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burnwater13 · 1 year

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Grogu almost missed Cobb Vanth. He was a person, one of the few humans, other than Peli Motto, who had noticed Grogu’s relationship with the Mandalorian right away. Grogu almost missed him, because despite Cobb’s fancy words, he didn’t try to stop the bounty hunter from risking his life when they were helping the Tuskens and the Mos Pelgo town folk with the tiny little problem of a rampaging Krayt dragon.

After all, how much of the work was the Mandalorian supposed to do? All of it? Sure the Tuskens and the town folk had come out in numbers to try to solve the problem they both experienced in the worst way, but the Marshal had just let Din walk right into the Krayt dragon’s lair without so much as a ‘Hey, what about the kid?’, passing his lips.

Nope, he’d been much more concerned about the Mandalorian armor he’d purchased from the Jawas years before. The only way he was going to be able to keep it was if Din Djarin failed to help with the Krayt dragon and that just didn’t seem fair or right to Grogu. Mandalorian armor belonged to Mandalorians. Not Jawas. Never Jawas, really.

Grogu had seen the writing on the inside of the cuirass (don’t ask him how, Grogu knows how to keep a secret) and knew it said, in very fine print, ‘Property of Mandalore. If found, return immediately. Otherwise we’ll come and take it off you and you know what that means and it won’t be pleasant.’ Or words to that affect.

Cobb Vanth bought the armor, put it on and immediately fell subject to the requirements written on it. He did the protect your clan part pretty well (normally on the inside of the vambrace) and the help people in need part really well (on the flight pack), but the returning it to the people who made it at such cost and with so much riding on it (someone’s whole family tree was written on the rest of the cuirass) was something the Marshal had failed at.

So while Cobb Vanth was busy fussing and fretting about how the whole thing was going to go down, Grogu had to sit there and listen to them talk about every plan for attacking the critter. None of those plans included just feeding it. None of them included a method for getting it to move out of the area. Nope. They were all about ending the critter.

Grogu’s Jedi training told him that there had to be another way, but no one was paying attention to him. If they had, he would have suggested that they just work together to move the town. It wasn’t like Mos Pelgo was huge. It was a handful of buildings and very little in the way of infrastructure. Tatooine was mostly empty, so moving away from a Krayt dragon freeway and nest seemed like a good option to him.

Or, they could have lured the Krayt out of it’s den and then destroyed the den, nest, whatever. The Krayt would have to find a new place to live. They could have even looked for a better place and set it up and then encouraged the critter to go there. Krayt dragons were native to Tatooine, which was pretty hard to believe, because it takes a critter forever to evolve and Tatooine had once been a very different planet, green and lush with oceans and everything.

But Grogu supposed that anything was possible with the Force, so that may have been part of the problem that Tatooine had. Maybe some Force adept had been there and made changes that allowed the giant critters to survive in such a hostile environment. He supposed he could have done that as well. Used the Force to compel the critter to leave them all alone. His former masters would have frowned at that, but they weren’t there to scold him or help him solve the problem a different way.

When Grogu complained to his protector, the Mandalorian had laughed and commented that he seemed to like eating the Krayt dragon meat, so maybe he wasn’t that concerned about it’s fate after all. Grogu had to admit, the critter was tasty and he was a sucker for a good meal. Huh. Maybe he shouldn’t have been day dreaming during the situational ethics course that Master Windu had delivered so many years before. It would probably come in handy while he and the Mandalorian were just trying to get him to safety. Maybe he could ask Cobb Vanth to give him a refresher course. He seemed to understand that topic pretty well for a marshal.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #grogu #din djarin #Cobb Vanth #situational ethics

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nightwingshero · 4 years

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WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @goodboiboomer-fc5 thank you darling!!!

Tagging: @shallow-gravy @proudspires @strafethesesinners @spicevalleys @xbaebsae @simonxriley @fadedjacket @chuckhansen @red-nightskies @tomexraider @smithandrogers @dieguzguz @amistrio @cobb-vanthss @adelaidedrubman

I’m just working on a few canon things. This is part of Whit’s arc in New Dawn that I’ve been writing.

“Home is where the heart is, Ivy. My home is with my children.” The silence finally evolved, the tension swelling as she glanced at Mel, but our baby sister had no words. Not since she had said her piece over her nephew’s grave. I could hear Jane murmur to Randy, even from where I knelt, and I willed them to leave. Jane with her daughter, John with their own, my sisters with their misplaced need to be the ones to build me back up. Mel’s accusations, Ivy’s persuasions. I had enough. “Leave.”

“Whit.” It was Mel that spoke this time, her low voice holding a huskiness that seemed to always cling to her. It’s almost amusing, watching her fight against me these last few years when she had been so neutral while the whole county was at war.

“Leave. All of you.”

There’s a moment, a beat of silence as they waited, watching, to see if I would say something else—to change my mind and reach to them on my very knees. Like a beggar, desperate for their console, desperate for their comfort and their presence. But I remain silent, my eyes only focusing on my hand in the dirt and the makeshift cross John and Randy had constructed. Then they walked, the leaves crunching beneath them as they did as I asked.

All but her.

I sniffed, my shoulders back and head high, my hand drug over the grave. Finally, he was at peace. Finally…we were able to bury him. Instead of letting him rot in a dark, deserted part of the bunker, just wasting away. He had returned to the earth.

His body becoming one with the nature he so longed to see.

“Is it true?” It’s a whisper, but it feels as if I yelled at her, the way it carries. Or perhaps that’s the rage boiling in my chest, below the cross just above my breast. Rising and falling quickly, and suddenly she was with me yet again—or perhaps I had joined her, across the seas—, and her green eyes casting down, wise and all-knowing. Yes…I was seeing things more clearly.

“Which part?”

I swallow, because I know. I know who she is, who she had become, or who she had always been. I know that if I dare ask, I would dare to receive. How long had I lived in the dark, believing I was his light, only to be treated as an object merely put in an attic to collect dust. A sort of comfort, it seemed, and I had allowed that. I had allowed myself to be placed where he needed, because of love, and the need to be loved. If I dare ask, I would dare to receive a hard truth, nothing but honesty ever spilled from the once painted burgundy lips of the Judge. She used to not hate enough to lie, now she cared not enough to even try.

“You know which part.” I glanced up at her, our eyes meeting. She wore one of her old black button ups with dark worn jeans. The leather jacket still as trusty on her shoulders with her boots. Another transformation for her, or perhaps her final stage of evolution. The Judge, Deputy, and Dark Siren finally coming into one, finally pieced together and creating someone that maybe felt she had found her place at last. Maybe.

“You’ve read the Book of Joseph.”

“And he spoke things to you that he never dared to tell me.” I shot back. Jealousy rearing its ugly head, because had I not experienced this before? Was she not younger? Yet her hair was lighter, humming and dancing gracefully like an angelic fairy in a white dress. It was misplaced, but the knowing look in Wren’s eyes tells me that perhaps its not, that perhaps that was what he had done. He had punished her for it. He punished Wren for what happened to her. “Would he?”

“He killed one before, Whitney.” Wren answered lowly, her gaze unwavering. “Perhaps Emily is to make up for the daughter he had lost all those years ago.”

“And Emmett?”

“Well…he already has a son, doesn’t he?”

#oc: whitney seed #oc: wren blake #oc: melanie young #oc: ivy young #my ocs #my writing #far cry 5 #tag game

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icehot13 · 3 years

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Hi! So, you said that Boba noticed Din's coffee order but this means he actively looked it out, I don't think everyone knows someone else's order just bc they spend time together and from what you wrote, they talked for the first time in chapter 1 and Boba doesn't seem to spend much time in the war room with the junior associate. And we don't have Boba's pov from the early period of their relationship, so... Boba totally crushed on Din since the moment he entered in the law firm, isn't it? 😉 and how long has Din been with this job? Bc it seemed to me it was just two week when they hooked up the first time but the timeline is vague😅

and I was rereading the last chapter bc I got so emotional that the first time I read fast to get the juicy bits and Cobb knows??

And he thinks it's a good idea to hook up with the ex's ex? And maybe I am the strange one, but if they had been together 15 years ago, why they are so angry to each other, especially bc they are working together, I wouldn't want to have 15 years ago relationship drama at work ? I understand Boba made Cobb cry and probably broke up with him very badly but the time has passed and I don't think Cobb has still and interested in Boba, both good or not.

And thank you for making me cry and laugh at the same time. I really felt for Boba when he thought Din was pitying him but c'mon man, do you think people sleep with each other, cook and say deliciously dirty things to the other bc they feel bad for them? At max they offer you a coffee and a shoulder to cry on, not 483726 orgasms.

I am a bit sorry that Fannec is the one blackmailing Boba bc I am used to see her as his bff but I can't wait and see how this matter will evolve bc I didn't expect Cara knowing and facing Boba(is Cara a junior associate or is she in a higher position?). I really love Cara and Leia relationship and the family's dynamics (from Luke's uselessness to the awkward moment with Han) feels very organic and realistic, you really write relationships extremely well😊

Sorry for the long message and I hope you have a wonderful day! :)

nothing to be sorry about!! you have questions and i have enthusiastic answers, baby!! they are below the cut because there are several of them

1. he certainly did actively look for it! din is a cutie, boba is fascinated by all his little details.

2. how long din has been at the firm: a couple years. this is his final year, he told himself just a few years doing corporate law to pay off his loans. however, he's only been on boba's team for a couple weeks. usually he works with emily!

3. and ehhh 15 years ago is a long time but cobb is a lovely combination of bitter, petty, and enthusiastic in his portrayal of these things.

4. you will love this strange portrayal of fennec eventually i promise! also fun fact, i wrote half of this fic before her season 2 appearance so then she showed up as his BEST FRIEND EVER and i was surprised

5. correct, cara is not a junior associate! she is also not quite a partner. i think she's called a senior associate

6. i am so happy you like the organa-dune family dynamic!!!!i love them!!!!!!! i love them so much!!!!!!!

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onestowatch · 4 years

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Teddy Swims on His Upcoming Debut EP, Writing Process, and Metamorphosis [Q&A]

It’s Spring time in Snellville, Georgia and the year is 2019. Teddy Swims is living in a spacious abode with his producer, his manager, his videographer, his photographer and all of the musicians from his former rock band (the Elefvnts). This was more than just a typical living arrangement in a party atmosphere. It was a bonding experience that lasted for about one year. And it was a pivotal time period where Teddy Swims developed a songwriting formula that would help him blend his love for R&B and Soul with heavy components of Country Rock and Pop music. The writing sessions at this house spawned the release of an original composition called “Night Off” and a series of cover songs that would go on to help Teddy Swims garner the attention of legendary mainstream recording artists like Shania Twain.

Fast forward to the year 2020. Teddy Swims has moved to Atlanta and he’s now signed to Warner Records. With the studio release of “Picky” firmly notched under his belt, the brand new artist has set out for greener pastures. We spoke with Teddy Swims about his upcoming debut EP, his writing process and his metamorphosis from rock singer to to hip-hop/R&B artist.

