Welcome to the Vault
We have a record of just about every note we've played as a band thanks to my Zoom handheld recorder. There are some good and bad things that go along with this. One of the good things is that we can listen back on our progression as a band. Another is that we can offer a little insight into how we put songs together. When listening back, it's pretty easy to hear that some don't take very much work, but others are mixed up, torn apart, beaten, and/or bloodied before being done. It's an interesting process to be a part of, so we thought that it might be interesting to hear as an outsider listening in. For some of the songs, there is written commentary about the songs themselves, their meanings, and how they came to be RCE songs. The lyrics for each song are also included (including some original lyric sheets) and when we have video, we've made that available. It's either a multi-media dream or nightmare...
Before you begin listening, let's get a few things out of the way (otherwise know as the bad things about having a record of just about every note we've played together).
First,
I am not a great singer. There are a few notes/performances in here that make me cringe slightly... and question my desire to post these tracks.
Second, the recorder has two microphones. One is in the front and one in the back. Many of these recordings were made in living rooms (mine or Dave B's) without professional mixing or recording guidance. Please don't expect studio quality recordings.
Third, we chopped a lot of the songs up and just have pieces of them available. Many are from rehearsals and demos where we're still learning the songs and working out parts. Some things just aren't made to be heard by anyone outside of the band.
So, without further ado... we present the RCE vault. Enjoy.
The Flood
This song has been affectionately deemed "Swamp Thing" by Dave O. It is a rewrite of a song that I had written quite a few years ago while I was doing fieldwork in Ecuador. During the fieldwork, I stayed near a huge river and had visions of what it would be like if that river were to ever flood. The original version had lyrics that were much more "fire and brimstone" than this version, which was semi-completed when I first brought it to the band in April of 2010. The first time we played the song, it was just Dave B, Steve, and me.
Rehearsal, April 4, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Steve on bass
The original version featured the "chase scene" (again, a Dave O name) which was like a long, fast bridge that comes in about 2/3 of the way through the song. I was very happy that the guys wanted to keep this part and they helped make it into something quite captivating. Steve absolutely destroys the bass part in the chase scene time and time again. We played it as a full band just a couple of weeks after the three of us worked on it and we found a groove pretty quickly.
Rehearsal, April 18, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Before Ben came around, The Flood generally clocked in around 5 minutes total length. We stretched out the chase scene to let all of us have a shot at a bit of guitar heriocs. It normally runs about 6.5 minutes now, but sometimes goes a bit longer when we play it live. The version of this song on Ghosts and Pride will likely melt a face or two clean off... and was captured on the first take. This version is from Ben's first rehearsal with the band. I think that everyone was a little extra cranked up with him there and playing.
Rehearsal, August 29, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Here's a live version of the song, recorded at the Magic Bag. One of my absolute favorite parts of this song is the beginning of Dave B's solo, when Dave O does some sweet fill thing on the drums that links up with Dave B's guitar. I don't know what this is called (in drum terms), so I'll just call it awesome.
Live at the Magic Bag, March 11, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar and vocals
Video:
The Flood, Live at Jukes, December 23, 2010
Lyrics
Original lyric sheet
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You Are Free
I wrote most of this song back in 2004 or 2005 while going to graduate school at MSU. I actually remember writing the line, "the horizon calls but you still feel oppressed" while sitting at a CATA bus stop on campus. It was written right around the time that I burnt out of school and began pursuing music a little more seriously. Maybe I was trying to convince myself to do it by writing this song.
The first version here is me on an acoustic guitar in Dave B's living room in early 2010. When Dave said he was interested in playing in a band, I went to his house and serenaded him with my songs... it was very romantic. The vocals are a bit rough (as most of my vocal performances are) and I was still trying to figure out the logistics of playing and singing at the same time.
Demo, January 2010
Notes: Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals
For some of my songs, I just let the band dictate what they're going to sound like and the overall feel. With You Are Free, I had a pretty solid idea of how I wanted it to sound. We fooled around a bit with this one, but found a good sound for it after just a few rehearsals. The next track features me shouting out in delight after the intro. I had heard a particular part in my head and Dave B nailed it. This track also features the recorder capturing a glass hitting the floor and breaking near the recorder right around 2:27 (we play a bit loud).
