About a week ago, I got pulled (almost kicking and screaming) into Facebook and Twitter. And am embarrassed to say that I can kinda see what people like about them so much. :^)
So for any of you interested, please drop by!
www.facebook.com/normstockton
There's also a fan page (with pics, audio clips, etc., on the way):
Norm's Facebook Fan Page
www.twitter.com/normstockton
As for an update on the Tea in the Typhoon sessions, things are steadily coming along. Excited that all of the cameos seem to be working out (including, so far, John Patitucci, Gregg Bissonette and Rob Mullins). I heard back from a couple more of my faves within the last week and am ELATED that everyone's still on board - it's just a matter of working out scheduling. Can't wait to share about them...but will hold off till after those sessions!
We'll be sending out a groove update (my e-newsletter) in about a week with some pics from the sessions and more fun stuff. To receive it, please drop by the website (www.normstockton.com) and sign in on the home page if you haven't done so already...no spam worries (our mailers are once every 2-3 months or so!).
Thanks for your interest & I'll be keeping up on this more regularly as soon as the new project is done!
Have a great rest of the week...
Blessings- Norm
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tracking Sessions In LA & NY
Just coming up for air to let you know that I'm in NY for an extremely exciting session tomorrow for the upcoming project. More on that once we're done & the tracks are in the bag!
Also had a tracking session in Los Angeles with the incredible Rob Mullins (solo artist, Crusaders) on piano a few weeks ago...WOW. You're going to flip over his stuff. I'd forgotten what an amazing musician Rob is. You might recall his solos on Pondering ("I'll Return For You" and "A Tender NAMM Moment"). Even better this time, as all of the pianos on this project will be real (i.e., mic'd acoustic grand pianos)!
By the way, Rob gave me a copy of his latest cd, "Storyteller", and it is absolutely brilliant. I encourage you to drop by iTunes and check it out. I particularly dug the first 2 and last 2 tunes, but the whole thing is great.
Anyway, the only immediate bummer is that I started feeling a bit under the weather after landing at JFK yesterday afternoon. I'm laying low and hoping to not have a congested brain for the session tomorrow.
Thanks for your ongoing interest & I'll have details about tomorrow soon!
Blessings- Norm
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New CD Project Update - Part 1
Some exciting news about the new CD project, including the announcement of drum phenom and overall great guy Gregg Bissonette being featured on 4 tunes!
My profuse apologies for taking so long between new posts...as you can probably tell, my plate has been full between road work, the CD production, etc., etc...and also trying to be reasonably present with my family and church between all of that! :^)
I will definitely post more frequently once the project is off to replication! And a big thank-you to each of you who've reached out and been so supportive...I'll try to respond as soon as I come up for air...
Thanks for your grace & ongoing interest! Hope this finds you well.
Blessings- Norm
Monday, January 26, 2009
Resurfacing...
A belated Merry Christmas & Happy '09, my friends...
And huge apologies for my lag in posting here.
The good news is that it's been largely due to trying to spend every spare moment working on my next solo CD (yeah...sorry...it's still the "Pondering Follow-Up"...will try to have a proper name for it soon!). I'm elated to say that much progress has been made! More about that in a sec.
For the rest of what's been keeping me busy work-wise, please check out Norm's "haps" page. The '09 season of Lincoln Brewster dates (at least those that have been confirmed to date) will be getting added in the next week or so. Looking forward to seeing you at a concert later this year!
Let's see...anything else to bring up before I talk about the project? I caught a NASTY chest cold right after the recent NAMM show, and have been flat on my back trying to recuperate. The drag is that I'd been targeting that window of time to be making some concentrated progress on the CD production...but it's tough to track when tempos all feel either lethargic or frantic (depending upon where I was in the cough syrup cycle).
