From Studio to Stage

We've made a new album, and we're proud of it, and people are starting to buy it.

But it doesn't just happen unless we also make an effort to play the songs when we get the chance.

That means learning the songs. Which is not as easy as it sounds.

But before launching in with a reflection on the nature of musical performance, I'd like to offer a more fun part of the blog: the photos from yesterday's Puppet Festival. Proceed to the end of the blog, enjoy yourself, and then return here if you have the time and feel so inclined.

Okay. Here we are. 

We like the songs. We wrote the songs. We produced them. We labored over them, spending hours deciding and recording the parts that would best enhance them, from guitars and bass and drums, through vocal harmonies, and going so far as to add horns, percussion, strings, and extra singers. 

We love the songs, as we should, since they only exist because of our efforts. But playing them live is a very different challenge. 

And that points out the complexity of being a band - how the simple joy of playing music together becomes a business, made both more powerful and more daunting through technology - which, in turn, gives us access to thousands of people while simultaneously removing us from the simple foundation of playing songs together. 

And although we are in a very different situation from the Beatles, there's a strong connection here to their experience: the fact that they stopped performing as a live band and continued their music making by concentrating on studio recording. Their later songs, like "Eleanor Rigby," "I Am The Walrus," "She's Leaving Home," were never intended to be performed on stage. 

They were assembled as ideas, created, arranged and produced as a band with their producer and engineers, then released as records, which - because of their momentum as the most popular band in the world - continued to sell. 

Their popularity was the problem that made live performing impossible, or at least too difficult for them to continue. But it was also the factor that made their retreat to the studio a viable business model. 

For us, the massive popularity is not a problem. We perform, and we enjoy it, and our audiences enjoy it.  We also enjoy writing and producing our own songs. But the technology that allows us to build the songs by adding layers of sound also allows us to make an album of songs that we've never actually played as a band. 

With the exception of  "Oh Betty!" and one earlier version of "This Song's For You," we've never actually played these new songs as a band, all together in one room (or on stage). 

The difference is major. One might even think that by making an album of original songs we haven't played as a band we've deluded ourselves, and our audiences. No, we're making songs the way people have been making songs for over 40 years, using multi-track technology to add musical layers that sound good. But, as we've learned from exploring the later Beatles songs they never performed live, like "Magical Mystery Tour," it takes a lot of thinking to figure out how four guys can make all those sounds on stage. 

We can't do it all. But we do what we can. We can sing at least four parts, and we can play a bunch of instruments, sometimes more than one at a time. 

Case in point: "In '63." 

Among the more elaborate parts of the song are the strings, which Nathan arranged. He's capable of playing those parts on his keyboard, while also playing the bass part, and at least some of the piano part, (the song was originally written on piano, so that's an important part) and singing a harmony part. Dennis sings lead, and plays guitar, although his guitar also has a MIDI sound generator, so he may play some strings too. I play guitar, and sing harmony. David plays drums and sings harmony - although there may be some extra percussion or sounds or keyboard parts coming from the gear he keeps set up around him during our shows. 

It was Nathan who suggested that we learn the song in time for our Crockett Park show, in order to play it as a way to let people know we had a new album out, which would be available to buy at the concert. 

The problem for us was getting together to rehearse. The week before the Crockett Park concert, I was in Georgia visiting family, so I was unavailable. But again, technology was there to solve our problem. Skype - a way for me to be 200 miles away and connected via a computer screen to the other three guys rehearsing the song. 

I discovered that in the mountains of north Georgia, there was no internet service, and no cell phone coverage. However, I did have access to a land line telephone - one of those plastic things with a cord connected to the wall - which meant I could talk to Dennis and David and Nathan while they were rehearsing the song, and I could hear the parts I would be singing. 

Here it is, the day of the concert, and we still haven't played the song together as a band. We hope we'll have extra time at the sound check today to go over it, so that we can at least launch into its maiden voyage with a bit more confidence than fear. There's no substitute for practice. And practicing as an individual, although necessary, is not the same thing as practicing as a group. 