Rehearsal, April 25, 2010
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
For our first two shows, we were lucky enough to have Jeni Lee singing with us. I had asked her to help me out because she's a great singer and I was quite nervous about having to carry an entire set with only my voice. The next snippet of this song is a from our second ever show.
Live at Jukes, September 11, 2010
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Jeni Lee Richey on vocals
When Ben joined up he figured out some cool guitar harmony parts that add quite a bit to the original riff. He also had a great idea for harmony vocals in the chorus. The last version here is an intermediate mix from Ghosts and Pride with vocal harmonies harmonies provided by Jeni Lee and Ben. It's amazing how much better they make me sound. I am grateful.
Mix from Ghosts and Pride
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on eletric guitar and vocals, Jeni Lee Richey on vocals
Lyrics
Original lyric sheet
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On My Way
On My Way is a newer song. I wrote it in early August of 2010. I really liked it right from the get-go and wanted to show off my shiny new song to the band and play it at our next show. This is a recurring theme... I write a song, I bring the song to practice, I tell the guys that I want to play it at the show in a week or two. They love it. I'm a believer that playing a song live is worth about 10 rehearsal versions. This version is from the first practice which we attempted to play it. I'm amazed by how much it sounded like "Almost Cut My Hair" by David Crosby at first.
Rehearsal, August 29, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
We played On My Way at Jukes two weeks later and most of the song was a distaster. But, we knew afterwards which parts worked and didn't work (the 10 times theory held up in my mind). The following snippet is a freaking sweet wah-guitar solo by Dave B from that show. I'm not sure what happened to that wah solo, but I'll make sure Dave B resurrects it on something else in the future.
Live at Jukes, September 11, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Honestly, I should have just waited for Ben to show up before busting this song out. I had an idea for a harmony guitar riff in the intro, but Ben blew my idea out of the water when he came up with the intro riff, which Dave B doubled, and I played the harmony to. Ben rules. This song pretty much fell into place immediately after he showed up. Also, in this version, we captured our second broken glass in Dave B's kitchen (just before 1:00).
Rehearsal, October 3, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on eletric guitar
Before we recorded this song this, I wrapped my head around the vocal parts a bit more. I was trying to do too much and found a part that better reflected my abilities. This live version from the Magic Bag is pretty close to the recorded version.
Live at the Magic Bag, March 11, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on eletric guitar and vocals
Lyrics
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Hey Hey
Honestly, I'm not sure where in my brain Hey Hey sprang from. It's interesting for me because it's not autobiographical even though I wrote in the first person point of view. I think that it might just be an observation on the decay of a relationship, the break-up, and the emotional fall-out attached to it all.
As I mentioned earlier, some songs go through quite a process before the final product that is recorded or played live. This definitely qualifies as one of those songs. I wrote it sometime around February or March of 2010. The original recording is just me at Dave B's house.
Demo, April 4, 2010
Notes: Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals
We tried to play it as a full band shortly thereafter, but it didn't feel right to me (and it didn't sound very cool, in my mind). It was more of a folk-type song and we were trying to shoehorn it into a rock'n'roll arrangement. You can hear me laughing as I count us in.
Rehearsal, April 18, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
So, I just let it sit for a while. When we decided to give Rust County "Acoustic" a try early in 2011, I brought it back to the band. We straightened it out a bit (as per a suggestion by Ben) to give it more of a country (rather than folk) feel. I think version is pretty cool actually.
Rehearsal, January 8, 2011
Notes: Dave B on acoustic guitar, Paul on pedal steel guitar and vocals, Steve on bass, Ben on acoustic guitar
However, we were still struggling to get the right feel. Then, Steve had a great idea to turn it into a Creedence song (which I actually captured on the rehearsal recording).
Rehearsal, March 27, 2011
Notes: Steve and Dave talking about Hey Hey
After we figured out how to play like Creedence, we were off and running. Steve gets a gold star for Hey Hey. Dave B also gets a gold star for his banjo playing on it. This is pretty close to the current version of this song, which we are going to record for album #2 later in 2011.
Rehearsal, May 1, 2011
Notes: Dave B on banjo, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Lyrics
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Already Done
Another break-up song. I wrote the words a few years ago. I had the original verse riff written, but I wrote the rest of the music for it in late February of 2010.
