Step One is Done!

The Greeks said that creativity is the fire of the gods. Well, we burnt the joint down at The Bull Run on Thursday evening.

I haven't heard the final recording, but if the audience reaction means anything, we have something.

This was a special evening celebrating friendship and creativity through music and I feel so blessed to be part of it all. The band was great. Backed by their superb talent, I could feel free to relax and sing. I think I only messed up words once, and in a way that won't impact meaning too terribly.

I am sure that each musician, perfectionists that they are, spent time afterwards thinking about something that could have gone better. But that is the nature of the game. A live recording can often make up in energy the lack of perfection.

A genius move on my part started the show with Jon McAuliffe's "Tear Down Every Wall". It was a kick-ass way to start the show: high energy and steeped in the message that the world needs to start to work in harmony. Perfect tribute for this Daniel Pearl Humanity Through Harmony event.

The rest of my guest singer/songwriters were in top form and delighted the audience with humor and pathos.

It was truly an evening that glowed and glittered. I owe so much to the wonderful audience of friends, family, and fans who came out to be part of this event. I heard nothing by rave reviews afterwards.

This will probably live in my memory as one of the best shows I have ever done. The combination of creativity and friendship will be hard to beat.

Well done my friends and thanks so much.

As we move to post-production I will keep you posted. The 7 songs project is not done by a long shot, as I am still working on the book.

But a major part is complete, and I am very happy with it.

I'll be back!

And joining me in the show . . .

MY AMAZING SECOND HALF!

Let me tell you about the amazing songwriters who will be joining for the second half of my show at The Bull Run.

Jon McAuliffe is a pro with a long resume: he’s been a coffeehouse performer who has performed and associated with respected artists like Emmie Lou Harris; had a band signed to Warner Bros that opened for The Beach Boys and Patti LaBelle; was a staff writer for United Artists. He is currently working with the amazing Seth Connelley on his first collection of orginals to be released soon.

Now he can add swapping songs with JANE FALLON to this list! Jon and I will perform two of his own great songs; in addition we will each give our version of a song based on a narrative scenario that Jon was exploring. Email chit chat led us to each writing a version of this scenario. We will perform these songs back to back at the show. It is amazing how different they are!

For more on Jon go to: www.jonmcauliffe.com

Tom Smith calls himself a tried and true folkie, committed to the songs that everyone can sing. For years he crafted a career in coffeehouses and festivals singing to crowds large and small. Lately he has been turning his talented ear to writing originals that are pleasing people all over New England.

Tom will lend his meticulous finger picking pleasing tenor to two songs: an original that we will duet on and an original “swap” song. Tom and I will each share a song that we wrote for a song challenge at the Vanilla Bean in Promfret, CT. We weren’t there on the same night so have different topics, but I think you will find it interesting what two songsmiths – or one songsmith and one tomsmith “-) came up with.

See www.tomsmithmusic.com for more.

Jon Swenson was a favorite on the local scene before abandoning us and heading to Philadelphia to be near family. Striking a unique pose with his tenor guitar (only 4 strings folks) Jon sings his many original compositions in a smooth, warm voice. He has written hundreds of songs in the course of his lifetime which include both the funny and the contemplative.

Jon and I will be singing a duet on one of his great compositions and also, we will be exploring the art of parody, each sharing a song for which we have written the words, but in tried and true folk tradition, stolen the melody. Jon writes some funny stuff. The Jury is out on me, but people tend to laugh.

Mark Stepakoff is an award winning songwriter known throughout the greater Boston area and behind, especially for his humrous song. But Mark writes senstive songs as well and he and I will sing one of each for you. Listing Mark’s awards would take too long, so go to www.markstepakoff.com to read about him. All I will say is that his third CD, Some Assembly Required has 6 tracks (6!) that have received songwriting awards. Mark has been especially helpful to me in developing my songwriting. I can always count on him for intuitive and insightful, not to mention professional, comments on my songs.

My producer, Jeff Root, will also contribute a song. Jeff, a software engineer by trade, has been active in the greater Boston area recording scene since 1978. A talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Jeff has recorded 12 albums, most filled with his original or co-written music. He as also produced many local artists. Jeff is responsible for my live recording on this night, but you will also hear us duet on one of his wonderfully quirky compositions. www.jeffroot.com

So after we finish up the live recording, let’s all sit back and relax and just soak up this great songwriting!

The big rehearsal

Well, last Saturday the band got together Jeff Root's studio to see what havoc we could wreak. Pretty nice havoc I might say.

In the control room was Jeff Root on acoustic guitar, Steve Gilligan on electric bass, and myself on vocals.