By the way, I'm a Mac fan...but have to say that contrary to what I'd been told by all of my Mac friends all those years they were trying to convert me from a PC-based life...Macs are most assuredly not immune to their own problems. My Mac Pro spent most of the fall and winter in the shop, and was the source of untold frustration until within the past 2 weeks (after lots of work, including new motherboard and optical drive), it finally appears to have been 99% dialed in. There's still a minor issue with one of the plug-ins, but I've come up with a workaround that allows me to function. SO...the GREAT news is that I've been actually tracking (instead of computer troubleshooting) over the past few weeks. I can't tell you how good that feels after all of the technology grief. Huge thanks to my friends Erik (in San Jose) and Mike (in San Diego) who've both been hugely helpful in getting me up and running (and occasionally talking me down from the ledge!). :^)
Eleven tunes have been written (with a couple more decent song fragments still waiting in the wings) and are mapped out in Pro Tools sessions. At present, 5 of them have solid guide tracks down (played on either my MTD 535 or 735). I'm hoping to get most of the rest down and the tunes charted in time for keyboard overdubs slated for a week from Thursday. My work is cut out for me. I'm flying up to Alberta, Canada this coming Thursday to teach and do some playing at the Break Forth Canada conference, and am hoping to spend my flights and any downtime charting like crazy.
I've secured cameo participation from several AMAZING artists (will share names with you once we actually track) and am giddy with excitement. I think you're going to like them, too.
Sorry if the above sounds a bit scrambled! Just trying to get you updated as much as possible and get working. My family and I have had an amazing time reconnecting over the past few months as I've largely been off the road. My wife and I celebrated our 17th anniversary yesterday by convalescing with the kids and watching movies (2 of the 4 of us are sick). We'll celebrate properly once everyone's well again. I definitely married up...I'm a blessed man.
Hope all of you are well and having a fantastic 2009. Thanks for your interest & support!
Blessings- Norm
And huge apologies for my lag in posting here.
The good news is that it's been largely due to trying to spend every spare moment working on my next solo CD (yeah...sorry...it's still the "Pondering Follow-Up"...will try to have a proper name for it soon!). I'm elated to say that much progress has been made! More about that in a sec.
For the rest of what's been keeping me busy work-wise, please check out Norm's "haps" page. The '09 season of Lincoln Brewster dates (at least those that have been confirmed to date) will be getting added in the next week or so. Looking forward to seeing you at a concert later this year!
Let's see...anything else to bring up before I talk about the project? I caught a NASTY chest cold right after the recent NAMM show, and have been flat on my back trying to recuperate. The drag is that I'd been targeting that window of time to be making some concentrated progress on the CD production...but it's tough to track when tempos all feel either lethargic or frantic (depending upon where I was in the cough syrup cycle).
By the way, I'm a Mac fan...but have to say that contrary to what I'd been told by all of my Mac friends all those years they were trying to convert me from a PC-based life...Macs are most assuredly not immune to their own problems. My Mac Pro spent most of the fall and winter in the shop, and was the source of untold frustration until within the past 2 weeks (after lots of work, including new motherboard and optical drive), it finally appears to have been 99% dialed in. There's still a minor issue with one of the plug-ins, but I've come up with a workaround that allows me to function. SO...the GREAT news is that I've been actually tracking (instead of computer troubleshooting) over the past few weeks. I can't tell you how good that feels after all of the technology grief. Huge thanks to my friends Erik (in San Jose) and Mike (in San Diego) who've both been hugely helpful in getting me up and running (and occasionally talking me down from the ledge!). :^)
Eleven tunes have been written (with a couple more decent song fragments still waiting in the wings) and are mapped out in Pro Tools sessions. At present, 5 of them have solid guide tracks down (played on either my MTD 535 or 735). I'm hoping to get most of the rest down and the tunes charted in time for keyboard overdubs slated for a week from Thursday. My work is cut out for me. I'm flying up to Alberta, Canada this coming Thursday to teach and do some playing at the Break Forth Canada conference, and am hoping to spend my flights and any downtime charting like crazy.
