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Two weeks ago we completed the recording of our upcoming EP “Freeze & Thaw”. In 3.5 days we recorded 6 songs, and on the hottest week in Seattle since 94′. OUCH. It was 103 outside, and since we had to have all doors & windows shut for sound, it must have been 10 degrees or so warmer indoors. We were dripping but committed.
Our dear friend Karli Fairbanks came over from Spokane to engineer/produce the record. I was super intimidated at first because I look up to her a lot and think her voice/song writing is superb. We had a short conversation about it before she came over where she assured me and told me ‘we’re going to have fun doing this’. This helped me out a lot and prepared me for the refining that would be going on during the process. Karli showed me amazing techniques for my voice that would deliver the best intentions for each song and as humbling as that was, it was amazing to learn how to find the best thing for my voice. I learned so much over those 3 days, priceless! Tanx Kbanks!
Our good friends Michael Porter & Kale Lotton joined us on a majority of the Ep and makes it sound SO good. Wow, they amaze me every time I hear their sax/trombone combo. They have an amazing way of communicating with each other, a way that is most of the time over my head. Tric & Bruce have this way as well and usually when they’re done figuring something out they have to translate it to me! Ha! Look for more co-ops with these boys in our future from shows to recordings.
This project was really cool because I feel like everyone contributed to it in a way that was their individual voice and in way that made them grow as well. I know some of the parts we had in mind made Kale & Michael really work for it, and they did so courageously! Bruce brought on some stand up bass that he had to practice a bit to make happen. Tric got to step a way from drums and do some glockenspiel and other sweet percussion stuff as well. I had the vocal lessons and Karli said this was new for her cuz she was recording a band instead of solo artists, so this was really cool to see everyone contribute and grow out of this experience.
BEN BLOOD stopped by in the middle of the week to deliver cold popsicles and take these snaps above, what a pal right? Tanx BBlood!
Where the Ep is now: Today we picked the song order and are working on the cover goodness that will be done by our friend Anna Hurley from Hello Lucky. Karli is working on the mixes, and we’re looking at the best form of manufacturing. Our dream is to press this on vinyl with a digital down load, so if anyone has amazing resources to do this or know of some let me know!!!!
That’s all for now!
We had been anticipating this show for weeks as soon as we had booked it. Jonny and Lizzy Gundersen (who do share the sibling relation to Noah & Abby Gundersen) played their first public set several weeks back as the opening act for Noah and for Joel Smith (WOW, my first time seeing him live, so good). As soon as the show was over Bru was talking to the owners about booking a show with Jonny & Lizzy. During the time between this show and their first, they chose to go by Le Wrens. They have written more tunes and have improved their capabilities tremendously. Watch out, watch close: Le Wrens is bringing lessons learned through heart-piercing words & creative rhythms/melodies that will drop your jaw. Bravo, Le Wrens! So proud!
Our boy Tony Kevin kicked off the evening with terrific music, as usual, and with a voice that convicts you of the sober realities of life. Always good! We boys closed the evening with brand new songs that we’ll be recording with THEE Karli Fairbanks in a couple of days. We debuted “Freeze & Thaw”, “Trust Love Suffer”, “Have I Wounded You Enough”, & “Psalm 91″. It’s stripped down from our regular rock/jazz roots; for example, i only play acoustic guitar and Bruce has picked up his stand-up bass; oh, and Tric is bringing in melodies with the glockenspiel! Our friend Kale jumped in on sax to redefine “Mend Me Gently” and “Freeze & Thaw” in new and beautiful ways. WOW. Kale is a brilliant musician that matches soul & technique seamlessly. Michel Porter (trombone king) & Kale will also be joining the EP! Our dear friends Noah and Abby got up on “When a Man Comes to Death” and musically attributed the anguish of the song. They nail it every time. I’m usually speechless after that song because of their addition. They will be joining the EP recording for that song! This is really going to be a blast!
Over all, I was super nervous debuting 4 new songs live, but it came together quite nice. I also have been learning the ukulele, and it is featured on Psalm 91. It’s really nice working on these acoustic songs that have been stacking up quick, and to be able to put em on record. We’ll keep you posted on the release date of the EP that we have now titled Freeze & Thaw. So excited!
We’re moving into a new house, which means practice space, which means ample practice time, which means new music.
The tour with Noah, Abby, Tom and Chris has ended. It was a great tour and we’re looking forward to returning to California in the fall with the Denouement. We’ve got some plans that we’ll tell you about soon and some reviews to post. For now, stop by our Videos page and see the three new live videos if you’ve missed them – “Cropper” with a horn section, “Tips of Your Hands” with Noah and Abby Gundersen and Tom Rorem, and “Loud As Your Miracles” acoustic stomp-clap version.
Stick around. We’re working on shows through the summer, so keep your ear to the ground.
Finally, our kinks in our RSS Feed are resolved. We encourage you to resubscribe if you haven’t received the latest updates.
