Why do I do this to myself?

Everything is not enough
Nothing is too much to bear
Where you’ve been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there
–Townes Van Zandt

For the procrastinators in all of us, the RPM Challenge poses musicians and wannabe musicians with the Herculean task of writing, recording, and producing a 10 song, 35 minute CD in 28 days.

RPM Challenge recording session, February 2008. Photo by Liam King.

It’s an insane challenge that tells you to shut up and create; if you take a minute to check out the site’s listening station, you’ll be pleasantly astounded by what comes out of sleepless nights and horrific deadlines.

I participated in 2008 and my good friend and accomplished musician Brandi Emma and I will give a stab at being alumnae of the RPM class of 2010. Tomorrow is our first “practice”, or whatever you want to call it… and then I’m going to Massachusetts for a week. On second thought, maybe we’ll just inspire each other to write more, ’cause I don’t know how on earth we’re going to get this done in about 10 days total, but maybe the point isn’t to finish but to push ourselves as far as our restricted time frame will allow. Sometimes we get too focused on the destination, when the journey is equally–if not more–important. I’m looking forward to seeing what we discover.