Picking up new clients is always a good thing, but in the case of yesterday, it was a great thing. I had the privilege of recording his new song, Peculiar, and it was very refreshing.  It was a simple tune with some great acoustic guitar work, and vocals.  Jason Jones added some percussion accents, and the song came to life. Knowing...

I was just looking at the timestamp on these chapters, and realized that Amalickiah went from being a Nephite citizen, to the king over the entire Lamanite nation in approximately 1.5 years.  How freaking crazy is that? Also, one thing I failed to mention about chapter 47 is the last verse.  A very interesting verse, that is.  Once...

Playing this song was a joy, until I realized I'd been playing wrong for so many years. Trying to do the cover as a true cover was freakin' hard for this song.  I hope I did it justice, though. There were a few points where I totally fubbed hits, but there were only a few. So... Here it is.  Let me know what ya think....

Man...  Amalickiah... I'm more and more convinced that this guy is the epitome of evil in the flesh. I wonder what would have happened with the entire history of the Nephites had Captain Moroni caught Amalickiah, when he was chasing him and his armies last chapter. I really believe that had he been caught (and appropriately dealt with), much...

 Wow...  When I wrote this in March of 2009, "During this year, I both think and feel (logically and spiritually) I will be stretched more than I've been stretched in years.  This one's gonna be a toughy.  As for now, I feel anxiously optimistic.  Yup..  That about hits it on the head."  I had n...

 I thought I wouldn't do anything today... Mostly because I was feeling a bit ill...  But, I figured there was no better way to usher in the new year! Happy New Years 2010 to everyone!  And hope you enjoy AdvancedOnlineDrums' version of Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Click for video. ...

Will the craziness ever end?  I thought for sure, I'd be too busy today to do another cover, but around 4:00pm, I got bored, the kids were occupied or asleep, and my wife was reading, so...  Down to the studio I go! Hope you all like this cover.  It's one of the better ones I've done.  I missed a couple of hit-accurate fills,...

I guess I can't get enough of these covers.  I had no intention of doing one tonight, but I was so in the mood, I ripped this out on the 2nd take. I take a lot of liberties on this, and there are a few slight timing issues, but I thought it was a great show of the "groove" inside music. Good times. Enjoy the video, and be su...

 Good times.  I thought this one would be tough, but I've played it so many times over the past decade, it came back to me rather quickly. In the ending, there were quite a few hiccups, but I thought it turned out quite nicely. Click here to view the video....

Haven't even started reading this yet, and I know I'm in for a doozie.  Amalickiah, in my estimation, is one of the truest Nehor-ites in existence.  Absolutely no morals, no regard for anyone but himself - even if it means killing many people who he claims to love.  One of the most dispicable humans ever to live on earth.  Now, ...

  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints   We believe other lands had visits from Christ. They saw signs in the heavens, they knew His name. He taught them, they felt His wounds, He dried their eyes. The Book of Mormon testifies that He came.   We're Christians otherwise nicknamed “The Mormons”. The Chur...

I recently bought a Toshiba Laptop (a Satellite A305-S6916), and with it, came Vista Home Premium. I, of course, immediately wiped the hard drive clean, took a shower for having touched a computer with Vista pre-installed on it, then proceeded to partition it, and install gentoo Linux on it. The compatibility with Linux of the peripherals on th...

Before I even begin reading this one, I've gotta say that 2nd Nephi 2 is one of the power-doctrine chapters.  I'll be surprised if I can get through reading this today. Verse 2 contains an interesting phrase:  Consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.  This brings to mind quite a few cross-references, but can you imagine how much...

 So, today's entry is going to be a bit less, but I still was able to see God's hand in my life quite a bit. I had a late studio session to tend to, but I had felt horrible all day long...  I prayed that I would be able to have a great session, and it went really well.  Everything that needed to happen, happened, and nothing too t...

 Figuring out the mood and temprament of Moroni while he writes this is tough.  The things he writes about are horrific.  The Lamanites have killed his entire race, his family, and his father.  The "state of the union", as it were, was "continual warefare, bloodshed, and violence."   He had to be depress...

