Last issue I wrote this intro page while visiting Amsterdam and hanging out at The Paradiso. This issue I'm sitting on a plane while heading to New Orleans to mix some songs I started with Big Blue Marble (and to mix some others they've tracked as well). Since last May I've been thinking a lot about what I want in a career in music recording, and I'm slowly working it out. There have been times where I felt like I was almost on an assembly line — rock bands coming in one after the other with me trying to do the best job I could given what they brought in as songs, arrangements, talent and gear. I've pulled back from that, fielding many of the calls I've gotten at my studio to other engineers while taking on things that interest me. Last week I recorded a quartet of Tongan ex-patriots doing traditional "island" music with guitars, ukulele and sweet harmony voices. I thought it would be interesting, and a different challenge, and it was — especially having to track, overdub and mix 12 songs in 9 hours! The next day I worked with an old friend, Sean Croghan, who I've done several albums with before. It was fun and creative — only tackling the tracking and rough mixing for one song we came up with cool sounds and arrangements that we were both real happy with. And now I'm off to work with a band in New Orleans that I really like (musically and as people), in a funky studio with a resident cat (and engineer). I feel like I'm getting close to a career that won't burn me out (I hope) and will keep me interested in music recording for a long time. Wish me luck!