Been listening to the new Acceptance album ("Phantoms") and it has not exited my car stereo for the past few weeks. Production is amazing. Its a bunch of young guys, and while not the best instrumentalists in the world, their lyrics, harmonies, and melodies are great. And we're talking every single song on the disc here.

Just downloaded their Sessions@AOL songs. They can play well live, apparently.

Highly recommend them.

"So Contagious" - Acceptance

Oh no...
this couldn't be more unexpected.
And I can tell you
that I've been moving in so slow.
Don't let it throw you off too far,
cause I'll be running right behind you.

Could this be out of line?
Say you're the only one, breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on.
Keep me hanging on, so contagiously...

Without going into much detail, "The Burning" is the dark tale of a man in jail, serving a life sentence for killing the man who murdered his daughter. This man escapes from prison and attempts to rebuild his life and find purpose in living. The album will be divided up into two distinct halves - the first centered around his prison life, and concluding with his escape. The second half will center around his attempt to start over.

This tells a good bit of background without giving away any details at all. I have been looking forward to crafting an album around a central story like this for some time now.

So, in other words, "The Burning" has nothing to do with some guy with an STD. Sorry to disappoint...lol...

After a bit of a blogging hiatus...lets get caught up to speed.

Lori got into Vanderbilt Law School! She was trying to transfer from University of Tennessee's Law School, and fortunately Vanderbilt agreed that she should be in Nashville with me! She'll start toward the end of August.

I have begun my job with Actus Lend Lease as their Strategic Initiatives Coordinator. I work from home. I have been able to contribute in tangible ways to the company even in a few weeks. This is exactly what I was looking for in a job out of MBA school.

Lori and I have been attending our marriage counseling sessions, which are generally something people do BEFORE getting married...but since we were in two separate cities, this wasn't exactly possible. But we have a "mentor" couple that is going through a workbook of various marriage issues with us, and we've been able to sit down with them once a week, have dinner, and discuss all sorts of things. It has really been great for me and Lori, and its just another reason I'm so glad we discovered West End Community Church in the past year.

Finally, I have some music news ... I have titled and dated my new album. "The Burning" will be a concept album (piano+vocals+various guest players) built around one central story, and will incorporate written elements in the liner notes to help tell it. Don't want to give much away, especially since the details aren't ironed out quite yet. Its tentatively scheduled for release on June 20, 2006. Long ways away, but gives me plenty of time to navigate around work, the iTest, the iTest CS (the April 2006 computer science competition that is the latest extension of the iTest venture), and various other projects to finish writing it and get in the studio to record it.