Ones to Watch: With the help of your band, the name Teddy Swims has generated quite the buzz on the internet. Especially after releasing a series of covers that range from hit songs by The Weeknd and Luther Vandross to Shania Twain and Vanessa Carlton. Who’s responsible for coming up with the arrangements of these renditions and how do you determine what songs to cover?

Teddy Swims: It’s all my guys man! When we did the first cover [“Rock With You”] by Michael Jackson, it was ten years after the day he died and that’s what started us doing covers in the first place. And then sometimes we’ll do a new song that’s out and we’ll try to kind of get ahead of the curve and maybe get a little play off of something that’s number one of the charts right now…but we rarely do it like that.

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What kind of reaction have you gotten from musicians whose songs you’ve covered?

We recently re-cut and put out a new version of a Shania [Twain] record. We did that with Dave Cobb. He knows Shania and he sent that to her. So just hearing that she loved it and is a fan now--that’s what it’s all about!

You lived in a compound with your management team and all twelve members of your band for about a year. Tell me a little bit about the song selection process when it came down to finalizing tracks for your upcoming debut album. Was that something that you included the core members of your team in on or did you make those decisions on your own?

At the end of the day, I’m never going to say that my way is always the right way… We built this ourselves…I always say: ‘If there’s twelve of us here it’s not a democracy—it’s a jury.’ We can all figure out why we have to make a decision. But if there’s two or three people that don’t have the same answer as us, there’s always time to make sure that everyone can get on the same page. Because we trust each other and we have each other’s best interest at heart.

Your music videos seem to be just as charismatic as your live shows. Tell me a little bit about the inspiration behind the music videos for Picky (directed by Kevin Johnson) and Broke (directed by Joel Chivington).

We do it all in-house. This whole past year we’ve been in a house in Snellville [Georgia] that had all twelve of us living there. My band, my producer, my manager… our whole team. So, what we wanted to capture with those is the story of family. Everything that we filmed in most of the music videos is right here in our hometown of Conyers, Georgia. Which is like everything that you see from the bar and the candy store in “Picky” to the coffee shop. It was right here in Conyers.

I looked up some throwback photos of you on MySpace, your fashion sense has evolved so much over the past decade. I noticed a lot of Rock influenced clothing during your high school years, but then you slowly gravitated towards hip hop attire. How has your sense of style influenced your music and which genre are you truly the most comfortable in?

Sometimes we’ll write a song and it will come out so Country. And sometimes we’ll write a song that will come out so Hip-hop….I genuinely don’t know if I’ll ever find out what my [genre] is. I think we’re getting to a place with music where genres are absolutely fluid and [music] can be whatever you want it to be as long as it’s honest. As long as it feels like soul, that’s all that matters to me.

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If you had to pick one genre for the rest of your life--which one would it be?

Soul music man…baby making music. I think that could be any genre. There’s soul in Country, there’s soul in Hip-hop and soul in R&B. I love to listen to a song and if you feel that nostalgic feeling even though you’ve never heard the song…that’s what I chase, no matter what the genre.

You’re from Conyers, Georgia, but you’re currently based in Atlanta. A lot of great musicians have come from your home state. You’ve mentioned in the past how much your home means to you. Who’s on your Mt. Rushmore of recording artists from Georgia and why?

Andre and Big Boi [from Outkast], Ray Charles, James Brown and Otis Redding.

I read that the SWIMS in your last name is actually an acronym that means: Someone Who Isn’t Me Sometimes. Give our readers an in-depth description of the personal meaning of that acronym for you. At what moment did Jaten Dimsdale become Teddy Swims?

Last year in March, my buddy Addy Maxwell (producer, guitarist, trumpeter) was building beats and sending them to rappers around the area in Atlanta and they would send stuff back. So back in March, we ended up creating this SoundCloud rap song. The next thing you know we had the opportunity to go on tour. So, we built thirty minutes of music and went on my very first tour, after ten years of being in bands—we went on tour as Teddy Swims. At that time, when we started the rap thing I was going by “Swims” which is an acronym that I saw on forums and it just meant someone who isn’t me. So, I thought that I could just kind of be whoever I wanted to be in rap and never really take it seriously. It was just going to be a little rap thing for me to not take seriously. And then, we took it on tour…and it just kind of stuck that way.

The coronavirus has caused recording artists who are signed to major record labels, like yourself, to drastically change their plans for 2020. But what about your plans for 2021? Are we going to get a debut album out of you next year? And if so, can you tell us a little bit about it?

I can’t say for sure but that’s the plan. We plan on having an EP out at the beginning of next year and an album out sometime next year…At this point we’re writing right now, so I don’t want to tell you what something’s going to be about and then change my mind…I’m scared to commit something. Maybe the album will be about my fear of commitment (laughs).

What events in your life have made you a better songwriter? Heartbreak? A tragic loss? Falling in Love?

I’ll definitely say that I tend to put myself in situations to sometimes get hurt, to write better songs. Some of my worst heartbreaks have been the best songs…it’s definitely been super inspiring in making me deal with some things that I don’t like dealing with and focus on some matters that I didn’t know that I needed to focus on.

What’s a typical writing session like between Teddy Swims and Elefvnts?

We have a B Room Studio and an A Room Studio in our old house. So I might be tracking vocals on something from yesterday and (the band) might be working on something or maybe Jesse [Hampton] has his own laptop and he’s recording a guitar and he just drops [the track] in the dropbox and the next day Addy [Maxwell] pulls it up and hears some piano and puts a beat behind it. And the next day I might pull it up on my laptop and then get an idea and write and then we all get together and kind of piece it together. So, we just put a bunch of files in a dropbox and people will just pick songs and say: “Oh I have an idea for this!” We are able to sometimes be in the same room and just jam and write. But before (Covid-19) we were able to just jam as a band and always be playing, which was great.

Not including anyone that you are currently working with, who would be your dream executive producer and why?

I would always have to say my best friend in the world, Lee Rouse (the band’s producer and engineer). But if it was someone that I wish I could work with? I’d have to say Timbaland. A record with Timbaland would be crazy! Pharrell would be crazy too…And Dr. Dre of course.

What kind of music do you think you and Dr Dre. could make together?

I don’t know (laughs). I’d do whatever he tells me to do. I’d be like: “You’re the man, whatever you say. Let’s go!” I would die to meet him, just to pick his brain and get the wisdom because I’m always a student to it. I would want to learn the mindset from producer to CEO to everything. Because that is everything that I want to be.

You donated the proceeds of What’s Going On (a song originally recorded by Marvin Gaye) to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Why’d you decide to donate to that cause in particular?

When we did it, I put a grand in to five different [social causes]. I wanted to give to something that was a bigger conglomerate in that way…I am so strong of a believer in the Black Lives Matter movement. Here we are, two hundred years later and we can’t open our eyes. I think that “What’s Going On” is perfect song written at the perfect time and it still just as powerful today! I think that says a lot about us as a society…We always hear about the Breonna Taylors and the George Floyds, but there’s so many people like that who are getting brushed under the rug. In my hometown, there was a kid two years ago named Shali Tilson. He was having a mental health episode and he was arrested. When he got in the Rockdale County Jail, they put him in solitary confinement for nine days with no food or water and he died. A 22-year old black man. Nothing has been done about it…. So, if I could say anything, I encourage people to look into what’s going on in your small towns. There are small towns like Conyers where this has been happening for years and it just gets brushed under the rug.

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#Teddy Swims #R&B #Soul #Q&A #Broke

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quotes-am-i-right · 4 years

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As time passes and animation tools evolve, the director will still want to do more than it's technically possible with the time, money and technology available and the producer will have to help them make the smart choices that create the best version of their story. The crew will get tired and frustrated and the producer will have to pull them together and reassure them that the story they're making is worth telling, and then make sure that is actually true in the end. And, when the project is done, the producer will look that director in the eye and ask them if they have made the movie they wanted to make. And the producer will ask the studio if they are happy with how the project turned out. And the producer will ask three perfect strangers if they loved the project, and if all combined smile and say "yes," then the producer can finally exhale knowing it has been a job well done. And then that producer will find the next dragon to slay. I wish you many wonderful dragons.

Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids and Family at Netflix, in the foreword for “Producing Animation” by Catherine Winder & Zahra Dowlatabadi

#Producing Animation #new book!

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hellopopculture · 2 years

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Top 10 Best Things About New Japan Pro-Wrestling (Part 2)

Description: NJPW lost some of it's luster with the departure of a few of their more popular Gaijins and with the pandemic limiting their roster and what talent they could bring in and use for their tournaments and bigger events, the pandemic has been somewhat rocky. There are still a lot of positives to enjoy though and I think 2022 and especially now with the working relationship with AEW should be a much better year for New Japan. Here are some of the best attributes that you can look forward to.....

10. Exciting Tournaments-According to many western fans, the G1 Climax fell flat last year, and even according to some people in the company like Tama Tonga, the concept of the G1 and how it's put together has kind of become stale. I think Western fans believe this tournament should be sort of a launching pad for the talent, kind of like WWE's Royal Rumble or Money in the Bank but that's not really how it functions. It's more like the "Playoffs" in other professional sports. They are choosing an opponent for the ace or the current champion here. They have too much respect for the prestige of their titles to just boost someone up via the G1 that isn't ready for that honor. I saw a lot of people saying that Jeff Cobb should have won which doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering he's not really one of the more popular Gaijins and he's under Will Ospreay as a member of United Empire who himself just reached that World Heavyweight Champion level. While Jeff Cobb is an exceptional performer especially for a guy that size, I think this is what makes the tournament exciting and also validates the winner...it's the guys who CAN'T win that make winning mean something. Aside from that they have tournaments like "The Best of the Super Jr's." which is kind of like the G1 except for Jr. Heavyweights or what would be Lightweights or Cruiserweights in the West and they also have the New Japan Cup, the Super J-Cup, World Tag League and now the Super J-Tag Tournaments every year. Some of them, most notably the Jr. Heavyweight Tournaments, use talent from around the world which allows them to keep the match-ups fresh and add some variety to the participation.

9. The Young Lion System-Japanese Pro Wrestling companies have a dojo system, kind of like how WWE has a developmental system with the Performance Center and NXT. This system has produced some of the greatest Pro Wrestlers that Japan and the world has ever seen.

8. Transforming Talent-NJPW's ability to help wrestlers find themselves and mold their own identities is uncanny. If you think about where some of the biggest stars, they've produced were in the early stages of their careers especially when they've worked other places and then look at how they developed with New Japan, it's a massive leap forward for some of them. I mean Kazuchika Okada was a joke in Impact, they gave him a stereotypical Karate/Green Hornet gimmick. He came home and became the ace. He is one of the most talked about and respected Japanese talents of this generation, whose reach extends well beyond his country limits today. Remember Kenny Omega before he was in Bullet Club or even in Bullet Club during the AJ Styles run? He went from just being the Jr. Heavyweight guy, to the leader during maybe the most lucrative and memorable years of the stable's existence. Bullet Club was so popular that The Elite were able to partner with someone to start their own major company. Look at a guy like C.J. Parker, look at his debut as Juice Robinson and even his first Wrestle Kingdom match against Cody Rhodes...he evolved into a completely different person from there; winning championships, starting a stable and bringing his own unique style to the company.