We're considering a high wire act here. 

We hope you appreciate the risk we take. Once we learn the song and learn how to play it well, we know you'll like it. At this point, we are depending on your good will - trying to imagine how good it would sound if we knew how to play it. That's asking a lot, and we know it. Don't think we don't appreciate it. 

Meanwhile, we had a great show yesterday downtown at the International Puppet Festival. We got to meet Snowbird and Ozzie, the Nashville Sounds mascot back in the dressing room, in the LIbrary. 

We had lots of kids on stage with us, dancing and blowing bubbles. We played "Oh Betty!" and sold some CDs. The adventure continues.

Here are some photos:

              The Good Yoko, who took most of these photos, 
             with colorful flags before set up - 7:30 am

                    Dennis, fooling around with a balloon puppet 
                     who has his own balloon puppets.

         Graham, five and a half, who knew the words to every song, got onstage with us, and brandished  a bumper sticker.

                                        Conferring onstage before the show

Snowbird shares industry shop talk with David 

in the dressing room

                       A view of the dragon, the fountain, 
                          and the Library Saturday morning

                     Front row: Dennis & Nathan   

            Back row: David, Ozzie, Snowbird & Bryan

We had fun! Hope it shows.

Bloggin' Bryan 23June13

The Album Is Out!

It's been a busy week in WannaBeatle World.

We received the physical CDs from DiskMakers, and they're beautiful (if we do say so ourselves.) We feel like proud papa's at the maternity ward, ready to pass out cigars. For those who may have missed it, here's the beautiful cover:

Thursday was our rehearsal, but we also spent hours installing the software that would allow people to listen to, order, and pay for the album from our website. Hey, we're a business now, and this is part of what we do. Fortunately David has an appetite for engaging technology, and Dennis can see the value of what we need, so they make a good team talking to tech support as we wade through the details.

Friday we had a live radio appearance on Hippie Radio 94.5. That was our first chance to hear any of our new songs on the radio, which is a special thrill. Our host was DJ Chris Lucky. We sang acoustic versions of "We're Still Rockin'" and "Louise,"  in the control room. Chris also played tracks from our CD, "In '63" and "We're Still Rockin'" while we were there.

We noticed something unusual as the second song played: during the whistle solo of  "We're Still Rockin'," the CD skipped - it repeated a section, and then started looping, as if it were a vinyl record with the needle stuck.

It was a little bit horrifying, to experience a malfunction of our fresh new supply of CDs, on a live radio appearance. We wondered if that meant the entire batch contained an error. It was also exciting, as we watched Chris calmly fade from the weird repeating section to a station ID, and we joked about the psychedelic nature of the record, as if we had intended such an artsy effect. 

Friday night we played at the new Puckett's restaurant in Columbia. Since we've played regularly at the Franklin Puckett's, we'd heard about the newest addition to the family, but not seen it before. 

It's beautiful. It's located right on the town square, alongside other businesses nestled together facing the county courthouse. It makes for a very attractive center of town.

Here's a photo. 

If you look close, you'll notice their new sign combines a guitar headstock with a fork at the other end, making the statement that food and music are equally important. That seems like a good summary of the Puckett's philosophy.

There are lots of posters and antique signs to contribute to the atmosphere. Here's one that's probably unique to certain Southern towns. 

Among the decorations are reminders of Columbia's unique history as the home of Mule Days. Here's a banner that's even older than all of the WannaBeatles.

This new Puckett's is twice the size of the one in Franklin, and very charming. We heard we'd sold out, with 180 seats all occupied. Our crowd was very enthusiastic, and asked for two and a half encores. 

They bought a bunch of copies of our new CD, and we put our autographs on a few of them. It's an exciting stage for us, putting our signatures on pictures that only a few weeks ago were an idea that we were sending to a graphic artist in Las Vegas, as he put together our Mt. Rushmore cover.

And the songs have already been on the air! And you can buy the album at our website! We'd be very happy to see you there.

