Harry and Luca, from London, England, formerly known as The Pilgrims-now the Fireflies, were back at MPM Studio for their third time a few weeks ago. As usual it was an intensely creative week of tracking, vocals, guitar overdubs (ranging from beautiful acoustic to funky electric) and some last-minute songwriting. What to call their . . . → Read More: The Fireflies: from London to Portsmouth (again!)]]>

Harry and Luca, from London, England, formerly known as The Pilgrims-now the Fireflies, were back at MPM Studio for their third time a few weeks ago. As usual it was an intensely creative week of tracking, vocals, guitar overdubs (ranging from beautiful acoustic to funky electric) and some last-minute songwriting. What to call their style? You tell me: check out a quick video Dave Hallowell shot in the live room. Delicate acoustic guitar, chiming electric, stunningly evocative vocals.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Just the audio for Rise and Fall (with Robbie Kneeland on drums and yours truly on bass):

Think you’ve got it? Check out their funky side:

Country?

Looking forward to the next production trip to Music City- more songwriter demos and a folky-jazz CD by former Warner Bros. A & R man Richard Helm on the calendar, with room for a little more, should anyone out there want to take advantage of the opportunity. Also on the agenda: I’ve been asked . . . → Read More: Next Nashville trip planned for March 17th-20th 2013]]>

Looking forward to the next production trip to Music City- more songwriter demos and a folky-jazz CD by former Warner Bros. A & R man Richard Helm on the calendar, with room for a little more, should anyone out there want to take advantage of the opportunity. Also on the agenda: I’ve been asked to contract a band for a big wedding at Nashville’s amazing Schermerhorn Symphony Hall, a venue known world-wide for its acoustic excellence (I had the great pleasure of playing there on its opening night a few years ago with the Craig Duncan Orchestra). Very exciting to be back with the old gang, Jim Hoke, Walter Hartman, Mark Powelson and Jamey Whiting, stellar musicians with whom I have a long history.

While I’m at it, let me thank Matt Casey and all the folks at the New England To Nashville (NETN) networking group for welcoming me to their fold. This group consists of songwriters and artists with a common interest in the Nashville music scene. Some live here, some there, some go back and forth.

It’s been a privilege and a delight to be making music during the past year with the illustrious NH fiddler Ellen Carlson. She’s an expert country player, well-versed in old-timey, New England  and Celtic styles, and a fine bluegrass-er. Her band High Range has wide renown, and her teaching skills legendary. Lately, she, drummer Robbie . . . → Read More: Ellen Carlson – E.C. and the Moonshiners- Hillbilly Jazz!]]>

It’s been a privilege and a delight to be making music during the past year with the illustrious NH fiddler Ellen Carlson. She’s an expert country player, well-versed in old-timey, New England  and Celtic styles, and a fine bluegrass-er. Her band High Range has wide renown, and her teaching skills legendary. Lately, she, drummer Robbie Kneeland, bassist Brendan Dowd and I have been getting together to play what we call Hillbilly Jazz. Here are some pics and audio from a recent jam session at MPM Studio.

Melodic clawhammer banjo wizard Ken Perlman and I were happy to be a part of Montpelier Vermont’s Summit School Winter Folk Fest, along with Dirk Powell, Riley Baugus, the amazing Swedish fiddler Anna Lindblad (with RyanDricky), Katie Trautz and others. Tony DeMarco showed up for the after-concert jam, which threw a number of styles into . . . → Read More: With Ken Perlman @ Summit School Winter Folk Fest]]>

Melodic clawhammer banjo wizard Ken Perlman and I were happy to be a part of Montpelier Vermont’s Summit School Winter Folk Fest, along with Dirk Powell, Riley Baugus, the amazing Swedish fiddler Anna Lindblad (with RyanDricky), Katie Trautz and others. Tony DeMarco showed up for the after-concert jam, which threw a number of styles into a yummy musical melting pot. Collin McCaffrey, a fine VT engineer/producer/musician who did a superb job running live sound, recorded the clips below:

