Anniversaries, A New Friend, And More Session Work
Celebrated 15 years with my girlfriend, Mary, on the 10th of November. We spent a week on the Oregon coast at Lincoln City, it’s always so beautiful there. We really enjoyed it, was relaxing and nice to get away for a bit. When we got home, we adopted a new kitten, her name is Thelma, and she is adorable.

At the beginning of the month I also got a chance to work on a couple of songs for my friend Kenny. The artist he is working with is a singer/songwriter/guitarist by the name of John Are. I had recorded bass parts for one of his songs back in July and was asked if I could help again. These songs are really cool, John has a super expressive voice, evocative story-telling lyrics, and big hook choruses. I truly like his music, and that sure drives my creativity.
Working with Kenny is a joy, he has great ideas, clear vision of the end product, and is not afraid to ask for what is needed. I respect these traits in a producer, and it makes my job so much easier. I initially came up with a couple ideas that I was sure were “the best thing ever”, only to be asked to revisit. I was given solid direction with relevant references (that I completely understood), and what do you know, the new parts were perfect for the song. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate that.
I really look forward to hearing these mixes, and hope I get asked to help in the future.

Looks like the videos for the Thirteen Finches Earwig Sessions Vol 3 are posted, and they sure turned out nice. Here are links: Circle To The Left and Systems Failing.
Don, Lance, and everyone else involved were great, and I really liked Earwig, nice place with excellent gear. I highly recommend the studio, and if you can get your band in for one of the Video/Recording session, do, you will have a blast!

10/29/19

Checking Things Off The List
We didn’t get that late Sept hot spell, but I did go to Guatemala, so it kind of worked out.
At the end of Sept I went to Antigua and spent a week with one of my very best friends, Korey Peterson. I hadn’t seen Korey in a little over 26 years, so it was definitely time for a visit. I had a smooth flight from Seattle to Dallas, and from Dallas straight into Guatemala City. Guatemala City is much larger than I had imagined (2.5 million) and was breathtaking from the air, so many different colored lights. Korey met me at the airport and we picked up right where we left off, like no time had passed, instantly comfortable.
Guatemala is a fascinating country, lush and green, and full of beautiful people. We spent 2 days at Lake Atitlán, a huge lake at the base of three volcanoes with many small villages lining the shores, it was stunning. The food was fantastic everywhere we went, and everyone was so very kind. Going to visit Korey has been on my to-do list for many years, and I am so glad I did it, was an experience I will treasure all my life.

In music happenings, I played my last 3 engagments with 13 Finches. We had a fun night at Slim’s Last Chance with Strangely Alright and Steve Aliment’s Albro Swift Exit, both bands were excellent. Then a show at my favorite place, Darrell’s, with Guardian Alien and the Memphis Radio Kings, a great night of music, everyone was totally on their game.
We followed that up with a live-in-studio at Earwig Studios. It was an audio/video recording session in front of a small audience. Three bands did two different songs two time each, they recorded the audio and shot video of the performance. Was lots of fun, and the other bands, Stereo Creeps and Blue Glass were great. The studio is super cool, Don Farwell, Lance Hofsted, and the rest of the crew were all top notch, the whole thing was well conceived and went very smoothly.
This last 2 weeks I have also been doing mix reviews with Jason Thomson for the new Vast Robot Armies record. This one is really going to surprise people, outstanding songwriting and the mixes are so good.
Now it is on to other projects, I am excited and inspired.

9/13/19

Fall Is Coming, And With It, Change
Been a very nice summer here in the Northwest, but it’s already starting to feel like Fall. I am hoping to get a bit of a reprieve, that late Sept hot spell, but not betting on it.
Had a visit from Scott Taylor a few weeks back (a best friend from high school and Team Cluster drummer). It was the first time we’ve actually seen each other in 25 yrs or so. We spent the day telling stories, listening to music, and catching up, a truly wonderful time. We decided it was a good time to start making music together again, stretch out and get creative. Oddly enough, the very next week Robert Jones (also of Team Cluster and my best friend growing up) texted me and said he was ready to start trading riffs again. Universe spoke, I listened. Excited to see where it goes this time around, and I will post as things progress.

