New songs / Plans for new record / Producer on board

Like A Lion was released this past fall, and since then I have been aiming to start a new record this spring with the goal of a Fall 2010 release. My goal this go round for the new record, was to enter into the studio with a larger arsenal of material than last time, which would be around 14-18 complete songs that have been vetted out, so to speak, in various forms of pre-production. For Like A Lion, I ended up scrapping three tunes during the weeks leading up to our original tracking. One track, preliminarily titled "More" actually was a solid tune but just did not fit the vibe of the album.
Since the release of Like A Lion I have been writing an extensive amount of new material but as always I have a hard time discerning the good songs from the average ones. I usually can tell pretty quickly if something is total shit and certainly before I go to bed. The ideas that bring me in, that stay with me, are usually the ones I end-up beating to death for a few days. As it stands here in early March, I have a working list of 22-24 tunes that are in production stages. This is a good thing. So, I am now starting to set my eyes on a recording/tracking stage for this April-May. I'm allowing some time for delays, but I am without a doubt, releasing a new album this fall/winter and in 2010. At this point, I also have not listened back to my own songs 1000 times and still enjoy hearing the rough demos and can honestly say I'm excited to record. So . .
Other good news to pass along is that I have hired a producer to work with me on this next album. His name is Sean Greenhalgh. Sean is an excellent musician, has a great ear, and most importantly has been a good friend of mine since high-school. Its actually pretty cool to have him involved as music has been a bond between us since we were 13 or so. Sean lives up in NYC and we are still working on figuring out where we will cut the new songs and at what studio. We have been trading around ideas that include DC/LA/NY or even Texas. I hope to get this part resolved here before the end of the month and will pass that info along later.