2008 Wrap-Up
September 23, 2009 – 10:39 pmSo, as I obviously can’t bring myself to update this site often enough, the following is a wrap-up for 2008:
I started the year out recording a couple of trax for Jessie Baylin’s Firesight album with Roger Moutenot over at his studio. The album reads like a who’s-who of Nashville rock drummers. I was flattered to be among such esteemed colleagues. Great record.
As Josh Rouse wasn’t touring with the band, I had a lot of time to hang at home with the family. Nothing can compare to spending consistent time with a rapidly evolving 2 year old, and my daughter Daisy Rocket is a great hang. We bought her a little pink drum set for Christmas, and of course she picked up the sticks like she’d been properly instructed on her grip right off the bat and went for it.
Anyway, with the downtime at hand, I decided to revamp my project/rehearsal space in the bomb shelter. After 3 years of trying to make things sound decent in the rectangular concrete room I impetuously covered with crappy carpet to quickly ready for rehearsals, I could stand it no longer. It just wasn’t cutting it sonically or visually. With the help, direction, and hard labor of my good friend Kenny Varga, the space was considerably re-configured. Bass traps, baffles, portable iso booth, etc…
With a much better sounding space, I decided to give it a name: “The Archie Bunker,” and began experimenting with what gear I had. A good friend from the UK regularly sent me mp3’s of songs he’d been working on with some friends. I’d lay down trax in between making sure the baby wasn’t getting into any dangerous chemicals, and ftp the results back. It was a great opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the new bunker.
Thanks to the prep work, I was totally prepared when Josh Rouse contacted me from Spain about re-cutting the drums for a new master of Suburban Sweetheart. The mandate was that it had to sound as close as possible to the original. We nailed it. It’s actually kind of spooky how close it sounds to the original.
Speaking of Josh, I did a few sessions with him for the new record over at Alex the Great with Brad Jones. Really interesting stuff. A definite departure. It was a bit strange returning to Alex after recording the last 2 records in Spain at Paco Loco’s, but it was like old-times. One of the sessions was with Hags and my brother. It was the first time the 3 of us were the backing band on a session in a while, and being back at Alex where we recorded our Around the Year album was a great vibe.
Speaking of Joe, Marc’s Brother, we closed the Friday evening at 12th & Porter for the Next Big Nashville festival. It was the first time we shared the stage in over a year, and being back at our old home-base was freaky. But what a blast we had rummaging through the old catalog with no time restraints and a willing audience. Truly transcendental.
2008 afforded me the luxury of performing locally with 2 of my favorite young songwriters Braden Land and Taylor Bates. While they differ slightly stylistically, they share a knack for writing songs with depth beyond their years. Search them out if you get a chance.
Other than that, the rest of the year was spent experimenting and restructuring. Got together with my brother and Hags and worked on some new stuff here and there, but were interrupted due to Joe moving and building a new studio. More on that later.
Finished out the year with a soft release of “The Little Drummer Boy” that I recorded in the Archie Bunker with the help of my longtime friend Glen Golda.