Preproduction on "Pondering" Follow-Up!

My profuse apologies for the delayed post...I've been absolutely swamped! I had intended to post occasionally from the recent tour in support of Lincoln Brewster's newly released "Today Is The Day" project, but by the time I was able to come up for air, it was over! :^) HUGE thanks to all of you who made it out to the concerts and clinics. It was exceedingly cool meeting so many of you during the tour.

It's currently about 1:30 a.m. & I'm in my hotel room in Indianapolis. I have an early call time in the lobby, so will try to keep this short!

I've received lots of emails over the years from folks who've wondered when my next solo project would be completed (my solo debut, "Pondering the Sushi", was released in 2001....yikes!). Here's a video blog that lets you in on the preproduction process over the past few months and gives you a behind the scenes look. I'll try to keep you updated as further progress is made (at this juncture, it appears that the first few months of 2009 is my window for completing it - my travel schedule looks like it will be lightening up just a bit).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thanks again to all of you who've expressed ongoing interest in my music...your support is so appreciated!

Blessings- Norm

An Evening at Angel Stadium

We were honored to play at the Southern California Harvest Crusade on August 16…what an incredible experience.

Aside from the exhilaration of leading over 45,000 people in worship…or sharing the stage with the multi-platinum band P.O.D. and our friends in Leeland...or catching a brief glimpse from the dugout of a packed-out pro baseball stadium and imagining for an instant how terrifying it would be to be next up to bat in a critical game with a gazillion people depending upon you…aside from all of that, the coolest thing was watching some 4,000 people respond to Pastor Greg Laurie’s invitation at the end of the evening. The entire outfield was packed with people. I’m sure there was much celebration in heaven that night.

This was the first event that Pastor Greg had done since the tragic loss of his eldest son, Christopher, in a car accident just over 3 weeks prior. Please pray for the Laurie family through this toughest of times.

Diced Thumb

Rushing to get ready for our recent gig at Angel Stadium of Anaheim (which was actually an amazing evening...more to come in a separate post), I jammed my thumb across the teeth of a packing tape dispenser, and watched the blood start to flow...much to my chagrin. The saving grace was that the gig that night wasn't going to involve any slapping.

The bummer was that another production retreat for the "Pondering" follow-up (dang...I definitely need to come up with a name for this project) started the day after, and it was going to involve a lot of slap work. Suffice it to say that I ended up having to bail on my original plans and focus on other aspects of the project...because my thumb was expressing its displeasure every time I even entertained the thought of considering the possibility of maybe attempting a potential slap or two. :^)

The pic was taken a few days after the initial slicing debacle (for those of you who are looking at the pic and wondering exactly how much of a wimp this Norm guy really is). :^)

Rig Talk...

In this latest video blog, I got a chance to share a few thoughts about my favorite bass amplification gear. I've been an enthusiastic Gallien-Krueger user for the past 4 years, and continue to LOVE it.

Look for a factory tour in an upcoming feature!

By the way, I'm humbled to be the Featured Artist at the Gallien-Krueger website this month. Drop by www.gallien.com to check it out!

Blessings- Norm

Island Time...

WOW!

My family and I have been on a long-overdue vacation in Hawaii for the past week, and it's been absolutely incredible. As some of you know, I spent five years of my childhood living in Hawaii Kai on southeastern Oahu...so it's always a particular treat for me to be able to make it back here.

Spent 4 days on Maui at our timeshare in Kaanapali (the pic is the view out our window), with long stretches of snorkeling interspersed with short breaks to eat amazing food. Local food in Hawaii is...well, for me, it's kinda my soul food. It's a sublime blend of Asian (mostly Japanese, Korean & Chinese), Hawaiian and little dashes of American & European influences. Also had a great visit with Gina's brother & family who live about 5 minutes up the road from where we stayed.

Yesterday, we flew back to Oahu and visited with my parents and my brother & family. Watched the July 4th fireworks over Magic Island right out the window of my folks' condo. Happy July 4th to all of you of the USA persuasion, by the way!

I did bring along my bass in case I feel inspired one of these evenings to do some more writing and/or shedding...but for right now, I'm just recharging the batteries. I'm heading into a pretty busy stretch of conferences and road dates upon returning to the mainland the middle of next week, so have been taking the opportunity during this trip to get some focused quality time with my wife and daughters. It's been awesome. God is good.

