Posts Tagged ‘Arranging’
Co-writing with Jamie Lynn Hart
Jamie Lynn Hart
So lately I’ve been diggin’ this whole co-writing thing..
I love it when Jamie comes over. Everything is always so relaxed. We usually make tea, chat for a while and kick back.
She is the yin to my songwriting yang! She’s a melody machine. She carries around a small notebook and captures the musical ideas that float around her head as she goes through the day. My inner ear’s play list, on the other hand, is usually built from the bottom up. I tend to hear grooves, changes and arrangements (that I have been known to play air guitar solos to). Put the two of us together for any length of time and the creative juices just start to flow.
We’ve been tossing around some musical ideas lately which have manifested themselves in the form of 3 tunes that we recently performed at the famous Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge hosted by Tom Bianchi and Danielle Miraglia (We made it to the finals!).
A friend of Jamie’s was able to get it on film! Check out the videos below!
For more about Jamie, you can check out her web page, her MySpace page, or her YouTube channel.
What do you think of the tunes?
James Houlahan – Seven Years Now
It’s Finished!
The fruit of a year’s labor, James Houlahan’s solo debut album Seven Years Now is an honest, organic and creative collection of 14 original songs that will take you by surprise.
From a producer’s standpoint, I always try to keep things simple. There’s a pretty basic formula to making a great album:
- Great Tunes/Writing
- Great Players/Performances
- Great Production
James definitely delivers on the “Great Tunes” front. He originally brought me a CD with 25 or so demo cuts that he had made sitting in front of his computer. We had to gradually narrow them down, reluctantly removing songs from the list until we had 14 songs that we couldn’t do without. Commonly described as a cross between Bob Dylan, Neil Young with a dash of Tom Waits, his abstract and expressive lyrics always seem to pierce right through to the listener’s core, and they’re always delivered on a platter of musical simplicity.
Tom is one of the best engineers in the country. If his lengthy discography is a testament to anything, it’s that he knows what he’s doing both in engineering AND production. Working with Tom is quite the learning experience and I am always grateful for the opportunity.
Between the three of us, we managed to pull in some pretty amazing musicians. See the official album player’s list below:
- Tom Eaton: Producer, Accordion, Melodica
- Mike Null: Producer, Electric Guitar, Percussion and Backing Vocals
- Tom Bianchi: Upright and Electric Bass
- Paul Schultheis: Pump Organ, Hammond, Wurlitzer, Rhodes and Piano
- Andy Plaisted: Drums
- Jake Armerding: Fiddle
- Kevin Barry: Lap Steel
- Kristen Cifelli: Backing vocals
- John Curtis: Banjo, National Guitar, Mandolin
- Kristen Miller: Cello
- Sara Colb: Backing Vocals
- Daniella Colb: Backing Vocals
- Dan Blakeslee: Backing Vocals
- Scott Aruda: Trumpet
- John Aruda: Saxophone
- Jeff Galindo: Trombone
- Paul Ahlstrand: Saxophone
Most of these guys play out regularly. If you have nothing to do tonight, randomly click on of the links above and find their show calendar. I’ll guarantee it will be a show you won’t regret seeing.
If you are you close to the Boston/Cambridge area, you are hereby officially invited to the official CD Release show! James will play with a slew of some of the great performers listed above. It is going to be a lot of fun. Come check it out!
Seven Years Now CD RELEASE!!!!
Sunday, January 25, 2009, 8:00PM
The Burren
247 Elm St.,
Somerville, MA 02144
Illustration by Dan Blakeslee
If you’re dying to hear some of the tracks but won’t be able to make the CD Release show, you will be able to order the CD online in a few weeks. In the meantime, you can hear some of the tunes on James’ Myspace page.
The Essence of a Song
Something interesting happened in the studio today. For those who don’t know, I’m currently producing James Houlahan’s debut solo album. He is a very prolific writer, and is teaching me a lot about the craft without even knowing it, perhaps. We had a dilemma. James wanted to record a song that had been written recently. We tried to lay down the track, and Tom, the engineer and co-producer, and I realized that the song didn’t sound as complete as the other tunes. It sounded like two separate ideas glued together. So, I began quieting my mind in hopes of hearing a solution.
