The New Standards (and more...)

I know what it is like, you have a bookmark folder full of blogs that you like to read. But there is this one individual who seems to have slowed... to... a... stop. Well, I am no longer that guy. Honestly, the only reason for such a long hiatus is simply because the Library has never been busier.

Annie Fitzgerald's album, "In Good Time" was mastered in July, I have worked on several mixes for Jonathan Rundman, am just getting going on mixes for a band called "A Thousand Falls," I have been deep into the tracking for a southern rock/country project for Chris Harms and an EP for Erin Kate. Another artist you will soon see me blogging about is Heatherlyn. We are rounding the corner to the last set of tunes for preproduction before heading into tracking.

I also had the distinct privilege of capturing the bed tracks for the forth-coming album by the New Standards. This is what I will focus on for this post.

Directly across the hall from the Library is the rehearsal space of Dave Salmela and John Munson. Dave plays piano for the Twilight Hours and also helps create and perform the music for Electric Arc Radio. John Munson has been a member of a couple of Minneapolis bands with critical acclaim; Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic. These days John is playing upright bass for the band The New Standards with another Minneapolis music icon, Chan Poling of the Suburbs on piano and Steve Roehm a virtuosic vibraphone player (who also plays drums for the Twilight Hours).

We had talked a couple months ago about what it might look like to have them record at the Library. John has a Steinway baby grand piano across the hall in their space and I had mentioned that it wouldn't be terribly difficult to run several long microphone cables and headphone extension all the way across the hall so that Chan could play in there. It worked out great as there was absolutely no cross-instrument bleed into the piano mic's, which is often the case. We tracked the upright bass in my piano/organ room and put the vibraphone out in the big room, that is until another local heavy-hitter, Ken Chastain, arrived to play drums. The vibraphone moved into the vocal booth and the drums took the main room for a small handful of tunes.

Three days later a full album of bedtracks were tracked. They are finishing up the rest on their own but am delighted to have played such a significant role in the making of this album.

Here are some photos from the session...
Steve Roehm on the vibraphone

John Munson on upright bass

Ken Chastain on drums and percussion

cables running from the Library across the hall into the New Standards rehearsal space...

through the corridor...

and connected to the mics picking up the Steinway piano played by Chan Poling

Marc Broussard and Jason Gray

I have had a few distractions this month from Annie Fitzgerald's album, which I will be getting back on track with soon. Quick mix projects, one-time tracking dates, etc. Some of them are small but mighty, like these two... Atlantic recording artist, Marc Broussard is in the mixing stage of his upcoming record. There was one song that needed some more guitar work done before going to mix and they asked my good friend Tyler Burkum, who regularly plays with Mat Kearney, to play on it. Tyler and I spent a day working on the guitar tracks for a song called "Our Big Mistake," which has the potential for being a first single for the album. I sincerely hope for more of this kind of work in the future. Centricity recording artist, Jason Gray also came in for a few days to track a couple Christmas songs for a compilation album featuring the artists on Centricity, obviously set to release at the end of the year. We tracked an original Christmas song he wrote called "Love Has a Name" and came up with our own rendition of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Work involving record labels is interesting because I will have been done with my part of it 6-8 months before it is released as "new" to the public.

Annie Fitzgerald's project will also be in the mixing stage soon. Next up is local Twin Cities artist, Erin Kate.

Annie Fitzgerald

Last year I produced a record for Vicky Emerson, who is originally from the Twin Cities but now lives in New York City. After Vicky's record was released another Minnesota/Big Apple transplant named Annie Fitzgerald heard it, met Vicky and asked where she recorded it. With only a recommendation under her arm, Annie came to Minneapolis to see the studio and meet with me. It seemed to be a really good fit for both of us and we began scheduling out the album.

What made Annie different than many of my clients was her understanding that it all begins with the song. Songs that are not very well written can be aided by good production, however it is still, at the core a bad song (of course, music is subjective and what is bad to one might be great to another) however, you can take a great song and have bad production and it is still great. Have you ever stopped to wonder why that is? Here is a great example; Iron and Wine released an EP titled The Sea and the Rhythm and a full album called The Creek Drank the Cradle and from a purely sonic viewpoint they sound terrible. However, the songs and performances transcend the production to the point that you would want them no other way. The bad sounds somehow became great. Let me pause and say that there are countless hours of recorded music out there with this quality of recording that haven't had that same reaction. This is due to the levels of song-writing, performance and the overall skill in the musicians. There is a pretty good chance no one said, "Hey, that sounds really rough and cool, like Iron and Wine." They probably just blamed their bad listening experience on the awful production, but in reality it is really just a bad performance of songs that are at the start, really not very good. So again I say, the song and performance of that song is what has the ability to transcend the production. Great production can certainly aid a not-so-great song. A great song with bad production is still pretty cool! What I hope for in my world is the combination of a great song with great production.

