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.

The demo session

We met at Jeff Root's recording studio to attempt to create demos of the seven songs. With these demos, we can shop out the additional parts that might be needed on each song. Things click immediately, as it is obvious that Jeff and Steve get along well and appreciate each others ideas. This will be a wonderful collaborative effort, I can tell.

There was a lot to accomplish, because the songs were still not in their final form. I wrote them 2 years ago and have not played many out. I had gone through the editing process with my songwriting group and refined them lyrically, but the chord progressions needed to be solidified and made uniform for both Steve who will be playing bass, and Jeff who will be on guitar.

We started with "Backroads of New England" which I think is the most difficult song of the bunch. Now a song is a song, and can be beautifully melodic using only three chords, but the underlying chord structure provides a definite character to the tune. Jeff and Steve went through the song discussing various chords and substituted where necessary. It is amazing what a change, such as replacing a C with an Am, can have the feel of a song. Still the same melody, still the same key, but such a difference. And Steve and Jeff are masters at feeling these changes.

It was wonderful to sit back and listen to these guys. Several takes later, we had an acceptable version. The challenge to this piece is that the chorus is very dramatic and melodic and the verses must not seem to be separate from it. Steve and Jeff conceived a gentle, consistent base with retards and breaks where necessary, providing cues for me to come in. It allows for the drama in the lyrics to shine.

What I like about working with Jeff is that he doesn't like to use a "click" track. This kind of track is often necessary because the rhythm needs to be consistent for other players who might come into overdub parts. But Jeff uses his innate sense of rhythm to create a consistent enough backdrop without losing the natural rhythms of the song. This creates a very organic feel. I think that this song, in particular, needed that because it sort of ebbs and flows, just like the lyrics:
"I've stood by the ocean and felt the salty spray; it seems so wild and free sometimes, I have to turn away from the menace in its mist, the power of its fist, the restless clouds of gray."

This is a very poetic song, filled with concrete images, and soaring melodies and has been a difficult one for me to get a handle on. But I am very happy with this version we have come up with.

Next time I will discuss "It's Cold Outside" which is the song I wrote on Day 1.