Thank you my friend. I'm so happy to be working again with Byron. We reconnected when he came to BA with the Lumineers. That little tour we did with him was such a blast.
A favorite memory of mine is seeing Tracy, Byron and Richard playing together a few times. I just love Richard telling us the tinkering involved with creating his new music. He’s making magic.
More than once! That was living magic! And better memory than mine own...have just a vague foggy recall of trip to Greensburg PA from Pittsburgh...'01? '02?...Joan Baez on tour with a handful of favorite baby boomers backing her up.
Richard, these essays are both hysterical and a little sad at times. You make it so easy to see how the recording process can lead to a madness of sorts....I hope you are able to stop short of that line!! And I REALLY hope your Spotify observation is a joke.!
Ya know, not being able to read and write music notation isn't necessarily much of a problem at all. Sir Paul McCartney couldn't do it, as far as I know he never did learn, and he did and does okay, both with composing and arranging. There's an anecdote about him whistling or humming the Baroque trumpet instrumental part in Penny Lane, with George Martin writing it all down in notation so that the trumpeter could play it. He had to do something similar with every one of the Beatles songs, and later his own, that got copyrighted.
And you're doing okay, and then some, not knowing notation. Your music is really creative, and also highly distinctive. Sometimes I think that knowing notation puts unnecessary boundaries on the creative process. It's what you hear inside your head that counts, and you've got a good inner ear.
I used to play at college coffeehouses and even several times at the Nameless coffee house in Harvard Square with a friend who wrote most of our songs, and they were all at least good, if not better. And not only did he not know notation, he didn't even know how to play more than five or six chords on his guitar - he just messed around with weird fingerings and tunings until he found something that sounded the way he wanted his song to sound, et voilà!
On a much lower level, I've been playing guitar for decades, and I never learned notation, either - instead, I learned songs. I'm no guitar master, just a good living room player, and that's just fine with me.
Forgot about shaking polaroids ~ the memory hits with a wave of nostalgia that leaves me unsteady on my feet (since all nostalgic-prompts should leave us wary), but thinking about that once upon a time newfangled tech for taking pictures, and my father's alive, in his mid-fifties, and making us pose for another round of the polaroid sound f/x ... and so unimpressed that I'm a decade older than he is.
This was the best of nights. A complete and thourough description of everything. Everything! With Photos! In color! So many truisms written here. So very appreciated! "Monochrome" is just beautiful, the guitars sound so good and the addition of that bass just magnified the power of the whole thing so very well! Super nice work. AND I discovered Keith Jarrett 's The Cöln Concert tonight ...so much good music in this world. AND you're right in there, doubtfully uneducated but hugely talented. Bravo Maestro. This will be a great album.
That’s a wonderful insight into the way these things come together, just the right combination of humour, human interest, and tech. Thank you for sharing. D
If Phil Spector were still alive, he would be creating his "Wall of Sound" on an i-Phone and be done with it! Then some teenage, millionaire, influencer would be dancing to it on TikTok!
I love your writing and I’m so, so happy to know you and Byron are making music together. Yay.
Thank you my friend. I'm so happy to be working again with Byron. We reconnected when he came to BA with the Lumineers. That little tour we did with him was such a blast.
A favorite memory of mine is seeing Tracy, Byron and Richard playing together a few times. I just love Richard telling us the tinkering involved with creating his new music. He’s making magic.
More than once! That was living magic! And better memory than mine own...have just a vague foggy recall of trip to Greensburg PA from Pittsburgh...'01? '02?...Joan Baez on tour with a handful of favorite baby boomers backing her up.
I enjoyed reading this and listening to the latest 'take' on the new album. What is the screen saver on your computer? Is is Mantegna? Its very cool.
Thanks Hetty. It's from Paolo Uccello's Scenes from the life of Noah, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.
That was gonna be my question too
Sounding great!! And your recording rig is actually quite impressive!!!
Sounding great!! And your recording rig is actually quite impressive!!!
Sounding great!! And your recording rig is actually quite impressive!!!
Thanks Al. It's a minimal but mighty signal chain. And I was probably lying about the SSL. I don't really need it, but the compressor sounds so good!
Richard, these essays are both hysterical and a little sad at times. You make it so easy to see how the recording process can lead to a madness of sorts....I hope you are able to stop short of that line!! And I REALLY hope your Spotify observation is a joke.!
I rather imagine the Spotify anecdote is the unvarnished truth.
I'm exaggerating a little, but not a lot.
Another hit-it-out-of-the-park essay (or stack or whatever the hell posts on Substack are called). Wonderful!
Also, I am a huge fan of the Oxford comma, so a special thank you for that.
Ya know, not being able to read and write music notation isn't necessarily much of a problem at all. Sir Paul McCartney couldn't do it, as far as I know he never did learn, and he did and does okay, both with composing and arranging. There's an anecdote about him whistling or humming the Baroque trumpet instrumental part in Penny Lane, with George Martin writing it all down in notation so that the trumpeter could play it. He had to do something similar with every one of the Beatles songs, and later his own, that got copyrighted.
And you're doing okay, and then some, not knowing notation. Your music is really creative, and also highly distinctive. Sometimes I think that knowing notation puts unnecessary boundaries on the creative process. It's what you hear inside your head that counts, and you've got a good inner ear.
I used to play at college coffeehouses and even several times at the Nameless coffee house in Harvard Square with a friend who wrote most of our songs, and they were all at least good, if not better. And not only did he not know notation, he didn't even know how to play more than five or six chords on his guitar - he just messed around with weird fingerings and tunings until he found something that sounded the way he wanted his song to sound, et voilà!
On a much lower level, I've been playing guitar for decades, and I never learned notation, either - instead, I learned songs. I'm no guitar master, just a good living room player, and that's just fine with me.
Forgot about shaking polaroids ~ the memory hits with a wave of nostalgia that leaves me unsteady on my feet (since all nostalgic-prompts should leave us wary), but thinking about that once upon a time newfangled tech for taking pictures, and my father's alive, in his mid-fifties, and making us pose for another round of the polaroid sound f/x ... and so unimpressed that I'm a decade older than he is.
I keep forgetting to ask: Did I somehow miss a post/stack thingie here with a tour schedule for September?
Maybe the 2022 tour?
I hope not! The Iron Horse was still closed in 2022 and I bought a ticket to his show there this coming September.
I’m all for the Oxford comma!
I would've thought you'd prefer the Lincolnshire comma ;-)
“How did I …. end up here?”
Who in this world hasn’t ever said that?
Beautiful voice/
melody.
Thanks Patty.
This was the best of nights. A complete and thourough description of everything. Everything! With Photos! In color! So many truisms written here. So very appreciated! "Monochrome" is just beautiful, the guitars sound so good and the addition of that bass just magnified the power of the whole thing so very well! Super nice work. AND I discovered Keith Jarrett 's The Cöln Concert tonight ...so much good music in this world. AND you're right in there, doubtfully uneducated but hugely talented. Bravo Maestro. This will be a great album.
That’s a wonderful insight into the way these things come together, just the right combination of humour, human interest, and tech. Thank you for sharing. D
If Phil Spector were still alive, he would be creating his "Wall of Sound" on an i-Phone and be done with it! Then some teenage, millionaire, influencer would be dancing to it on TikTok!
Good point!