Recording

Monday…

Driving in from Kerrville, my husband and kids drop me off at the studio at 10 am….they roll on with my drummer in the back seat….he’s got to go get his drums in my van after dropping my family off at home.

Marty is waiting, we head inside and start on a new project. I have been working with Marty for fifteen years now. Who would have thought all those years ago when I met that curly headed, dour looking boy at Power Trax in L.A. during the making of “Shortstop” that we would have such a history? He used to stand in the corner, hunched over, looking pissed off, and absorb all the engineering skills that Kevin Smith was in charge of…and I kept trying to engage him in conversation until one day I told him I could draw him a tattoo on his arm.
He looked leery. But, I got out some magic markers and drew a toaster on his right arm and some flying toast on his left arm, and that was it. We were buddies from then on. But that will be an entirely different entry some day….

So, back to the present. Everybody is behind today. The first day is always the most frustrating, for me, because I”m excited and ready to GO! But we have to set up sounds…mics here and tones there and levels and headphone mixes and on and on until time just seems to be peanut butter. S-l-l-l-o-o-o-w…..After hours of plugging in mics, cables and adjusting (it’s all Pro-Tools now, so there is a desk and computer….no two inch tape, no giant Neve consule, etc), we get to start plugging away at the songs. Which, I am not going to tell you about because I am going to be mysterious about this record (cd, as the kids call it…”Record? Mom, you mean a CD!”)

We kick out six basics (the foundation of a song, before you lay overdubs/extras)…

Tuesday

We have created an additional seven more songs. Here’s the players so far: Mitch Watkins on electrics, Eddy Hobizal on piano/B3/wurlitzer,Steve Zirkel on bass, Brad Evilsizer on drums/perc, Mark Rubin comes by for two songs that need upright bass…

Today’s funny story: I give Eddy a handful of cash to pay for the Chinese food coming for lunch. He gives it all to the delivery boy, who zips out the door. As we sit down to eat, I ask Eddy for the receipt and change. He hands me both. There is three dollars in my hand. I look at Eddy and ask, “Um, is this all the change you got back?” And he says, “That’s what the guy gave me….” And I say, “I gave you $80…” Eddy’s eyes are wide.
The delivery boy made a $30 tip.

Wednesday

I lay down some simple acoustics that need to be rendered…and started on some vocals…I have recorded the saddest song…and many, many upbeat happy danceable songs. At one point, we were laying down a new song of mine, and I was, literally, jumping up and down with utter joy, singing at the top of my lungs in my little triangular booth, holding onto my headphones so they wouldn’t fly off. As the song came to it’s conclusion, I thought I was going to burst into tears, I was beyond happy. It was a glorious feeling! The song is a big rock ballad I wrote on the piano…a sort of Coldplay meets U2 from the female perspective….when I was writing it, I got stuck on the bridge, and Eddy came over and we flushed it out and so, now, we have a song together!

Then, Courtney (Audain) showed up and we downloaded a song we have just finished at his studio for my Fall 2006 record (we are working on this record on the side, songs at a time, whenever we have time) and we listened to that one and WHOA, it just makes you bop around the room…that is all I can tell you about that song, too.

2006. Mucho music from me to you. I promise: this is the year. We are going places, my friends. I will be coming to see you and we will be making MUSIC!!!!