52PICKEDUP

Welcome to 52pickup.us.

This site stands as an electronic monument to my project to produce and release one song per week for all of 2009. Please feel free to thumb through the songs and posts using the links in the right sidebar. If you like my work, please consider visiting my store or clicking on the PayPal button in the right sidebar to make a donation

Click here to download a zip file containing all 52 songs.

As of 2010, I have shifted my bloggings, releases, and general e-presence to my artist site at father-abraham.com. Please visit there to stay up to date on my current and future recording projects. You can follow me on twitter at @fatherabraham.

Thanks to everyone who visited this site over the course of the year. Your feedback and support made this project possible.

52 DANCE WITH YOU [123109]

Here, let's do this together.

Download 52_Dance_With_You_123109.mp3

Download 52_Dance_With_You_RADIO_123109.mp3

That felt good. Here's the download link for the whole project:

Download 52pickup.zip

Let's talk about this a little bit.

The Song

I think it ended well. No need to talk at length about it. It's an appropriate ending, I think:aA nice showcase for my newly crafted skill set. The credit section was especially fun to do. I enjoyed doing the Rod Roddy voice. I know that I missed a few people, including (ouch) my parents, who have always been perfectly supportive of their son's misuse of his fancy-pants diploma.

I should point out that the phrase "bounced in the creek" comes from high-school hockey teammate John Root. I'm not sure what it means, except that it is bad. You don't want me to have to do it to you. Thanks, Root, for the turn of phrase.

The Year

I loved this year. It was great. I have no regrets, aside from a few technical things here and there that I might have done differently. But those don't count, and I'm leaving the whole project as-is - no edits, no "new" mixes, no nothing. As Coach Belichick would say, it is what it is, and you are fined $75,000.

One thing is clear: I am not the Breakout Act of 2009. I am still holding out hope for the years that follow, but I can honestly say that success, by any metric, is less important to me now than it ever was. I started The Indefinite Article in 2004 so I could make oddball rap music, and between then and now I managed to craft a fully health-insured lifestyle, ultra-complete with a wonderful and supportive girlfriend, that allows me four entire days per week to do just what I set out to do. Yes, I would like to get paid to make my music. Yes, if I come to the conclusion that I cannot scare up a living in this business, I will one day put the rig up on Craigslist and try something else. I'll probably try something else someday anyway, just because. But I'm happy where I am now; I feel like I'm out ahead in life, and it's fun to be out ahead.

I'm only going to ask you one more favor, after you mull over donating a few bucks in appreciation of a good year's work: if you ever feel the urge to take on a stupidly large and life-altering project like this, stop for a moment and seriously consider dropping everything to do it. One of the best decisions I ever made.

In conclusion, 2009 was a year of contrasts.

Where, From Here?

Immediately: I'll be spending the next week or two giving the studio a once-over before I start on the projects listed below. I have stared at the same spots on the walls and the ceiling for too long, so it's time to switch things up a bit. Manual labor will be fun, too. I'm serious.

Cannot Stop Will Not Stop: In January I'll be getting to work on an EP for New Hampshire synth-poppers Felix and Volcano! and a collaborative-type thing with Boston blues maven Monique Ortiz. Once those are done, I plan to either rustle up some more production gigs or get started on some new recordings of my own. Maybe some remixes. Once I get a practice space up and running I'm going to get a live group cooking again. I'm open to suggestions. Give a holler.

The Site: To tell the truth, I haven't really figured it out yet. I spent the holidays in Texas with my brothers and sisters and didn't do a whole lot of thinking about it. Next Wednesday I'll put up a new post post, which will either (a) serve as the last 52pickup post and the future welcome page for this site, or (b) define the future role of this site. If you feel strongly one way or the other, please weigh in, either via email or by using the comments field. Either way, keep a bookmark on this site and on father-abraham.com and we'll go from there.

Good year, guys. Thanks for following. I appreciate it. Feel free to get in touch with me, either via facebook, twitter, or yelling at me on the street. The icons on the top left should be in working order.

Song credits: Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East, Cambridge MA.