OK that would have been a lot smoother if I'd panned over to the drummer when he wasn't just sitting there during the only time in the whole song when he doesn't play, or not panned away when he started playing. You can't expect me to know the song just because it's my song.
The drummer is James Phillips of the Durham band Bombadil, who
also happens to be the recording engineer, this being his studio. Don't be fooled by me sitting at the console there. I was just keeping his chair warm and trying to stay out of his way while he pulled double duty.
We recorded seven songs. I plan to release a physical CD but the EP will also be on Bandcamp for those of you who like this new digital music thing. I'll be doling the songs out as singles on the streaming services too.
All of my previous recording experiences have been as part of a band, where we walked into the studio having played the songs hundreds of times. I've played all these songs a lot, but as a solo performer, and I wanted full-band recordings, so that meant I had to figure out how to make that happen without dozens of shows' worth of road testing.
I think I did it, with some help from James and other friends. I'll tell you more about all that when the record comes out. This will be the first time you'll get to hear The King Teen as a solo act with all kinds of other things going on, like drums, other guitars, bass, piano. My first public bass playing this century! It's gonna be wild you guys.
The Come On Out department
I've been laying off the live shows while doing the acting and the recording, but I'll be ramping back up in April with two of em:
Wednesday, April 16, 7 pm
Speakeasy Carrboro
With 11(!) other artists
You might remember the Grit Diaries
from when I played it in January. It's a songwriters circle format, with four performers at a time taking turns singing their songs. Last time there were eight of us total. This time: 12! It's going to be a good show with a lot of talented performers. Come on out if you're looking for a variety of good stuff rather than any individual artist, even me. We'll each only play about three songs. The other performers this time are (deep breath): Richard Scher, Nick Langston, Paula Snyder, Alan Oatley,
Michael Melia, Ashley Virginia, Eric Sommer, Matthew Amy, JT Cobb, Rabbi Sandra, Vito Dito.
Saturday, April 19, 7 pm
Moon Dog Meadery, Durham
Bands, films, artwork
This is a Vito Dito production, an Earth Day thing, the Eco-Music Mini-Fest, featuring his band Living Earth, Wigg Report, Ken Moshesh and Friends, Lavender Alexander, Anna Weaver and some surprises. Oh, and me! This is going to be fun. More details here.
We'll talk more about both of these shows next time.
