It's all about the megaphone. I can share stories with you about the recording of this session...how David and Sergio powered onto the Celebrity Coaches bus with determination and grit in their step, or the strange and entrancing memory David coughed up when Beans questioned a line from the song...but all you're going to focus on is the megaphone. Yes, this glorious piece of pressed plastic and electronics has been mesmerizing Americans for years. It's the audio version of a sci-fi tractor beam. It just sucks you into its grip, while you drool in its inferior sonic beauty. The only thing more fun than listening to one (when used by a professional, and especially in music) is actually playing with it yourself. But, while you're watching Sergio master his craft, and wishing you were speaking into the machine, take a gander at his guitar playing, too. That's right. Left hand only on the guitar. You are not worthy. Don't even look at the megaphone.
My name is Denise and I'm a Fogaholic. {"Hello, Denise."} I really didn't expect to get addicted. I thought I could just dabble in visiting the Music Fog website from time to time, but soon I was getting extra fixes by following the Fog on Facebook and Twitter. I was introduced to Jessie Scott at a time when I was most vulnerable, out of a job and looking for a way to get back on my feet. Jessie saw my potential as a cult member and asked me to join the team on the Celebrity Coaches bus for the Memphis Folk Alliance...and that is when I completely succumbed.
I come from a production background and have mingled with celebrities on all kinds of sets, but oh, the bus...the bus! We packed our schedule to try and accommodate as many artists as possible, so I imagined that we would be running a tight ship allowing little room for variation; artist load in, play a couple of tunes, load out - next. And in reality? Artists in their best attire bearing all kinds of gifts from home-brew to bottles of every imaginable alcohol. Laughter, joking, friendship, no pretension. The fog descended and all inclination for nervousness evaporated as I arrived in the moment of clarity.
Our very last performers at Folk Alliance were Eric Brace and Peter Cooper. It had been a long day and the Music Fog team was "well oiled." These two appeared and immediately knew how to slide into that intimate space. Yesterday, Jessie wrote about how we like to start the day with lovely girls to set the mood. Well, whatever town Music Fog is in, as long as Eric Brace and Peter Cooper are on the bill, they get to come up on the bus last. We absolutely love winding down our recording marathons with these guys. They provided the perfect two song coda. Here's the first selection, "Wait a Minute," a Herb Pedersen song which they recorded a version of last year with Mike Auldridge, as a Seldom Scene inspiration, but haven't released yet. Gnaw on this version for a while!
-Denise
[Update: We heard from Eric that they were mixing their studio version of this song on the same day this article was posted! So, you can expect it to be on the next Eric Brace and Peter Cooper record. Nice.]
Folk Alliance was a real test. There were SO many people we wanted to have come your way, but there just wasn't enough time. I do, however, like to bring some folks on the bus at the suggestion of other people, in this case Mike Meadows of Black Swan fame.
We were outside the first day talking, sitting on the wall outside the bus before it got balls to the wall crazy, and he recommended that we have the Bowmans up. I said I would check out our spreadsheet, my handy dandy guide to the Music Fog universe. And just by happenstance, there they were the next morning as I attempted to walk through the lobby of The Marriott. There Mike was with Claire and Sarah sitting having brunch, and I actually knew when there was a hole in our schedule. First thing in the morning.
We seem to have a newfound tradition of beautiful girls first thing, which goes all the way back to Nashville for the AMA's with The Trishas and The Lovell Sisters. It helps the guys , um, focus. But back to The Bowmans, they are twins, it is close harmony. A perfectly beautiful way to wake up. They have a brand new self titled CD, and through the month of March, they will donate 50% of the sales to Haiti. Read all about it here. This song, "Twenty Days (The Slumber)," is from that brand new CD.
It's all about the megaphone. I can share stories with you about the recording of this session...how David and Sergio powered onto the Celebrity Coaches bus with determination and grit in their step, or the strange and entrancing memory David coughed up when Beans questioned a line from the song...but all you're going to focus on is the megaphone. Yes, this glorious piece of pressed plastic and electronics has been mesmerizing Americans for years. It's the audio version of a sci-fi tractor beam. It just sucks you into its grip, while you drool in its inferior sonic beauty. The only thing more fun than listening to one (when used by a professional, and especially in music) is actually playing with it yourself. But, while you're watching Sergio master his craft, and wishing you were speaking into the machine, take a gander at his guitar playing, too. That's right. Left hand only on the guitar. You are not worthy. Don't even look at the megaphone.