I've secured cameo participation from several AMAZING artists (will share names with you once we actually track) and am giddy with excitement. I think you're going to like them, too.
Sorry if the above sounds a bit scrambled! Just trying to get you updated as much as possible and get working. My family and I have had an amazing time reconnecting over the past few months as I've largely been off the road. My wife and I celebrated our 17th anniversary yesterday by convalescing with the kids and watching movies (2 of the 4 of us are sick). We'll celebrate properly once everyone's well again. I definitely married up...I'm a blessed man.
Hope all of you are well and having a fantastic 2009. Thanks for your interest & support!
Blessings- Norm
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Preproduction on "Pondering" Follow-Up!
My profuse apologies for the delayed post...I've been absolutely swamped! I had intended to post occasionally from the recent tour in support of Lincoln Brewster's newly released "Today Is The Day" project, but by the time I was able to come up for air, it was over! :^) HUGE thanks to all of you who made it out to the concerts and clinics. It was exceedingly cool meeting so many of you during the tour.
It's currently about 1:30 a.m. & I'm in my hotel room in Indianapolis. I have an early call time in the lobby, so will try to keep this short!
I've received lots of emails over the years from folks who've wondered when my next solo project would be completed (my solo debut, "Pondering the Sushi", was released in 2001....yikes!). Here's a video blog that lets you in on the preproduction process over the past few months and gives you a behind the scenes look. I'll try to keep you updated as further progress is made (at this juncture, it appears that the first few months of 2009 is my window for completing it - my travel schedule looks like it will be lightening up just a bit).
Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thanks again to all of you who've expressed ongoing interest in my music...your support is so appreciated!
Blessings- Norm
It's currently about 1:30 a.m. & I'm in my hotel room in Indianapolis. I have an early call time in the lobby, so will try to keep this short!
I've received lots of emails over the years from folks who've wondered when my next solo project would be completed (my solo debut, "Pondering the Sushi", was released in 2001....yikes!). Here's a video blog that lets you in on the preproduction process over the past few months and gives you a behind the scenes look. I'll try to keep you updated as further progress is made (at this juncture, it appears that the first few months of 2009 is my window for completing it - my travel schedule looks like it will be lightening up just a bit).
Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thanks again to all of you who've expressed ongoing interest in my music...your support is so appreciated!
Blessings- Norm
Saturday, August 23, 2008
An Evening at Angel Stadium
We were honored to play at the Southern California Harvest Crusade on August 16…what an incredible experience.
Aside from the exhilaration of leading over 45,000 people in worship…or sharing the stage with the multi-platinum band P.O.D. and our friends in Leeland...or catching a brief glimpse from the dugout of a packed-out pro baseball stadium and imagining for an instant how terrifying it would be to be next up to bat in a critical game with a gazillion people depending upon you…aside from all of that, the coolest thing was watching some 4,000 people respond to Pastor Greg Laurie’s invitation at the end of the evening. The entire outfield was packed with people. I’m sure there was much celebration in heaven that night.
This was the first event that Pastor Greg had done since the tragic loss of his eldest son, Christopher, in a car accident just over 3 weeks prior. Please pray for the Laurie family through this toughest of times.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Diced Thumb
Rushing to get ready for our recent gig at Angel Stadium of Anaheim (which was actually an amazing evening...more to come in a separate post), I jammed my thumb across the teeth of a packing tape dispenser, and watched the blood start to flow...much to my chagrin. The saving grace was that the gig that night wasn't going to involve any slapping.
The bummer was that another production retreat for the "Pondering" follow-up (dang...I definitely need to come up with a name for this project) started the day after, and it was going to involve a lot of slap work. Suffice it to say that I ended up having to bail on my original plans and focus on other aspects of the project...because my thumb was expressing its displeasure every time I even entertained the thought of considering the possibility of maybe attempting a potential slap or two. :^)
The pic was taken a few days after the initial slicing debacle (for those of you who are looking at the pic and wondering exactly how much of a wimp this Norm guy really is). :^)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
