Recording 'Of Whales'

Originally this post was simply going to be called 'Recording of Whales', but I thought that might be misinterpreted. No, I didn't go on a whale-spotting venture, and I didn't record whales... though I wish I did, because that would have been cool and GreenPeace would have been all over it.

'Of Whales' is the name of Josey Shawgo's musical endeavors - he's a singer-songwriter who approached me through a friend about recording some of his songs. The songs have a distinct folky sound, kind of Bob Dylan meets M. Ward. It's been cool working with him and the friends he brought along to the session last weekend - below is a video of us getting guitar parts, drums, and a last vocal take.

Touring my studio

In case you are wondering what I have been doing with my time since I've been back in Lancaster, I have been trying to relax with a vengeance. And failing miserably, unfortunately. But I have high hopes.

I recently set up my parents' garage as a recording studio and put myself out on the market under a record company (Ring Records), which was precipitated by some local musicians who found me on MySpace and wanted me to record them. The company has existed for almost 3 years (since I started doing music), but has never had its own web presence, so I created a free Wordpress blog and got it up and running.

I've been working with 'Of Whales', who is recording 3 songs on a budget - two of which might be on his MySpace site in the very near future. For the moment, you can check out my studio below.

What ELSE happened on Tour

So if you've read all the posts on this blog recently, you know I was out on the road for a 9-day, 9-show tour with 3 friends which included stops in all the major cities and even a radio interview. It was a lot of fun, as much for the people that came to the shows as it was for us to play them.
The order of performance varied depending on whose fans were based in which city, so every evening was different. Of course we would play songs in different orders, maybe throw a few different ones in the mix, even play completely new material - but this was mostly for the edification of the artists, since the fans didn't really know what was different, one night to the next (I don't think anyone came to more than one show, seeing as the cities were far apart). The closest shows we played were an hour from each other, and the farthest was 7 hours. It was pretty grueling, and it feels like it happened a lifetime ago.
What the fans didn't get to see, though, was how much fun we had hanging out with each other, teasing each other, and generally making fun of life. Points in fact are our trip to Huddle House and Garrett's comments at the Baltimore show. We really had fun. For an added bonus, check out the Scrabble(tm) game we played in Pittsburgh (via Joy Ike's YouTube site):

4 on Tour Day 9 - Baltimore

In Baltimore we played at The Light Gallery, north of the Inner Harbor. It also happened to be Ravens game day, so it took us 15 minutes to get through this one intersection coming north off of 395. We literally sat at a green light for 15 minutes because the one-way cross street was full of people blocking the intersection. You would think when the light turned yellow they would stay on their side, but no, they just blocked the intersection. BUT we finally got through because I stuck my nose out and kept them from budging.
I didn't get video of that, but I did video the gallery itself, which is also home to a church, and the current show they have up of work by MaryKate Newcomb, which is quite cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCeV5i63Af4
The space itself is pretty rad, and we had a lot of fun playing there for our final show. People were really into the music, and we played/sang on each other's songs for the last time on this tour. Great folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSkGzjJcYRo

4 on Tour Day 8 - Philadelphia

We had some downtime at my parents house in Lancaster, which we spent sleeping in and then visiting the Central Market in town. I showed the crew a bunch of the sights, but really they should have come for a First Friday to experience the buzz of people.
We drove to Philly in the afternoon, and arrived early at Circle of Hope's Broad and Washington location, so we hung out downstairs in Circle Thrift - the store that helps generate funds for ministry and provides cheap clothing for low-income individuals. It runs completely on donations. I love browsing places like this, but we were all still pretty tired. Soon to get better though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EJMaDtJtNc
Eventually folks showed up and we started setting up sound and merch and people started coming in for the show. The space at Broad and Washington is pretty cool. I think our performances were pretty good - some great energy and attendees were pretty into the music. There was a guy doing interpretive dance in the background, which I didn't manage to capture on video, but Joy might have on her YouTube page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydy8YUDiyY8
We went down to South Street after the concert with some of Joy's friends and sampled the Tattooed Mom and South Street Steaks. Then on the way home we got lost and I ran a red light and got pulled over by a cop - but unfortunately I didn't get that on video. Kind of a bummer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FsNZ5K3s-8

4 on Tour Day 7 - Lancaster

We drove from Pittsburgh to Lancaster, where my parents live and where we would spend the next couple nights. I called a number of people on the drive - several of whom didn't even know there was a concert, though they attend my church, Wheatland Presbyterian, where the concert was being held. Not only that, but two radio stations (WJTL and WXPN) were promoting the concert. I guess the people I called don't look at the church bulletin board or listen to those radio stations.
Despite those people not knowing about the concert, we set up at the church and had a really good turnout. Here are some clips of the evening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZuq3bLXp9o

