The Nautical Rock Singer, Songwriter, Historian!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

Recording Progress


lead vocals are complete! now onto the task of backing vocals............

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Recording Photos Day 9


Recording Journal 8

Yesterday we recorded various electric guitar parts for: Old Tack Pianos, It's Fine, & Visions of Drowning. We then recorded lead vocals for "It's Fine" & "Dress Me In Bowties". I then did a run through of "Hey Now Dana" but decided to leave it till the next day. That next day is today and I am in fact just about to head out the door to the session. So more on that later!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Recording Journal 7


Tonight we started recording around 5. My Dad was along to be an extra set of ears. I started off recording a lead vocal track to "Caroline". Once we had a take we liked, I recorded the "evil" backing vocal parts. Then I added the "aws" & "oos" which really put a strain on my voice, but well worth it as the song is now complete. Here are the instruments featured on "Caroline": drums, bass, 6 electric guitars, 12 string acoustic guitar, banjo, handclaps, & tambourine. Woo! Next I recorded a lead vocal to "All The Good Looking Girls Are Dead". I then attempted to start the backing vocals but my voice was shot. So we then did a quick run through of "Mark Twain Boat" and decided to call it for the night. Recording is now 60% finished. More to come!
(photos by Chris Jago)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Recording Day 6

Recording Journal 5


Last night we recorded electric guitars on:
"Visions Of Drowning" tele throughout, 335 for solo
"Its Fine" tele throughout, 335 throughout
"Hey Now Dana" tele throughout, 335 for solo
detailed info to come. heading back to the studio now to start vocals!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Recording Journal 4

Last night producer Jago & I got started around 9. Chris showed up with his nephew and the nephews girlfriend. They watched as I laid down electric guitar to "I Don't Believe You". For the rhythm guitar I played my telecaster. Then switched to the 335 for the lead and bridge parts. I then thought it would be cool to have everyone add a shout to the track. After the line "you're a liar" we all gathered round the microphone and yelled "Judas!" 2 times. I will have to get the names of the couple from Chris so I can add them to the liner notes! After we finished the shouting Chris and the gang decided to head out to a bar. So we said our goodbyes and then Jago & I got back to work. I next added electric guitar to "All The Good Looking Girls Are Dead". Again I used my telecaster for the rhythm sections and stayed with it for the first part of the guitar solo. I then recorded the answering lines of the guitar solo with the 335, which I must say sounded really great. The two guitars weaving in and out of each other really sounds cool. The next song we tackled was "Mark Twain Boat", which is turning out to be my favorite recording so far. I added a rhythm track with the 335. It had a great over driven tone, not distorted, just overdriven. Really pushed the song up a notch. I then recorded a guitar solo with my telecaster. I was trying to get a James Burton sound and let Jago know this. He knew exactly what I was going for and dialed in the classic telecaster sound. I was very pleased. By this point it was about 10 mins to midnight and we decided to start work on one more song. So we went with "Visions Of Drowning". I added ringing chord changes and arpeggio passes to the track. I then doubled what I had done and we decided to call it a night as it was now about 12:45. Jago and I talked for a bit afterward about a tour he is going on in May, which sounds amazing. He played me some tracks of the guy he's playing for. Has a Stevie Ray Vaughn vibe. Very cool sounding. We then discussed some of the recordings and had a few beers. Very productive night. We go again Friday night. Stay tuned!

Recording Day 4 Pictures









photos by Chris Jago & Paul Starling 2010

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Recording Journal 3



Yesterday started the first day of over-dubs. We began the session with me over-dubing electric guitar parts onto "Ballad of a Raincoat". I used my telecaster for all of "Raincoat". Then my good friend Jerry showed up to add some bass trombone to Raincoat's bridge sections. Producer Jago stuck a bass mic on the trombone and really got a big crunchy sound. Really sounded great, and will sound even better when mixed in with the rest of the tracks. After Jerry had left I finished adding guitar to "Raincoat" and moved onto "Caroline". Started out adding various arpeggio parts to the chorus's & middle 8 with my telecaster. Then for the outro lead part I switched to my gibson 335. Next we tackled "Dress Me In Bow-ties", which I added telecaster throughout. For the lead guitar parts I played the 335 through the big muff distortion pedal (which Doug from MyntGreen, loaned to me). During the fade out of the song Jago came up with the great idea to play the lead guitar part a octive up & down which really sounded great. We all then listened back to the song and decided the guitar parts were complete. I go in again tomorrow to add more guitar tracks. Stay tuned for more updates!!!