Blog Posts for Greg Roensch

A Plug for Christopher's Books

Gregory Roensch — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:54:02 -0800

Choosing my favorite bookstore is like choosing my favorite iguana. Like many in the Red Room, I’ve spent many hours (and many dollars) at places like A Clean Well-lighted Place, City Lights, Green Apple, Moe’s, and Cody’s. And I once spent a summer in Paris at Shakespeare & Company thumbing through used books and listening to the rants and ramblings of the ancient owner. ...

Crackberry Journal | Five Days in London | August 2009

Gregory Roensch — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:41:14 -0700

[This journal is pieced together from email written during a recent short trip to London.] SFO. Made it to the gate without any trouble whatsoever. The plane is even supposed to leave ten minutes early. We shall see about that. Oops. I spilled my coffee all over the floor right next to my backpack. Shihzit. I don’t think anyone saw me ... so I’ll just walk away from the mess. ...

King Tut and Rickey Henderson

Gregory Roensch — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:16:34 -0700

I don’t have much time. I’m scrambling here at the office to finish up a couple of projects (or at least find a safe place to hide them for a few days). Tomorrow I leave for Cooperstown and the baseball Hall of Fame (aka the HOF). Before driving to Cooperstown, I’m hanging out for a couple days in New York City, where I’ll be sure to marvel at the immensity of it all and kill a few ...

Recording Project (Final Report)

Gregory Roensch — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:48:36 -0700

[Continued from previous blog] Three days of recording in the books. I am happy to report the completion of six demos, and some ideas may have sprouted for a couple more tunes, too. The final hours of recording were spent with my co-conspirator in this music project. J came over and quickly nailed her vocal parts. It amazes me that someone can record a song in one take. When I record my ...

Day Three (Morning Report)

Gregory Roensch — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:53:34 -0700

[Continued from previous blog] I have arrived at the final day of this three-day recording project. Yesterday I reworked some of the previously mentioned songs. Recording, as I see it, is an endless quest for perfection that never comes—like writing. It’s a slow tumble into a bottomless creative abyss. I keep tumbling away and hope I land on my feet. I worked on a tune called “Perro ...

Day Two (Morning Report)

Gregory Roensch — Sun, 24 May 2009 10:02:38 -0700

[Continued from previous blog] I am not a professional musician. I write songs for fun. I record them to see if I can get them to a palatable place. Palatable for whom, you might ask? Palatable for me, I would respond. Yes, it’s mainly an exercise in self-indulgence and self-gratification. Well, that’s not entirely true. My wife enjoys my songs—some of them are even on her iPod. A few other ...

Day One (Midday Report)

Gregory Roensch — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:56:46 -0700

[Continued from previous blog] It’s been a fairly productive morning. I finished my parts for two songs. Both of these numbers feature someone else on lead vocals, so it was my job to record my guitar and background vocals. One song, called “Dark Night of the Soul,” is about insomnia and the end of the world. The other song, called “Sugar Daddy Daddy,” is about a woman who shows up for ...

Test ... One ... Two ... Three

Gregory Roensch — Sat, 23 May 2009 09:09:12 -0700

I’ve set aside the bulk of this long weekend for recording. Usually, my little home studio is set up in a small, dark room in the back of my condo. For this three-day blast, however, I’ve moved everything to the living room. Now, during the long hours of recording and re-recording and re-re-recording, I can stare out the window and watch the world go by, or at least I can watch the fleet of ...

How I Got Here

Gregory Roensch — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:08:05 -0700

Early Midsummer Memories. We sat together on a blanket on a grassy hill and watched a play. Faeries, kings and queens, and an ass named Bottom. My First Edit. I filled a spiral notebook with newspaper clippings from the first Star Wars movie. In one of the articles Han Solo was incorrectly identified as a Wookie. I crossed out the mistake and wrote “Chewbacca” in the margin. ...

First Time in Paris

Gregory Roensch — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:16:46 -0700

I went to Paris for three days and stayed for three months. I rented space in a small apartment with a Greek woman who didn’t speak English. She and her sophisticated French boyfriend made love all the time, and I learned how to pick up the phone and say “she’s not here” in French. After a month, the Greek woman left, but not before subleasing the apartment to a ...