Greetings all. Happy belated Mardi Gras. This constitutes my first blog on the new website. Many, many thanks to Ron Davis for his tireless efforts in getting me/you a new website. Go ahead, snoop around. Certain sections are still under construction and need tweaking, so please bear with us as we seek an angle of repose…

I should’ve posted this yesterday but things got too crazy… early A.M. job, (re)learning my songs for band rehearsal last night, a surprise visit by my friend Randall Goodgame, the foul odors of the cat’s (Gurdy is her name) litter box (new “enviro” litter that “reduces tracking litter and smell” — a total shammockery, by the way), and far too much stress for my little 130 lb. frame. The stress is all self-induced. I alone am to blame for succumbing to it just like I do every time a new CD rolls around. As eager as I am for tonight’s CD release show with a full band (more on that in a minute) and being amidst the Square Peg Alliance, I will be glad when today is over and the headache that I woke up with ultimately disappears. I’m easily riled, what can I say….

So, you may be wondering what a day in the life of an aspiring songwriter looks like on his/her CD Release Day (yesterday, Mardi Gras, in fact; an utterly unintentioned, lucky and perfect choice for an album release day if you ask the south Louisianian in me)… I awoke at 6am to go to work at my part-time day job: unpacking clothes out of cardboard boxes, breaking said boxes down into more manageable form, and taking the horde of bounteous stiff paper outdoors to the recycle bin. During all that time I was getting nasty cardboard paper cuts (MUCH worse than a regular paper cut) I kept thinking, “I wonder what folks like David Mead, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna do on the day of their album release?”. Do they treat themselves to a nice meal? Perhaps buy a new shirt or pair of socks? Drink a Dr. Pepper? After work, on my way home, I stopped off at Mac Authority (and to get a cold DP, wink wink). They’re located on the east side of northbound I-65 just before reaching downtown. They’ve had banners flapping around out on the side of their building for a few weeks now tempting me (and probably many others) with refurbished 12″ iBooks for $349. $350 for a practically new mac laptop is incredible, people! I’ve been wanting to buy Danielle one of her own so we don’t have to keep sharing our current iBook. So, assuming sales of “Scarce” continue heatedly and unabatedly, that may very well be our soon-to-be purchase. That way, I can take the laptop on the road with me and not feel guilty for leaving Danielle at home with no way of getting on Al Gore’s internet to check her email and such. So, after my visit to Mac Authority, I was homeward bound where I had some CD orders to fill (thank you guys!) and songs to learn, to which I’ve already alluded, and lunch to eat. What glorious meal partook I on yon 2/28/06 day, ask ye? A grilled cheese sandwich with tortilla chips along with an episode of The Simpsons (Season 7). Oh boy, a rock-n-roll life, to be sure….

Speaking of band…. here’s the lineup for tonight’s 12th & Porter show: Brent Milligan (producer of “Scarce”)- bass, singing; Andrew Osenga - electric, singing; Paul Eckberg - drums, perc; Cason Cooley - keys; me - admiring & singing. These guys are terrific and are very enjoyable people. I rarely play shows with a band but when I do - especially with this level of talent - it gives me warm, radical fuzzies like a gift out of nowhere. I suppose I’ve always written songs hearing a band of some sort in my head. It would seem natural, therefore, to perform them live with a supporting crew.

My parents are driving up from Baton Rouge today for the show and to visit for a few days. Hopefully the weather will continue its amazing run of upper-60s and warm sunshine so dad and I can get in a round of golf, one of our favorite pastimes together. Mom and Danielle are sure to shop. And we are all destined to eat well. The Peters LOVE good food.

Danielle, this morning, opened the back door and heard some rustling of leaves immediately to the right of the concrete steps leading up to the house. At first, she signed it off to nearby birds, but upon closer inspection noticed that it instead was snakes; 3 of them. Dammit. I hate snakes. Our neighborhood is basically tucked away in the watershed (or very nearby) of the Cumberland River. Watershed = snake habitat. And it’s the time of year where hibernating animals are beginning to awake, or slither as may be the case. We moved into this house nearly 1 year ago - March 4 to be exact and I was unpleasantly surprised at the number of snakes I came across in our yard. At last count, before winter kicked in and death temporarily trumped life, I had successfully killed 11 garter snakes (yes, I know they’re harmless) with either a shovel or my lawnmower (my favorite). I have no love for snakes and will not hesitate to rid my yard - or worse, my house! - of them. They’ve found a little hole on the side of our stairs leading up to the back door, which I can only assume leads to a dry, comfy space beneath the floor of our kitchen. Echh. Moth balls (it burns their reptilian skin) are now out in full force, so the area around our back door smells like old lady (in case you ever visit our home and the odor overwhelms you). Maybe I could keep a running tally again -Snake Kill: 2006. What say ye? Care to place your bets on 20 snakes? (Am I scaring everyone away now?).

Thanks again, everybody, for supporting The Square Peg Alliance and myself. Early, initial feedback on “Scarce” has been overwhelmingly positive. My hopes are that these little songs would breathe deep and lasting grace into your lives. Here’s to the blessings of life’s permanent trumping of death… Cheers!
EP