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.

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.

Part II of the Seven Songs Show

Another exciting part of the show on the 14th will be what I call, "The Craft of the Songwriter". Five brilliant local composers have agreed to share part II of the evening with me. We will perform some duets of their tunes, or in a couple of cases, sing compositions we wrote given similar impetus and showing how different these efforts can be. These special folk are: Jon Swenson, Jon McAuliffe, Tom Smith, Mark Stepakoff, and Jeff Root.

I am really excited to be performing with these guys. Love their songs.

More on this when we select the songs.

Ok - things are happening

July 21st:

We're starting this project with a "creative kernel": Jeff Root (Acoustic guitar) and Steve Gilligan, (bass) and me. I've sent out both accompanied and a capella versions of the songs, and Steve, Jeff and I will get together when I get back from Oregon/Washington in a few weeks and start the basic arrangements. We have some ideas for drums, dobro, and mandolin. I've sent a CD out to Tag Vennard for his one piano piece. I am really looking forward to seeing what he will do with it.

Meanwhile, I will continue work on the book. It is very interesting to find a way to weave the stories of my Dad's past with the contemporary journey; in addition to talk about the creative process on the way.

Since I tend to write a lot of story songs, most of the songs in this collection lean towards that, and made it easier (at least for me) to write. Looking for the daily inspiration was the fun part, and I will describe that in detail in the book.

My postings while I am in Oregon may be sparse, but I will post, so keep coming back. I would really love for as many people as possible to be part of this project.