It feels really awesome to finish a deadline on an issue of HM Magazine. This issue was a peculiar one, because I leaned on my freelance writers more than ever – putting some article decision-making in their hands and assigning out all (or as close to all as possible) the stories to other writers instead of taking some of them on myself. I felt compelled to do that, because I have a bigger deadline looming over me right now.
I’m co-writing an autobiography for Michael Sweet. Talk about a lot of work! Whew! Hours and hours of interviews and then transcribing them. Wow.
Anyway, this deadline has been grueling nonetheless in spite of this. So, it was very exhilarating to wrap it up today and send those 54 pages to the virtual online “printer.” Hopefully they’ll get translated into what you see in the digital magazine browser (along with every link being activated) in a day or two here. I hate that the February issue might not be online until as late as the 10th of the month, but what else can I do? I max myself out in getting it done and that’s the best I could do. Maybe I can get the March issue up by the 7th and the April by the 2nd and then be early or right on time come this May… That’s probably a realistic goal.
So, that’s the cover image above. Do you like the way I have his foot stepping on his name? It felt like a fitting and ironic design choice, seeing how he’s putting an end to his band’s career. There’s a slight change, however. Neal Morse is listed on there and we actually bumped that story to our March issue. Why? Because the dude is in another band (!!!) and has that band’s album coming out at the end of March. This is one busy guy. Most of the other artists covered in our February issue are listed as tags at the bottom of this post. I pulled out a classic “What So & So Says” interview from the vaults (as a cool way to promote the Rock Stars on God, Volume 2 book that’s coming out). I’m also excited to announce that Kemper Crabb has moved on to a new subject in his brilliant ongoing column. This one delves into the “Jesus is my girlfriend” attitude of songwriting. Bravo, Kemper! I hope to one day publish one of his books. The dude is amazing. Oh, and one of the “spinning at HM” artists that I can’t help but talk about is this band Sons. Formerly known as Sons of God, their new album on Slospeak is awesome. I almost gave it a 5 rating, which is hard for me, because a “five” signifies a classic, which means I know I’ll be listening to it in five years. Those are tough calls to make. That’s one reason why you hardly ever see me giving an album the old “5” rating.
Anyway, so now that the February issue is a thing of the past (at least for me), here is an image of what I’ll be working on next – the March issue #154. I’m excited. A lot of great bands are coming out with albums this spring.
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