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A recent discussion (which you’ll see posted here soon) has gotten me thinking about my songwriting. I’ve recently written several new songs in a short amount of time and I’ve been listening to them in order over the last few days to get a feel for where I want to take the arrangements…as you all know, I typically post raw demos/1st takes to SoundCloud and then go back through to determine how best to approach further production. Now, all my songs, for better or worse, are about me. I’m an “I, Me, Mine, You, Us” singer instead of a “They, Them” storyteller. I talk about what’sRead More →

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David Elbert is one of Houston’s most talented guitarists and songwriters. I know this to be true because I’ve had the honor of calling him a best friend for over 20 years. We cut our teeth together and some of my fondest memories, musical or otherwise, include him. I humbly present to you Cathedral Records’ newest Q&A session with a dear friend of the Cathedral and one heck of a guitarist – David Freaking Elbert. You’ve been playing music for most of your life at this point. Tell me about how and why you started playing? I grew up in a very musical family. MyRead More →

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When I was a kid talking about being a musician when I grew up was unanimously met with a single response: “Well…you better have a fall back.” It seems like to my parents’ generation, making it as a musician meant one thing: being famous, like Bon Jovi or Tom Petty or someone like that. I heard time and time again how slim my chances were of ever earning a living, how hard the life was, how only a tiny percentage of people ever actually “make it.” And that’s true if we’re limiting the definition of “making it” to that level of acclaim and wealth. ButRead More →

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I don’t have a lot of friends. At least that’s the first thing I think about when the topic comes up in conversation. Then…the world burns down like it has been recently and I realize just how many people there are for whom I care so deeply…about whom I worry so much about…about whom I would fall apart if I found out something happened to them. I have a dear friend in Ohio who I met in high school. Our meeting was something out of a Douglas Coupland novel…just perfect in its tragic and ironic poetry. We lost touch for a time but reconnected. I haveRead More →

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I didn’t like Nirvana in the early 90s. There, I said it. At that time in my life I was on a pretty strict diet of Beatles, Beach Boys, Elvis, British Invasion, Mamas and Papas, Doors, Tommy James, Motown…that stuff. There were a few modern bands I listened to but they weren’t “alternative.” Then, around 1994, I got turned on to Pearl Jam and that was that. A dear friend got me into them and the Breeders, Counting Crows, 10,000 Maniacs, the Breeders and my eyes were open to what I think is an era that rivals the 60s in terms of incredible output inRead More →