And of course, we hope hearing the music makes you happy. That would be the best of all worlds.

Bloggin' Bryan 15jun13

Rockin' with Rachel

Yesterday we rehearsed with Rachel Hale, who has been on American Idol. We watched her TV performance on youtube. She did a great bluesy number, then received compliments from judges like Keith Urban and Mariah Carey.

Here's the link to the "sudden death round" of American Idol, with Rachel doing a great version of "Nothing But The Water:" http://youtu.be/o_FTHbuJtnk

She's our special guest for the upcoming show at Crockett Park on June 23. She's doing three songs with us: "Get Back" (Tina Turner style), "Blackbird," and a rocking' version of "I Saw Him Standing There," based on Maggie Bell's rendition from the soundtrack to "Across The Universe," the 2007 film based on Beatles songs.

She really rocks. As soon as she opened her mouth, we felt a jolt of energy. We knew we had something - a playing situation that would keep us on our toes. "Get Back," for example, sounds a lot different the way Tina Turner does it, even though it's basically the same tempo and same key as the Beatles. As Nathan said as we launched into it, "more like Rolling Stones than Beatles."

                                              Bryan and Rachel rehearsing "Blackbird"

"I Saw Him Standing There" is very different from the Beatles song. It starts with a bluesy guitar licks, uses strong rhythmic accents, and features lots of gospel-flavored piano. We're really looking forward to performing with her at Crockett on June 23.

                                Rachel with three goofy guys posing as John and Paul

On a different topic, we received a nice signed photo from Betty White, after letting her manager know about our song and video "Oh Betty! (The Betty White Song)." She sent us a photo of her with her very nice dog, whose name is, apparently, Pontiac. 

                           Betty White (and her dog Pontiac) say thanks to the WannaBeatles

"Oh Betty!" is on our new album, and in case you haven't seen it, you can still view the silly video on youtube by clicking on this link: http://youtu.be/d_9TG-qwgKU

Life is never dull with the WannaBeatles. Come to Crockett Park on June 23, enjoy a picnic on the lawn, see our new album, and hear Rachel Hale, all for free.

Bloggin' Bryan 

7 June 2013

Mixing and Mastering

Hallelujah, we're close to the finish line.

We had one full day of checking all the mixes. Gary had already spent several days giving the songs his full attention, but this was our chance to give the songs any extra tweaks. 

This was Tuesday, starting at 9:00 am. Dennis was in Florida, but he gave us access to his studio all day. He stayed in touch with his cell phone and computer, checking out mixes over the phone, and making sure we were on schedule. 

We had to finish the mixes that night, because Gary was already booked the next day for another project, and the final mixes were due to be delivered to the mastering studio, which is Doug Wayne of Mastermind.

And it took all day to listen to every song and give it the attention it deserves. We spent almost three hours on the first one, "Let's Run Away," adding some cinematic touches - like the sounds of ocean waves on the shore, mixed with rain forest bird calls. What a way to start an album. 

We caught our stride and spent much less time on succeeding mixes. Nathan went out to grab us some sandwiches for lunch while we stayed at it. We didn't finish till 9:30 pm. And then Nathan drove over to Doug's studio to deliver the final mixes. 

Here are some photos Nathan took of Gary, David and me in the studio. You can tell it was a nice day. You may also see again why we feel blessed to be working with Dennis.

You'll notice David sits up close, beside Gary. David seems to take the greatest interest in the technical aspects of the process. Looking back over the years that have led up to this moment, it seems that David has been the main cheerleader for moving us ahead. He's the one who pointed out that doing our own songs was, in fact, a way of honoring the Beatles, and what they accomplished. He's the one who has pushed me to play better guitar solos and try out new ideas. 

And for those who may be curious, David - our drummer, and best singer, already playing bass and keyboard on several songs - also played some guitar on this CD. You can hear his cool sonic additions on the verses of "Let's Run Away."

And listening to these mixes makes me realize that my own musical contributions are better because of the interaction with the other members of the group, especially with David. In a way, he's a "guitar producer," encouraging sounds, parts, and energy that I would never come up with on my own. 

