I’ve been seeing some questions posted about when Drifter, Painter, Drinker, Sinner is coming out, so I wanted to address those questions with this post. Jon and I sent out a tweet about a month ago stating that we were starting over and thanked you for your patience as we worked on getting the next GG release to a better place musically. Maybe we were too cryptic in our tweet, or maybe it just got lost in the cacophony, either way, here’s the story. Jon and I decided for this next release that we wanted to explore our process of making music and go about it differently than we had with the previous EPs. Give Me To The Waves and IF THEN were both written and recorded in a week. Super fast, no time to think or overanalyze, we just wrote and tracked as fast as humanly possible. We did this mainly because I was working two or three jobs at the time and only had about a week to invest in both EPs. When it came time to start making the third release, I was playing music full time which allowed us the luxury of a more flexible schedule. We decided that we wanted to take our time. Write the songs very methodically, base them on a common theme and completely finish the writing process before recording. Then we would do proper pre production, then we would track drums and scratch vocals, then we would go back in and re record all our parts in more painstaking detail (from an engineering perspective). We got the whole EP done, Jon mixed it, and we sat on it for a couple weeks. We sent it to our close friends and family tot get their perspective as we gathered our thoughts on it. After some time, Jon and I both decided that what we made was not what we wanted to represent us for the next release. It doesn’t mean those songs will never get released, it just means they won’t get released now. We’ve started writing for the next release. We are working remotely at this point as Jon is on tour with Paramore for the year and I’m touring with Brooke Waggoner for the year. It’s unknown territory for us to make a record this way, but we’re never gonna stop making GG music. It just means that we may have to make that music in hotel rooms across the globe this year. We’re both committed to getting y’all at least one new song very very soon. Hang with us as we enter into uncharted waters here. Thank you so much for believing in us and listening to our music. Long live GG

I wanted to take a minute to talk about the new GG record. We’re in the middle of mixing as we speak and Jon is pulling many many long hours to bring you the most mind melting mix of all time Let me just come out and say first that this record is VERY different from our other two EPs. Let me also say that it is an EP and not a full length. Part of the reasoning behind it being an EP is due to the fact that it is very different than our other releases. Jon and I have always made music with the next 20 years in mind. We have been and are still in a process of “honing” in GG’s sound. We want to make records that y’all love, but more than that we want to make something new. We want to CREATE in the music world. Not just add to the noise. That requires taking risks. It also requires some exploration and pushing one’s boundaries, etc.

We’ve gotten a really cool response to our “If Then” EP lately. Which has in turn freaked us out a bit about this new record. We start going down the path of “What if people want an even bigger If Then? What if we should just continue making records that are variations of If Then since people like it!? What if they’re gonna hate this new record!!?!?? WHAT ARE WE DOING!?!?!?!?!?????”. And then we calm down and remember that we love music and it’s ok if people don’t love everything we make. Let it be know though that this is Jon and I’s favorite EP to date and we are thrilled to share it with y’all. It’s more minimal. It’s very dark. It opens up more melodically than instrumentally. Not all the lyrics rhyme. There are very few cymbals and it kind of has a nostalgic/classic feel to it. Obviously y’all will decide whatever you want about it. I just wanted to throw something out there as we come down the home stretch to give you guys some fair warning. Jon and I are growing and changing. We always will be. Prepare accordingly Love y’all. Thanks for all the support and for listening to our music.

