Pinch me. Seriously. Because, despite the tragic loss of Merle Haggard and all the idiocy revolving around the primary races, this has turned out to be one of the greatest weeks I’ve ever had the good fortune to experience.
Just wrapped recording John McEuen’s next solo album. Everyone involved is tremendously excited about it—it’s not just a record, it’s an event. And, unbelievably to me, and most graciously, John had me sing some of the tunes. And then sing with a bunch of my heroes. I’m literally flabbergasted.
And these aren’t just “tunes”, either, because the cast associated with them, and where the tunes come from, and how they were recorded are as much a part of the execution as the songs themselves.
We recorded live, in a church in Brooklyn, for Chesky Records, using a process called binaural recording, to a pair of microphones embedded in what looks like the head of a crash test dummy. But he’s no dummy; he’s “Lars”, and he has insanely great hearing. See picture. No overdubs, no click tracks. Live, like the old days, which means one’s fingers have to be on their best behavior.
Of course, that’s not much of an issue when you’re hanging out with musicians at the caliber of Mr. McEuen, plus Skip Ward on bass, Kevin Twigg on drums, Andy Goessling (everything) Jay Ungar (fiddle), and David Amram (whistles, flutes and percussion). Then, if that weren’t enough… add John Carter Cash, Ana Cristina, Martha Redbone, and two of my longtime musical fave-heroes, John Cowan and (gulp) David (effing) Bromberg. Plus the unscheduled honor of Nancy Josephson, Molly Mason and Marilyn McEuen as singers… an embarrassment of riches.
Most of my friends know that I spent some years with Warren Zevon—and when John asked if I might like to do one of his tunes my first request was “My Dirty Life and Times”, as it was one he and I developed together for his last gigs, and I’ve always wanted to record it. Not only was John all for it, but he got Steve Martin to come down and frail the banjo on it. And John Carter sang harmony… and then… why not do “Excitable Boy”, bluegrass-style? And why not ask David Bromberg to sing a verse or two? Why not? Holy ****.
So we did. And that’s not even to mention the previously unheard Boudleaux Bryant tune Del Bryant brought us… I’m going to stop now, as it’s not my place to let all of these cats out of the bag. But two things I can say, without reservation: 1) This is an amazing project and you’re going to want to hear it, regardless of my gushing, and 2) THANK YOU, JOHN McEUEN!
Pinch me. Seriously. Because, despite the tragic loss of Merle Haggard and all the idiocy revolving around the primary races, this has turned out to be one of the greatest weeks I’ve ever had the good fortune to experience.
Just wrapped recording John McEuen’s next solo album. Everyone involved is tremendously excited about it—it’s not just a record, it’s an event. And, unbelievably to me, and most graciously, John had me sing some of the tunes. And then sing with a bunch of my heroes. I’m literally flabbergasted.
And these aren’t just “tunes”, either, because the cast associated with them, and where the tunes come from, and how they were recorded are as much a part of the execution as the songs themselves.
We recorded live, in a church in Brooklyn, for Chesky Records, using a process called binaural recording, to a pair of microphones embedded in what looks like the head of a crash test dummy. But he’s no dummy; he’s “Lars”, and he has insanely great hearing. See picture. No overdubs, no click tracks. Live, like the old days, which means one’s fingers have to be on their best behavior.
Of course, that’s not much of an issue when you’re hanging out with musicians at the caliber of Mr. McEuen, plus Skip Ward on bass, Kevin Twigg on drums, Andy Goessling (everything) Jay Ungar (fiddle), and David Amram (whistles, flutes and percussion). Then, if that weren’t enough… add John Carter Cash, Ana Cristina, Martha Redbone, and two of my longtime musical fave-heroes, John Cowan and (gulp) David (effing) Bromberg. Plus the unscheduled honor of Nancy Josephson, Molly Mason and Marilyn McEuen as singers… an embarrassment of riches.
Most of my friends know that I spent some years with Warren Zevon—and when John asked if I might like to do one of his tunes my first request was “My Dirty Life and Times”, as it was one he and I developed together for his last gigs, and I’ve always wanted to record it. Not only was John all for it, but he got Steve Martin to come down and frail the banjo on it. And John Carter sang harmony… and then… why not do “Excitable Boy”, bluegrass-style? And why not ask David Bromberg to sing a verse or two? Why not? Holy shit.
So we did. And that’s not even to mention the previously unheard Boudleaux Bryant tune Del Bryant brought us… I’m going to stop now, as it’s not my place to let all of these cats out of the bag. But two things I can say, without reservation: 1) This is an amazing project and you’re going to want to hear it, regardless of my gushing, and 2) THANK YOU, JOHN McEUEN!
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