                                     David points, Bryan listens, and Gary handles the mouse.

Doug Wayne finished the mastering within a few hours the next morning. He made a reference CD for us to check out. Nathan suggested we meet at my house to listen. So David and Nathan both came over here. 

We were pretty happy with the sound of it. It was good to have a day to rest from the mixing, to come back with fresh ears. But even more, it was a chance to realize that we were listening to a major accomplishment for us - something of a dream come true. We had put a lot of work into it, and now we could hear the results of our work, knowing we had tried our best and used the best people we could find to create a product we could be proud of. 

As it turned out, Nathan had received the final proofs of the CD cover artwork, and brought that over here on the same day. So we had the elements of our precious baby in hand - the physical cover in full color and the final audio version of the album, all of it ready to be assembled, getting our final approval. 

FIX IT IN THE MIX 

Technically, we thought we heard a discrepancy in the bass level on one song. It seemed that the bass on  "License to Spy" was not as loud as the bass level on the other songs. We called Doug about that issue, and he said that, yes, he could increase the low frequency portion of that song, but that it's much better for the mastering process to make such changes at the mixing stage. Which would mean going back to Gary, and having him increase the bass on that one song, then taking that remix back to Doug to remaster that one song. 

Gary was unavailable for several days. Dennis, on the phone from Florida, reminded us of how many days would be lost because of the chain of events that would be required for the delay. 

Was it worth it? This was the sort of choice we were getting used to: how to meet our self-imposed deadline while still wanting to add or change things we thought could be better. Dennis had already given us the lecture about perfectionism being a deceptive influence - a way to delay things indefinitely. Sometimes you had to accept things the way they are and move ahead.

This was one of those things. The problem we heard was not major. It was the sort of thing that might not be noticed at all. It was even the sort of problem that once you "fix" it, you might decide you liked it better before. So we endured the discipline of restraining our impulses in order to accomplish the greater good - or something like that. 

And we made extra copies of the CD to listen in our cars.

DREAM COME TRUE 

And then we got even more excited. Listening to the CD in my car gave me a renewed appreciation for all the energy that went into it. One song in particular really explodes with energy -  "We're Still Rockin'." It starts hot and never lets up. It's loaded with vitality. When the chorus arrives, it's a new key altogether, with strong harmony vocals, and then rockin' guitar fills on top of that. It's the song that keeps on giving, just when you thought it couldn't be any more exciting. I had to call up David to thank him for all he put into it, because it seems like the song that really delivers an unmistakeable eruption of energy. We captured something that cannot be denied. 

Our lives are tethered to an appreciation for how music communicates excitement. We know how records like "Rock Around The Clock," and "Hound Dog" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" excited entire generations around the world. We enjoy performing Beatle songs for people who love them as much as we do. But now, with this album, with this song in particular (it's track number 7 on the CD), we've created a song with a comparable level of energy that will show people that we have something special. It gives us hope, and joy.

We played a gig last Sunday night, and announced to the audience that we have a new CD coming out. We referred to it as a dream come true, because for us it's been many years of wanting to do something like this. Working together as WannaBeatles, and now releasing an album of our own songs is a way for four guys to do something creative that we were built to do, something that only can happen when everything comes together in just the right way. 

You'll have a chance to see it and hear it soon enough. It's out of our hands now. We'll have the finished product within three weeks, and we'll have them at our shows, and available online. Of course, when you see us live, we can autograph your copy of the CD, and we're happy to do it. But don't let that stop you from enjoying the music and spreading the word. 

Bloggin' Bryan 1june13

We're Still Recording

The deadline: we love it, we hate it.

It's still there, but somehow we've managed to leak in betweens its supposedly rigid borders, continuing to record parts even as the mixing process is already several days underway.

In theory, you record everything, then you mix it. But if you happen to be the band, the label, the production company, and studio owner all in one, then you have certain privileges. You can mess with the normal way of doing things.