~Kyle

In my opinion, the most difficult part of music being one’s profession (I would say the most difficult part of  ”art” being one’s profession, but I have not pursued any other art form professionally. So, I’ll speak only of what I know) is the waiting. At least until you’ve crossed some career thresh hold and “make it”, the existence of a musician is this: Unrequited love. Hang ever so tightly onto what got you fascinated with music in the first place, because you will receive no other affirmation that it is indeed what you “should” be doing. There is no paycheck at the end of the week…or month…or year. There is only the desperate belief that what you have to say artistically serves some function beyond yourself in this world and that it matters. Being some one who thrives off validation, God sure must have a sense of humor making me love music. It’s not even just love for music. It’s the weight and burden of music that He has given me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown up my hands and said “that’s it! I quit. I fucking quit. I’m just going to go back to school. I’ll be a doctor like my dad or an accountant like my cousin or  go into non-profit like my sister. But before I can look up interest rates on student loans, I’m back in my room with my guitar running away with a song. I don’t even know how I got there, but I’m THIS close to finishing the chorus and God knows I can’t give up on this chorus. Once the song’s done, I’ll look up student loans.” Nope. Never happens. Because my heart knows better. I can’t turn my back on this beautiful and wretched fire. So I keep working. Trying to push myself creatively. Make something that matters. If not to the world, then to me. I don’t know how I’m going to pay for things like food or rent or children down the road or even just the expenses required to work for nothing. But, I know I have no choice! I better figure out a way to buy food and shelter because this is what I got. I’m an artist. I make art. It’d be great if my family didn’t have to go on food stamps (which we never have had to do by the grace of God), but even if we did, I have X amount of years on this planet and then my body stops working and gets put in the ground where it decays back into the dirt from whence it came. I’d like to do something that matters in that little X. As you can see, I get carried away and easily start to panic. But I’ve always felt like I was in the wrong when I start to panic or get tired of working and not getting paid for it. Only recently have I come to the conclusion that I am indeed in the wrong. Here’s why:

I have no true concept of pain or struggle. Not to downplay or mitigate trials in my life, but anytime I start to feel like I got the short end of the existential stick, someone please slap me. I’ve never gone a day hungry. I’ve never not had a roof over my head. I’ve gone swimming in the sumer, snowboarding in the winter, seen places that people will NEVER see in their whole lives, live in one of the most advantageous countries in the world. I met the love of my life and she said yes. I have both my parents and a sister that you WISH you had. Most of all, I have the love and forgiveness of the Creator. The God above us all knows my name and the number of hairs on my head. What I do matters because He loves me. And you know what? That’s more than enough compensation for my time. Amen.

p.s. What you do matters too. Because God knows who you are. He loves you and forgives you and delights in watching you live the life He created for you. Everything’s gonna be ok because He loves us. Let’s stop panicking about what will or won’t be given to us and do something that matters.

As Jon and I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel on the new General Ghost record, we’ve realized a few things about how we work musically. Jon and I have always felt like if we over thought our process for too long, the result would sound labored and disingenuous. This is why we recorded our previous EP’s with a very short time line and all at once as opposed to writing, then taking a few days off, then tracking some, then taking a few days off, tracking some more, taking a fews days off, etc.

We also felt that throughout the life of General Ghost, we’d have a wide spectrum (sonically) of records we’d want to release. Our taste in music is very eclectic and what that means when it comes to writing our own music is that there will be more than one “sound” in the albums we create. Having records we’ve grown up with floating around the same heart space as new records we’re falling in love with currently sort of frankensteins genres together in our brains and comes out as they come out. Sometimes it’s a beautiful organism brought to life from a decayed, rotten mess. Other times, it’s a monster that just about burns the village down. In which case, we grab our pitchforks and torches, shoot it with a high powered hunting rifle and go back to the lab to try again.

With this new record we’re working on we’ve taken a slightly different approach. We wanted to split up the process into separate segments. Writing. SLIGHT fleshing out of songs. Track drums (courtesy of Taylor York). Have fun. Then mix and master. What that’s resulted in is a very consistant record. All the songs live together and all the songs are…well, cold. When we started writing these songs, every one came out as somewhat of an ode to the darkness winter. We just embraced our surroundings and wrote what we felt in this particular season.

I guess what we’ve learned in this process is what exactly the General Ghost “sound” is. And I don’t think it’s a “sound” at all. it’s the seasons in which we find ourselves. Jon and I will always write records that serve us where we are when we write them. The sound is “here’s what we were feeling when we did (fill in the blank).”

So, if there’s anything to anticipate with our next release, anticipate an honest representation of what we were feeling when we wrote it…and cool 808 loops

Long Live General Ghost.

