Here it is! The cover of my upcoming album! The title has an outside chance of changing, and there will probably be a little alteration here and there to the cover, but, this is it!

It was an interesting experience, but making it didn't take very long at all. The process overall took a little while as I was working on other ideas. but once I got to this concept, it came together really, really fast...so much so it was almost startling.

I assembled, colored, and formatted it myself, utilizing three amazing black and white photographs from Adam Moore, a San Francisco-based photographer I found online. I was worried that he wouldn't let me use them, but he's proven to be very gracious and we've come to a really wonderful agreement. Check out his site: http://www.adammoore.com. AMAZING work!

I was thinking about assembling a look based on how film negatives look, and that's where the film strip thing comes from at the top. I also got a picture of a really old keyboard on a really old piano, a Boardman and Gray piano, a now defunct company that was based in Albany. I like the idea that I have something like that, something more rustic and charming, than the standard, black grand piano, something I don't think I've ever liked on an album cover.

I don't have any training in art design, so I really didn't think I was going to make this on my own. I don't even know how to use the design programs. But, here it is. Chelsea VandeDrink, the audio student who recorded my album [and did an amazing job] was one of the first people to see it. She flipped, and has since said it's the greatest album cover ever. :)

I also got a big thumbs-up on it from Todd, my good friend and design partner. I thought for sure I'd have utilized him more for the cover, but it didn't work out that way. He'll be helping out on the design of the rest of the CD package, though.

But it's important to me to make things that are exciting to my 'associates', because it's a good indication that you're going in the right direction. It seems like everybody is quite pleased with the cover.

There's SO MUCH to do. I have big plans for the production of this thing. But that's only one thing. There's a lot going on, and I have to get focused and organized.

I can get focused rather well, but organized??

Uh-uh.

Oh yeah: A Piano Saga probably won't be available until early 2006...and it's going to be good. I'm trying hard to not let my pride in the project spill onto the keyboard grandiosly. I think I've failed!