Clockwise from top left: Sugar Nile, Blue Moon Bible - vol D (Sam Russell and the Harborrats); The Smolder Sessions (Creeping Time) ; Fly (Kate Noson); Year of the Cow (Sam Russell)

I wasn’t even thinking about album releases or musical product. Then, all of a sudden, I realize that we’ve released 4 albums within 3 months of the new year.

Nevermind that a lot of the tracking for these records were done in the 2011, if not earlier. The fact that all the albums are being finalized in such a short window of time makes it feel like the cosmos are coming together.

Anyway, all this music is available for listening and purchase online right now.

Clockwise from top left: Sugar Nile, Blue Moon Bible – vol D (Sam Russell and the Harborrats); The Smolder Sessions (Creeping Time) ; Fly (Kate Noson); Year of the Cow (Sam Russell).

Please note that 3 of the four albums are basically Sam Russell creations. Sam produced all but the Creeping Time album and has now written and recorded six of an eight album series entitled the Blue Moon Bible. Get more info at http://thebluemoonbible.com. He’s got lots of information about the project: songs, players, overarching themes, etc…

We’re in the middle of figuring out the release schedule for The Smolder Sessions, so I’m sure there’s more news on that front coming up…

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Sugar Nile, Blue Moon Bible Vol IV

Tractor Tavern, Wednesday night. Annie Ford Band, Sam Russell and the Harborrats, Falcon.

The Annie Ford band was playing their second live show and you would have never known it. Backed by three strong musicians, Annie’s role as lead vocal and songwriter felt just right. I’ve seen her mainly as the fiddle player in Slim Pickens. But this incarnation was a fresh departure from the strictly old-time standards of that band. Some hints of Neko Case, but staying original all the way.

When our turn to play came along, Sam informed the sound guy on our setup and I was sure we were going to get berated. 5 vocals, an average of 2 inputs per musician (and we were a 7 piece), and a complete drum kit change. It got him a little grumpy, but he wired everything up quickly and dialed the sound in even faster. Because we were 7 musicians, we weren’t able to rehearse very much at all. Instead Sam gave us a loose skeleton of each tune and we basically built on that and followed his dynamics during the set. This approach worked perfectly with the group that we had and you could tell it was as much a rush for the audience as it was for us. It always feels really good when the band is tight, and the highs and lows of Sam’s music wildly swing your emotions and keep things interesting. Overall, a really fun set to play.

Falcon closed out. Some really nice harmonies and solid grooves. Their drummer was co-frontman and they had him front and center on stage. That was pretty cool to see as the skin pounders usually get shoved away in the back. Really nice folks and they had a guy playing midi-controller-laptop that totally made the soundscape.

Oh, and did I mention that the show represented a release of our latest CD The Sugar Nile, Blue Moon Bible, Volume IV

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Ah, the life of a ‘professional’ musician. And by professional, I mean paid.

Four gigs in three days, and all well-paying. Starting to think I could quit the day job if I didn’t have a mortgage and the festival season ran throughout the year ;)

Friday night Creeping Time (original lineup) played a corporate party. Great food, super nice folks, trying to let off a little steam after some grueling tasks at the office. Lots of kids there, which was nice to see. One kid dressed up as Gumby and danced around for a little while.

Saturday day: Creeping Time (exploded lineup with Ken, Dennis Jolin on drums, Tom Rooney, and Rickie Gene Powell) at the Rainier Mountain festival. With the band after us cancelling at the last minute we got to play a full 3 hour set. There was an MC announcing festival events in between songs and several times he said things like: “Nice jam, boys. Really like that controlled chaos”. Our type of guy!

Sunday day: Boys of Greenwood Glen (exploded lineup the same as the day before but without drums). Though it was the same lineup, these were all Rickie’s tunes and he definitely led the band. It was really fun to wear two different hats with the exact same band. Felt a little like halloween.

Sunday night: Pies and Pints. Same old good stuff here.

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After all the dust settled, somebody put it perfectly:

2 wardrobe changes, 3 locations, we laid down some tracks for somebody else’s project, and ended up knee-deep in Greenlake. All in just over 2 hours!

Always an adventure, Allison Tullos, Ken Nottingham, Dave Forrrester, James Apollo, Caithey, and myself met up at Sam & Jame’s house for a whirlwind photo-shoot for various upcoming Harborrats releases. Some photos in the house, on the porch, and in the backyard. Then on our way to Crackle and Pop studio to take more shots and redub some gang vocals on James’ new album (a recovery of choir tracks that were erased unkowingly), and finally to Greenlake where we got wet waitstaff style.

Highlights: Jamming on the front porch and answerring the Greenlake public phone only to be asked if we wanted special favors.

Thanks again Sam for leading us in fun adventure.

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Headed down to South Seattle to record some fiddle and mandolin tracks. The artist is a 15(?)-year-old with a sound similar to Avril Lavigne and/or Taylor Swift. A buddy, Nathan, is producing her album and invited myself and pedal steel player, Randy, down to countrify the first tune on the project.

Ends up the studio is at the house of the Walkabouts singer, Carla Torgerson. The place is a sort of compound – long driveway, lots of private property signs, and various organized piles of to-be-used building materials. It is/was also the residence of friends BLVD Park – through whom I made all these connections.

Showed up at 12pm on the first gorgeous Sunday of the spring. As is the custom with many studios, we sat around for a while shooting the shit, slowly getting things set up, and waiting for everybody to arrive. I’m not sure how this became the standard studio culture, but I must admit I really prefer the get in, lay down some tracks, and then, only after the playing is over, sit down and relax vibe. It reminds me of that old saying about bluegrass festivals: “Come for the music, stay for the people”. First time I heard that all I could think was how I prefer to come for the music and stay for the music. Sorry folks, but there’s good people everywhere to hang out with. If we’re sitting around with a bunch of instruments, spare me the conversation and let’s play. I really do enjoy human contact, trust me, its just that opportunities to jam with people are much rarer than opportunities to make small-talk. Anyway, after about 3 and a half hours I finally got to lay some tracks. After two fiddle takes and two mandolin run-thrus we got what we needed and called it a wrap. Here are some pictures from the day.

The girl whose project this was for definitely has some potential. She arrived at the session towards the end and seemed to be very positive on everything. Great heart poured into the song as well. I’ll pass on her info when something gets released…

Here are some pics from the day.

Random building materials

More building materials

The gear - in the control room

Wasps waking up in this old Japanese 'Willy'

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