I have this image of myself at my best. It’s really kind of a secret and deeply personal thing, but I want to share it with you guys to explain why that image is so difficult to make a reality and why I have fallen so short. Ok, me at my best:

I’m in perfect physical shape. I don’t really care about six pack abs and rippling biceps as much as I care about completing an iron man or being a cross fitter, ya know? I don’t think about how badly I wish I still smoked. I go to sleep every night tired. My head hits the pillow and I’m out. I do what I love for my job and make enough that I can provide my friends and family with whatever they may need financially. I care nothing for material possessions but enjoy a good meal and a beautiful guitar. Keep the jag just give me a vespa. I cook my food and only go out to eat for special occasions. I drink a lot of water. I continue to expand my mind by learning new languages, valuing other cultures and their history, taking community college classes like “the decline of the roman empire”, listening to NPR on my morning runs, learning a new instrument every year. I’m a dad of 3 or 4. I play my music to millions yet still make my kids feel like they and their mom are the only people in the world. I love my wife better than I did the day before everyday I’m blessed enough to be her husband. I’m the friend you count on. I’m the son who calls back. The brother who understands. The quiet one in the back. I’m slow to anger and grow in patience with each year’s passing. I lust not, lie not, covet not, want not. I fear no evil and laugh at mortality. I read more. Laugh more. Cry more. I will die like an athlete who lost the game and regrets nothing. I will love who I am and respect who I am not. I never give up. I always grow. Always forgive. Always love. I live this life like it is a gift and not a burden no matter how heavy the burden of life may get. I am Kyle Rictor, and that means something.

That is the vision of me at my best. Here’s who I am currently:

I can’t sleep. I stay wake for hours on end convinced some one is going to break in and kill my wife. Every night. I quit smoking 6 moths ago and constantly think about how much I want to give up and just go back to smoking. I’m overweight. I work out about 4 days a week and feel a nanosecond of pride followed by 24 hours of insecurity. I’m apathetic when I’m not with my wife. I hate reading. I’m prideful when I accomplish the most menial and insignificant things. I have an anger problem. I doubt my calling. I see the worst in people. I want more money. I want cooler clothes. I want a Harley. I wish I looked different. I’m scared to pick up the phone. I don’t call my mom hardly ever. I’m still angry at my dad sometimes for leaving me. I want to move to another city. Maybe I’ll be better there. I wish I was in the movies so people would recognize me on the street and I could act like I didn’t care.  I dream about being a celebrity and hate myself for wanting that. I look down on people for not knowing what I know. I don’t really like cooking. I want beer or soda over water, every time. I say my name out loud and hear a dial tone in my head. Kyle Rictor. Kyle Rictor. Kyle Rictor. Nothing. No clue as to who that is. I’m an inconsistent friend. I bail on meetings. I want to go on more vacations. I want to go to Disney world and deal with this shit later. I want six pack abs. I want, constantly, to be better. I’m never satisfied. I want…I just want.

There it is guys. Hopefully I didn’t let anyone reading this down. That’s the truth man. That’s what I look like right now. But it’s not who I am dammit. It is NOT WHO I AM.

Here’s the thing about “being all you can be”. I think the best version of myself is in perfect physical condition. A guy who could do an iron man. So I run about 4 or 5 days a week to meet that goal and become that guy. I have increased my distance and time every day that I’ve run in the last month, but guess what? I’m NOT A STRONG MAN! I still feel weak. And the way it stands now, even if I did complete an iron man and had 0.3% body fat, I still think I’d feel like a weakling. I think the best version of myself doesn’t think about smoking every day. But guess what? I quit smoking 6 months ago to try and be that guy, and I STILL THINK ABOUT SMOKING CONSTANTLY! I think the best version of myself does what he loves for a living. So I’ve worked my ass off to play music full time and not have a second job. Guess what? I have made more money in the last 6 months just playing music than I have in the last 6 years and I STILL FEEL LIKE A FAILURE!

