RECORDING...

Yes, Wayne’s recording of Screamin’ Gulch’s practice was good. The boy does have the gift.

Good input for the band, too—tells them (including me) how we sounded, and we got to trade tips on how to make us sound better. Wayne said my guitar was cutting in and out, but that’s not the case—I was simply avoiding notes I wasn’t sure of, so the ones I avoided didn’t record. Practice is the only thing that will cure that. The one song where I was sure what I was doing—a simple jailhouse country song that’s one of the few slow ones the band does—I do a half-decent lead.

The band has a ways to go before we’re doing record-quality work on my songs, but again, that just takes practice. (They can do harmony on “Naked “Space Hamsters in Love.” Scary.)

So there’s my outlet, maybe, for recording all of the uptempo material for the next album. We do it on stage with the band at Johnny B.’s, with a live audience of whoever shows up. That takes care (maybe, again) of:

Naked Space Hamsters in Love
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep
Rotten Candy
Test Tube Baby (which I still haven’t tried yet)
When I Jump Off the Cliff, I’ll Think of You
Hey, Little Chicken
The Frog Next Door

And leaves:

Christmas Roadkill
Armadillo on the Interstate
Twenty-Four Seven
Milepost 43
Dead Things in the Shower
Oil in the Cornfield (only serious song on the album)

Of course, the last two songs are pretty uptempo (and “Dead Things” is weird enough so it might get their attention). Maybe for those, it’d be possible to assemble a band—Southern Oregon Songwriters folks, maybe?—practice a bunch, and assemble them at Johnny B.’s for an evening. Or alternatively, do the recording in layers like the Real Studios do. The latter is more expensive because it consumes more recording time (and I still don’t know what Wayne would charge for doing this), and the former is more time-consuming because of the necessity of getting the musicians together to get practiced.

(On the other hand, it’d be good for the musicians to get together and get practiced. To the extent possible, I would like to sell ‘em all on the idea that they sound better together—and get more attention—than separately, and all of our talents can be used to help each other. An application of the old Chinese Electrician’s Rule: “Many hands make light work.”)

And I probably have time. At this point, an album would be coming out at earliest in time for Concert Season (mid-to-late summer), and at latest around Christmas.

UPCOMING: Southern Oregon Songwriters showcase Saturday night, the Wild Goose Sunday night, the country dance in Rogue River Tuesday night, and practice with Screamin’ Gulch Wednesday night. 4 nights out of 5 ain’t bad.

Joe