwriter from Connecticut: Shannon McMahon.
*Second Life ® is a registered trademark of Linden Lab