7. Dedicated Veterans-Without weekly television, NJPW's talent doesn't burn out as quickly as they maybe would if they worked for a mainstream company in the States. That means that guys like Minoru Suzuki, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tomohiro Ishii, Yuji Nagata, Hirooki Goto etc. can work well into their late 40's to mid-50's and still be productive and an asset to the company. That's a great thing to have because when you're building a future, you need guys like these to put your young guys over and sort of be gatekeepers for the company. While Kenny Omega as his rival did a lot to push Okada, his rise to the top wouldn't have been possible without guys like Katsuyori Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito. One day Okada is going to have to play that position for the Young Lions under him and the cycle just continues that way.

6. Strong Main Event Scene-In the late 90's/Early 2000's, NJPW entered a "Dark Ages". Antonio Inoki saw that the business was shifting, and MMA was rising in popularity. After humiliating his Aces and former stars by feeding them to legit martial artists in shoot fights, guys like Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata were able to pull them out of the slump. Building off of those talents, they were able to reach the heights they are at today. Though they lose some talent each year, they have still found a way to mold guys who can help carry the company. Former Jr. Heavyweights, Kota Ibushi & Will Ospreay really stepped up for the company in 2020, Shingo Takagi came into his own, KENTA returned to Japan from WWE, and guys like Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. are starting to play bigger roles. The pandemic effected their business the way it has everyone else’s but NJPW is still top heavy, they can still put together rivalries at the top that people want to see.

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zachbevill · 5 years

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My 10 favorite albums (that I worked on) of the 2010′s

The last decade really had two halves for me in the music world. The first half I was on the creative side - writing, recording, and performing; and for the second half, I marketed and project-managed albums for other artists at Thirty Tigers. While this list may come across as self-indulgent (admittedly, it is), my intent is to just say I'm grateful for all I got to do and to celebrate the opportunities I had to live out my lifelong dream in the music business in Nashville. It wasn't often easy or glamorous, but when I look back, I have very few regrets and a whole bunch of gratitude for what I got to do.

Records I contributed to creatively:

The Farewell Drifters - Echo Boom

This record captured a special time in the life of our band when we had stumbled upon a sound that was really unique. It was us exploring all kinds of rhythms and styles and stretching the limits of the string-band setup. Our songs, our harmonies, and our thirst for exploration fueled and amplified by Christian Sedelmyer's virtuoso fiddling. We were still an all acoustic band and we rehearsed in a knotty-pine paneled spare bedroom in a small circle facing each other. That was where Neilson first heard us, and that was the vibe he said he was trying to capture on the record.

Sierra Hull - Weighted Mind

I spent a couple years writing with other artists more regularly, and Sierra was always my favorite co-write. She was in a really explorative phase as an artist, and I had the opportunity to be there and help her flesh out new creative ideas. I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess. I still sometimes have a hard time believing that Bela Fleck produced songs I co-wrote and that the record received a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album. This record is a really sparse and cool example of what a great artist can do with not much more than just a mandolin and her voice. Thanks for letting me write with you, Sierra.

The Farewell Drifters - Tomorrow Forever

I couldn't choose between Echo Boom and this record, so they both made it. This was the most intentionally curated record we ever made - we really pushed ourselves to write songs with a higher standard of lyrics and melody and to create musical landscapes that matched that emotion. We had evolved a lot as a band since Echo Boom. The sound became less dense and quirky, and more lush and open. We also explored a whole lot more sounds in the studio and allowed songs to be shaped in that space rather than on stage. While it's hard to pick a favorite album, this was my favorite "making-of" process. I'm still really proud of what we were able to do together on this record.

The Orphan Brigade - Soundtrack to a Ghost Story

I was privileged to engineer this record with Neilson, and got to sing on a track or two. It was a true joy to watch the magic of this record come together - the songs, the arrangements, the sounds - and to feel such a swelling of pride to watch my best friend and Drifter band-mate Josh put his creativity to work in a new place that works so well. In some ways it felt like a send-off of sorts as we were winding down our Drifters shows and this new thing was getting going, although I don't think anyone really knew they'd become a band with multiple records who tours Europe regularly. This record is still my favorite of theirs.

Records I marketed at Thirty Tigers:

Jason Isbell - Southeastern

When I started at Thirty Tigers in 2014, this record had already been out just over a year. A customer complained about the vinyl pressing, and so it was my job to suss it out. I couldn't believe I was being paid to put on headphones and focus intently on the sound of this entire beautiful and gut-wrenching record. "Cover Me Up" is of course one of the greatest songs from the past decade. Side B of the vinyl starts with "Live Oak", and it was when that song came on that I really started to grasp just how special Jason is as an artist. His voice just has a lonesome quality on that song that I've rarely found in modern music.

The Jayhawks - Paging Mr. Proust

I love this band, and this record is one of their finest. Produced by Tucker Martine and Peter Buck, it still sounds like a classic Jayhawks record but with new elements and vibrant exploration. Gary's electric guitar work is awesome and generally under-appreciated. One of my favorite parts of my job at Thirty Tigers was having a voice in the radio single-selection discussion, and "Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces" was a no-brainer.

Lori McKenna - The Bird & the Rifle

As soon as I heard Lori's "Wreck You", I was all in. She is a hit songwriter for artists like Tim McGraw and Little Big Town, but she is the most humble and kind (see what I did there?) artist. Dave Cobb's stripped down production really puts her songs in a great space to speak, and her imperfectly beautiful voice is front and center. "Halfway Home" is another that hit me hard when I heard it.

Blackberry Smoke - Like An Arrow

Straight up rock and roll with no hipster pretense or irony. It's not overly precious, but the songs are sturdy and meaningful. It's like a combination of a bunch of great music from the 70's - sometimes it's Skynyrd, sometimes Black Sabbath, sometimes CSNY, sometimes the Grateful Dead - but somehow it all sounds like Blackberry Smoke. Great guys, great band with a hugely dedicated fanbase. Loved working on this record for them.

CeCe Winans - Let Them Fall In Love

She's a legend, and this comeback album just rocks. It's kind of throwback, but still really CeCe. She includes an unlikely cover and incredible version of "Why Me, Lord" one of Kris Kristofferson's finest songs, but it's the upbeat songs that are what make the record so irresistible.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound

This record was sort of my crowning achievement at Thirty Tigers. It was a big responsibility and privilege to work on behalf of an album of this caliber, and I'm grateful they entrusted me to lead the efforts as project manager. We did fun things like make custom U-Turn turntables for indie record store contests, and I helped get Jason's face and music on those sidewalk boxes in downtown Nashville. The record includes one of Jason's most powerful love songs, "If We Were Vampires", but "Cumberland Gap" was the 400 Unit rocker I'd really been waiting for.

Thanks for checking the list out.. you can listen to selections from each of these records here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2oh5hHVoQOv3NF6LQwqL8P?si=QOL2hgUmQom00zoGBQMGCg

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makingscipub · 4 years

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Gene writing: Between art and nature

In the past, I have written a bit about genomics, synthetic biology and gene editing, from the perspective of language and culture. So, when Matthew Cobb alerted me to a new thing called ‘gene writing’ at the beginning of July, I pricked up my ears. I told myself that I should write a blog post about this new development, if only just to mark the occasion. However, pandemic despondency set in and I just didn’t find the will to write anything. I finally I told myself that this procrastination should end. So here we go!

When first seeing the phrase ‘gene writing’ together with ‘breakthrough’, I was a bit taken aback, as I had thought that that was what synthetic biology was all about. Weren’t we all told that synthetic biology brought about a revolution from just being able to ‘read’ the genetic code to being able to ‘write’ it? But it seems that ‘gene writing’ or ‘genome writing’, although used as phrases once in a while in the context of synthetic biology, never became a thing, it seems. Whether after this announcement ‘gene writing’ will become a thing still has to be seen. One thing has changed though; it has become trademarked!

Gene writing announcement

On 7 July PR Newswire from Cambridge MA announced that: “Flagship Pioneering today announced the unveiling of Tessera Therapeutics, Inc. a new company with the mission of curing disease by writing in the code of life. Tessera is pioneering Gene WritingTM, a new biotechnology that writes therapeutic messages into the genome to treat diseases at their source.”

That announcement was also tweeted out by Flagship Pioneering and Tessera with an accompanying article. I was surprised not to have heard about this apart from in Matthew’s tweet. So I had a quick look at the news data-base Nexis for all English language news and could not find a single mainstream newspaper covering this advance in genetic engineering! The PR Newswire was picked up a few times by online websites. Only Wired, not covered by Nexis, seems to have written something on this new development in genetics.

I first read the PR Newswire, then the Tessera announcement, and then the Wired article in a sort of desultory way, not expecting much, but then was swamped by a tidal wave of metaphors. In the following I’ll try to pick out some of them but I can’t cover them all. But first a quick look at the announcement in the PR Newswire article.

Correcting nature’s code

The PR article starts with the usual proclamation that gene writing will be a “potentially revolutionary breakthrough for genetic medicine”…. That type of hyperbole is almost inevitable. Gene writing is said to overcome various limitations of both gene therapy and gene editing and to be able to “alter the genome by efficiently inserting genes and exons (parts of genes), introducing small insertions and deletions, or changing single or multiple DNA base pairs”. It might potentially cure monogenetic and perhaps also neurodegenerative diseases.

The key people are: Geoffrey von Maltzahn, a biological engineer, Jacob Rubens, a synthetic biologist, and, mentioned elsewhere, Rob Citorik, and others. Von Maltzahn explains what gene writing does by telling readers that “DNA codes for life. But sometimes our DNA is written improperly”. He goes on to say that they asked themselves “’What if Nature evolved a better solution than CRISPR for inserting curative therapeutic messages into the genome?” But how is this imitation of nature done?

To get to the heart of the matter of gene writing, I’ll now turn to what I assume is a press release from Tessera Therapeutics and the article in Wired and stitch them together randomly like a patchwork by tracing some salient metaphors they use.

Genomes, mosaics and tiling

To convey what gene writing is or does, the articles use old and new metaphors and also appeal to nature and evolution. We have already seen the use, by the scientists involved, of the ubiquitous code metaphor. However, there is also something new going on with regard to framing the genome in particular. It is depicted not as the book of life (sort of the basis for gene editing metaphors), but as a mosaic “that has evolved over millennia”. The ‘building blocks’ out of which this mosaic is made are base pairs, the nucleobases A, C, T, and G (also known in the olden times as ‘letters’ of the genetic alphabet).

