FEBRUARY 19

Very productive night last night. Got the basic tracks down for five songs.


DRINK UNTIL YOU WANT ME- Tried it at a couple of different tempos before we found one that stuck. Jim Larson added some tasty dobro. Paul Santo was around early helping us get a good sound in the room, but had to split; but not before suggesting some tack piano for the track. Great idea. Now I just have to get him in to record it.

HER FLOWERS ARE MY WEEDS - Jim switched over to mandolin for this one. We knocked it out after one or two passes.


GOOD ENUF - Jim stuck with the mandolin for this one too. Gave it a very dark sound. Mike Pelosi and Paul Dobson were able to create a nice, clear sound from the mandolin with room mics and just a touch of the built in pick-up.


LAZY MAN’S LOAD - Sounded great with Jim switching back to dobro, only the song has a ton of minor chords, which are a pain in the ass for the dobro; so we ended up over-playing the song and I was already burnt out on it by the time we came to record. So, I think this one might be a do over, although there are some nice solos on it.


TOO RICH TO BITCH BLUES - We saved the talking blues for the last song of the night, figuring everyone would be half tired and ready to stop. The aim here was for a real, old, sitting on the porch a’ picking with a bottle of shine sound. I think we caught it. Jim does these great dobro walk ins to the D chord that are never really in time, that give the song a very laid-back, rent-party feel.

I won’t be able to get Jim back in the studio until Wednesday, but I’m going to try to get in to sweeten those tracks before then. HER FLOWERS was one of the songs I wanted the ukulele for, but screw Greg Hawkes. The song sounds better with mandolin instead.


Also, after listening to Jim do a few runs on his guitar just to warm up, I wrote a new song to feature his guitar work. I think it’s called AND I’M MEAN, but now I have to make room for it by dropping one of the other songs. ROOT HOG OR DIE is a prime candidate for cutting, sorry Julie.


I’ll get over the bitter disappointment of cutting the song by having a little General Tso’s Chicken for lunch.