Played a couple fun shows with 13 Finches. Had a particularly blazing night at Tims Tavern with Ben Smith on drums, and a cool outdoor show with Alex Coleman filling in. The outdoor show was a fundraiser for Food Lifeline featuring The English Beat. Mr Pig opened the show, we played second, El Steiner third, and the English Beat took the stage late afternoon.. They raised lots of money, and seemed like everyone had a great time.
There are two more 13 Finches shows in Oct, one at Slim’s Last Chance, and one at Darrell’s (I love playing Darrell’s), after that I’m stepping away from 13F, time to pursue other projects.

~Heard a couple rough’s from the Drew Love sessions, Don Gunn is doing a great job of it, and I was impressed with how cool it was sounding. It is moving along slowly, but it is moving in the right direction.

7/14/19

Working With Friends, New And Old
This last week saw the formal release of Arctic Sleep's latest, Kindred Spirits. It’s a beautiful record, both deeply personal and universally relatable. The album was a massive undertaking, Keith D was working solo for the first time as Arctic Sleep, handling all the writing, arranging, production, and also performing every instrument/vocal (with the exception of drums and some backing vocals). It was recorded at Nada Recording with John Naclerio engineering, mixing, and co-producing.
Nick Smalkowski was behind the kit for the first time since Arbors and he really shines; powerful, emotional, and precise. Backing vocals were by Craig Cirinelli and Bridget Bellavia, and both played critical roles. The entire record is amazing, and I am humbled to have played a small part in helping it cross the finish line. Keith and I have become friends over the last few years, and I appreciate who he is as much as what he does. If you are a fan of heavy, progressive, melodic rock, I highly recommend giving it a listen.

Earlier this month I received a text from my friend Kenny Cummings. He is producing/mixing a song for a former bandmate and asked if I’d help with bass parts. The song is really well written rock with bucketloads of attitude and great vocals, how could I say no?
~I’ve known Kenny since I first moved to Seattle, he’s highly intelligent, forward thinking, a great musician, and someone I trust. He moved off to NY in the mid 80’s and now runs a company focused on restoring/modifying vintage Norton Motorcycles~
He sent me a Pro Tools session with stems to work against, so I had the vocals, guitars, drums, and original bass ideas. The songs is down-tuned to Eb, the drums are driving, guitars are exciting, and the vocals are surly, win win win. I decided my approach should be to not listen to the supplied bass parts, but instead just dive in and write the line as I heard it, then reference afterward. Went with Red Bass, DI’d into my UA Apollo, with the UA Ampeg B-15 plugin on the way in (see picture). Sounded solid with just a bit of grit (Kenny loved the tone), and it’s easily recallable if needed.
I ran a few passes and got the beginnings of a line I liked, then listened to the bass part that was sent.. This method seemed to work well, I was able to hear the original intention and incorporate the core elements into my line. After a couple hours I had a solid working part and sent it off to Kenny. He offered critiques and suggestions, I revised sections, he comped together a working pass, and just like that, we created the line. I relearned it from the comp, made some adjustments, drilled down on the drums groove, and rerecorded it. Hope his client likes it!
Recording chain: 2013 AVRI ‘63 Precision, strung with TI flats, DI’d into a UA Apollo, using Unison with the UA Ampeg B-15.

In show news, had a nice night playing with 13 Finches at The Parliament. Shared the bill with The Drive Through, a cool Americana inspired rock band. One of their guitar players is an old friend, was fun to do a show together. Ben Smith filled in on drums, gave us a good groove, and we all had fun.

A Country Session?
Spent a fun 3 days at Don Gunn’s studio recording bass parts for an artist named Drew Love.
Drew’s songs lean toward Outlaw/Old School County with great arrangements, strong/relatable lyrics, and memorable hooks. I had the roughs for a few days prior and the songs themselves pretty much dictated what was needed from me.
I went out to Don’s studio early Monday, the plan was to record bass and drums live to the roughs. We got set up and dove in, taking a couple passes at each song and then listening back. Most every pass felt better than the last, and we seemed to be working well together; doubt we went more than 6 on any song.