In the outer room were Rob Carlson on dobro, Bob Francis on mandolin, and Tom Ruckey on drums.

Now, mind you, these guys in the outer room had never played together on this material, but they pulled out some pretty fine stuff. We hadn't specified any arrangements, so they were playing it by ear and trying to see what fit where.

Tom decided that a full kit was appropriate for some songs, and a shaker, or stick might be fine for another. But whatever he chose it was creative and provided that bottom that each song needed.

After 6 hours and pizza, we were done and Jeff burned us each a CD of the day's work. We took it home and perused. Sure, there were a few conflicts between the dobro and mandolin as you might expect, but it was amazing how little conflict there was.

So, Jeff made some executive decisions and moved the dobro off one song in exchange for Rob playing an electric lead guitar. The mandolin then, would play a 'chunkier' rhythm except for filler and not come in until the 3rd verse. On another very legato song that will have piano, he decided to keep both instruments out of the intro. But other than that, there wasn't a whole lot to change.

Tag Vennard, on keyboard, wasn't able to make it on Saturday, so Jeff had him over on his own later in the week, and they found the perfect keyboard voice for my song "Short Endings to Long Goodbyes." Tag also had some interesting things to offer on some other songs I'm told, such as washboard-- hmm? Sounds cool.

So, all looks to be ready for Thursday.

Unfortunately, I lost my harmony vocalist, Camille Breeze, who was in a bad accident that shook her up pretty badly. I still have Jon Swenson doing harmony on one song, but it looks like the other harmonies might have to be added in the studio. Camille will be there though, cheering us on, and getting a feel for the arrangements.

So just 5 days away! Don't miss it. The room is filling and the excitement is building. Come be part of the audience!

We Get Technical

So Saturday is the big day – we will be putting together what the band members have been coming up with. Camille (harmony) and Tag (piano) can’t be there, so we wil give them recordings to work from.

Jeff has emailed all of those involved and we hope to put this together in a 6 hour session at The Root Cellar this Saturday. Jeff’s Plan:

“During our Bull Run session, I am hoping to turn the stage of the Bull Run into a recording studio with the following guidelines:

1) Low or no monitor stage mix

2) Low house P.A. volume

3) Quiet and orderly audience participation

4) Condenser mikes with phantom power only

5) No piezos

6) Carefully selected wide positioning of players to optimize acoustic isolation

These are guidelines only and I will arrive early and have this all set up prior to the performance.”

Jeff and Ira have been exchanging emails about the set up. Jeff had hoped to replace the normal cartoid microphones with condensers but that won’t be possible., so Ira will place his recording gear on the side of the stage so Jeff can feed him the lines from the condensor mikes directly. Jeff wants to use two microphones on each instrument. He thinks there will be plenty of audio signal bleeding through the stage mike.

Jeff has already told me that he prefers to go with microphones on the instruments. The only direct input will be for the keyboard.

Says Jeff to me , “Jane, I'd like to go with two sets of mikes. You'll sing up close into the SM58 dynamic mike and the large diaphragm condenser mike, KSM32, will be placed behind it such that it is about 6" behind just like we do in the studio.

The SM58 will act as the wind screen.Using the large mikes will also clue the audience into the fact that they are part of a recording session.

And Ira says to Jeff” Jeff, you may want to bring your own tripod style mike stands in addition to the mike holders. The stage is kind of bouncy and in past recordings, sometimes transmits a lot of noise up the stands into the mikes.”

And I just say “I put myself in your capable hands.”

And Jeff says, “It’s gonna be great!” which reminds me why I like to work with him.

So there it is in a nutshell all you techies out there.

The great Jeff Root

So here is a little post on the wunderkind of Westminster, Massachusetts, the fantabulous Jeff Root. Without Jeff, I am sure that I would not have had the nerve to do this project.

Jeff is fine musician, a multi-instrumentalist and talented songwriter who has 6 albums of original music to his credit. You can find out more about him at www.jeffroot.com.

More than anything, I trust Jeff for the sensitivity of his ears. The man can hear music deeply in a way that few people can. When you play a song for Jeff he might suggest a specific instrument. For my song "Heaven Can't Help You" from the "Gemini Rising" release, he immediately heard his friend Rob Carlson on lapsteel. Brilliant. We we recorded the cello for the title track, Jeff could lean over to the keyboard and say "try this harmony" and play it. My friend Rick Cooper just told me that one of his rockin' numbers Jeff got inspired to add a Jerry Lee Lewis piano part and just did it!

