This is the story of the new album sessions, that would eventually become “Shine”
January 2024: A New Path Forward
At the start of 2024, I made a point to set aside what wasn’t working in my life and move forward on a path of authenticity. Sometimes that means heading in a direction different from where you’ve been. I began pulling together notes and notebooks, revisiting song demos in various stages, and solidifying the decision that it was time to make a new album. As I’ve done before, it takes focus and determination to see that vision through from start to finish. I imagine it’s similar to writing a book or making a movie—two things I haven’t done yet but would love to. That’s a future project for another time.
February 2024: Laying Down the Foundation
In February, the trio—Chris Brown, Andy Hamburger, and I—went into Tommy Lepson’s studio in College Park to track what would become the album versions of “Free From You” and “Won’t Be Here Anymore.” Both songs were first demoed in 2022 at Ivakota Studios with Ben Tufts on drums, but in that form, they didn’t quite hit the mark. They felt a bit too ethereal, lacking the weight I wanted. The 2024 pre-production versions had much more punch, giving them the energy they needed. After tracking, they sat for most of the year before we finished them up in the fall, locking them in for this new record.
March 2024: Building the Sound
In March, the band—now joined by Bronson Hoover and Ben Tufts—continued playing around the D.C. area, trying out new song ideas while I kept writing, sending the guys demos, and rehearsing. During this time, hearing what each member brought to the five-piece band helped shape my songwriting. It became clear that this lineup had a unique chemistry, and that realization gave me the foundation to write with the full band in mind. Songs like “Shine” and “Rivals” started to take form, built around the idea that the entire group playing together as a unit would truly shine in the studio.
April & May 2024: A Bluesier Direction
After some road dates and more shows in the area, I started leaning into a bluesier sound, which naturally worked its way into my songwriting. The trio kept performing and refining song ideas, and that’s where “Don’t Leave Flowers by My Tombstone” came in. It felt important to have a few tracks on the album that honored the blues in its purest form. Around this time, I also began writing more on the Weissenborn, developing early versions of “Love’s a Revolution” and “Drifting on By”—both of which made their way into demo form.
Summer 2024: Laying the Groundwork
In the summer of 2024, the trio headed back into Tommy Lepson’s studio to work through some songs in their rawest form. “Rivals” and “Tombstone” began taking shape, with the addition of our friend Anthony "Swamp Dog" Clark, whose contributions added a new dimension to the sound. We held onto those recordings, knowing they would play a key role in the album’s evolution.
As is always the case with summertime, everyone got busy playing live. We stayed active regionally, keeping a steady momentum while balancing shows and studio work. By this point, we had about half an album in pre-production—progress was steady, and the vision for the record was coming together. During this stretch, after playing a string of outdoor shows, I wrote “Long Way Back Home”—a song that captured the spirit of the road and the feeling of returning to familiar ground.
Bringing the Album to Life
From September through December, the real studio work kicked into high gear. We made the decision to record at 38 North in Falls Church, Virginia, with Sean Russell engineering—this was the moment where everything came together to complete the album.
It took an enormous amount of mental, emotional, and financial energy to bring this project to life, but every session was filled with a sense of purpose. The recording process was both challenging and exhilarating, with moments that felt truly magical. After months of writing, refining, and pre-production, we were finally capturing the songs in their fullest form, bringing the vision to reality.