Hey Friends,

Sorry the writing has been coming slowly lately. My day job is keeping me pretty occupied, and I can say the same is true for SwingDoom and J. We haven’t been in the studio for a few months now. I think there are a lot of musicians out there who are in the same boat. Music is a labor of love for most, and for many of us it does not offer a true occupation. So we have our day jobs, which if you are lucky, you enjoy. If you are a musician who isn’t so lucky as to enjoy your day job, you probably spend most of your daytime hours dreaming of putting that instrument in your hands. For me, I’ve been lucky. As much as I love our music in the Station, I have the good fortune of liking what I do for a living. That wasn’t true a year ago. A year ago was probably the toughest I have had in a long time in that I started a new job that was a terrible fit. It was during that time that I started to focus a lot of energy on music and recording songs for our album because it was the only thing that gave me pleasure. I think the best thing about that time is that it really helped me to relate to so many people out there that don’t like their jobs – and there are a lot of folks out there that know what I’m talking about. Until that time, I had always loved my work. But then I was pulled into this new organization that didn’t respect me at all. It was a terrible time, and the contrast with this place and where I am now is so amazing. I learned from that experience that the workplace is all about the people. If the people you work with are generous and honest with each other, then the likelihood that the job will be satisfactory is high. If the people are dishonest, disingenuous, and selfish people – well you know what it’s going to be like. A band is the same way. Q.R. Station works because the musicians care about the music and it’s integrity and are not worried about being the center of the music’s attention. There’s nothing worse in music than an out-of-place solo that is there just because a musician needs it to be there. Music has to flow naturally – you can’t force it. So I guess you can say that music models life in that way.

I touched base with a friend recently – telling him how busy I’ve been with work lately. I loved his response – “Are you still playing guitar? I hope you are finding time to work on the album”. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated that. So many friends and fans have been encouraging of our project. The truth is, very few folks are paying attention. To those few that are – I really want to thank you. Some of you have really let me know that it is important to finish this album. It blows me away every time that happens. Thanks for the encouragement, and you can be sure that while it may take awhile, we’re going to complete this album.

Q.R.