I've known Jeff for several years. We met at local open mics, and little by little I became aware that Jeff was producing folks at his studio, The Root Cellar. He encouraged me to let him try to produce a song or two for me; I was dubious because he seemed to be a little on the "rock n roll" side and I was a stuck up folkie. I wondered if he could give my music the sound I wanted. WRONG! Now that I have worked with Jeff, I am amazed at his facility to latch on to, and produce any genre. When working on an old-timey tune, Jeff smiled a bit as he wrapped his guitar playing around it saying it wasn't his usual style - but then he played a great part. He just had to get those magical ears focused and he was good to go.

Many of us in the Massachusetts/New Hampshire music scene owe a great debt to Jeff Root. He understands more than some folks the value of what he does. He brings to fruition the hopes and dreams of musicians both big and small (in terms of experience and goals) and delivers an artistic product that brings a small shiver of joy to any musician's heart.

In addition, he is just a great guy. He collaborates well with people and brings a sense of fun and joy to all he does. Jeff is playing guitar for me on the Seven Songs Project and I couldn't be happier to have him. He is so enthused about the project that he went out and bought a "Recording" light so that the audience will know when we are in production! He is going to place it on one of his famous mannequins that adorn his office space.

So, come on down to The Bull Run on Oct 14th for fun and frolic, courtesy of the Rootman! I know I intend to!

The Bass Player

I've been gone for a week - time to update the blog.

I think that one of the most important musicians for a project like this is the bass player. In this case, it is my good friend Steve Gilligan. He really set the tone for each song through his musical imagination. He is a very strong player with a resume that includes The Stompers and City of Roses.

Steve and I met about 10 years ago at an open mic and later he did some work on my CDs "City Girl" and "Gemini Rising".

Not only he is a great bass player, but an enthusiastic one. He has great musicality in his being and he not only furnishes notes, but songwriting advice as well.

For "Church People", a song about the small church that nourished my mother through her Parkinson's disease and provided my dad solace when she died, Steve came in with a sense of the song structure. He pointed out that the chorus between the first two stanzas interrupted the flows of the story line, and he was right - so we removed it from there and just added it as an extra tag at the end.

He was particularly enthusiastic about "Short Endings to Long Goodbyes" a song that chronicles two young lovers who part at the airport. Calling it a universal song that everyone can relate to especially during a war (one lover is a soldier) he insisted on reasserting the hook of the chorus in the tag (I had shortened it) because it was so effective. He likened it to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in how it swells with emotion.

So, of course, we did it!

I especially like the little 60's move he puts into the intro of "Long and Lonely". It adds a definite character to the piece that will make the intro stand out.

Steve is also very supportive of my penchant for irregularity. I often let the melody follow the words and am not consistent from verse to verse. This would drive most bass players crazy, but he just smiles at me impishly and says he likes it. It makes my writing unique.

I am so pleased that Steve is along for this ride, and seeing how well he and Jeff work together was gratifying. How can I go wrong with these two?

The Band

So now, we have the rest of the band.

Rob Carlson, a terrific lapsteel player has agreed to join us. He played for one song of my last CD and I was so impressed. Jeff Root loves to work with him and really trusts his instincts.

Bob Frances will bring along his mandolin. I've run across Bob at several local venues and was always impressed with his work. He has been backing a lot of local people up lately.I am really happy to have him along.

Tom Ruckey will be joining us on percussion. Jeff and I have decided that none of the songs need a full drum kit but that there are places where other types of percussion will be helpful. He's asked Tom to take a look at the songs and recommended.

Pianist Tag Vennard will be playing on a couple of tunes. Tag is not only a wonderful player, but a free, gentle spirit with great enthusiasm that is contagious. I am looking forward to hearing what he can do on his pieces.

Camille Breeze and I are still talking about whether she has the time to join on harmonies. She has a busy October and though she really wants to do it, has to watch her commitments. Jon Swenson (who will be a guest songwriter) has agreed to do one harmony part for me on "Church People." Jon sang harmony on a couple of songs on my CD "City Girl" and he has a sweet, honeyed quality to his voice that goes with mine. I'm glad we can do another song together.

These folks join Jeff Root on guitar and Steve Gilligan on Bass. I am not playing anything but the vocal chords on this release - a wise decision on my part '-)

Each player is working on the songs individually and we will all come together at Jeff's on Oct 2nd to put it all together. I find this unnerving but exciting as well. I am used to working in a studio environment where parts are layered. Additional instrumentalists can then adjust their parts accordingly.

In this case, what happens I wonder if parts overlap or too many are playing at once? The very cool Jeff Root simply says, "You and I will figure it out." There is just something about this man I trust - and I trust the musicianship and collaborative spirit of these players.

I am excited, because this is music at its most organic and I expect great things will happen.