These tracks are mostly just me and an acoustic guitar, or me and my keyboard. I recorded them all at 131 W. Fairmount Ave (Pete’s apartment) upstairs using cheap / free recording software, a simple pre-amp / mic and my guitar.

For instance check out the very first recording ever made of “Can’t Go On” (called “Oh How I Need You” when I recorded this)

can’t go on (mp3)

To download it, just right-click and select “save [x] as…” where [x] is “target” or “link”.

Enjoy! I’ll upload the current version of this track soon.

This weekend is very important for the life of our album. Pete and I head to Ohio to work with Chris Weibel (our producer) on the second mix. I’ll upload the new copies of the tunes you’ve already listened to, and maybe include a 3rd once we’re back.

Here’s what I am realizing more and more every day that I am further along in this process: I know nothing.  I thought I knew something about the music industry… but not anymore.

I started talking with Luke Myers about marketing stuff. I am still in the market (by the way) for a Manager once everything starts coming together. More on that later, but if you’re the managerial type and you think working on an album project could be cool… leave me a comment with why you should be our manager!

I’m also expecting a couple cover designs shot over soon from Ryan Davis – I can’t wait!  I’ll upload those for you to check out as soon as they come in.

Anyway, as I talk with Luke, and look more and more into things like artwork, marketing, mixing, all of that crazy stuff that goes into an album project… I realize that I know SO little.

With that in mind, I’ve started reading two books:

1. The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution by David Kusek & Gerd Leonhard, and
2. Donald Passman’s famed: All You Need to Know About the Music Business. As best as I can tell – these are the two premiere books on the subject.

I’ll keep you posted on what I learn from the two books. When I’m done, I’ll post reviews.  If you’ve read these or others like it – let everyone know what you think in the comments.  I’m open to book suggestions too.  I’ve just started reading and I already feel WAY over my head!  For instance, do I really need to hire a lawyer now that I am coming out with an album?

In the midst of all of this stuff I’m learning, I am asking bigger-picture questions like: What does God want to do with this album? Why did I write these songs? What role do I see for the music once the album drops?

My goal for the last week of January is to keep on figuring out exactly what it is that I don’t know, so I can have some kind of game plan for the next couple of months.

For right now – I need to focus on these mixes and make sure this weekend goes REALLY well. I’m looking forward to some time hanging out with Pete, who I consider my best bud.

Have you ever taken on a project that was WAY over your head?  If so, what was it?  How did you manage?  What did you do to stay on top of it, and learn what you needed to learn?  Let us hear about it in the comments.

I hope everyone has had an amazing time with their family’s and getting to know Jesus a little closer this Christmas.  I’ve been hanging out with my inlaws, and (you don’t hear this everyday) had an awesome time.  It’s a reminder every time I see them about how much I married UP.  Any of you guys relate?

In the spirit of the holidays I’m uploading a few things for you.  The first is another free track to download and enjoy.  This is a strong candidate for Track 01 on the album – it’s a tune I wrote on the acoustic guitar called “Wonderful”.

For those of you who are particularly interested, I’m including our mixing notes from the first listen-through for the two songs we’ve shared with you so far: Here & now Wonderful.  Enjoy!

Wonderful.mp3 –  to download, right-click and select “Save as…”
“Here” Mixing Notes (.doc)
“Wonderful” Mixing Notes (.doc)

P.S.  Drop a line in the comments and let us know your thoughts on “Wonderful” & the mix notes.  YOU have direct influence on this project!

The good news?  With today’s technology, anything can be changed.

The bad news?  With today’s technology, anything can be changed.

It’s a painstaking process, that involves dying to self for sure — I mean, it’s bad to hear that your vocals sucked at 2:24, right at the pivotal moment of the song… but it’s even worse to leave the bad vocals in there for the rest of time!  It’s amazing what a little well-placed compression or reverb will do, and I make no apologies for tweaking the tunes so the product you hear is the most excellent possible.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, download this song – you’ll be amazed at how different it sounds post-production (after the mix).

Sometime in the next couple of days, I’ll include a glossary of terms for those of you who aren’t musicians and are curious what all these funny phrases are like “post production” “Verb” “compression”, etc.

In the mean time I need to go back to work – so leave us a comment.  Do you have a craft / art?  If so, what’s the most painstaking part of the process in your opinion?

Tim

Here is the first mp3 for your downloading pleasure.  I’ll post soon about the story behind the song.  We are open for ideas in the mix, so feel free to weigh in with your suggestions.  What should we do to tweak it?

DISCLAIMER: This is an early mix, in fact, the first one – so hang tight, guitar tone is not quite right… vox are too loud, etc.  We’re working on it!

Please feel free to pass this along to your friends and family.  All mp3′s I upload here will be free to listen and pass along until the album release date.  Enjoy!

Click to listen.  Right click and select “Save Target As…” or “Save Link As…” to save to your computer.

Listen:  “Here”

The song “Here” is copyrighted and owned by Tim Shutes.  All Rights Reserved (c)

1. It was the first time I’ve done many of the songs in public
2. The shows had completely different audiences.

Below is a summary of the shows and what I learned.

PA Fest – Saturday, November 15

DESCRIPTION: Mostly hardcore show.  It was an all-day music festival and some of the bands were REALLY good.  It was not a Christian event, which is interesting because it was basically the first event I ever performed.  I had the first time slot: 12pm, and there were a surprising number of people there.  Almost everyone was there to see a Christian hardcore band called “Those Who Fear” – you can check them out here.