It’s tricky. What is a song? How much of can you take away and still keep the essence of the song the same? If someone asks me to arrange a three chord folk tune, there are a million ways I could go about it. I could add this, or that, and change this, or extend the melody here, and add a new section there or rewrite the words here, etc.. I could go nuts! But, if I just let my instincts run wild, at the end of the day, do I still have the same song?
Though I’ve been playing and composing for a long time, I’m new to songwriting. So, I asked James what he thought. He said, to him, the core of the song is the melody. You can strip away the harmony, the arrangement and the production, and if it’s still got the melody, you’ll recognize the tune.
Arranging a song is like re-potting a plant. You have to do it ever so gently and with care, so as not to traumatize it. I added minimal harmony changes to the verses just to add a little momentum going into the chorus. Then, just to give the song some body, I came up with an instrumental bridge. That way, we could throw in some flavor, without compromising any of James’ writing.
The tracking is going well! I got to take the roughs home today. Making an album is such a wonderful process with so many steps. There is something to be excited about at every turn.
My First Experience as Producer
I first met Kelsey Quigley in 2004 through a musical associate of mine, Jeff Ginsburg.
Jeff informed me that one of his coworkers at United Way is a band manager, and she needed a band for an upcoming gig. So, I made a few calls and threw a band together for her.
The artists she was managing turned out to be Kelsey Quigley. She was still in high school, I believe, probably 18 or 19 years old. We learned a few sets worth of material and performed at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA.
Kelsey had (and still has) a voice beyond her years! Though somewhat green and a little tentative at times, she had a wonderfully warm tone to her voice and a maturity about her stage performance that was evidence of her vast potential.
At the end of the day, a gig was a gig, and we thanked each other and went our separate ways.
Fall of 2006, Kelsey gave me a call and said she was ready to make an album. She had a vision: An album of old soul and blues tunes. Her goal was to capture that old soulful sound, but give it a modern spin. She wanted to know if I wanted to be involved.
I figured she just wanted me to play guitar, but in fact she wanted me to produce! At first I hesitated due to my lack of experience, but then I realized that I’ve been involved in a few recording sessions from my years playing with Sarah Brindell, and with my Toni Lynn Washington connections, I should have no problem finding great players.
Oh, AND I would be compensated! So, I agreed.
I knew enough to know that if you’re going to pay to go into the studio, you need to have a game plan. We probably spent 6 months in pre-production! Not because the album was a gigantic creative endeavor, but because I was just wanted to make sure every detail was covered and that the time and money spent in the studio was worth every penny. We narrowed 40 or so cover songs down to 9, and went shopping for an engineer.
Kelsey had previously worked with Tom Eaton, and recommended him highly. I only had a few engineers in mind, but upon doing my homework, it appeared Tom’s credentials far outweighed any of my recommendations. After meeting him and taking a tour of his beautiful studio, I knew we were in good hands.
I gathered the players together. We eventually came up with:
- Bruce Bears on piano/organ (Toni Lynn Washington, Duke Robillard)
- Randy Bramwell on electric bass (The Love Dogs)
- Sven Larson on upright bass (Bangalore, Liquid Life, Toni Lynn Washington)
- Justin Berthiaume on drums/percussion (The Chicken Slacks Soul Revue, The Howl)
- John Aruda on saxophone (Superhoney, The Soul Band, Toni Lynn Washington)
- Scott Aruda on trumpet
- Didi Stewart on backup vocal
- Yours truly on electric and acoustic guitar
One hell of a band, if you ask me.
These guys were so professional, they made my job easy. They handled arrangements on the fly, long session hours, and moments of indecision with true professional grace.
I was insecure going into my first session as producer. I was afraid that my inexperience would lead to hangups, bad sounding tracks and a slew of other “rookie” mistakes. But, one thing I took away from those sessions is that if you want to have a professional sounding album, surround yourself with professionals. It was all about the music.. they listened well. They respected my role as producer enough to give me the confidence to follow my instincts even though they all knew it was my first time in that position.
Once the initial tracking was complete, we focused on Kelsey’s vocals and laying down instrumental overdubs. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn’t work. All in all, everything went pretty smoothly.
Tom took over the mastering duties, while Kelsey and her manager, Leslie Cargill handled the design and admin side of the album.
Finally, a finished product! I have to say that I am pretty proud of how it turned out, though I believe it wouldn’t have been such a success without combined effort of many talented people. So, without further ado, I would like to present to you..
Click the link above to listen to or buy the album!
What do you think? Please leave a comment!
