I just finished a week of tracking Vicky Emerson and band. Vicky is a talented singer/songwriter originally from Minnesota but now makes her home in New York City. I was really excited for this project a couple months ago when we met for preproduction. Finally the week of tracking was upon us. We had a slight cast change, that was beyond our control, but the final lineup ended up being the perfect fit for this record. Tyler Burkum (Mat Kearney, Meiko, Wild Sweet Orange) played electric guitar and lap steel, Aaron Fabbrini (Sara Groves) played upright and electric bass and Steve Goold (Bill Mike Band, Jason Harms Quartet) played drums and percussion. One of my favorite moments from the session was for the song "Into the Woods." Wednesday after lunch we took a walk down by the Mississippi river and I rummaged through the brush collecting various branches, logs, sticks and leaves to create a loop for the guys to play to. We brought them in and Steve and I went to work creating an organic drum loop using these items.
After the loop was recorded and assembled the guys went in and made magic happen. It sounded so good we decided to let them keep playing for an additional 3 minutes after the song was done. It turned out so cool we are trying to decide if we should just leave it all in tact and have a 7-1/2 minute song on the record. Why not, right? The schedule for the week was pretty insane. We were only able to get 2 songs on day one. Vicky had a show at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and wasn't able to get to the studio until a little after 3pm, so it was a short day. Day two we ran into a few issues related to computer glitches and noisy neighbors. Another two song day, leaving six songs for our final day of tracking the band. (gulp). Day three came and we were able to knock out all six remaining songs! Then Thursday and Friday Vicky and I were able to track ten vocals and three piano takes. (whew! I get exhausted just typing it.)
It was a great week of recording.
(pictured below is Tyler Burkum. Aaron Fabbrini is behind the glass door with his upright bass)
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