Annie came in with a clear understanding of this. You know when you pull up to the car wash and you need to make a decision as to which car wash you want? Just a simple quick soap and rinse? Or a more in depth cleanse. Well, Annie wanted to pull out of the stall with a shiny, clean, freshly waxed automobile. Full service for me means that we sit down and pour ourselves into every single line, melody and chord choice at the start. This way, we can move into recording the bed tracks with a sense of clarity and unequivocal direction. Where I normally spend two or three days on preproduction, we spent nearly two weeks. I wish I had the luxury of doing this with all of my clients. I actually wish there was a button on the way in that helped define what they want. Simple wash or a full cleanse, rinse and wax.

After the songs were set we scheduled the band to come in. We used a couple of the musicians that were on Vicky's record. Steve Goold on drums and Tyler Burkum on electric and acoustic guitars. Annie brought her own bassist from NYC, Pete O'Neill, who is an accomplished player in his own right. It was great to have him on board! Everyone agreed that the sessions seemed fairly effortless for all three days.

Overall, this album has a nice blend of Annie's greatest influences; Patty Griffin, Ray LaMontagne, Shawn Colvin and Damien Rice with just a hint of Ani Difranco thrown in for good measure. She finished all her vocals before heading back to New York. At the moment, I am adding my own pieces to it, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano and other unique instrumentation. Next up will be my dear friend, Ashley Ewing playing piano and then I will begin arranging some string parts. The album as a whole should be done in May.

Stay tuned for the fall release of Annie Fitzgerald's "A Thousand Tiny Lakes"

Danielle Thrush

I would have posted earlier but December hit like a tidal wave. We began the Danielle Thrush album and I simultaneously mixed the As We Tremble project. It was a busy, busy month, not to mention the hectic nature and schedule of Christmas time.

When Danielle approached me to produce her first full length album I had a certain amount of trepidation due to how incredible her e.p. sounded. It was produced by my dear friends, Aaron Ankrum and Joel Hanson and was mixed by Mark Nash. All heavy hitters in all that they do in their musical careers.

I have recently come to grips with the reality that my style of production is a bit different than that of my peers. What I am about to try and communicate, in no way, devalues the approach of other people in my line of work. It isn't at all a "my way is best way," but rather, it is me finally becoming okay with my approach being "different."

A few words on that...

Though my sound is a very clean one, I tend to gravitate towards music that, although it could still be categorized as "pop music," tends to be more eclectic and to my ear, is more like... painting. Only instead of a canvas the medium is sound. This is music that really gets my blood pumping. Unique instrumentation (not unlike creating mixed-media), the risk-taking in finding non-traditional sounds and effects (using unique and contrasting colors), not to mention my love for hearing authentic instrumentation as opposed to stock sounds from a digital synthesizer or computer program (real brushes and real paint, as opposed to creating a digital image on a computer) hence the investment over the years in my ever-increasing vintage keyboard collection! Of course, I record onto the computer, but for me it is more like a photographer using old equipment and real film and then processing it to its desired final look in photoshop.

I have come to find a substantial degree of value in the approach of trying to create something that has never been heard before. So things like, having the artist sing into a plastic cone, sticking a microphone into a ceramic hand-drum to help shape the sound, beating on large plastic bins instead of drums, using car keys instead of a shaker, etc. really excites me. In general I would say that I prefer risk over safety and have found that it produces something of original value.

In the art world, of course, an original work far exceeds the value of a reproduced print. Recorded music, by nature, is like a print. It is reproduced for the masses and everyone who puts the music into their CD player, or iPod or computer gets the exact same thing. With visual art, there is a distinctly different feeling to experience an artists original work. You see the texture of the paint, you are standing in front of the very canvas the artist stood in front of for hours on end. It is... original. None other in the world like it. Therefore, my approach to recording is to attempt to make each "print" original at the onset. To create art on this sonic canvas that no-one has ever heard before. In doing so, the desired end is to have the listener tap into that same feeling when they stand in front of an original work of art. That wowed feeling of, "This work that I am seeing (hearing) right now has never been created in this way before." To cause them to listen on a deeper level. A level that moves them to the core.

Back to the Danielle album...

I informed her during our first meeting that, if she was looking to record something that was an extension of her e.p., that I probably wasn't the best fit, as my production style is a bit more organic and eclectic. After informing me that she was indeed hoping for this, we began this journey. The players on this album are the guys who have been playing in her band. Alex Young on drums, Zachary Ojeda on bass and Kyle Tennis on electric guitar. All three brought their very best and even allowed me to stretch and challenge them, both in the parts they played and in the tones from their instruments. Honestly, I was a little nervous to work with musicians outside of the realm of who I normally hire, however, they all worked incredibly hard and gave me really wonderful parts to work with. It seemed to be a rewarding experience for all participants.

At this point, we are in the mixing stage and it will be completed no later than mid-February.

I am really proud of this work and I hope to have helped define Danielle as an artist, as a songwriter and also have helped her find a sound that is her own. A sound that has uniqueness and originality. A sound that young songwriters will use as an example of their own influence.

Alex Young on drums
Zach Ojeda on bass
Kyle Tennis on electric guitar
A Library staple: Ben Rosenbush playing cello
Danielle singing into a microphone inside a plastic cone
Alex playing various junk for the looped section of the song "Parade"