So, what? What the hell is the problem here? I’m doing everything I know how to do to reach my goal of the best me and I don’t feel any different. I’m still scared. I’m still selfish. I’m still weak. Here’s what it is. This is important so I’m going to give it it’s own space here:

No matter what I accomplish in this life. No matter how fit I am. No matter how rich I am. No matter how famous I am. No matter how effing awesome I am. I am NOTHING without Christ who lives in me. I AM weak. But Jesus is not. I can’t train to be an iron man and expect to be satisfied when they throw the lei over my head in Kona. I need to sacrifice my body to God by taking care of this machine He’s given me and be prepared for whatever it is He asks me to do with it. If that’s an iron man, than I sure as hell better be prepared. I can’t play music for a living and make so much money that I never have to check my bank account again and expect to be satisfied. I have to create music and set it ablaze on the altar. God will do what He wants with it. And whatever He does with my art is the utmost I could hope for it. I can’t love my wife without getting out of the way and letting God love her through me.

All this time I’ve been trying to make Kyle Rictor better. But what I need to do is just be like Jesus. If I strive everyday to be more like Jesus, then Kyle Rictor WILL be who God intended him to be and I can stop worrying about it so damn much. Forgive the cliche here, but Jesus is the answer. It’s not about me being stronger. It’s about me doing all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me. I still need to have discipline and work, don’t get me wrong. A lot of what I physically do to try and be the best me will look exactly the same from the outside, but WHY I’m doing it is vastly different from what it was. I’m doing it because Jesus died on the cross for my sins. God made me (and you) to be in relationship with Him, and the medium of that relationship is being human. Being closer to God is all I can really hope for in this life, and that is so much hope.

I’m in a new band called General Ghost. It’s a project very near and dear to my heart. There are a bunch of us that make up General Ghost.  Jon Howard (producer, writer, guitarist for Paramore), Natalie Taylor (amazing solo artist, writer, beat maker -not joking- and one of the most talented vocalists I’ve ever heard, also Jon’s wife), Kelsey Rictor (y’all know her! My beautiful and freakishly talented wife. Vocalist, instrumentalist, and good decision maker. She also has a degree in music business which she obtained a year sooner than us normal humans could do), Nick Aranda (writer, vocalist, and quite possibly the most talented instrumentalist and all around musician I’ve ever known), Corey Neal (drums. I should really write DRUMS. Corey is a drummer’s drummer. In a storage unit for 6-8 hour a day practices. Other drummers beware. Corey ain’t messin’), Luke Buishas (writer, instrumentalist, producer, mojo bringer and brainstormer. Luke is absolutely bat shit crazy and I love him dearly. This dude is the tangible form of inspiration. You gotta meet him), and myself. We made a a 7 song EP to let y’all know we exist and want dearly to live in your computer, cars, ipods, and hearts. Our EP is called “Give Me To The Waves”. Wanna know the best part? You can get it for free. FREE! If you want to pay for it, we’re also available on itunes and amazon and all that good stuff, but for those like myself who like my music free, you can download it on noisetrade.com, or on the General Ghost website. www.generalghost.com

Go get them jams and keep your eyes peeled here at the site. I’ve been on a bit of a “Kyle Rictor” hiatus working on the General Ghost stuff, but will be providing you with more consistent posts soon. Thanks for sticking in there and waiting it out! Love you all dearly.

It’s been awhile. Since Febuary, I have been working three jobs. Landscaping during the days (really I’m just weed eating and mowing grass. There’s actually very little “scaping” that ever comes in to play for me. Come on, I’m a musician!), Ryman Auditorium conessions/barback at night (the Ryman is a museum/music venue that was built circa 1890 for those of you who don’t know your music venue history), and working on a new record with my new band every other waking moment (What? Yes. It’s true. I am making a new record. What? You have a new band? Yes. It’s true. We are called General Ghost and we are going to melt your faces off.  My good friend/very talented producer/writer Jon Howard and I formed this band together earlier this year and are about a week away from finishing up tracking on our first EP. Follow us on twitter to stay tuned! It’s the General Ghost link two lines up). All that to say, I have been keeping my head down and working. A lot. Let it also be known that Kelsey, my wife, is working at the Ryman with me AND working almost full time at Starbucks. We are almost always exhausted and on the verge of a nervous break down. But it costs money to do what you love, so until what you love pays the bills, you gotta fight for it with jobs like cutting grass, slinging lattes and making cheese trays for Aretha Franklin. Now, that we’re up to date, I want to talk about something I’ve learned in this minimum wage wilderness that comes with being a dead beat artist. Happiness. Or the eluding journey that comes with pursuing it, rather. For those of you who know me, you know I smoke quite a bit. Cigarettes (just to be clear. Hugs not drugs). I have for a while. This year I tried quitting…again. I made it a month and picked it back up again.  Then I tried again a month later. I made it two days and bought a pack. My next attempt will be in November some time.  Hopefully it’ll stick and I can live to see my grandkids get married and win Grammys and not be the guy who looks like a mummy/ET from those stupid Truth commercials. This struggle with letting go of cigarettes, with failing over and over, with hating something more than anything and running back to it like a beaten dog, has taught me something about myself, and I think, about the strange animals we humans are.  In order to make my point, I’m going to list all my self “medication”:

-Cigarettes

-Television (Netflix more specifically, but that counts guys!)

-Overeating

-iPhone (just the iPhone. You know what I mean)

-Twitter

-Coffee (shop. It is here that I can convince myself I’m getting shit done, when all I’m doing is supporting a caffeine habit and spending too much money).

-New Hobbies (once again, this is a self denial thing. I think I’m enriching my life when really I’m just distracting myself from how anemic it feels).

-NCAA College Football 2005 (I have a first generation xbox, ok? Lay off!)

-Alcohol (only occasionally, but more than ever before, I have attempted to drink an emotion either into existence or extinction).

Hi, my name is Kyle Rictor, and those are my crutches. Ah-thank ya very much.

Now, with that heinous and kind of embarrassing list stated, this is what those things have given me.

Drum roll please…..

Nothing.

Why then? Why do I do it? I do it because I’m not happy. Sure, I have moments of happiness. When I wake in the morning and the sharp October air hits my groggy lungs like electric paddles on a silent heart, I’m happy. When I get done with an 8 hour day of weed eating in 115 degree southern summer and drink a Fat Tire in my living rooms with grass clippings on my shins, I’m happy. When I talk to my sister, I’m happy. When I beat my mom in scrabble, I’m happy. When I write the kind of song that makes me wish there were antennas attached from my brain to every heart on the planet, I’m happy.  I married the most beautiful woman on the planet who makes me happy every moment we’re together. But, even as strong as my love is for Kelsey, she doesn’t complete me (sorry Jerry Maguire fans). She helps me to get closer to whatever it is that does “complete” me, but she alone does not. And I don’t complete her. We’re human beings, and  if what completes us rests on the shaky and incapable shoulders of our species or worse, the vices of our species, completion will become the idealist myth, right alongside marriage and world peace. So, I’m not happy. Still, that’s only half of the equation to the problem of why I do the things I do that I ought not do. The other half is band-aids. In Matthew 8 Jesus meets a man who is possessed by multiple demons.  This man is naked, living in a cemetery, and has broke the shackles the town placed on him for their safety. Ummm, yeah. WHAT THE HELL?!? That is spine tingly wingly to the max! When the demons in the man figure out who they’re dealing with, they tremble in fear. They beg Jesus to not send them to the depths, but to send them into a herd of pigs nearby. Jesus obliges their request. So, the man is cured. After years, this man is no longer possessed and free to live his life. Well, the town got word of what Jesus did. They came to where He and the man were and threw a huge party, lifted Jesus on their shoulders, and cried in awe and praise of this perfect and holy God-man. Just kidding. They told him to get lost. THEY TOLD HIM TO LEAVE! Are you hearing what I’m saying? On one hand this town has a naked, cemetery inhabiting, demoniac with super human strength (see: spine tingly wingly), and on the other they have a perfect and holy man who is the son of God almighty. No one is above Jesus. No one can win over Jesus.  He’s the top, you can go no higher. And who does the town prefer? A scary ass, demon possessed, psycho. And that’s me. I’m the town. Smoking, TV, Food, they are the demoniac. Then there’s Jesus. He can conquer all those things. He can make the monsters go away. But, I ask him to leave and light up another cigarette. You know what that tells me? Here it is:

I prefer my manageable demons to an all consuming good.