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I met Bob & Jen Strom at The Landing in Manchester-by-the-Sea MA where they regularly host a song and tune session on alternate Sundays, along with singer Michael O’Leary. It’s one of the most pleasant sessions in which I’ve participated: attentive, engaged audience, good acoustics, hospitable staff and a welcoming crew of fine . . . → Read More: Bob & Jen Strom ’round the bend]]>

I met Bob & Jen Strom at The Landing in Manchester-by-the-Sea MA where they regularly host a song and tune session on alternate Sundays, along with singer Michael O’Leary. It’s one of the most pleasant sessions in which I’ve participated: attentive, engaged audience, good acoustics, hospitable staff and a welcoming crew of fine musicians and singers. This CD was one of the more organized, well-planned and rehearsed projects I’ve been a part of, demonstrating once again how economical and efficient the process can be when well thought out. One thing they did, which I encourage everyone to consider: they arrived at each session an hour or so early, and, ‘off the clock’ (while I was at work catching up on other things in the control room), used the Live Room to warm up and rehearse the day’s material.

Last night at Rory O’Connor’s Pub in Georgetown, a good number of musical friends gathered to help Tony Giblin launch A Promise Kept.

Tony kindly let me play bouzouki and guitar on this one:

Finally getting around to a chronicle of some of this summer’s activities, one of which was my adventure into the musical world of Manchester NH’s composer/songwriter/pianist extraordinaire Joe Deleault. NH Screenwriter/director Ernest Thompson (‘On Golden Pond’, etc.) is just finishing a new film (headed for Sundance Film Festival) called Heavenly Angle, for which Joe . . . → Read More: Summer re-cap: Natalie McMaster, Joan Osborne, Joe Deleault and more…]]>

Finally getting around to a chronicle of some of this summer’s activities, one of which was my adventure into the musical world of Manchester NH’s composer/songwriter/pianist extraordinaire Joe Deleault. NH Screenwriter/director Ernest Thompson (‘On Golden Pond’, etc.) is just finishing a new film (headed for Sundance Film Festival) called Heavenly Angle, for which Joe has composed most of the music. Some of the music was recorded right here in Portsmouth at MPMS, then Joe and I headed up to the fabulous Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto to cut some of the featured songs and musical cues with renowned Cape Breton fiddler Natalie McMaster.  I had the pleasure of playing acoustic guitar, joined by NH bassist Brendan Dowd and claw hammer banjoist Chris Coole. Joan Osborne contributed vocals from her Brooklyn NY studio, and the whole thing was mixed here at Mill Pond Music Studio.Look for an upcoming CD from Joe featuring some of this material, and…his accordion!

Here’s one of the songs, with Natalie, Joan, Joe and myself:

A lot of interesting artists and musicians recorded at my studio in Nashville during its twenty years of operation, giving me ample opportunities to make a lot of mistakes and to learn how to avoid them. Some of their names are well-known, others’ should be. Here are some of the names I remember off . . . → Read More: The Nashville Years: singers and players]]>

A lot of interesting artists and musicians recorded at my studio in Nashville during its twenty years of operation, giving me ample opportunities to make a lot of mistakes and to learn how to avoid them. Some of their names are well-known, others’ should be. Here are some of the names I remember off the top of my head. I owe them all a great deal:

Some of the singers: Gretchen Wilson, Dierks Bentley, David Ball, Jeff Carson, Dusty Drake, Joe Sun, Jo-El Sonnier, Butch Baker, Buddy Jewell, Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky), Tracy Nelson, Tim Buppert, John Foster, Ron Wallace, Julie Maners, Renee Lopez, Margot Smith, Allison Moorer, Kathy Chiavola, Doug Phelps (Kentucky Headhunters), Taylor Ware, and many more, not to mention the many songwriters with their unique, if unpolished, ways of delivering their songs.
Guitarists, steel guitarists, dobro and bass players: Chris Leuzinger, Harold Bradley, Kenny Vaughn, Larry Chaney, Russ Barenberg, Pete Huttlinger, Paul Worley, John Knowles, Lloyd Green, Sonny Garrish, Rob Ickes, Mike Cass, Danny Parks, Kerry Marx, Chas Williams, Dave Pomeroy, Byron House, John Vogt, David Hungate, Mark Powelson, John Pizzarelli, Robert Bowlin, Steve Sheehan, Andy Reiss, Bill Hullet, Red Volkert, and the list goes on…
Fiddlers: Jonathan Yudkin, Larry Franklin, Buddy Spicher, Matt Combs, Kenny Sears, Joe Spivey, Barbara Lamb, Craig Duncan, Bill Verdier, Buddy Spicher, David Coe, Tim Lorsch, Hoot Hester.
Drummers and percussionists: Milton Sledge, John Gardner, Owen Hale, Wayne Killius, Brian Barnett, Tommy Wells, Walter Hartman, Pat McInerney, Chris Brown, Glen Caruba, Dan Sherrill, Kenny Malone.
Multi-instrumentalists and others: Jeff Taylor (accordion, piano, whistle, etc.), Jim Hoke (everything), Jamey Whiting (piano), John Mock (whistle, concertina, mandolin, etc..), Sam Levine (sax), Jeff Lisenby (keys), Joey Miskulin (accordion-Riders in the Sky), Tom McBryde (piano, arranger- Dollywood, etc..), Dave Talbot (banjo), Fats Kaplin (everything), Buddy Greene (harmonica), Jo-el Sonnier (Cajun accordion).

Just back from two trips to Nashville in two weeks. First, a couple of days of producing (and playing acoustic guitar on) song demos for New Yorker Dave Stewart, a superlative song craftsman. Another opportunity to get together with my musician colleagues, Chris Leuzinger on electric guitar, Jamey Whiting on piano, Wayne Killius on . . . → Read More: Nashville Travelogue, continued.]]>

Just back from two trips to Nashville in two weeks. First, a couple of days of producing (and playing acoustic guitar on) song demos for New Yorker Dave Stewart, a superlative song craftsman. Another opportunity to get together with my musician colleagues, Chris Leuzinger on electric guitar, Jamey Whiting on piano, Wayne Killius on drums, the amazing John Vogt on bass, and genius multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke on steel guitar, accordion and… penny whistle! Also delightful to visit with singers Tim Buppert, Perry Danos and the effervescent Erica Alexander.

The legendary Studio 19 was the scene, and was again this past week when we assembled a smaller team (Chris Leuzinger, Jamey Whiting and John Vogt again,with Chris Brown on drums) for some heavy biker-rock songs for a movie pitch. Then, a great house session of reels, jigs and hornpipes with Nashville’s Irish A-team Bill Verdier, David Coe and Bill Wolfe. Don’t let anyone tell you Nashville is all country.

A beautiful time of year in Tennessee- cherries, redbuds and early dogwoods in bloom, but wonderful to get back to the NH seacoast salt air and a delightful recording session for fiddler Ellen Carlson’s upcoming CD release. We put together a set of jigs, with fiddle and DADGAD guitar, the Black Rogue played in a Martin Hayes-y mellow kind of mood followed by a snappy take on Buttermilk Mary. Spring is here!

The new year got off to a great musical    start when a group of lads from London called ‘Pilgrims’ made their first trip to Portsmouth to record the first half of  their debut CD. The three excellent guitarist/vocalists/songwriters Harry, James and Luca were joined by ‘Mersey Beat’ specialist Dave from Liverpool on drums . . . → Read More: Pilgrims from London]]>

The new year got off to a great musical    start when a group of lads from London called ‘Pilgrims’ made their first trip to Portsmouth to record the first half of  their debut CD. The three excellent guitarist/vocalists/songwriters Harry, James and Luca were joined by ‘Mersey Beat’ specialist Dave from Liverpool on drums and yours truly on bass to produce what I called ‘Post-Indie-guitar-based-alt-Pop-Rock’. The lads didn’t buy it.

Our little seacoast town of Portsmouth proved a stellar host to these London sophisticates. Jam sessions at the Press Room, Dolphin Striker and Blue Mermaid welcomed these versatile musicians who finished up their two weeks’ work all aglow and abuzz about…yes, New Hampshire!