Woah... It's like been a long time since I wrote in my journal, huh? Ohwell, so I've been a little busy, okay? Yesterday night a group of missionaries (Elder Musick, Topham, me, and Elder Reinwand) got together and we decided to go and sing. We all sing really rather well together, so we thought we could help some people feel the Spirit with t...

I just realized that it's been a month since I last wrote about the Book of Mormon.  Man, if I'm gonna finish this thing, I'm gonna have to pick up the pace! First thing I noticed with this chapter is that when Alma got the revelation concerning the spirit world, it seems that he was just asking a curious question, "What happens to the ...

  Poetry 2 with 3 added by Kelly Miller                                                                           &n...

Man, I need to write more about spiritual stuff.  I've been slacking a bit. Anyway, the talk given about the Book of Mormon by Elder Christensen was really a good one. It brought back sweet memories of my life.  Early on, during my mission, I taught a family who had been been searching for the Book of Mormon for years.  Of course...

Well, I thought I had more pictures of Sam, but I don't.  I will have to be better about taking more pictures of him.  There was a really cute one of him smiling, but it is on the other carmera.  Next post will have to be a smiling one of him.  Here is one new one of Sam with Luci and some other cute pictures of the kids. ...

A week ago, an acquaintance of mine from my highschool days, Matt Harker, was hit and killed while biking to work.  A day later, a friend contacted me and wondered if he could use the studio to produce a song in Matt's memory.  Although I didn't know Matt very well, I knew him well enough to know he was the type of person who did his best...

So, this weekend I had the pleasure of meeting yet another one of Utah's finest bands.  The band's name is "Shallow Sky", and if their music is any indicator, these guys are gonna stick around. To be honest, I expected the 3 sessions (totalling 26-hours) with these guys to be a bit rough, due to only my incredible lack of sleep las...

First, a question. In verse 15, Nephi states that he delights in the scriptures, and that he writes them according to the spirit.  Well...  That leads me to question whether or not he realized he was a prophet or not.  Very interesting, and possibly stupid, question (maybe he already knew about D&C 68:4). Now, the chunk of ...

Seems that this chapter is all about "markings" and the prophecies about the curses put upon people (and which people put upon themselves). I can feel the doctrine behind this chapter, and I caught myself frequently asking myself why Mormon included this chapter.  No doubt there's some serious doctrine in here, but this time around...

Herod the Fink is a Christmas collaboration project between Jesse Crowley and Jason Jones which has been going on now for 3 glorious years at Advanced Budget Studios.  This year's offering is a 4-song EP. The music this year ranges from a bluegrass crossing punk style of "Joy To The World" to an introspective look in to each of our...

What a whirlwind, I tell you what. The usual cliche's about this being the busiest time of my life seem to pale against reality, so I'll just dive into the thick of it all. I've spent the past 3 weeks working intensely on getting the new studio up and running. Thanks to the help of my brother Ryan, my dad Ray, and a good friend, Jeff Stock, th...

The studio walls are up!  ... and they are ... HUGE!  Honestly the level of excitement I have for this studio build is right up there with the excitement of my marriage and the births of my children.  I can't believe this is actually happening! Anyway.... I'll be posting more random updates on Facebook (which will link to publi...

So, I've had the opportunity for the past few months to work full time with clients from all over Utah Valley.  From the sweet harmonies of By Request's soft country swing, to the relentless brutal drive of The Suffering's hardcore sound, the longer I'm in company with musicians of this area, the more I'm convinced that Utah Valley seems to be...

I recently wrote a piece about how much I miss the things that used to come so easily before I had children. Although everything I wrote is true, writing that article caused me to reflect on how lucky I am to be a parent at all. The things which I now miss due to parenthood are luxuries related to selfishness.  The things I enjoy because...

 So, I thought I'd write something down that happened today. For those of you who know me, I'm a pretty laid-back, easy-going type of guy. My wife and I went to sleep quite late, mostly because we couldn't stop talking and laughing with one another (not an uncommon occurrence, unfortunately), and also unfortunately, we were woken up early ...