If I let Jesus in, if I really let Him in, give Him control, complete control of my life, everything will change. Not just cigarettes. Everything. And that scares me. I may die at an early age from smoking, but I can easily block that out with TV or alcohol or sleep. Jesus, I can’t block out. I can’t block Him out because He’s the only thing that will ever complete me. Jesus completes humanity and never settles with survival. We can survive. All animals know how to survive. But there’s only one animal who is given the opportunity to live. Me. Us. I’m not living because I haven’t fully died yet. I’m standing at the edge of a chasm dividing me from happiness. I just have to jump. I know He’ll catch me when I do and finally, I’ll be happy. I’ll be complete.

(Capo on 2nd fret)

Intro:

G D/F# Bm D

G D/F# Am G D/F#

Verse 1:

G D/F# Bm D

G D/F# Am G D/F#

(x2)

Pre:

Em Am G

G Am G D/F#

Em Am G

G Am G D/F#

Em Am G

Chorus:

D Am C Em

(x2)

Bm C

Bridge:

D Am C

(x4)

I’ve recently come to the conclusion that if I don’t get a second job (third job if you count music as a job) I am going to run out of money.  If this scenario had played itself out a year ago, I would be wallowing in self defeat and depression.  My brain would have said “What the hell am I doing? I’m chasing a pipe dream. Give it up.  Throw in the towel. I bet Leonard Cohen didn’t have to get a second job”.  But this time when I looked at our sorry excuse for a bank account,  I felt peace.  It is beyond explanation to me that I could feel a sense of calm when I’ve had less money than I’ve ever had before.  After examining my strange hope a bit further I’ve come to this: Faith fails to exist where a man’s life goes according to plan. Faith flees from security and money can be the great barrier between complacency and contentment.  4 years ago I set out to make the best art my hands and voice could muster, to grow in that process and make better art than I did a month earlier, and to share that art with my fellow man.  I will work second, third, fourth, and fifth jobs to continue that journey and bring my fans and friends the art they have come to expect from me.  I’m not sure what the next months of my life will look like, but I am making a commitment right now to those follow my work.  I will not give up.  I will not throw in the towel.  I will not stop pushing myself in creating art.  I will not stop singing.  I’m excited to bring you all along (at least virtually) through the landscaping jobs, concessions jobs, record making, song writing, show playing, and money scrapping that will ensue over God knows how long.  I don’t want to ever shine myself up and present a less than honest image of where my music comes from.  It comes from times like these.  There would be no blues if there was no cotton to pick, and let me tell you, I’ve got a whole damn field calling my name right now.  Stay tuned for…well, I’m not sure what…more stuff.  Let’s leave it at that.  Thank you for reading and HANG WITH MY PEOPLE!  There’s Hope in Great Trial.

Hi everybody! First of all, please forgive us for our lengthy absence from this blog. We value all of you so much, and want to demonstrate that by providing you with new and exciting things to read, watch, and listen to on a regular basis. Obviously we have failed at this as of late, and for that we are truly sorry. We really didn’t mean to disappear for so long. In fact, we didn’t mean to disappear at all. But…we are back!

At the end of our brief stay in Nashville post-tour, we spent the holiday season with family in Indiana and Pennsylvania. Kyle worked on a Christmas tree farm and I (Kelsey) did a little substitute teaching. November and December provided some much appreciated family time, and January brought a serious itch to get back to Nashville. We moved into a new place, got part-time jobs to help pay the bills, and hit the ground running with music. Here’s the plan for the foreseeable future: Kyle will be recording all sorts of new songs in our new music room, and we will be releasing them to you often. We will be booking some shows for the spring and summer (any suggestions? let us know!). We’ll keep you posted (via this blog) as new things develop, and we hope you’ll stick with us to see what’s coming next.

As always, you can find daily updates on our twitter pages (twitter.com/kylerictor & twitter.com/kelseyrictor). Here’s a photo of our new music room…