Hey now! As always, I appreciate you checking out this blog. It’s mid-November and the holiday season is creeping up on us…man, 2012 has flown by. Thanksgiving is next week and I have to say that this is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s really wonderful because it’s a holiday that transcends any one religion and reminds us all of the endless generosity of the Creator. It’s time to reflect on the many ways both great and small that we are blessed: the simple kindness and caring of friends and family, the perseverance and strength we are capable of in tough times, the delicate balance and rhythm of nature that enables life in its endless variety to flourish. My hope for all of us is that we can express gratitude and wonder for all this, and in so doing a little more kindness and tolerance towards one another.
The BOH has been pretty much off the road since the beginning of October as we eagerly awaited the arrival of Gordy and Amber’s first child. Fiona Everly made her appearance on October 23 and she is really precious…lucky too, for she got hooked up with some rad parents! This is about as much time off that the band has had in a few years and we definitely made the most of it. We began work on a new album on October 4th and at this point are almost finished. We’ve had the pleasure of working with George Reiff and Steve Christensen again which is really killer. Watching these guys work together is a treat–they’re totally succinct and efficient in how they communicate, they really know how to get great sounds, and they have a deep musical vocabulary. Plus they are a great hang. George is a killer bass player who has been around for a long time now and he has worked with some of the best (Gary Louris and Mark Olson of the Jayhawks, Chris Robinson, The Dixie Chicks, Joe Walsh) and Christensen is young but veteran, having already won a Grammy for his work with Steve Earle. I think everybody in the band is excited about where we’re at with this album. By design, it’s a bit mellower than our previous records, sort of along the lines of Laid Back (Gregg Allman) or Harvest (Neil Young). The songs are soulful and honest. It’s really some of the best writing I’ve heard from Gordy and Ed. I’m excited for y’all to check it out. It will be ready soon!
Being home in Austin the last month or so has also provided me with some opportunities to work on a few other records. I recently did some more tracking with both Leopold and His Fiction and Cowboy and Indian. Jazz Mills and Daniel James are both so talented and wonderful to be around, I really can’t say enough about how great they are as people and musicians. I also played piano on a few tracks of Robin Wiley‘s new record (Brannen Temple and Yoggi Musgrove were on drums and bass for that one, they are unreal). My old pals from Wisebird and the Beckham Brothers have a new project called The Unfaithful Servants and I was stoked to get play Hammond on a few tracks of theirs–both songs are really badass. Drew Smith, a fantastic musician and good buddy of mine, is producing a record for the Wheeler Brothers and he called me in to play on six or seven of the tunes. I got to check out their top-notch new recording studio, which is located in a barn on their family ranch near Bandera, TX (2.5 hours southwest of Austin). The session was great and we moved through everything pretty quickly and easily. Immediately afterwards the ‘brothers got the grill going and Danny prepared a great meal. After dinner and in between games of Big Buck Hunter (serious business for these dudes) I was given an extensive tour of the 3,000 acre premises on an ATV which nearly flipped when Ty (bassist, middle brother) tried to launch it over a dam. Later, we scouted wild game with a set of night vision goggles (dude, incredible technology!). The Wheeler Brothers were all very gracious hosts and really are a great group of guys. They have been touring all over the country the last two years and seem to be on the rise. Check ’em out. Lastly, I was invited to play piano for a few shows with the Birds of Chicago when they came through Austin last month. J.T. Nero and Allison Russell are incredibly gifted musicians and truly are soulful, generous people. Their songwriting is brilliant in my opinion–it’s lovely, abstract prose–and their musical arrangements are moody and sweet. I’ve been a fan of theirs for awhile now so I was thrilled to play with them. They are total road-dawgs, touring relentlessly all over the map so definitely go see them when you get the opportunity.
Per usual, here’s some of the music I’ve been digging into of late:
Mark Knopfler, The Ragpicker’s Dream (his studio band from the this era is so fantastic)
Keith Jarrett, Standards Volume 1 (the last track is a groovy, vamp-infused rendition of Ella Fitzgerald’s “God Bless The Child”…16 minutes of pure bliss)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, The Case Of The 3 Sided Dream In Audio Color (Roland Kirk is in fine form, casting a funky spell from the very first moment to the last…some really deep grooves)
Joe Cocker, Stingray (with Stuff in their heyday as his backing band, recorded in Jamaica with Tyrone Downey and Peter Tosh chipping in as musical directors)
Bill Frisell, Gone, Just Like A Train (with Jim Keltner and Victor Krauss…splendid)
Wilco, Summerteeth (aka Jay Bennett’s homage to the Mellotron)
Oscar Peterson-Stephané Grappelli Quartet, self titled (it’s like you are listening to two birds singing beautiful melodies back and forth to each other, and occasionally in unison. Beautiful stuff)
Marion Williams, Standing Here Wondering Which Way To Go (A giant from the golden age of Gospel music, Marion Williams’ voice is so heavy. This LP is an Atlantic release from 1971, and as you would expect it features some amazing musicians in their prime: Hank Jones, Ray Bryant, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett and Paul Griffin share keyboard duties; Bernard Purdie is on drums and the Dixie Hummingbirds sing backup vocals on a few tracks. This music goes great on a Sunday.)
Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Thanksgiving.
TN