Brad Jones, producer, has been at the helm. He is some rare kind of responsible and energetic bohemian mastermind sensai… that doesn’t even do it justice. All in one seamless motion he traps magic, spirit, and soul – you only realize it after it happens.
My friend, Jane Baldwin, ended up coming down for four days to help create a happy, real vibe at the compound here – she succeeded. She has also took hours of documentary footage.
Parker MacDonell, co-writer on about half the songs, flew down and took us to some great spots in Nashville like “Noshville” and “Bongo Java.” He even hooked us up with a nice home cooked meal with a great songwriter named Trent Summar and his wife (on their 6th anniversary no less, now that’s some skills!) Parker has a way of bringing the best out of me, and I’m so glad he could come down and enjoy the experience.
Matt Paetch, my bassist from 2006-2009, came down and tracked bass with me on two songs. He arrived Tuesday night to a Johnny Walker double black furnished as a gift from my current bass player, Roger Hines. Two double bass giants sharing the double black. Although they are each so different and wonderful, Matt was Roger’s pupil back in the day… full circle? Yup.
Roger brought the soul spirit garnered from the tours and countless hours he spent with Ray Charles. You see, I’ve been on this Ray thing pretty deep and Rogers got it in his bones. Things turned out fabulously funky, but sweet and warm with a little brittle crust on the sound. We tracked five tunes together.
Steve Ebe, studio drummer par excellance, played on seven songs over two days with me and Roger/Matt. This guy has an unbelievable sense of what’s appropriate and expressive, subtle and dramatic, and of course time and sway.
Jon Radford’s gnarly, crunchy, wide spirit filled, and exquisitely punctuated drumming graced four of my performances on the first day of tracking. It was uncanny the ease that I experienced while playing with him.
All I have time to talk about is this fine folks that have giving their energies to this process. I am so grateful for the support.
More to come from Nashville!