Some of the songs went in directions I hadn’t anticipated, and it was exciting to hear them evolve. Don had clear and creative ideas on where they should go and how we would get them there. I think Drew was surprised at some of the the transformations, and at seeing it happen in real time. By days end we had the first 4 in the can. Tuesday and Wednesday went about the same, with the addition of Drew recording scratch tracks for a new song, and rerecording another. All in, I think we recorded Drums and Bass together on 10 or 11 tracks.

Was fun to play with Gunn, he is as creative and skilled a drummer as he is a producer/engineer. He works fast, is decisive and concise, and has a good sense of humor. Drew is quite the character (he had some really good stories) and I think it’s evident in his songs. This will be a great record when finished.
Really enjoyed my part on this project, it was outside of my “genre comfort zone”, required me to show a great deal of restraint and consistency, and challenged me to be creative while doing it.

Recording Chain: 2013 AVRI ‘63 P-Bass (Red Bass), strung with TI Flats, DI’d into a UA LA-610. Also used a Nordstrand Audio Nordymute on at least half the songs, great tools!

5/5/19

Take The Good With The Bad
April had some high points, and one very sad low.
As heartbreaking as it was, we had to say goodbye to Bebe. She was the best animal friend I have ever had; beautiful, caring, and totally spoiled, she carried an attitude befitting a cat 4x her size. I loved her dearly, and will miss her more than I can express.

On to happier topics -
Shannon and Tal have been looking for a local drummer to work with for their 13 Finches project. Finding the right person isn’t an easy task, but it has lead to us playing with some very cool people. One was Ben Smith, a really nice person and consummate professional. His credits run as deep as his ability. He invited us to his studio, had charted out all 9 songs, and we ran through them with ease (he may have known the arrangements better than we did). Was impressive to say the least.
We also got a chance to play with a dear old friend and ex-bandmate of mine, Dave Hill. We had played together back in the late 80’s/early 90’s in a band called The Senders. It’s been great to reconnect and was really fun to play together again. I have always loved his playing, and he is a super positive person. Theres a level of comfort for me in Dave’s style, his pocket is deep, and he has a very natural feel.
Will be interesting to see where all this leads.

In a recap to last months post, that song I worked on with Don Gunn was for an artist named Aaron English, and my parts got used!!
Aaron has a Patreon page and releases a song a month for his patrons. This song, “Leaving Train”, was his April release and is really good. He has a large and interesting body of work (check his youtube videos), you should help support him if you can!

3/29/19

Gotta Love A Good Piano Ballad
Got a text from Don Gunn asking if I’d be interested in putting together a fretless part for a song he was working on. It’s a lovely ballad recorded on a slightly out-of-tune upright piano with an etherial (almost lap-steel sounding) guitar line. He had played and recorded the drums, with a subtle nod to the “train beat”, professionally restrained, yet creative. The vocal and lyrics are beautiful, a very well written song, performed at a high level.
To my ear, the song was asking for very little, some simple root motion, no frills; just stay out of the way and let the vocals and piano own it. Was a bit of a challenge to lock in (intonation wise) with the piano, but once I’d tuned against it, it all feel into place.
I show up at Don’s studio, The Office, around 10:00AM, we shot the shit for a while, went over what I’d worked out, and discussed what he thought the song needed. Don is easy to work with, comfortable, clear, and makes it fun (his assistant Fin helped keep us on task). We agreed on the direction and got some quality passes. My intonation was good, my timing solid, and the parts felt right (at least to me).
We were all wrapped up by 11:45.
Recording chain: 1975 Fretless Precision, strung with TI Flats, DI’ed into (I believe it was a UA LA-610) to Pro Tools.

I’ve no idea if my parts will be used, and it doesn’t really matter, was a good experience and I had a great time.

