Stone Sonatas is out now! As of November 6th it is on Bandcamp and CDs are available in the merch store or by messaging me. Vinyl is coming but it will be a while. The official streaming-everywhere release date is December 4th.
Amethyst:
1.) The Breath
2.) The Eye
3.) The Crown
Firestone:
4.) Arsarnerit
5.) Ásbrú
6.) Revontulet
The Bones of Gaia:
7.) Bloodstone
8.) Lithomancy
9.) Liminal Jasper
10.) Stone of the Wise
Field of Malachite:
11.) Transmutation
12.) Transformation
13.) Healing
Stone Sonatas is a series of four solo guitar sonatas written and performed by me. This album has been a labor of love and a mountain of work for a few years–no, much longer. Some of these pieces I drafted out in 2003 or 2004 and three of them appeared on my recital for graduate school in 2007 (though they were very different and not performed by me). Some were written in the last two years. Some have been named, re-named, and re-written multiple times. I recorded about half of this album in January of 2026 and found some time here and there to lay down one or two more tracks until I did another big session in August and September of 2026. Most of my music energy from January to September was spent practicing these pieces. Consequently, I read way fewer books this year than I have in the past few years. Trade offs! 🤷♀️
Will I be performing this material live? No. I no longer have much interest in performing. If I were me from the mid-2000s–absolutely. That version of me was practicing 3 to 6 hours a day, teaching 6 to 8 hours per day-five days per week, doing studio sessions, and gigging at least a few times per month. Me today plays for writing, recording, and fun. I have so many other interests and responsibilities that I don’t have time for that kind of practice anymore and these are very difficult pieces. The tracks I finished in January of 2026 I haven’t played or thought about playing again except for marketing stuff for the album release. Performing is fun sometimes but I am more interested in writing. I will leave performing for the youngsters.
For me, solo guitar pieces have levels–there are those you sit down and can read through easily with sheet music; there are some that require some practice, preparation, and notes; some that require memorization; and some that have to be memorized and played every single day to keep them clean. Many of the pieces here are the ‘memorize and play everyday’ type for me. Particularly, The Stone of Wisdom, The Crown, Ásbrú, and Healing. To me, they require the most delicate and precise work to keep clean and sounding good.
And then there are pieces like The Eye that are really beyond my abilities as a player or performer–I did the best I could. It should be a bit faster and more precise. Keeping the tempo right is probably the hardest part. At first, I played it to click track–slow and methodically–and it was terrible so I recorded it again by feel and it is much better–not perfect–but I liked the final results. Normally when recording, I like to play things maybe three or four times and then move on or go back to practicing. But I needed to get this piece nailed so it kicked my ass for literally hours. Take after take after take. The best way to get better at music you’re struggling with is to take a break from it, think about it a little bit, rest, and then come back to it. I always find that to be the best way to make a breakthrough. After I took a little break it was easy to get it done. I have always loved this piece and it is one of the oldest in this bunch. It is supposed to be a celebration of right hand tone over the ostinato bass line. I’m glad it isn’t just in my head or on paper.
During my last big block of time for recording the last four or five tracks my nails were a bit too short and the tone really suffers on a couple of tracks. Oh well, as they say, ‘don’t let perfection get in the way of progress.’ Perfect I will never be and that is fine with me. In the old days when I played the nails off my fingers I would put fake ones on. That’s too much work for me in 2026.
I want to make a book companion with tabs and notation for these works but I have so many other projects I want to finish first. Maybe someday!
Other things coming up in the next few years (in loose priority order–these are all full length albums with 10 or more tracks each–fuck singles): Monsters (rock band stuff–80% done), Spanish Nights (solo guitar–this is a re-mix/re-release with a new printing of physical media–you can still hear the old version anywhere you stream right now!), Music from the Parlor (solo guitar–10% done), Deliver (rock band stuff–re-release/re-mix of music originally published in 2007–60% done), Untitled cover album of jazz standards (solo guitar)–it’s all arranged and notated–I just need permissions and time, Open the Door or I Swear I Will Break it Down (third and final volume of older rock music I wrote in the late 90s/early2000s–30% done), Duodecad (12 pieces for solo guitar, 50% notated), Chaos (all new rock band stuff–5% done), and, lastly, at least for now, I have notes in a binder from around 2010 of 15 or so pieces I arranged for solo guitar-eight finger tapping–all cover songs–with these you tap the chords or bass lines with the left hand and then tap the melodies with the right hand–playing the guitar more like a piano than a guitar–it will be like Stanley Jordan but WAY less fancy and with WAY fewer notes.
Leave a Reply