Studio Stories and Pictures!
We are over halfway done with the record now. After the initial whirlwind day and half which gave us all our basic tracks (drums, bass, organ/piano, and some guitar) we have since gone back and tracked more guitars, which we will continue tomorrow in the studio. After we get all the guitars done, we bring in the horns and the backing vocals, and at some point in between there I will be finishing up my vocals.
“the key players”
But let me back up and tell you a little about the players on this record. I brought in my good friend, Zach Setchfield on lead guitar. who has been playing live with me since about January. He’s one of the best guitarists I’ve ever worked with. And I’ve worked with many good players over the years, but Zach has a way of knowing exactly what to play with very little direction. I appreciate that. On keys
(mostly Hammond B3) we have Josh Shilling, who in addition to being a versatile singer/songwriter has also toured with Tower of Power and more recently he joined the acclaimed bluegrass ensamble, Mountain Heart. On bass we have the studio legend, Michael Rhodes, who can be heard on recordings by everyone from Rodney Crowell and Conway Twitty to Etta James! And on drums, we have Chad Cromwell, who has been Neil Young’s drummer since the late ’80s, as well as playing with Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits and many others. With this amazing “wrecking crew” we were able to track 12 songs in a day and half. The most takes we ever had to do was three, and that was on only one song! If everything continues to cruise as smoothly we should have this album wrapped up by early May.
Click HERE for a photo gallery from the sessions via our facebook page.