New music this Christmas season.......

Well, I've been a pretty detached blogger these last couple of months. No worries though, after a short hiatus and change of jobs (for those of you who might not know, I've officially become a school bus driver) I again feel the creative juices flowing.
I've drafted up an "achievement list" ("goal lists" are such a 2010 thing!:) for this fall, winter, and spring, here it is:

1. This Christmas season I feel really moved to finish up the final LITTLE CZAR AND THE PSALMIST recording. Except for a redux of "songs of ascent", this is the pieta' of the project, the final culmination of me by myself orchestrating songs late in the night, pouring out my heart and soul in a condenser mic in our basement or linen closet. After this, I will tuck all 6 recordings away until their appointed time and begin work on other projects like......(see number 2)

2. Yeaaah! Nicole and I are getting geared up to finish recording and producing the songs we've written together. We are about half way done, and our goal is to finish it by this spring, so we can celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary by giving all our friends and family a free CD of our music. How egotistic of us, right? No matter, Im really elated over the material and it will be worth every penny....every free penny.

3. Last but not least, I have all next week off for Thanksgiving and my goal is to produce about 15 or 20 more branded paintings.....

Sorry for the lengthy text in this blog, but you've been faithful and barreled on through like a trooper. As a reward, I have posted an excerpt from the current LITTLE CZAR AND THE PSALMIST recording in process. Much of the material is centered around the Christmas season and the God becoming man event--this included. Enjoy (and if you skipped the text to listen to this, shame on you!)

Christmas czar 2010 by ryan kennelly

( FB friends go here http://soundcloud.com/tactilecollective/christmas-czar-2010)

two self portraits I did a long time ago--

I've been pulling some old paintings out of storage lately, working on them, and even restoring them where needed.

Here are two self portraits I did right after I graduated from Miami.

One was done while I was single and living in my parents empty farm house for the winter. I had just come home from celebrating Thanksgiving with my relatives.....

The other (shirtless with shaving cream) was done a year or so afterwards. It was rendered from a photo I took in the apartment Nicole and I (just married) sublented in Queens, NY.

Enjoy.