Bruce
There are times that i feel like i’m in a rock n’ roll band. Playing at PLU deff. made me feel that way. It was a dark atmosphere, my gain was gritty but clear, i could hear tric and bruce perfectly, and we all collectively dug into our set like there was no one around watching, a very special evening. We kicked off our set with Cropper and that just plugged us into the energy of the set, I moved a lot during this set more than i usually do, it felt straight up good. With every performance i feel as though we are growing and understanding our songs better. Bruce has been doing some nasty solos on Do No Harm night after night, and they are all diff. from the night before, it usually gets an applause from the audience and from tric and i who are chuckling over how much we enjoyed it. I can’t wait to come back to PLU, the help was terrific (thanks Hannah for your sound engineering skills and patience, and Caroline for making us feel at home, the ice cream was great!), the campus is just beautiful. Maybe in the fall 
We are starting to talk about a tour for this fall that is going to rock my own socks off. We’ll share details soon !!!
Nov 20, 1:16 AM
After our show in Kennewick we drove 40 minutes east to Walla Walla to see friends for a few days. We got to visit the Colville St. Patisserie this morning before driving back to Seattle. It’s in my top 10 cafes in Washington state.
After a long day in the van, we’ve met up with Pete to record some final vocal tracks. Tommy’s doing vocals on the final song right now. I’m about to spit some harmonies then do some tap dancing – and then we’re done!
Friends, the title says it all. We have some catching up to do with these posts! We have pictures, video clips and even some behind the scenes stuff by our dear friend Jesse, who – with his wife, Brenda – made our ‘In my Iniquity’ video. We have a surprise on this record that I’m really excited to share. But I should wait till the record is done! Keep checking back to find out!
I’ll be doing crazy amounts of vocals for the rest of tonight and thru the remainder of tomorrow. YEE-hah! Oh, and I haven’t forsaken the green Gretsch. My friend Roald was so kind to share his sunburst beauty. It sounds amazing and I use it on ‘He Who Comes’ & ‘Mercy Came a Runnin’. I just finished writing the lyrics for ‘Mercy Came a Runnin’ last night! The picture above may be 1) Too small to read and 2) My handwriting is chicken scratch. These are the final words to our album, and just in time! Sometimes that’s just how it happens!
The catch up of the past blogs will be coming soon now that the crunch of getting the record done is almost past! Have I told you how excited we are for you to hear this?!!!!!! STOKED CRAZY!!! Folks this album is a Rock n’ Roll record!
We enjoy the powers of MAC!
Today we conquered 3 songs! We finished up Cropper by adding the sweet bass pedals that are on our new organ. It brings a new meaning to the word ‘body’ of a song – wow. It’s incredible sounding.
After that, Pete took us to a Vietnamese restaurant called Than Brothers for some tasty Pho, which is noodles with amazing broth and your choice of veggies/meat yummy goodness. It was a perfect compliment to the rainy day; feeling nice and warm inside. MMMMmmm….
We came back to the studio and charged thru ‘Repentance’ take after take after take. Pete always has a clipboard and keeps notes on things that need to be changed or fixed. He has such an amazing ear for capturing things that work and knows when things don’t work. You would think it to be intimidating to work with someone who has such great experience, but because Pete is so easy to communicate with (and is such a humble person) you wouldn’t know how credible he is.
The last song of the day was ‘Do No Harm’. It’s one of our favorites to play and now, according to Pete, one of his favorites of the record so far. It was really nice to end the week on this song. It’s kinda laid back. It was a healthy break from the Rock n’ Roll we’ve been pumping out the past 2 days. We are so so excited to share this record with you all. We can’t wait for you to have it!
By the end of the day we were so tired and ready for the rest of the weekend. Even Kermi was done!
Pete is a man of versatility. He played a song of his for us before we went into the studio that moved us. Great picking guitar work sewed to words to chew on. Pete later went on to show us his organ skills by playing some Doors jive. Good Good Times.
After today we have 3 songs under our belts!
-Tips of Your Hands
-Book It
-Cropper
The new member of our family was able to sing its heart out on Cropper with blazing rich tones. It’s so nice to play with a screeching organ and this allows Patrick and I to take a more groove side of things while Bruce Han Solo’s it up! Speaking of Star Wars, Darth was in on the session in proper fashion with a tip top hat.
This morning we rose to the heartwarming sound of construction workers outside our window. We peeled ourselves out of bed, ate some oatmeal with fresh apples (yum!), and headed off to pick up our new organ. [thanks Katia and Dominic!!!]
We got to the studio and started setting up the drums, amps, and microphones. Patrick tuned his new drums; Pete set up the mics. I fiddled on the organ (when Kermit wasn’t hogging it). We paused for lunch, stopped by Radioshack, and, once we returned, listened to Icky Thump as we continued to set up.
Pete suggested putting Tommy’s amp in the shower, so we did.
Here’s Pete:
Today we recorded “Tips of Your Hands”. We realized that it was a rather difficult song to start with. Tomorrow we’ll probably hammer out a few of the straightforward rock ‘n roll songs and feel accomplished and warm inside.
By the way, there are chickens in a coop outside the studio. They were out of the coop for a bit as we took a break and opened the door for fresh air. Those hens are rather curious about the inner happenings of the studio. Hard to keep them out.
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