Now, what is new about gene writing is that it draws its power from scientists being able to “add and subtract tiles from our genomic mosaic”, like “artists changing individual tiles – known as tessera – of a mosaic to alter the whole”. Using this new power, the scientists can write “therapeutic messages into the genome”. It should perhaps have been called ‘gene tiling’….

Beyond cutting and pasting

The real novelty of gene writing is said to lie in overcoming some shortcomings of gene editing. The most important one seems to be something that formerly was hailed as a breakthrough, namely gene editing’s or Crispr’s ability to ‘cut’ DNA – remember those molecular ‘scissors’! But cutting is quite close to breaking and destroying DNA and that’s obviously not good. Fortunately, “nature evolved a better way to alter genomes than cutting DNA”. So, it was time to take lessons from nature (although it should be stressed that gene editing too had taken lessons from nature!).

Junk DNA turns into genomic architects

The above-mentioned scientific artists rearranging genomic tiles began to harness “evolution’s greatest genomic architect: mobile genetic elements” (MGEs), a type of genetic material that can move around within a genome. Some of these were once known as “junk DNA”, but turned out not to be junk after all. To understand the genius of MGEs we have to dig a bit deeper…

Gene villages and jumping genes

Tessera mentions Richard Dawkins’ 1976 book The Selfish Gene to point out that evolution may act not only at the level of genomes but also “at the level of genes”. So, genomes are “not only unitary evolutionary entities but are also like villages composed of thousands of inhabitants called genes, each vying for its own survival”. In this evolutionary context “some genes evolved the ability to replicate independently of the rest of the genome” – and these are MGEs. Barbara McClintock who was the first to research ‘jumping genes’ or transposons.

Cutting, hopping and shuttling

As Wired points out, “MGEs come in a few flavours”: “There are transposons, which can cut themselves out of the genome and hop into a different neighorhood” and there are retrotransposons who “make a copy and shuttle that replica to its new home, expanding the size of the genome with each duplication”. It seems that, so far, Tessara has “identified about 6,000 retrotransposons (what Tessera calls RNA writers) and 2,000 transposons (DNA writers) that show potential” to being harnessed for gene writing.

Battling and stealing

These MGEs are busy little buggers, to put it bluntly. They do not only hop around, move house, etc., there is more. Peters, Koonin and others found in 2017 that there was a type of transposon that “had stolen some Crispr genes to help it move between bacterial hosts”. (Now I leave out a whole lot of battle-stained metaphors employed to explain what bacteria, viruses and phages do, from viral invaders to arms race; something that would deserve further analysis) The researchers realised “that these molecular tools for cutting, copying, and pasting were constantly being shuttled between MGEs, phages, and bacteria to be used alternative as means of offense or defense.” That’s what gene writing tries to imitate.

Mining and prospecting

In order to find good MGEs to work with, bioinformaticians have been mining databases and are “prospecting for MGEs that might be best suited for making these kinds of therapeutic DNA changes”. They have found many candidates.

Plugging and shooting

As I said above, gene writing is supposed to go beyond the cutting and pasting feats of gene editing. Tessera aims to use the characteristics of MGEs to develop “a new class of gene editors capable of precisely plugging in long stretches of DNA – something that Crispr can’t do”. Crispr was, apparently only good at breaking DNA, and only short bits at that. By using MGEs in novel ways, gene writing can, it seems, write “therapeutic messages into the genome to treat diseases at their source”. This is supposed to work through giving the genome one ‘shot’ or ‘injection’ of RNA, something that hasn’t been done before, but something that, apparently is also being explored in the making of COVID-19 vaccines!

Nature, art and science

One tweet announced the gene writing breakthrough by quoting: “This is us standing on the shoulders of Mother Nature”. This quote brings together nature and science, just as the name Tessera brings together art and biology or biology and design in order to indicate that those working with Tessera engineer and create “synthetic mobile genetic elements”.

This brings us back to synthetic biology which can be defined as “the design and construction of novel biologically based parts, devices and systems, as well as the redesign of existing natural biological systems, for useful purposes.” Gene writing in Tessera’s sense exploits the evolutionary design capabilities of nature. This is why people writing about gene writing focused on ‘architecture’, ‘art’, ‘mosaics’ and ’tiling’, rather than on scissors and cutting and pasting. However, ‘writing’ harks back to the cutting and pasting days of gene editing, which is a bit confusing. But ‘gene tiling’ might have been too novel a metaphor to use!

Image: Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay – Tessellation

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burnwater13 · 5 days

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Concept art by Doug Chiang of a Kraft Dragon collapsing on Tatooine, while Sandpeople look on, next to a bantha. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 1, The Marshal. Calendar by DateWorks.

NOTE This story was originally published on August 14, 2023. I'm still on vacation and thought folks might like to read this one again.

After all, how much of the work was the Mandalorian supposed to do? All of it? Sure the Sandpeople and the town folk had come out in numbers to try to solve the problem they both experienced in the worst way, but the Marshal had just let Din walk right into the Krayt dragon’s lair without so much as a ‘Hey, what about the kid?’, passing his lips.

Grogu had seen the writing on the inside of the cuirass (don’t ask him how, Grogu knows how to keep a secret) and knew it said, in very fine print, ‘Property of Mandalore. If found, return immediately. Otherwise we’ll come and take it off you and you know that means and it won’t be pleasant.’ Or words to that affect.

Cobb Vanth bought the armor, put it one and immediately fell subject to the requirements written on it. He did the protect your clan part pretty well (normally on the inside of the vambrace) and the help people in need part really well (on the flight pack), but the returning it to the people who made it at such cost and with so much riding on it (someone’s whole family tree was written on the rest of the cuirass) was something the Marshal had failed at.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #din djarin #grogu #star wars #cobb vanth

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buddyrabrahams · 6 years

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Each NFL team’s worst contract in 2018

NFL contracts are often a hot-button issue. People love to debate who’s making too much, too little, who deserves more, and who is overpaid. Some athletes outplay their deals, while others cash in and fail to deliver. Teams obviously try hard to avoid the latter situation, but sometimes things don’t work out as hoped.

With all of that in mind, here’s a look at the worst contract on every NFL team entering the 2018 season.

Arizona Cardinals – Jermaine Gresham, TE

After signing him to two consecutive one-year deals, the Cardinals suddenly decided to invest heavily in Jermaine Gresham, signing him to a four-year, $28 million deal with $16.5 million guaranteed. The $7 million annual salary far exceeds any contract Gresham had previously signed, which is curious considering he hasn’t exceeded 500 yards in a single season since 2012 with the Cincinnati Bengals. Add in that Greshman is now on the wrong side of 30, and it’s easy to understand how he made this list.

Atlanta Falcons – Robert Alford, CB

The Falcons signed Robert Alford to a four-year, $38 million deal with $21 million guaranteed in 2016, and he hasn’t exactly lived up to those numbers. Although Alford hasn’t been bad, he hasn’t really been good, either. He finished the 2017 season with a Pro Football Focus grade of 76.7 (average) and continues to have a problem with pass interference. Alford could, of course, come into his own and justify the $9 million-plus he accounts for in each year remaining on his current deal, or he could continue to eat a large chunk of salary and hover around the “average” range for a player.

Baltimore Ravens – Joe Flacco, QB

In 2016, the Ravens signed Joe Flacco to a three-year, $66.4 million extension just three years after signing him to a six-year, $120.6 million extension. Those are big numbers for the league’s most elite quarterbacks, and while Flacco is Baltimore’s franchise signal caller, he’s not quite among the top-tier NFL quarterbacks. In 2018, Flacco will account for a cap hit of $24.75 million, which is fourth-most at quarterback in the NFL. Flacco has only had one 4,000-yard season and two seasons with 25 of more touchdowns. To continue warranting his salary, he’ll need to eclipse those numbers this season. Now past his back issues and with Lamar Jackson behind him, Flacco could be in for a nice season.

Buffalo Bills – Charles Clay, TE

In 2013 and 2014, Charles Clay looked like an ascending tight end with the Miami Dolphins. And when he became a free agent, the Bills were quick to scoop him up on a five-year, $38 million deal, which made him one of the league’s highest-paid players at his position. Since then however, Clay has failed to eclipse 560 yards receiving and four touchdowns, while earning a 70.7 (average) Pro Football Focus grade a season ago. He’ll account for $9 million against the cap in 2018, which is excessive for a marginal tight end on a rebuilding team.

Carolina Panthers – Matt Kalil, OT

As a rookie, Matt Kalil was a Pro Bowl player and many believed he’d turn into an All-Pro. However, several down seasons and an injury-riddled 2016 campaign changed that perception and trajectory. The Vikings gave up on him, but the Panthers believed he could return to rookie form. They signed him to a five-year, $55 million deal prior to the 2017 season and although he appeared in all 16 games, he recorded a Pro Football Focus grade of just 63.1 (below average). In 2018, after a small change to his contract, Kalil will earn just $1 million in base salary, but account for $6.9 million against the cap.

Chicago Bears – Dion Sims, TE

The Bears made several big signings in 2017, but the vast majority of the players did not pan out and have already been let go. Dion Sims is one of the few holdovers, but that’s simply because he established himself as the best of the worst. After signing a three-year, $18 million deal with $10 million guaranteed, Sims went out and gained 180 yards on 15 receptions while scoring just one touchdown. Those are hardly the kind of numbers you want from a player who will account for $6.33 million against the cap this season.

Cincinnati Bengals – Vontaze Burfict, LB

In 2013, Vontaze Burfict was one of the most dominant linebackers in all of football. In 2018, he’ll likely be the same. The major difference in the two versions of Burfict are salary and games played. In 2013, Burfict was working on a rookie salary and playing 16 games per year. In 2018, Burfict is earning nearly $11 million per season and hasn’t played more than 11 games in four seasons as the result of injuries and suspensions. That won’t change in 2018 as Burfict is facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy while eating up a cap hit of $8.619 million.

Cleveland Browns – Jamie Collins, LB

When the Browns originally acquired Jamie Collins from the New England Patriots, he came with high expectations. And in his first half a season with Cleveland, Collins recorded 69 tackles to go along with two sacks, earning him a four-year, $50 million deal — an elite-level contract for a linebacker who had only ever flashed that type of skill. In 2017, things went downhill as Collins suffered a torn MCL and finish his shortened season with a dismal Pro Football Focus grade of 35.9. That’s quite a bit for a player on the books for $12.15 million in 2018.

Dallas Cowboys – Tyrone Crawford, DL

The Cowboys rushed into a contract with Tyrone Crawford and there are no two ways about that. Jerry Jones & Co. believed he would evolve into a top-end pass rusher, but that has yet to come to fruition. As a result, Dallas is on the hook for five years, $45 million and $24.7 million guaranteed, including a cap hit of $9.1 million in 2018 for a player that has never recorded more than 5.0 sacks in a 16-game season.