Hope each of you are enjoying the summer, and are finding some downtime as well.

Blessings- Norm

Tour of MTD Facility!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I visited with Michael Tobias a few months ago at his shop in Kingston, New York (yes, it's the same "Kingston" for which "Autumn in Kingston" on my Pondering the Sushi project was named). Michael was kind enough to give us a rare glimpse into the operation where he builds what I (and countless others) consider the finest basses in the world.

Enjoy! And definitely drop by www.mtdbass.com for more info...

Blessings- Norm

Mixing underway for Lincoln Brewster project!

I've been receiving mp3's every day or two from Lincoln as he proceeds with mixing the new project, and have been sending my feedback & comments up his way. The upcoming Lincoln Brewster project ("Today Is The Day") will hit the stores on September 23, but there's a pre-release special being offered now at www.lincolnbrewster.com!

I'll try to get a few audio clips for you to check out in the near future...

Blessings- Norm

Working on the "Pondering" follow-up...

On June 6, I returned from a 4-day writing retreat in San Diego, working on material for the follow-up to my "Pondering the Sushi" CD. It was a really productive time, and I emerged with the basic framework for 9 songs written. There's still quite a bit of preproduction work left to do in terms of actually tracking the tunes, but the time spent was invaluable nonetheless.

I encountered a hiccup to the process when my Pro Tools set-up got a corrupted file and stopped working on Tuesday night. I ended up having to drive an hour north to my home in Orange County to retrieve the program discs and drive back down to San Diego. Then after all that, I still had to deal with tech support on Wednesday morning and download a patch before the application would properly launch again. AUGH.

Anyway, this is all to say to those of you who've been regularly inquiring as to the status of the project...progress is being made, and a bit of momentum has been generated!

My family from Hawaii is now in town for a long-overdue visit, and I'm taking about 10 days off to just chill and hang out (speaking of long overdue!)...then I'm planning to resume work on this project at every spare moment I have.

Thanks for your interest & I'll keep the updates coming as I have them!

Discussing my MTD 535 with Michael Tobias...

Here's the second of three video blogs compiled from my recent hang with bass builder extraordinaire Michael Tobias!

This episode features my main 535, #252, that I acquired back in 1997. It's been my primary bass ever since...what an AMAZING instrument.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the MTD (Michael Tobias Design) basses yet, I definitely encourage you to do anything you can to do so! Visit MTD at www.mtdbass.com...

Final Tracking Days for Lincoln Brewster's New Project

I'm on my flight home from Sacramento after the final trip up here to Linc's studio to work on the new album ("Today Is The Day"). As of completion of our work last night (well...2:30 this morning, technically), it has been just over a total of 36 days spent up here in Northern California since work on this project began back in the fall (only about 3 of those days were spent tracking bass, with the vast majority being serving as a sounding board/creative consultant/punch-in'er-and-out'er/extra set of ears).

The project is sounding really great. I'm so stoked to have been involved, and am really excited to see how the CD is received. The early buzz is that this is some of the strongest material Linc's ever done.

I'll be hopefully posting a few audio snippets in the near future to give you an idea of what sort of stuff we've been tracking. It's actually looking to be a really diverse mix of music, with some classic LB hooky & highly accessible stuff (that should do well on radio) interspersed with some truly crazy playing. There are a couple of musical excursions we took that should prove lots of fun for guitarists and bassists.

For now...I'm just needing some sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. :^)

Blessings- Norm

The New MTD J5 Prototype...

In the green room before our concert in Albany, NY, on April 13, 2008, I had a chance to sit down and talk shop with renowned luthier and overall good guy Michael Tobias.

In this video blog, we discussed the MTD J5 prototype that is my primary bass for my work with Lincoln Brewster.

Look for an upcoming vid blog featuring my MTD 535, as well another where Michael gives us a guided tour around the MTD shop!

Enjoy...

Deserted in Denver...

How does that phrase go? "Blessed are the Flexible, for they shall not be broken?" Something like that.

Anyway, we encountered some challenges with travel this week...