4 on Tour Day 6 - Pittsburgh

We drove from Toledo to Pittsburgh in the night - Joy and Brooke were glad to be getting home for a couple days, so we decided not to stay overnight in Maumee. We all woke up pretty tired in the morning, but got ourselves ready for the evening and had a decent turnout at the Shadow Lounge. It was a lot of fun to play songs and tease each other from on stage, and we mixed it up a bit. Here's some video of the evening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dutwMpI7A3k

4 on Tour Day 5 - Maumee, OH

It was great to have a few hours to hang out and relax at Joy's friend's house outside of Cincinatti. We hit the road around 2pm for Toledo, and arrived safely at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Maumee, OH around 5pm. Shaun is the guy who helped us set this concert up, and is one of the most enthusiastic people I have met. He and Steve, the sound guy, had set up a great stage in the foyer of the church and we put on a great show for some wonderful people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgmk8eo2-vc

4 on Tour Day 4 - Cincinatti

We woke up really early and drove from Nashville to Cincinatti, a 5-hour drive that crossed from Central into Eastern Time, so we got there an hour later. But we had planned appropriately and arrived at WNKU in northern Kentucky in enough time to get breakfast in the student union. We set all our things up in a large studio room and settled down for the interview with Michael Grayson, who had us each play a song and Joy two. Our sound engineer Bob was a hoot - you'll have to visit Joy's YouTube site for his stories, once she gets the video uploaded...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM0-p6WxXqI
We then drove to a friend's house to drop our stuff off and hang out - I took a much-needed nap, and then we headed to the show. Taza is a great coffeeshop in downtown right across from the University of Cincinatti, with friendly people and interesting decor (and great coffee). The stage was a lot of fun to play on, and the sound was great. The crowd was really into the music, as well, which was very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CR4ifztxhE

4 on Tour Day 3 - Nashville

We drove from Greensboro to Nashville, where we got ready to play at Bongo Java. Brooke went to school at Belmont, which is right across the street, so we were able to hang out with her friends, who had a place for us to stay, as well. Bongo Java is a pretty cool place, and the after-hours theater was an intimate venue with great sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqrCEzvUc8

4 on Tour Day 2 - Greensboro

Today (Sunday Oct 4) we drove from DC to Greensboro, NC, where Peculiar People were hosting us for a house show. There wasn't much to do on the 6-hour drive, so we talked and I read another hundred pages of Don Quixote and we listened to music. We also stopped at Huddle House, which was a totally new experience, as you can see from the video below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RChiNlbyVcA
Charlie and Ruth totally welcomed us and made us feel right at home - they are stellar people (and peculiar). So of course the concert was a lot of fun. We also visited Mellow Mushroom (right across the street) for some aMAzing pizza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAC2a6MT5NE

4 on Tour Day 1 - DC

Today (Saturday, Oct 3) Garrett, Joy and Brooke met me at my house in Lancaster, PA, we had dinner (groundnut stew with chicken and rice, MMMmmm) and then drove to Washington, DC to play at Busboys and poets. Here's a look at where we played.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz5m4DS6PaY
It was really good show - we hung out for quite a while afterwards, talking to friends and fans who came. After packing up, we drove to my friend Katy's house in Arlington at 1am. We got lost in DC's streets at night, even with the GPS telling us where to go. That city is really not laid out for motorists...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW_tlu4rCm4

Massachusetts

Boston in the fall. This sounds like it could easily be a James Taylor album title. Or a line from that beloved Veggie Tales song. Take your pick. It was still fall when I drove to my brother's place in Easthampton, though it soon got warmer and then colder again. Still trying to make up its mind. I discovered that CSAs are quite the rage in New England, and we went to another where I picked raspberries with my nieces (2 and 4) and sister-in-law, avoided the big dogs and answered question after question about the world around us. That's one of the great things about kids - always curious!
I visited my friend Hannah at Gordon College, north of Boston, and had a great time wandering around the campus. She showed me all the buildings and talked about her experiences in school thus far. I forgot my camera while she was showing me around, so the video is a hurried return to a few of the main spots we visited.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YhmcLHDwLw
Back in Easthampton I went out with my brother's family for dinner at the Apollo Grill. Easthampton is undergoing a revitalization along with Northampton and surrounding towns, and just across the road from where my brother lives is an old factory that has been renovated. The Eastworks building holds numerous galleries and small shops, along with the Apollo Grill, which has some great food and really fun decor! Definitely stop by if you're in the area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj1hFzGEkB8