Denver Broncos – Menelik Watson, OT

When the Broncos signed Menelik Watson to a three-year, $18.4 million contract with $11 million guaranteed, it propelled him into the top 10 highest-paid at his position. That alone made Watson expensive, but he became even more expensive after failing to appear in 60% of the team’s snaps a season ago and leaving them in desperate need of additional offensive line help. Now there’s a possibility Denver will eat Watson’s remaining contract, which includes a dead cap hit of nearly $8.3 million in 2018.

Detroit Lions – Ezekiel Ansah, DE

The Lions have done a good job eliminating bad contracts in recent years, but after failing to agree on a long-term extension with Ezekiel Ansah, they will now be forced to pay him in excess of $17 million in 2018 on the franchise tag. Making matters worse, Ansah was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list at the start of training camp due. Whether he returns to the field or not, that’s a hefty price tag for a pass rusher that has recorded 14 sacks over the previous two seasons and hasn’t played a full 16-game slate since 2015.

Green Bay Packers – Randall Cobb, WR

At the time of Randall Cobb’s last deal, he was coming off of a season in which he came just shy of 1,300 receiving yards and scored 12 touchdowns. Since then, the receiver has gone progressively downhill, failing to justify the four-year, $40 million deal given to him by the Packers. Instead, Cobb has seen his production dip significantly, failing to eclipse 700 yards or four touchdowns in each of the previous two seasons. In 2018, the final year of his deal, Cobb is slated to earn a base salary of $8 million with a cap hit of nearly $13 million. There are questions about whether the team will trade him, too.

Houston Texans – Aaron Colvin, CB

Looking to bolster their secondary, the Texans went out and signed Aaron Colvin to a four-year, $34 million deal with $18 million guaranteed earlier this year. In 2018, he’ll account for $7.75 million against the cap in 2018 and then $8.75 million each season of his remaining contract. Those are some big numbers for a cornerback who finished 2017 with a Pro Football Focus grade of 69.8 (below average) and was suspended for performance-enhancing drugs the prior year.

Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck, QB

The Colts have done a tremendous job scrubbing themselves of bad contracts in recent years, so the addition of Andrew Luck is really just about being the worst of the best. Of course, coming off of a severe shoulder injury that caused him to miss the 2017 season played a key factor in the decision as well. In 2018, Luck is slated to earn a base salary of $12 million and a cap hit of $24.4 million, which accounts for nearly 15% of the team’s cap. If he returns to 2014 form, no big deal. If not and he struggles, it could be Luck’s final year in Indy.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Donte Moncrief, WR

Donte Moncrief has not played a full 16-game slate since 2015 and has averaged just 28 receptions for 349 yards over the previous two seasons. Despite that, the Jaguars signed him to a fully guaranteed one-year, $9.6 million deal in free agency. At just 25 years of age, Jacksonville may still be banking on his upside, but early preseason returns show a player continuing to struggle with consistency. If he can’t piece things together by the time the regular season rolls around, the Jaguars may regret taking a gamble and making Moncrief one of the 20 highest-paid wide receivers in the game.

Kansas City Chiefs – Eric Berry, S

It’s hard to add Eric Berry to a list like this because everyone collectively cheers for him. After all, the man battled cancer while continuing to conduct NFL workouts — that’s a feat. But after rupturing his Achilles in 2017, it’s hard not to look at his six-year, $78 million deal and cringe just a little bit. When healthy, Berry is among the best at his position in the league. However, he’s coming back from an injury that has ended careers, will turn 30 this season, and is already dealing with some heel issues this preseason.

Los Angeles Chargers – Russell Okung, OT

Russell Okung is widely considered a good tackle, but not necessarily an All-Pro tackle. However, when the Chargers signed him to four-year, $53 million deal in 2017, it made him the highest-paid at his position in the league. Entering the 2018 season, Okung remains one of the top five highest-paid left tackles in the league despite now being on the wrong side of 30. Still, Okung did make the Pro Bowl in 2017, which lessens the blow of his bloated contract just a bit.

Los Angeles Rams – Ndamukong Suh, DT

When the Rams signed Ndamukong Suh to a one-year, $14 million deal, many praised the defensive tackle combination alongside Aaron Donald. But Donald wanted a nice chunk of change of his own, and has since held out. Investing money in Suh while not immediately coming to terms on an extension with Donald set in motion some bad feelings. And while Suh won’t cost them a penny beyond 2018, his contract and whatever they give Donald as a result of Suh’s contract will.

Miami Dolphins – Albert Wilson, WR

With the Kansas City Chiefs, Albert Wilson never exceeded 42 receptions, 554 yards or three touchdowns. Despite that, the Dolphins opted to sign him to a four-year, $32 million million deal with $14.5 million guaranteed, which far exceeds his production. Even with a cap hit of just $4.833 in 2018, Wilson’s cost exceeds that of receivers with similar production around the league. The Dolphins could have gotten more bang for their buck, but instead, they gambled that Wilson can take things up a notch in Florida.

Minnesota Vikings – Kyle Rudolph, TE

When the Vikings signed Kyle Rudolph to a five-year, $36.5 million extension in 2014, it seemed like a strong investment for the future and a deal that would likely age well. However, despite a solid 2016 campaign, that has not been the case. Rather, Rudolph has failed to live up to expectations, eclipsing 800 yards only once and never reaching double-digit touchdowns. Now, in 2018, Rudolph is on the books for $7.675 million, which is the highest cap hit he’ll account for over the duration of the contract.

New England Patriots – Dwayne Allen, TE

In 2016, the Indianapolis Colts signed Dwayne Allen to a four-year, $29.4 million contract extension that included $16 million in guarantees. A year later, they shipped him off to the Patriots, who have yet to address the bloated contract. In his first season with New England, Allen’s production plummeted as he recorded just 10 receptions for 86 yards and one touchdown. That level of futility really highlights the annual salary in excess of $7.25 million.

New Orleans Saints – Demario Davis, LB

Entering free agency, Demario Davis was considered a low-end linebacker option likely to sign in the latter stages of the offseason at a team-friendly price. Instead, the defensive-hungry Saints signed him to a three-year, $24 million deal that will account for a cap hit of $3.3 million in 2018 before ballooning to $8.5 million and $9.9 million over the next two seasons. His five seasons in excess of 100 tackles may have something to do with that, but a Pro Football Focus grade of 73.7 (average) offers a better idea of what New Orleans can expect from Davis.

New York Giants – Rhett Ellison, TE

After hiring Dave Gettleman as their new general manager, the Giants cleaned house when it came to overloaded contracts. And while they added some new ones — making Nate Solder the highest-paid left tackle in the league comes to mind — Rhett Ellison’s four-year, $18 million still raises eyebrows. And while that may change under head coach Pat Shurmur, who worked with Ellison in Minnesota, the $4.5 million annually salary seems excessive for a backup tight end with a limit roles.

New York Jets – Avery Williamson, LB

After seeing his role reduced with the Titans, Avery Williamson hit free agency this year and the timing couldn’t have been better for him personally. Due to a few panic signings that changed the market and a lack of quality linebackers available, the Jets signed Williamson to a three-year $22.5 million deal with a whopping $16 million guaranteed. That’s not a bad deal for a former fifth-round pick who saw his defensive snaps decrease a season ago, but one that might be reflected on poorly for the Giants.

Oakland Raiders – Jordy Nelson, WR

Jordy Nelson had a remarkable career with Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback, but at 33 years old, he took a sharp downward turn a season ago, hauling in just 53 receptions for 482 yards and six touchdowns. Despite that, the Raiders opted to gamble on Nelson, signing him to a two-year, $14.2 million deal with $10 million guaranteed. That’s quite a hefty price tag for an aging veteran the team didn’t really need.

Philadelphia Eagles – Timmy Jernigan, DT

The Eagles have few bad contracts and when they signed veteran Tim Jernigan, it did not appear as if that would end up being one. However, after enduring a serious back injury months after inking a four-year, $48 million deal, the perception of that deal changed. And while Philadelphia did make a few adjustments to the deal — specifically to bonuses — Jernigan and his 70.0 (average) Pro Football Focus grade are on the books for a cap hit of $5 million in 2018 before the money really becomes substantial from 2019-2021.

Pittsburgh Steelers – Vance McDonald, TE

The Steelers acquired Vance McDonald in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers and he came complete with a three-year, $19.65 million deal that has yet to be modified. That’s a pretty penny for a player who has never had more than 30 receptions, 391 yards and four touchdowns. The deal looks even worse entering 2018 when McDonald will count for $4.319 million against the cap. The fact that he’s also dealing with plantar fasciitis only adds to the sour taste of his bloated contract.

San Francisco 49ers – Kyle Juszczyk, FB

Kyle Juszczyk remains one of the best fullbacks in football, but his four-year, $21 million deal remains unique in that he was considered an “offensive weapon.” Juszczyk certainly has been that, averaging 4.4 yards per carry a season ago to go along with 315 yards receiving with one touchdowns. Still, Juszczyk was given a 70.4 Pro Football Focus grade (average) last season, which isn’t the sort of analytics you’d like to see associated with a fullback averaging over $5 million per season.

Seattle Seahawks – Justin Britt, C

Choosing a bad contract on the Seahawks is quite subjective given that the vast majority of players over the 2% total cap threshold deserve to be paid big. One of the few exceptions is Justin Britt, who was signed to a three-year, $27 million extension with $17.25 million guaranteed in 2017. He accounts for 3.35% of the team’s total cap number in 2018, and that comes on the heels of a 2017 campaign in which he finished with a Pro Football Focus grade of 65.3 (below average).

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DeSean Jackson, WR

Once upon a time, DeSean Jackson was one of the most dominant and effective wide receivers in all of football. That, of course, is why the Buccaneers chose to pair him with Mike Evans on a three-year, $33.5 million deal with $20 million guaranteed in 2017. However, Jackson put up some of the worst numbers of his career last season (50 receptions, 668 yards and three touchdowns) and finally looked as if age was catching up to him at 31. It was not and will not be the sort of production that warrants over $11 million per season.

Tennessee Titans – Logan Ryan, CB

When the Titans signed Logan Ryan to a three-year, $30 million deal in 2016, it came as a bit of a surprise because it was well over his perceived market value. And in his first season with Tennessee, it became abundantly obvious why that perception existed; Ryan was average at best, earning a 65.4 PFF grade. And in a twist of irony, that bloated deal resulted in the Titans having to pay Malcolm Butler even more in free agency earlier this year.

Washington Redskins – Jordan Reed, TE

Tight ends seemed to dominate this list, so it’s only appropriate to end things with Jordan Reed. After hauling in 87 receptions for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015, the Redskins signed Reed to a five-year, $46.75 million deal with $22 million guaranteed. In two seasons since then, Reed has missed 14 games while hauling in 93 receptions for 897 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2018, he’ll account for a cap hit in excess of $10 million, which is about what his cost to the Redskins will average over the next several years.

