Last Day In Nashville

We started late today and will finish up early. Just a few mixing tweaks is all that’s left for this record until mastering. I’ll be heading back to New Orleans tomorrow. I’ve yet to leave Nashville, but Trina and I are missing each other already I think. Its been great hanging out with her for a month. The studio is empty apart from myself, Trina, and Ted, the studio assistant who seems to have had a good time at our sessions as well. Ted is an easy going lad with impressively giant hair, a good man indeed. I’m going to miss this place perhaps because of the snack cornucopia in the lounge, but also because of the great people I’ve shared this experience with. I’ve got a feeling that this record will remind me of these times more vividly than I anticipate, and that may well end up being the most rewarding part of this project. Now, back to New Orleans to listen to some WWOZ. I miss it so. (New Orleans Jazz and Heritage station for those unfamiliar. Save your life and check it out www.wwoz.org)

Mixing day 3

Mixing is mixing. The extreme concentration it takes to notice the slightest change in one instrument that can make a big difference is all that keeps my attention. Trina’s husband, Grayson Capps is a songwriter as well and is currently in Norway on a tour. Before Grayson left for his tour he was hanging around the Barn while Trina and I were editting the tracks. He and I talked about touring, New Orleans, music, and he tossed me a few lessons from his experience. Trina gets a call from him in our early evening as his Norweigan clock is probably in the wee hours of the morning. She talks to him about how the shows are going, and I sit back jealous as hell of the man on the other end of the line who is drunk, watching the Norwegian sun come up, and off to play 8 more gigs in Norway. All I really want is to drive off to somewhere else and play some songs I wrote for people I’ve never met in a place I’ve never been. Thats what I look forward to.

BACKDATE 5/7/04

Tonight we mix! Mixing is progressing slowly but surely, and the mixes are coming out great. I’ve spent about a month now in Nashville with no affiliation other than the folks I’m making the record with, and my buddy Mike who lives outside of Nashville and has so graciously inflated a bed in an extra room for me to crash on while I’m up here. I would have expected to be missing home at about this point and looking forward to heading back to New Orleans, but I feel very little of that yearning. It’s not that I want to stay in Nashville, but I certainly don’t feel drawn back home. I suppose that fact is reassuring because I can think of nothing I want to do more in my next couple of years than to get in my car and head to the next show in a town I’ve never been to. I’d like to think that home will feel more like wherever I am than where I used to be.

BACKDATE 5/5/04

Today is the first day of mixing. I met Trina at a studio called East Iris. The space is more modest than the Music Row studio, but the vibe is much cooler. Mixing goes at a rate of about 2 to 3 songs a day, so by the end of the week we should be finished the 13 tracks for this record. The snack room at the studio is pretty boss.

BACKDATE 4/18/04

Today it’s back to Trina’s barn, a trip back to the mellower part of town and a mellower day. The day is spent with Billy, the drummer, Jabe, the guitarist, Trina, and myself sitting around the backyard table smoking jabe’s hand-rolled cigarettes, talking about New England politics, and having my head filled with wild ideas by the other three people at the table. A walk through Trina’s backyard is like a baptism. An acre of grass and wild flowers is folded by a slate stone stream that retreats into a modest cave on the side of a mountain. The explorer in me has tried more than once to find the end of the cave, but after about 20 yards, a Zippo does little to illuminate the wet wandering walls, or maybe it has nothing to do with the Zippo, and I’m just not that brave. The mood is incredibly relaxed, incredibly satisfied, and incredibly optimistic. There is much work ahead, but Trina is certainly impressed and excited with what has happened thus far. She is truly a cool mellow individual who makes it very easy to work with her and even easier to sit around the backyard table and daydream. Little was accomplished today but much was realized.

BACKDATE 4/17/08

Today was the first 12-hour day of tracking at Oceanway Studio. The studio used to be a church and was later converted into a studio. Its a nice place. We’ve tracked 6 tunes and have 8 more to go tomorrow. Everything went smooth, the songs really felt good, and Trina and the band seem really pleased with our progress. I felt good as well, but considering the recording experience of Trina and the guys, I watch their excitement and satisfaction with this process closely. Given that, everyone really seems to feel good about this project, which makes me feel good. The tracking today was practically on cruise control, that was, up until the last song that we attempted to track. It was a song I wrote recently called “Coming Down Over Here”. It’s a fairly straightforward somber tune that I’d assumed would be easy to lay down. What I did not consider, however, was the fact that the feeling and lyrics of this song are somber and dark, while the music and groove of this song is somewhat upbeat and happenin. Trying to meld the two was a bit more complicated than I had hoped. At this point, with the day over, I’m not sure we tracked the feel that I’m looking for yet. We’ll try it again tomorrow, but all in all a good day. I would have guessed I’d be more nervous or felt more pressure with a day like today. I really felt none of that and none of it felt like work either. Looking forward to another busy day tomorrow

BACKDATE 4/16/08

Today was the first 12-hour day of tracking at Oceanway Studio. The studio used to be a church and was later converted into a studio. Its a nice place. We’ve tracked 6 tunes and have 8 more to go tomorrow. Everything went smooth, the songs really felt good, and Trina and the band seem really pleased with our progress. I felt good as well, but considering the recording experience of Trina and the guys, I watch their excitement and satisfaction with this process closely. Given that, everyone really seems to feel good about this project, which makes me feel good. The tracking today was practically on cruise control, that was, up until the last song that we attempted to track. It was a song I wrote recently called “Coming Down Over Here”. It’s a fairly straightforward somber tune that I’d assumed would be easy to lay down. What I did not consider, however, was the fact that the feeling and lyrics of this song are somber and dark, while the music and groove of this song is somewhat upbeat and happenin. Trying to meld the two was a bit more complicated than I had hoped. At this point, with the day over, I’m not sure we tracked the feel that I’m looking for yet. We’ll try it again tomorrow, but all in all a good day. I would have guessed I’d be more nervous or felt more pressure with a day like today. I really felt none of that and none of it felt like work either. Looking forward to another busy day tomorrow

BACKDATE 4/14/08

I’ve arrived in Nashville to begin recording. I met the producer, Trina at her place yesterday to go over the tunes and talk about some ideas. Her place is amazing. Its a barn outside of Nashville with several acres of land. A stream flows out of a cave in the side of the mountain that backs her barn. Today was the first day of rehearsal with the band. Playing with a band can be an unnerving situation for me at times. I don’t write songs with anyone else, and there are times and tunes that I don’t feel like a band can add anything to. These guys are the right breed though. Billy, the drummer, Frank, the bassist, and Jabe, the guitarist. All are interestingly from Boston, and none could play “nashville style” if they tried, which is reassuring. The rehearsal was mellow, and felt good. The live tracking will take place in two days at a studio on Music Row called Oceanway. Tracking 14 tunes in two days should be interesting. I’m hoping for the best and loving Trina’s barn.