It's not easy. Many of us have been staying up late, way past midnight, many nights, attempting to finish all the tasks that are involved with completing the songs we've committed to include on the album. These tasks run from the exciting (a hot guitar solo! or cool new vocal parts) to the mundane (adjusting the pitch of a vocal note by a hundredth of a step.)

Sometimes they're done at Dennis's studio, sometimes at several of our other home studios.

We're driving ourselves crazy.

But we're enjoying ourselves too.

Here's a shot of Nathan joyfully singing his chorus harmony on "We're Still Rockin'."

And here's a shot of our resident audio whiz Gary Dales sitting at the mixing board (bored?), doing his magic. We were all gathered at the studio on a day Gary had been mixing "In '63," and we were so impressed with how it sounded that we broke into spontaneous applause. Having him on our team brings an incalculable advantage to what we do.

                     Our resident Audio Whiz Gary Dales sitting at the console, doing his magic. (It may look like he's not doing anything, but, believe me, listening is work, and Gary does it well - and combines it with tremendous technical knowledge and musical sensibility.)

We've been going over fine details of our album cover, and finally settled on a design we like, with all the credits in place. We've been working with graphic designer Brian Cox, who also worked on our previous CD "Fab Fan Memories."

Oh, yes, as we've listened to our songs and wondered how to make them more beautiful, we couldn't resist one more idea, adding a gospel choir to David's song "If We Simply Love." Nathan contacted some singers from the church where he works, and found three who were available. Dennis, David and Nathan recorded them, while I left town for a family reunion.

                          Steve Hampton, Erin Booker and Britney Zandors in Dennis's studio

They sang together as a group, rather than separately as individuals. Our general approach is to record individual voices, to allow maximum control in the mixing process, but the advantage of recording a group, besides being faster - assuming the group sings well together - is that it captures the group sound, which brings a quality that can't be reproduced artificially. Three people singing harmony create a sound that is greater than the sum of its parts. Having three voices singing the notes on separate tracks is not the same experience as recording the three voices together on one track.

There was one part where David joined the choir, for a bit of four part harmony.

Naturally we want to credit Steve, Erin and Britney on the CD cover, but that involves going back to the cover designer, and to DiscMakers, and apologizing for adding one more request to our already swollen list of tasks to complete before the deadline.

But we're getting used to last minute bursts of creativity. As David says, we've been swimming across the Atlantic Ocean, and now we're only a hundred yards from shore. This is no time to give up.

We all feel great about this record, and really look forward to the rest of the world hearing it and seeing it too.

Bloggin' Bryan  27May13

Adding Strings and Horns

The deadline for our album is still alive, which means we have only a few days to get our final musical parts recorded. The mixing begins next Tuesday.

But the news that it must be done soon or not get done has sparked a burst of creativity. It could be that we fear that the opportunity may not come again. After all, making music is fun, but it costs money, and there's no guarantee that we'll even recover the costs of putting out this CD. 

But that doesn't stop us. We're using the studio for every advantage it can possibly yield, and that includes overdubbing percussion, strings, and horns. In fact, we've used  the four home studios of each of the WannaBeatles to get this done.

It's our way of honoring what the Beatles did. They became popular as a rock band who wrote their own songs, but within a few years developed into a studio band that used recording technology to present their songs in very imaginative and exotic sonic attire. Their growth enriched the entire palette of popular music. 

With the Beatles, it was partly a collaboration with their gifted producer, George Martin, who was very adept at writing, and conducting, complementary orchestral parts to enliven their songs, or helping them find unusual instruments to flavor the sound, like the piccolo trumpet on "Penny Lane" or the accordion and tambourine on "We Can Work It Out."

One of the joys of being in the WannaBeatles is realizing that we have all that arranging talent built into the band. Each of us is capable of composing and writing out parts for horns or strings, so we have an abundance of ideas, and we have each other to check on whatever ideas get used.