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whole30problems · 7 years

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Day 10: 1/10/18

Still tired today. I didn’t feel quite as worn down at work as yesterday - I was pretty clear headed and felt like I was able to focus throughout the day - but my body just feels so tired. Weirdly, I think the problem I’m having this time around is that I actually did have a relatively healthy lifestyle before January. Sure, I was drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes every day and I gained like 20 lbs throughout the year, but I had been drinking way less alcohol all year than I did before my first Whole30, and more importantly I had been going to bed every night - no joke - at like 9pm.

And now, because I have to cook a homemade dinner every night with 25 fresh ingredients, I’m staying up until 11 or so. Which is a bummer because I love sleep (and especially going to sleep early). But I think I’m struggling a little more with the exhaustion a little more this time around because prior to our last Whole30, I was a MESS. Not sleeping enough, drinking daily (and often too much), eating really unhealthy. So I think Whole30 back then really felt like a cleanse. And now it feels like just a slightly different cleanse than I was doing in normal life, but like with less sleep?

I have to find a way to sleep more. But until then: here’s what I ate today.

Breakfast

This one’s for you, friends.

This is one of my old go-tos: hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and chives. Can’t beat it. If you didn’t know this already, one of the best things about Whole30 is you can have as much salt as you want. I don’t really know why I’d miss anything when there is salt.

Lunch

I had leftover potsticker stir fry and it was ALMOST as good as last night. Really good hearty lunch though. I probably (ok definitely) ate too big of a serving, but whatever. No counting calories on the Whole30!

While we were eating lunch, my coworkers were talking about my blog. Specifically, the ugly food pictures on my blog. I’m not mad because I know it’s true. One of them was trying to give me tips for taking better food photos. “No no,” I said, “That’s not the point. I don’t care if it looks unappetizing. I don’t care if no one else ever wants to do Whole30. I just need everyone to know how miserable I am the whole month.” If you’re looking for a Whole30 inspiration blog, try Pinterest or like any other Whole30 blog. This is real life, over here. The food doesn’t look good and I’m tired and I do not care how dirty my kitchen gets.

Similarly, last night my friend Greg texted me to tell me how much all of my food looks like it sucks. Guys. Sometimes art makes people uncomfortable.

Ooh, here’s something notable! I just realized today was the first day I didn’t snack at ALL in between meals. Damn, that’s a good feeling. I know I still have Tiger Blood energy to look forward to, but the real magic for me is not being hungry in between meals. It’s like a magic power. I even had an apple and Lara bars sitting on my desk, and it didn’t even occur to me to eat them.

Magic.

Dinner

My darling husband had just started the dishwasher when I got home and started working on dinner, and there was a bunch of stuff in there I needed like measuring cups and the blade for the food processor, so I had to just prep very slowly while I waited for it to finish up. I made a cobb salad with Nom Nom Paleo’s Green Beast Dressing:

Not gonna lie, this was pretty depressing. (Also yes I realize this photo looks like it was taken in a fun house mirror. I don’t know what happened. That’s a salad though.)

The dressing is really good but had a TON of ingredients in it so just felt like a lot of work. And the salad, unlike others I’ve had recently that feel very tied together and delicious, just felt like a bunch of random ingredients that didn’t really do anything for each other. Or for me.

I had a snack of one mini pickle after dinner.

Tomorrow I’m going to a meeting where everyone is ordering in Sweetgreen, and I think I’m just going to bring leftovers of this dumb salad because I’m too worried that Sweetgreen salads have hidden sugar in them. I’M NOT ABOUT TO GIVE UP NOW!

This just in. My friend Melissa (who is one of many friends who are also doing Whole30 right now) just messaged me and said, among other things:

Last night I made spaghetti squash with a veggie-filled tomato sauce. This is a meal I eat regularly but it seemed so sad and unsatisfying last night. Is whole30 supposed to make everything sadder?

Welcome to my world, Melissa. No, I really do think it makes normal meals feel unsatisfying (at least until you hit TIGER BLOOD and realize you’ve evolved past food, and then you can’t even remember what satisfying food tastes like) because it’s still part of the larger process of depriving yourself. I feel the same way - I really do like meals I usually make by choice less, because I know I can’t really have anything better.

What else? My pants still felt tight today. That shit better be over tomorrow.

Erik says he’s having occasional moments of energy, which is good, but he wants you to know that his general misery is still vastly outweighing any benefits he’s experiencing. He is currently bothering me by threatening to eat a pizza on February 1st. Good night.

#blog

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bluebookweb · 7 years

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2018 Predictions from Restaurant Industry Insiders

Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine polled restaurant and hospitality industry insiders on their predictions for 2018. Their responses include the Instagram influence, experiential dining, increased data mining and integration in restaurant tech.

Chris Adams, Principal of Ellis Adams Group

Hotels are once again becoming relevant in the food and beverage space. In 2018, the restaurants and bars within the hotel will be as much a destination as the hotels themselves.

Beverage programs are being designed with Instagram in mind – having a photo worthy cocktail is huge for restaurants and bars to reach that customer base that is driven on new experiences and then documenting it on social media. Finding the balance between creating that experience and offering true hospitality is key.

I also feel that guests in the United States are starting to embrace the European-style of drinking, with Aperitifs and Digestifs becoming increasingly common. I see more Amaro in the market than ever before and I think it will continue to gain popularity in the new year.

Gilbert Bailey, Vice President, Analytics, Customer Engagement & Stored Value, Heartland Commerce

As we approach 2018, more and more restaurants will implement new, cloud-based restaurant management platforms that have a multitude of integrations capabilities. As a result there will be more data available that can be mined and then turned into actionable insights.

We anticipate that more restaurants will incorporate data analytics into their business models to better run their restaurants and provide a better experience for their guests. We’re seeing an evolution of customer loyalty into customer engagement where we can predict and provide value to customers even before they realize they have a need.

Viren Balar, Co-Founder and CTO, Ziosk

In 2018, we will see greater acceptance and inception points when it comes to loyalty and digital payments. When a guest returns to a restaurant they’ve dined at before, they are recognized, the menu they view reflects their preferences, and their points are automatically applied to their bill.

On the whole, loyalty programs will evolve to become more personalized and catch the customer at the right moment and at the right place to deliver a tailored experience. We’ll also see greater migration toward payment-on-demand and new payment forms with digital wallets. Instead of a ‘nice to have’ we’re now seeing restaurants pushing digital payment and loyalty as a priority and as part of their overall business models.

Victoria Brady, VP of Caterer Partnerships, ezCater

The focus on off-premise will continue in 2018. One way restaurants are keeping up with demand is through commissary kitchens. We’re seeing more and more brands open these locations to help pump out delivery orders large and small. Breakfast will also continue to be a growing segment for delivery – meetings happen all day and businesses continue to feed their employees.

Lindsay Bloom, Senior Manager at SessionM

It’s all about data-driven surprise-and-delight in 2018.

Loyalty and engagement continue to be top priorities for restaurants in the year ahead. But as martech stack integration improves in 2018, we’re going to see more advanced programs, powered by data-driven insights.

Restaurants will increasingly reward customers for non-transactional behaviors such as watching a video, visiting a store or following them on Twitter. And those rewards won’t just be loyalty “points” – they’ll also include experiences like exclusive access to company plans and new products, or complimentary perks.

It’s all about data-driven surprise-and-delight in 2018, which will fuel customer happiness and word-of-mouth marketing.

David Cantu, Co-Founder, and Chief Customer Officer, HotSchedules

There is a trend of increased labor legislation on the local level (state and municipality) that restaurants and their employees must navigate together. We’ve already seen, for example, new predictive scheduling regulations enacted in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City.

We expect the trend to continue and additional municipalities to adopt similar rules in 2018. Which is why it’s imperative to provide hourly employees with tools to better manage their schedules, while also ensuring managers can continue to run their restaurant efficiently, effectively and in compliance with applicable labor regulations.

Intelligent back office platforms like Clarifi by HotSchedules enable restaurants to remain compliant with these new labor laws, helping to reduce potential compliance violations and empowering managers to schedule with confidence by setting and utilizing alerts which proactively identify potential compliance risks.

Donna Cobb, Senior Director, Enterprise Marketing, Comcast Business

According to Pew Research Center, 84 percent of American households have at least one smartphone and they want to be able to use them anytime, anywhere. It’s imperative to understand that technology is changing the way consumers interact with businesses and the way businesses manage their end user’s experiences.

To continue to be relevant, restaurants must put a greater emphasis on technology to address their patrons’ appetite for connectivity and provide services to foster positive experiences. A major element of that technology is the network that supports it, which must be robust enough to handle the traffic demands from Wi-Fi, to applications such as:

Text-based notifications to alert patrons when their table is ready

Tablet ordering at tables to expedite service

Offering QR codes to menus that include nutritional facts and other information

Back-end support and data analytics to track patrons’ eating and drinking tastes

To implement these innovative experiences, restaurants will seek a secure, high-performance network that can be support bandwidth needs, up to one Gigabit speeds. Establishments that make their network, and end-user technology services, a priority will have a leg up on competitors and drive brand loyalty to ensure long-term success.

Jeremy Fall, Restaurateur and Founder of J. Fall Group

I really think we’re going to see a lot more experiential dining in the future. It’s something that the industry has had a taste of and different attempts have been made here and there, but it hasn’t been implemented on a larger scale.

People aren’t just looking at menus when they choose what restaurant to go to anymore, they want an experience and a story to tell. In the past, this kind of experience was usually reserved for fine dining, but now I think it’s going to trickle down to the fast-casual market.

I think 2018 is going to see higher quality fast casual restaurants opening that are building brands focused on experiential dining.

Reserve CEO Greg Hong

Integrations in the restaurant tech space are going to be the next big thing. There’s a lot of different pieces of technology in a restaurant right now and soon they will all start to talk to each other and create a seamless journey for restaurants and diners. Reserve’s building those integrations to help restaurants better understand its customers’ journey and to make sure that those diners have a great experience.

Amit Jain, Founder and CEO, Bridg

Consumers now expect to be reached on their terms with personalized messages that resonate.

In 2018, we expect more restaurant operators will adopt what e-commerce already does so well: use data not only to follow customer journeys in order to understand individualized behavior and buying patterns, but also predict who they are online and how to reach them. This allows operators to reach all customers and not just those who sign up for loyalty and similar lead generation programs. Operators can then engage those individuals with marketing messages that speak directly to their interests driving traffic and sales with increased cost effectiveness. That’s been our mission at Bridg; to give restaurant and retail chains the same level of customer insight (and revenue growth) as data-savvy online retailers like Amazon.

With the advent of social media networks, consumers – particularly highly sought-after Millennials – have come to expect personalized relationships and experiences with the brands they give their business to. Consumers now expect to be reached on their terms with personalized messages that resonate. Marketing that aligns with customers’ individual preferences, needs and behaviors are proven to create feelings of connection and relatability that result in increased visit frequency and sales. At Bridg, we use this strategy and technology to enable our restaurant partners to identify customers and their preferences, and reach them with tailored incentives and messages based on their predilections.