-Update- My parts did get used (Yay!), here’s a link to the song on Aaron’s SoundCloud page

3/12/19

Slow, But Productive
Last half of Feb and into March has been slow from a project standpoint, so I have tried to make the best of my time.
I started taking lessons again, it’s time to push myself out of my comfort zone and break some of my habitual patterns. I had studied with Steve Kim in the past and knew he was the right person to jumpstart my idled progress. Steve is a very accomplished player and educator, if you are looking for guidance in the Greater Seattle area, he should be high on your list. In 3 weeks time, some tasks that I previously found daunting are now more about increasing familiarity through practice, not utter confusion/frustration. I’m not blowing through changes on Real Book charts by any means, but I can at least navigate through simple ones with a much better idea of what I am (and should be) doing. I find it’s helping me better understand my options when writing parts.
It was also time to make some new cables. I have been using the same cables for the better part of 12 years, and although they are still functional, they’ve taken quite a beating. When I was putting together my pedal boards, I ordered cable and plugs through Best-Tronics, I really liked the products and service so I decided to try some of their self-branded instrument cable, CA-0446. I like to use G&H plugs and have in the past used Mogami W2425. The CA-0446 has a thick outer jacket but is still very pliable, the braid is dense and tight, the core wire is substantial. With the thick jacket I was unable to place heat shrink/strain relief under the shell of the G&H plug, so I went old school and wrapped over shell to cable. This worked well and fixed my only issue with the G&H plugs, sometimes the shells come loose (happens to most all screw-on shells that I’ve tried), Win/Win.

In other news, there have been discussions around covering Easy Lover, more on that later.

2/7/19

Feb Update
Put together a small/portable pedalboard. I seldom, if ever, use even half the pedal I have on my board for most gigs, and dragging it around is kind of a pain (might also send the wrong message or come off as a bit audacious). This should free me up to quickly try different combinations for different situations, weighs under 8lb bagged w/cables, and it’s cute.
Speaking of pedals, I decided to to build another GGG Phase 45 Clone. I made one for a friend years back and loved it, so figured I’d build one for myself. Their kits are cool, easy to build, sound great, and affordable. I ordered the kit without an enclosure and picked up an undrilled Hammond 1590b box and a big Boss style knob. Drilling the box without a drill press was inaccurate at best, not sure I’ll do that again.
In other news, The Thirteen Finches record release is tomorrow night at Slim’s Last Chance. Had a couple nights practice and should be a fun show …if we don’t get snowed out.

13 F Now Available
Looks like the Thirteen Finches self titled is live, give it a listen at https://thirteenfinches.bandcamp.com
Was a fun record to make, and so many super neat people were involved. Tal and Shannon really put a lot into this, and it shows.
I hope it’s as well received as I imagine it should be.

-quick update- Looks like their video for Chance At Life is up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=315hq2R6cxg

1/3/19

Odds & Ends
2018 was interesting.
It was a fairly busy year, with the Thirteen Finches project consuming the better part of it, and it was well worth the time/effort. 13F afforded me the opportunity to work in Studio Divine, get back to Studio Litho, and spend some quality time at Crackle & Pop!, not to mention creating some really nice music with a talented group of friends. I tried hard push my playing in different directions on this project, and that saw me revisiting many of the records that inspired me early on.
Toward the end of the year I got the chance to start a fun one-off project with two of my favorite people, Kenny Cummings and Dave Krusen, old friends and bandmates from my earliest days in Seattle. Kenny and I were discussing Talk Talk (a big influence on us) and I mentioned that I always wanted to do “It’s You” from the “It’s My Life” record. I said “you, me, and DK could’a torn that up back in the day”, Kenny said, “It’d be easy, let’s do it”. TT’s bass player, Paul Webb, is one of my favorites, and that record is a tour’de force of fretless playing. Getting the line right was harder than expected, and more than once I thought I might have bitten off more than I could chew. It has been so much fun, and if it ever gets done, I will be sure to post it (shhhh, here’s a secret link).

I am looking forward to 2019, and happy about how 2018 turned out. It was not without challenges, but by far and away, the positives outweighed any non-positives.