STRING PARTS:

We decided to use a string quartet on two songs. Dennis's studio is large enough to accommodate four players. We had already worked with a string quartet last summer, when they joined us onstage at Crockett Park, for the two most famous examples of Beatles songs with string quartets, "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby." We called Lauren Conklin, violinist, who called the other players.

On our current CD, the songs that we're adding strings to are "If We Simply Love" and "In '63." David spent at least a day in the studio working on the parts for his song ("If We Simply Love,") and Nathan came up with a part for "In '63," which is  a special tribute to Virginia Beach. 

We will be playing in Virginia Beach this summer, and we'll be performing with a local orchestra. Nathan has taken on most of the work of preparing the charts for them to play. It turns out that Virginia Beach is celebrating their 50th anniversary as a community. Dennis volunteered to write a special song for them, to be played with the orchestra. That means that it makes sense to put string parts on the song now, while we have the chance.

For those of you who don't know, the string quartet is a classic format for composers. It consists of two violins, one viola and one cello, covering almost the entire range of the orchestra. Most of the great names, Beethoven among the most famous, have written music for this format. So the idea of four people making music together is a serendipitous historic theme that undergirds our efforts this way.

David and Nathan are both capable arrangers, and both use their ability each week in their respective roles as worship musicians. If I could find a single word that would identify the style of each man's string writing, I would say "passionate" for David, and "stately" for Nathan. 

David's song is a soulful ballad, with a deep message. He has made it quite beautiful, even before strings were added. And now it has another layer of beauty. 

Nathan's parts for "In '63" give the song a very "uptown" elegance. It has the sophistication of those richly textured records produced in Philadelphia in the 70's - mostly Gamble and Huff productions, with groups like the Spinners and O'Jays.

Dennis and I both find that Nathan's parts on "In '63" remind us of Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom."

Here are photos from the string session. First, David going over the charts.

            Four brave young musicians study their charts; Dennis's Grammy in foreground. 

 Here they are working on their parts. 

                      The two violinists, Emily Scalici and Lauren Conklin.

                                             Here's the cellist, Ben Johnson, in another room.  

                        And the viola player, Megan Bilodaeu, through the glass in another room. 

HORN OVERDUBS:

Nathan's song "Bristol Lights" is a tribute to his hometown, Bristol, Vermont. The chorus includes a reference to a "band playing Sousa from the bandstand on the green." That line inspired Dennis to suggest a brass band, somewhat like the way a band interlude is used in the song "Leader of the Band," Dan Fogelberg's tribute to his father. 

Nathan was happy to write out a band arrangement, in a very authentic concert band style. He brought the trumpet parts to me, which we recorded here in my studio. He called up two other players he knows from church, to play trombone and tuba.

Nathan recorded those parts at his studio, which is rarely used for anything besides his own scoring duties. So, once again, the WannaBeatles are breaking new ground, boldly daring to go where no Beatles band has gone before.

Here are the shots from Nathan's sessions with Varney and Oscar. 

                      Varney Greene on trombone, in Nathan's living room, adding his part.

                                                      Oscar Dismuke playing the tuba.

Varney is a musician who plays at The Temple, the church where Nathan works as an organist and arranger. Oscar is a friend Nathan met through other connections.

DON'T FORGET PERCUSSION:

In addition to these, there are percussion overdubs by David's buddy Billy Ramirez.

Billy brought his congas and other toys into Dennis's studio. The target song was "Let's Run Away," which has a Latin feel in the verses. Billy played a perfect part in one pass, so Dennis took the opportunity to add him to other songs. David tells me that the fun noises added to "License To Spy" take the song to a new level of insanity. I haven't heard it yet, but I will soon enough. 

Sorry there's no photo of Billy.

We are very grateful for the musicians who have joined us in this great adventure. It's very gratifying to imagine, and then to realize, music that is bigger than just one, or two or even four people can make on their own. We're happy to have all their names included on the credits of our album cover.

We're glad to be making music in Music City. We're excited about this project.

We hope you are too. It's still on schedule...stay tuned.