HOW IT WENT: I thought it went really well actually.  It’s surprising.  I think Christians have this view of the hardcore scene where they are like satanists and completely against any Christian message at all.  I’ve been to a few of these shows now, and while there are a lot of different people, and probably a few satanist types, the truth is that most of them are just folks who don’t fit the mainstream mold, but are surprisingly open, and receptive to different ideas.  I found the crowd to be very receptive and welcoming even after I announced that I was a Christian and all my songs were written for God.  Matt Brooker planned the show and played Djembe along with the tunes.

THE SET:

• Wonderful
• Oh How I Need You*
• All I Need*
• Here

* better song titles pending… we’ll poll you guys for your opinion once I upload some tunes.

WHAT I LEARNED

Even though I announced that I was a Christian, and explained some of the songs, I thought I could have done a better job connecting the dots for what was a pretty receptive audience.  I can’t be ashamed of the Gospel, and I’d rather offend a few if some hear and are saved.  All in all, I think I need to take more risks when I’m playing in a non-Christian venue.

I also learned that you start out every show with some grace from your audience, but that can be used up quickly if you don’t connect with them right away.

Good songs for non-Christian venues: Wonderful, Oh How I Need You & Here.  Not so good song – All I Need.

Love Songs For Haiti – Sunday, November 16

DESCRIPTION: In contrast to PA Fest – this venue was very Christian.  The premise was to get a bunch of local artists / aspiring artists together for a concert in a coffee-house setting to inspire folks and raise awareness of some of the terrible difficulties and trials the nation of Haiti is experiencing.  It was a very cool night, and while it wasn’t quite as coffee-house like as I expected, it definitely accomplished its purpose.

HOW IT WENT: I thought it went pretty well.  I definitely learned some things about how I want to go about performing in general.  I only did two songs, and then called Smith Paul up for a third – a Starfield song called “A Cry in My Heart”.  Smith singing was definitely the best part of the set, hands down.  I started off the set by saying I was going to play a song I wrote for a girl I met down South.  I then proceeded to play about 5 seconds of John Mayer’s “Why Georgia Why”.  That went over well and I think helped with the connection.  However, I kind of blew it with unintentional multiple album plugs (whoops!)  I don’t think it’s wrong to plug your album, but it wasn’t appropriate for this venue.  Definitely a live and learn moment for me.

THE SET:

• Song For Sarah*
• Here
• Cry in My Heart – Starfield

* Sarah is begging me to change the title of this song.

WHAT I LEARNED

Humor is good.  Plugging your future album release at a benefit concert is not good.  Ryan Stauffer and I had a thing where he sent me 3 words that I had to work into the set.  The words were “coffee”, “expectation,” and “cell phone”.  It was surprisingly easy.  I may do that in the future.  Here definitely worked in both venues.  It’s definitely almost cemented as the title track.

Thanks those of you who were at these events.  Can’t wait to see you again.  If you’re an aspiring artist, hopefully you can learn from my mistakes above.

Stay tuned – I will upload an mp3 later today of “Here”.

~ Tim

If you know me well, you know that I’ve been workin on an album for almost 2 years now.  It’s something I keep relatively close to the vest, because it’s so important to me, and because of some strong convictions I have about the project.

A lot of years ago (when I was in 11th grade) I heard a call from God to be a song writer.  Throughout college and the years to come I began writing.  This album is a step of faith for me because my songs are very personal – a real look inside my life.  It’s kind of a “going public” of my prayers, difficulties and joys over the past 5-6 years.  Think of it like publishing your journal for the world to read.

That said, I’m excited about the project.  It’s almost complete – we’re in the mixing stage – which means that all the recording is done.  The musicians on the album, Pete, Nate, Matt and Allan are all the best I know at their respective instruments.  I can’t wait to share some of our current mixes with you (nothing final yet) to get your feedback!

I’m going to use this site to chronicle over the next month or two the steps we’re taking with the project.  Here’s some of what you can expect.

• links to song previews
• artwork previews – as we narrow it down
• frequent updates – the closer we get to release, the more you will get out of this site.
• feedback: by leaving comments, you can influence the project by giving us mix ideas for songs you’ve heard, artwork suggestions, song title suggestions, etc.
• Inside look into what it takes to complete an album – we’ll pull back the curtain on our successes and failures and give you an up-close look at what it takes to pull off a project like this.

Whether you know me well or not, here are some ways you can get involved right now.

• Pray.  Seriously.  None of us have any desire to be famous.  We want the album to point people to Christ.
• Bookmark this site.  Add it to your RSS reader.  We need your input to pull this off.
• Share the music.  All the mp3′s we upload will be free to download and share with anyone up until the time of the album’s release.  Ultimately, the album will be for sale, but if you’re content with a previous mix – enjoy it free of charge.  The mixes will only be available up until the time of the album release.  Think of it as a reward for being a part of this whole process.

Finally – I am in the process of playing in a few shows.  I have a full time job that I LOVE (youth pastor @ PVCC) but I would also love to come lead worship, or share some music with you @ your coffee house, church, campus, or other venue.  Just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you at the email address you specify.

HOW TO COMMENT:  click the “comments” button.  It might say “No comments” or it might say “32 comments” – just click it and the rest should be self-explanatory.

Tim