Ricki Kline, Founder and Principal Designer of Ricki Kline Design + Build

Design, for good or bad, will be all about Instagram. In 2018, more and more restrooms will be designed with Instagram in mind. You must put effort into the bathroom because patrons will want an Instagrammable spot for selfies, so lighting, colors, fun details, etc. will be incredibly important.

Danielle Lackey, General Counsel at Motus

The proliferation of mobile technologies is helping businesses be more connected. This connectivity, however, will likely make it increasingly difficult for restaurants to compete as solo or siloed entities.

We’ve already seen restaurants forming unconventional strategies and unlikely relationships (e.g., Domino’s teaming up with Ford to explore driverless pizza delivery, and restaurants like TGI Fridays partnering with Lash to experiment with delivering alcohol to your doorstep along with food), and this will continue to accelerate in 2018.

Eddie Navarrette, Chief Consultant of FE Design & Consulting

I believe 2018 will further sustainable concepts such as local groceries, bakeries, coffee roasters, and small breweries. I don’t feel like these concepts have yet met their full potential. As federal government environmental protection policies get more derailed with its current administration, it will influence more sustainable local business. Additionally, mixed use support, or rather pedestrian-friendly smaller restaurant concepts, will start to gain recognition on what they bring to the (no pun intended) table.

The increase of minimum wage will also influence smaller ‘tight teamed’ restaurant concepts having less staff, while larger corporate restaurant concepts (and smaller millennial restauranteurs) may continue to look toward technology, such as robots making burgers and self-ordering systems to make their numbers.

Eli Portnoy, founder and CEO of Sense360

Restaurant operators will continue to learn from and emulate the best practices of digital leaders like Amazon when it comes to using data to power their decision making. The field is too competitive and too saturated to build strategies on assumptions and gut.

In this environment just staying flat is a challenge, but growth is near impossible without true insight into how to steal share. I expect restaurant operators will also seek data sources that give them the ability and flexibility to execute precise growth strategies and determine, in real time, which tactics are effective and which should be eliminated.

Jason Smylie, President of Capriotti’s

Kiosks. We saw it in the airline industry. Kiosks creeped into airports and it took a few years for agents to train customers this was a more convenient way to check-in. Today, kiosks outnumber live agents in airports. Brands like Panera, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s have done the dirty work for the restaurant industry over the last couple years. Their giant investments in hardware and FOH staff to train customers has been slowly reaching a tipping point. Today, POS companies are beginning to provide affordable and easy to implement kiosk options. 2018 may be the year that the touchscreen begins to replace the cashier.

Third-Party Order Injection. Like it or not, Third Party Ordering and Delivery Aggregators are here to stay. It is not uncommon for a restaurant to have multiple Third parties feeding them takeout and delivery orders. Technology solution providers have taken notice of the operational challenges. While restaurant managers struggle to keep on top of orders beeping from multiple tablets and accounting departments try to reconcile, POS and online ordering providers are coming to the rescue. In 2018, API’s that allow 3rd parties to inject orders directly into the POS environments will save the day, and our sanity.

Doug Sutton, President of Steritech

A delivery model must provide the same food experience a customer expects to receive at a brick and mortar location.

Consumer behavior has undergone multiple shifts in recent years, with consumers staying in more, ordering meal kits, embracing the healthier foods movement, and turning to the internet for at home grocery shopping to save dollars. At the same time, restaurant competition has increased – from both the restaurant industry and others, as grocery stores and convenience stores evolve to serve today’s on-the-go customer. According to Nation’s Restaurant News, between 2009 and 2016, the number of locations reported by the Top 100 restaurant chains in the U.S. increased by 13 percent. These trends are hitting the restaurant industry in the wallet, with several straight years of declining same store sales and guest traffic. These persistent trends have left executives scrambling for ways to boost the bottom line.

Many chains are looking to delivery as a way to “save the day,” appealing to the consumer trend of convenience and getting the food that they want, whenever and wherever they want it. Delivery is showing signs of hope, and Steritech predicts that 2018 will see chains continuing to merge into this space, in both traditional delivery models and high-volume restaurants starting up virtual restaurants to cater to delivery-only orders. However, delivery doesn’t come without risks to a brand. Brick and mortar locations give restaurants control over food – quality, temperature, presentation, and more. To be successful, a delivery model must provide the same food experience a customer expects to receive at a brick and mortar location.

We are a company specializing in food safety and service excellence assessments and are currently testing a model for delivery assessments. Below please find delivery model insights to organizations looking to institute delivery services or upgrade their existing programs:

Add staff to accommodate orders at peak hours. If you notice a big uptick in delivery requests at your peak hours, you may need to bring additional staff in to keep up.

If phone orders are accepted, ensure that the process is clear and seamless; a quick answer, clear communication, friendly tone, and helpful upsells should all be considered.

If you’re working with third-party delivery, develop a process for drivers and clearly communicate it to the those companies and their drivers. Some restaurants have begun designating special parking spots for delivery drivers, allowing the restaurant staff to easily identify drivers and get orders out the door fast.

Packaging for transport is quite different than the usual “doggie bag.” These aren’t leftovers and shouldn’t look like that. The order needs to be compartmentalized so that each piece still looks great after transport.

Develop and implement standards for maintaining the hot and cold chain, and ensure that all delivery partners have the tools and materials needed to deliver quality products.

Examine – and re-examine – your packaging and be sure that it’s designed to maintain the integrity of your product.

If there are items normally prepared by wait staff (salads, shakes, etc.), it can be important to consider how those are handled for delivery orders where the wait staff isn’t tipped.

In today’s world, we do have to worry about security. Some companies are looking at security seals (i.e. tamper seals) on the packaging, especially if using third-party delivery.

At the delivery point, whether in-restaurant pick-up or at the front door (if self-delivered), replicating the friendly interaction of wait staff is key to making the process an extension of a restaurant’s brand experience.

If you are using a third-party delivery service, establish clear standards for acceptable quality and safety, and what actions will be taken if those standards are not met. Continually evaluate and update these standards as your delivery products and model evolve and change.

Vernon Tirey, Founder and CEO of LeaseQ

Financing will become a necessity for food and beverage distributors. According to Forbes, because of tough legislation and high operating costs, 60 percent of restaurants fail within their first year and 80 percent fail within five years. Selecting the right financing options helps restaurants survive business fluctuations and save cash for day to day operations.

Only a handful of food and beverage manufacturers today offer finance programs, so it’s up to the channel to bring financing into their solution set. Distributors must use financing as a sales tool and to capture customers more effectively – or fall behind other channel players.

“Unbankable” customers will become a thing of the past. The National Restaurant Association states that seven in 10 restaurants are small business single-unit operations. More and more, these small business will be turning to alternative lending solutions for better financial products that meet their requirements. The idea that “unbankable” businesses and consumers need to be serviced is catching on. There is money to be made in the sector, but like the internet bubble, we expect to see some consolidation of alternative lenders.

Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS) will pick up steam.

We will continue to see the “uberization” of equipment with businesses choosing to rent equipment versus leasing or buying it. We expect the first areas of rapid growth for Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS) to be more industrial applications than restaurants. But, it’s only a matter of time until commercial stoves and refrigeration manufactures jump in and figure out ways of monetizing equipment use in restaurants. In trucking, EaaS is called “pay by the drip”, where operators rent a truck for a project or other length of time to avoid the large upfront cost and preserve cash. Regardless of vertical, equipment vendors must find innovative ways to finance the equipment being rented.

John Waldmann, Co-founder and CEO of Homebase

Restaurant software–from online scheduling to the POS–will get smarter in 2018.

With the rapid advances of machine learning and AI, I expect that more smart tools will emerge to help busy managers and owners make better decisions, faster.

There is so much data created in a restaurant. It’s not long before affordable technology can parse that data to improve efficiency, consistency, and the customer experience.

I also expect we’ll see more restaurants continuing to shift their back office documents from paper to digital.

As we saw after hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the US mainland, paper documents are endangered by natural disasters from rain, broken windows or flooding. Add the possibility of a kitchen fire, and paper documents can easily be destroyed. Valuable paperwork can be lost forever. By moving your important documents from paper to digital, all your key restaurant information is safely stored in the Cloud.”

2018 Predictions from Restaurant Industry Insiders posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

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hemcountry · 7 years

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CHRIS SHIFLETT'S 'WEST COAST TOWN' SWOOPS UNDER THE RADAR AS AN ALBUM OF 2017

When the call came through asking me if I’d like to interview Chris Shiflett, there was only a very momentary pause before I gave my reply. The kind of pause that comes from being asked a question that you’re almost afraid you misheard because if you did, the sense of disappointment would be just gigantic. Crushing, almost. But on the other hand, if you didn’t mishear, if you did actually hear what you thought you did, well then…something potentially awesome was about to happen at the end of that pause!

Chris Shiflett live on stage

Chris Shiflett, of course, is the lead guitarist with rock band the Foo Fighters, who are without a shadow of a doubt, and by any man’s measure, one of the world’s greatest bands of the modern rock era. But, as epic a role as that is to have on your bio, Chris is way more than just the Foo Fighters lead guitarist. He’s also Chris Shiflett of Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants. And the Chris Shiflett who gave us the honky tonk and country covers collection with the gloriously Texan inspired title of ‘All Hat And No Cattle.’ And that same Chris Shiflett who, as host of his own podcast, has interviewed men and women of the music world who have literally inspired millions all around the world. And last April Chris released his latest solo offering, ‘West Coast Town.’

So, was I interested in chatting with Chris? Well, that pause I mentioned was all of a half a heartbeat long (so not very!). All I needed to know was when!

Well, that moment came earlier today, and as ways to spend a Wednesday morning in June go, it’ll take some beating, that’s for sure.

Chris Shifflett – West Coast Town available now

Every song on ‘West Coast Town’ was recorded in about two or three takes. I began by asking Chris if that had been part of his plan at the beginning or did things just naturally start to go in that direction, so that’s how he kept things going?

“Well, I think that’s how Dave Cobb, the guy who produced my record, normally operates, ya know. I went into it really with no plan, other than I was just gonna follow his lead. And listen. And he said right from the beginning, I think even before we tracked a song, he said something about how sometimes you can go past the good takes. And I think that he was right about that. So I think a big part of it for me was just not over-thinking it, and just trusting his instinct on when we got the best take.”

Is there a little bit more pressure or a little bit more freedom involved in trying to capture a song in as few as two or three takes?

“I think it’s probably more freedom really. I mean, the way that we made this record, I didn’t go in with a band. So it wasn’t like I had a group of musicians that I was rehearsing with, and demoing, and doing all that sort of thing. So for everyone in the room, but me, when we would start working on a song, that was the first time they’d heard it. So it really was very fresh. We would just run through it with acoustic guitars a couple of times, kinda make some tweaks to the arrangement, and then jam on it a couple of times, and then press record. And that was that.”