Bloggin' Bryan May 17, 2013

Living With The Deadline

Dennis is our reality check. We say we wanna make a CD, and we decide it should be ready by June 23, our Crockett Park Concert. Dennis checks with DiscMakers and sends us an email saying "do the math." They need the audio by May 27th. It will take a day or two to master the songs. It's now May 9. 

We have three songs completed. And nine more have been written and started, with lots of parts recorded. 

We've spent over two weeks just trying to write one. The last two blogs have reported on the progress of "We're Still Rockin.'" Today we were at it again, trying out some new bass parts, based on Nathan's impression that the existing parts were anticlimactic, or in reverse order. 

David and I began working on new parts to fit with Nathan's idea. Dennis set up the session, where David could play bass and I played guitar, then Dennis went to the office - the room next door, where he answers phone calls, negotiates with agents and managers, and sends out promotional emails. He calls it "WannaBeatle Central."

David was playing his Yamaha 5 string bass, and trying different ideas, always hearing new possibilities, having a hard time settling on a part that worked. Dennis heard our struggle, and came in from the office, offering to try out some ideas.

Dennis is a good bass player, but doesn't like to admit it. He's busy playing guitar, and doing all the other things necessary to keep a band going, so he doesn't take the bass seriously. But he can't help knowing how to play, and coming up with great ideas. So it's a treat to turn him loose.

Right away, he tried an octave slide that brought great energy to the beginning of the verse. We kept putting the pieces together, the right bass line for the chords, and the right guitar part. In many places, the bass part David had already played was fine, so we could use it instead. 

David used the low range of his Yamaha to play a low D on one chord, a note that's too low for Dennis's Fender Jazz Bass. But it was a cool sound, so we combined David's bass part with Dennis's.  

At one point, they both posed with their instruments, as the dueling basses.

                                                                    Dennis (on 4 string) vs. David (with 5 string)

Nathan showed up later, and listened, and liked what we had done. 

David had an idea for a guitar fill between the two choruses. I played that, and then some more fills in the chorus. We found a style that fit somewhere between Chuck Berry and Larry Carlton.

                                                                     BC putting in some guitar parts

David wanted to try a new bass part for the instrumental section. We were already happy about the whistle solo he added. 

After trying a few ideas, he found himself playing a "tumbao," a Latin pattern where the bass hits the root note a beat before the expected downbeat. It creates an enticing undulation that really kicks that part of the song, as it rocks along under the high sweet sound of the whistle. 

It was exciting to hear the "world music" implications of so many different ideas from everywhere coming together in this one song. 

We looked at other songs. Nathan wanted to change the rhythm of a bass line during the middle of "In '63," so Dennis replayed that part. I still need to correct the guitar part there, to go with the new bass line; we didn't have time for that today.

We also looked at "If We Simply Love," David's monumental anthem. This is one that has taken a tortuous path toward completion. According to WannaBeatle legend, David was so overwhelmed when Dennis asked him to explain what the song means that he fell to the floor in a fetal position. After weeks of rewrites and sending revisions back and forth via email, we finally reached a point where the work is mostly done. 

The way David says it his ugly baby has been made beautiful by all the plastic surgery we applied. 

We checked on other songs too, to see which ones were ready for David to record his drums. Last week's blog reported on David setting up his drums in Dennis's studio, and tomorrow is the day to record them. Dennis has hired Gary Dales, our mixing engineer and audio whiz, to oversee the process. We hope to get five or six songs done, maybe more.

We're excited about this, and putting what we can into it. It's a challenge, but it's a treat, because we're doing what we dreamed about before we ever "grew up." 

We started this band because it was fun. And making an album of our own songs was a dream built in to the formation of the band. It's taken us five years to get to this point, and we're happy to be in the middle of it. 

We're sure that hearing the music will be more fun than reading about it. Be patient. The time is near. The deadline looms, and the music is alive. 

We also have to come up with a title and artwork, and lots of other details, before May 27. But we're on track, so you can look for a finished album from the WannaBeatles by June 23. 

Unless we stretch the deadline.

Bloggin' Bryan 9May13