It's fun to look back and laugh, but it actually was a bit stressful! Thankfully, the 4 that made it on the flight are the 4 that used to comprise the entire team (Linc plus drums, bass and our FOH guy) about a year ago...so it was back to the Fearsome Foursome (that's what we decided to call ourselves to bolster our confidence...it sounded better than calling us the "Do-We-Remember-How-To-Do-This-With-Just-The-Four-Of-Us" Gang). :^)

Blessings- Norm

Clinic in Castle Rock / Lincoln Brewster Dates

Did a clinic last night in Castle Rock, CO (approximately 1 hour drive from Denver), and had a blast with the approximately 20 people who came (including Dennis, all the way from Nebraska, 4-5 hours away!). The smaller group allowed for a cozier vibe, and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Big thanks to Jeff Holcomb and The Rock in Castle Rock for hosting the clinic!

I flew in to Colorado yesterday to do the clinic, and the band is flying in today for a concert tonight at The Rock. This will be our first time playing together in about 3 weeks (took a break for Easter, plus a couple of us took a bit of time off), so hopefully we still remember the tunes. :^) I left a voicemail for Linc last night telling him that he needed to bring his A-game, as I'd talked him up to all of the clinic attendees (many of whom will be coming tonight)!

Tonight is the first date of a run that takes us to Iowa tomorrow, Chicago on Friday & Saturday (the final date of the Dare2Share tour we've been on since the fall - BUMMER...it's been a blast), and Albany, New York on Sunday.

The band flies home Monday, but I'll be spending an extra day with Michael Tobias re-shooting some video I shot at the NAMM show this past January for upcoming blogs (the NAMM footage didn't come out due to loud guitar noodling in adjacent booths...can you imagine?...what a shocker). :^) Look for future video blogs with Michael, the master luthier himself.

OK...better get ready for soundcheck.

Blessings- Norm

"Just In Time"

Fun story surrounding a Lincoln Brewster concert in Springfield, Missouri, back in early February (way back in the days before this blog!).

Bad weather in the midwest diverted the band’s flights to St. Louis. After spending the evening in St. Louis, we drove 3.5 hours to Springfield…only to discover that none of the gear (which was scheduled to arrive directly from Dallas ahead of the band) had shown. A run to the local Guitar Center salvaged the gig, as both Lincoln and I played the concert on instruments literally right off the shelf.

There was no time to try to dial in the set-up on the bass, so it was all smiles during the set as I admired the ¾” clearance between the strings and fingerboard. I went for a couple of my normal licks during the bass solo and discovered en route that the new bass lacked several frets compared to my MTD J5. Oops. :^)

The band’s gear DID arrive in Springfield just in time the following morning to drive 3.5 hours back to St. Louis for the Dare2Share event at the Scottrade Center. It was an emotional reunion for both Lincoln and I and our respective instruments…

A Gift from My People to Yours...

Yes, I'm half-Japanese, and spent most of my childhood in Japan (excepting 5 years in Hawaii).

When I watch this, half of me cringes (presumably the American half!)...and half of me thinks, "once the string section kicks in, it's actually kinda cool."

Enjoy...Norm

Risen...indeed

The timing of starting my blog coincided with a week of getting slammed with rehearsals and lots of playing for Good Friday and Easter services at my home church here in Orange County...thanks for your grace! I'll try to blog more regularly once I get going.

As "Christian observances" go, I'm a big Christmas guy...LOVE it...everything about it. Christmas musis starts playing at my house the day after Thanksgiving (if not sooner...Gina, my wife, is even more over-the-top than I am), I love the nostalgic feeling of gazing at the lighted Christmas tree in a darkened room, sneaking and hiding recently-bought gifts in the closet or studio to keep them from prying eyes, etc., etc. The fact that we're commemorating the birth of the Savior sends it reeling off the charts. Christmas rocks.

That stated...my favorite is Easter. Not so much for the nostalgia, but for the fact that without it, we are utterly without hope, and none of the rest of it matters. This weekend brings into clear focus that we have One who loves us...who willingly and deliberately stepped out of eternity to get dirty, humiliated, mistreated...and ultimately betrayed, mercilessly beaten and put to death in the cruelest imaginable manner.

I'm not sure who's quote this is, but it says it best:

"He paid a debt He didn't owe, because I owed a debt I couldn't pay."

...or something like that.

For that, Easter is the top of my list.

The tomb is empty.

May you and yours have a fantastic weekend...Norm

Welcome to the GrooveSpot!

A blog is born.

Welcome to the official blog of bassist/solo artist/clinician Norm Stockton! Look for a wide variety of all things Norm...including tips, road clips, mini-lessons, and much more...