Chris Shiflett

So in essence, once in the studio his songs actually ended up being new again for Chris himself, too?

“Oh big time, yeah. Cos’ we were changing them so much that I was having to adapt to the changes just like everybody else. And really, and this is no exaggeration when I say this, I was not paying close attention to what anybody else was doing. It’s true because I was just trying to focus on what I was was doin’! Like, I was tryin’ to nail down my take, ya know. Si I wasn’t even thinkin’ about what anybody else was doin’.”

In putting ‘West Coast Town’ together, did Chris have a vision in mind of the kind of album he wanted to end up with, or was it more a case of looking at the collection of songs he had available at a certain point and then working out a way to best fit some of them together?

“Well I definitely had a vision for what I wanted to do, but ya know, it changed a lot once I got out to Nashville and made the record. If you were to listen to the demos i made of the songs before I went out there, they changed a lot! And for the better, too. So, I think it’s the same with any album, ya know. You go into it sorta thinkin’ it’s gonna go in one direction, but it kinda goes into a different place ultimately. You can’t really predict these things.”

Chris Shiflett live on stage

Given that Chris writes so much, I wondered if it ever gets a little bit frustrating if his other musical commitments (being in the Foo Fighters) maybe prevent him from being able to release as many of his own songs as he’d like to, or as often as he’d like to? Or would that even be the case at all?

“No, and you know it’s funny because I’m goin’ into a Foo Fighter tour like this week, where we’re gonna go and do a bunch of festivals this summer. I’ve been so sorta consumed for so many months, because not only did I make ‘West Coast Town’, but it takes a long time then to put your record out. So all my energy kinda focused on that, ya know, and all the little bits and pieces of getting a record out, then going out on tour, cos’ I was touring in the States. So I’m actually really looking forward to this month of shows. Cos’ I know that I’m gonna have a lot of time to sit with my guitar in hotel rooms all over the place. And I’ve got a bunch of half-finished song ideas that I want to hammer out. So it’s kinda the opposite [of being frustrating]. I mean, when Foos are workin’ a lot, of course I’m focused on that. But there’s always lots of time to work on my own stuff as well.”

As well as being a member of one of the world’s biggest and coolest bands, and working on all of his own musical projects, Chris has also been hosting his ‘Walking The Floor’ podcast since 2013, for which he gets to interview all kinds of amazing artists. But how did ‘Walking The Floor’ come about in the first place?

“Well the initial idea actually came from my friend Joe, who’s one of the guys who owns SideOneDummy Records, who put my records out. It was around the time that I put out that ‘All Hat And No Cattle’ album. He said, hey, you should make a podcast, it would help promote your record. And I was like, yeah, that’s a good idea, ya know. And then I sorta thought, well what would my podcast be? And at the time, the only one I listened to was the Mark Maron podcast, so I just kinda modelled it after that. It sort of evolved into mostly being focused on Americana and country artists. It’s fun, ya know, and it’s super educational for me to get to sit and talk with people like Marty Stuart, Rodney Crowell, Dwight Yoakam, Merle Haggard, and all of these guys that I looked up to. To get to hear their story in their words, and get to have a little conversation with them, it’s cool.”

Obviously being in a band like Foo Fighters brings with it plenty of experience of interview situations. But that apart, did Chris have any kind of journalistic background or anything of that nature before ‘Walking The Floor’?

“None at all! [laughs]. And I’ll tell ya what, man, it has really given me a much bigger respect for people who do interviews, ya know. Cos’ it’s not always easy! You go into an interview with your prepared list of questions, but then the conversation can take some crazy left turn and you kinda just have to react to it. And of course you know from my podcast that it’s like a long-form conversational interview. I always prepare a bunch of notes and questions and have some different things that I want to ask people about, but my goal at every interview is that I never have to look at my questions, that I never have to look at my notes. Cos’ if I can do that you just sort of stay in the flow with it.”

Chris with Brad Paisley

As well as the artists Chris has already mentioned, he’s also interviewed people like Steve Earle, Robbie Fulks, Brad Paisley, and Imelda May for his podcast. But does he have a favourite?

“My favourite interview? God, I mean there’s been so many. The fact that I got to interview Merle Haggard sticks out, that’s definitely one of them. That was a great conversation and he passed away not too long after that, maybe six or eight months later. So that one I’m really proud of. Some of the other ones then, well Lucinda Williams was really fun. And I was nervous, ya know, cos’ I had never met her and I just didn’t know what to expect, and it was Valentine’s Day! Sometimes when you interview someone that you’re such a big fan of, I go into super-nervous. And I was nervous to interview her. But she was very welcoming and disarming. And also, of my recent ones, Marty Stuart was amazing, Rodney Crowell was incredible. There’s been a bunch, man.”

And is there anyone who he’d love to talk with but it just hasn’t happened yet?

“There’s a lot! Yeah, I mean there’s so many. I would love to interview Chris Stapleton. I would love to interview Margo Price. I would love to interview Loretta Lynn, that would be amazing. It’s an endless list, there’s so many that I still haven’t gotten to yet.”

Chris with Rodney Crowell

Something that I, as a writer myself too, really love about Chris is the fact that he works so hard on the craft of songwriting. He tries to write every day, he’s taken a songwriting workshop, and he’s even once considered joining a storytelling group in order to see how that might make him a better writer. So from a songwriting point of view, I wondered what has been Chris’s proudest moment, and also, has there been anything like a point he’d describe as the lowest?

“Well basically every album I’ve done of my own songs, up until this one, after I had done them there was so many things that I wanted to change. I think with lyrics, I used to write the lyrics almost as an after-thought. I didn’t spend enough time revising and editing, and that I regret. When I look back now and look at my earlier songwriting, I think the best ones were the ones that were like the ones on this record, on ‘West Coast Town’, that really just tell a story, ya know. I think my favourite song off the new album is probably the title track.”

The worse thing about interviews like this is that you have to keep an eye on the clock. Because as sure as there was someone else in the queue for the artist’s time before you, you can bet your life that there’ll be one waiting in line to follow you, too. When you’re talking to someone as interesting as Chris, that’s definitely a downside. But it’s an understandable part of the business of show! So, reluctantly and unfortunately, we arrived all too soon at what had to be our last question.

Chris has stated previously that reading every day is as important to his songwriting as actually writing every day is. I wondered was there anything else he’d advise songwriters to do on a daily basis to help hone and develop their skills?

“Well I think it’s different for everybody. Ya know I talk to a lot of songwriters about their process and everybody has a different version of what they do. I just know that for me, the more that I write, the better I’m writing. And part of that is to do with where you like your confidence level. Like, the more I write, the more confident I am as a writer. The ideas seem to come quicker and easier.”

‘West Coast Town’, the brilliant new album from Chris Shiflett, is OUT NOW!

CHRIS SHIFLETT’S ‘WEST COAST TOWN’ SWOOPS UNDER THE RADAR AS AN ALBUM OF 2017 was originally published on HEM COUNTRY

#americana #Americana News #Chris Shiflett #Interview #New Album #West Coast Town #countrymusic #countrynews. IrishCountry #UKCountry

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mavwrekmarketing · 8 years

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CeCe Winans is back to making music.

Earlier this month, the veteran gospel singer-songwriter and most-awarded female gospel artist of all time released her first new solo album in nearly a decade entitled, Let Them Fall In Love. Three years in the making, the album finds Winans continuing herfamilys rich musical lineage by collaborating with her son, Alvin Love III, who wrote and co-produced the album (she collaborated with her brother, BeBe, on her 2009 album, Still.)

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Winans opened up about her return to gospel music, how she thinks she can help push the genre to the mainstream, and why religion should play a bigger role in unifying America.

The album marks your first release in nearly a decade. How does it to feel?

I still cant believe that much time went by. But within that decade, BeBe and I did a project, then my husband and I started a church in Nashville, Tennessee. So having my son work with me was awesome, because he made sure I stayed relevant, and that I would connect with his generation. And so now, it feels great to be back. But its a whole new world out here. Social media alone is like, Whoa, this is what people do now? Im getting adjusted to the new way.

In what ways has your music evolved over the years since your last project, Thy Kingdom Come?

I think your music evolves the way you evolve. Im different now. Im older, I would like to think Im wiser. I understand who I am more than ever before. I think one of the great things about getting older is that you get more of a sense of who you are. And so I think, in approaching this record it wasnt to impress people as much as to share with people what you feel like you have thats valuable to share. I think going in the studio this time, I was probably more confident than ever before. Not that I was so much better, but just having a sense of knowing of what my purpose is. And thats exciting and always fun I was determined to make the record fun.

How can songs on the album like Peace From God apply to some of the social issues that were currently dealing with in America?

I think Peace From God is a song that the country needs to hear on repeat. So I pray that I will get the opportunity to sing it in major places that will have the attention of our country and the world. When I started recording the song I said, Oh my God. We need peace from God, because thats the only place we gonna get peace from. How to work together, how to walk together, how to give one another, how to love one another. I pray this song will give us that so we can come together and experience peace.

What role do you think religion has in todays political climate?

I dont think the role is as big as it should be. I think if everybody would understand how important the church is to our society I think we would experience peace a lot sooner. One thing about Gods work is, when youre dealing with truth and youre dealing with love it really can fix every situation, but we all have to be willing to do that. We have to be able to humble ourselves, and prefer others more than ourselves, and when we do that it creates peace, it creates harmony.

Jeremy Cowart

“I pray for that day where they treat us like every other artist and give us the chance to be heard on every platform,” Winans said.

Whats your perception on how gospel has evolved through the years?

I think gospel music has come a long way, and I think were just getting started. Gospel music has always been a part of our history. Its really been the rock for so many other genres of music. You look at some of your biggest stars, they came out of gospel music. And so, now to see some of the younger artists that are coming up now theyre amazing to me. And I think were just getting started. I look at the Tasha Cobbs and I look at Travis Greene, and Jonathan McReynolds, and just hearing all these incredible gifts and different styles. Im pretty pleased to see where it is now.

How would you like to see the genre evolve in years to come?

I want it to continue to be free from the box that society has tried to put us in. Its good music, so play it like you play other music. Dont think just because its labeled gospel only people who go to church on Sunday wants to hear it. I think theres a lot of people out there who never plan to step into a church that will love gospel music. And so I pray for that day where they treat us like every other artist and give us the chance to be heard on every platform and let people choose if they wanna hear it or not.

As we reflect on the accomplishments of black trailblazers this month, in retrospect how has black history influenced your music career?

We can go back as far as slavery, the hymns that they sang… understanding how they made it through. And its on their shoulders that we continue to stand. The suffering that they went through, but then being determined not to give up and to keep fighting for what was right. I think we all always need to remember what they went through so we can experience what were experiencing. Yeah, were still fighting, but were a lot further than what they suffered. And so, they taught us to trust God, they taught us to stick together, they taught us to love who God created us to be, and that has played a major part in my life… And its because of them that were experiencing the success that were experiencing now.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.