Recording with Ove

This is Ove Danielsen. He is quite a talented local musician - singer and songwriter, piano based. In this picture he is listening back to a rough mix of one of the songs we recorded. Yesterday we spent the afternoon (after I and Tommy ate at China House) working on some of his songs for his first album. He is very well prepared and we were able to get a lot done.
Ove has written a couple songs in English, one of which I was able to help him with lyrically. The other two songs we got foundational tracks for yesterday are Norwegian songs that he wrote. I can understand some of the words, but can't really comment on the songwriting, so my understanding of the song is mostly musical and I am able to offer production input. I think we are working well together as producer/engineer and musician. Ove is very humble but at the same time knows what kind of sounds he wants, which is a great combination.
Over the next couple weeks we will get foundational tracks for most of the songs that he wants on the album, and begin working on fleshing them out - not too much instrumentation, but pulling from the best local musicians that Ove knows. He has been playing music here in and around Odda for the last 10-15 years and knows most of the musicians and technicians in the area. From what he says, the quality of recorded sound that I get with the equipment I have is better than most here in Hardanger.
There is a small music store in town and a company that does live sound, and that's pretty much it. Any recording is usually done at live concerts, and often subcontracted to people from Bergen or another larger town (Haugesund, Oslo). Although the live sound company based in Odda is quite good - contracts out to large concerts in Haugesund and elsewhere, and they have some great mics for instruments and vocals. Ove of course is allowed to borrow their equipment if we need it - score!
We are recording in the sanctuary of the Bedehus, a local church/community center where Ove leads worship. The room is large and paneled with wood (unvarnished), which makes it rather live. Pretty good for vocals and perhaps piano/organ/strings, but perhaps not quite as good for guitar and other kinds of instruments. We'll find out, I guess. I'm checking into using a few other spaces to record in. Ideally, we'd like to record the concert grand piano in the Formanshus, but it hasn't been tuned recently, so we've made do with electric piano. It is also on the main road, so we'd probably have to record at night.