Instrumental Demo, February 2010
Notes: Paul on electric guitar
The band picked up on this song pretty quickly. This version is from our third rehearsal where we played the song together. Steve's bass part is fantastic and Dave O does a great job of complimenting the repetitive riff throughout the song. I think it was around this time that Dave O renamed the song, "Goin to get Beers!". You'll have to ask him why.
Rehearsal, May 8, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
When Ben joined the band, we had a "just guitars and bass" rehearsal to try and figure out how we were going to integrate another guitar player into the fold. This song is cool because we butted my solo and Ben's solo right up against each other, showing the wildly different approaches people can take when playing over the exact same chord progressions.
Rehearsal, September 16, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
This might have been the first song we recorded for Ghosts and Pride. I can't remember for sure, but I believe it is. Here's the original rough mix from the sessions. The snippet doesn't have any overdubs and has the original "rough" vocals. When we recorded, my guitar amp was in the vocal booth where I was playing and singing. It was turned up to "stun", so I couldn't hear much of what I was singing.
Rough Mix from Ghosts and Pride, December 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Video:
Already Done, Live at PJs Lager House, March 10, 2012
Lyrics
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Nothing Left To Bleed
I wrote this song in 2008 or early 2009 for a different band. Like You Are Free, I think that I was trying to convince myself to keep plowing ahead. It never was played by my other band. If I remember correctly, the metaphors I used in the chorus didn't quite mesh with the personal views of the band's singer. So it was shelved. I broke it out for RCE and recorded a demo version of the song at Dave B's house in early January of 2010.
Demo, January 2010
Notes: Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals
The band picked up on this song immediately, but it took me a few months to get the vocals even close to okay. For some reason, I just couldn't get it (and I still struggle with it). Thankfully, I have a very patient and understanding band.
Rehearsal, April 25, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Nothing Left to Bleed is another song that Ben added quite a bit to when he started playing with us. The verse breaks and pre-chorus parts finally made sense.
Live at Jukes, December 23, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar and vocals
The recorded version is, in my mind, one of the best songs from Ghosts and Pride. Everybody was perfect. Ben and Jeni nailed their harmony vocals and we found a great groove as a band.
Final Mix from Ghosts and Pride
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar and vocals, Jeni Lee Richey on vocals
Video:
Nothing Left To Bleed, Live at Jukes, December 23, 2010
Lyrics
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Just Like Jesus
This song was written by Martin Portier. He's a Lansing guy who used to front the Ingham County Regulars. Without gushing, I just want to say that they were one of my favorite bands ever. They recorded an album that everyone who is interested in country music should own. Just Like Jesus never was recorded by the band, which is a damned shame. I used to go to their shows and yell from the crowd for this song. After the Regulars split up, I ran into Marty at a bar one night and asked him if he could write down the lyrics for me. He was kind enough to do so for me on a bar napkin. When we started RCE, I knew that I wanted to cover it and there really was no other option. Here's Martin playing the song solo on the Progressive Torch and Twang show (Doug Neal was the host every Wednesday night on the Impact in East Lansing (88.9) for quite a few years. He was kind enough to dig up this recording and forward it to me a few of years ago).
Martin Portier live on Progressive Torch and Twang, 2007
Notes: Martin Portier on acoustic guitar and vocals
Agian, this was another song that gave me fits on vocals. I showed this song to the band in early 2010 and they were firing away immediately. However, it took me a bit to catch up with them.
Rehearsal, May 8, 2010
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
We spent a bit of time on the guitar lick/riff (you can hear Marty play it at around 2:11 in his acoustic version) when Ben came around. We thought it would be fun to just pound the hell out of it coming out of the guitar solo.
Rehearsal, September 16, 2010
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
We love playing this song. Marty was kind enough to grant me permission to record it with RCE and it turned out amazing. When the record is available, you can buy it. Until then, here's a live version from our Magic Bag show.
Live at the Magic Bag, March 11, 2011
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar and vocals
Lyrics
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Slow Burn
Demo, Summer 2009
Notes: Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals
It's no secret that I'm a huge Neil Young fan. I also have a special fondness for his recordings (and performances) with Crazy Horse. For me, there's just something so raw and emotional about they way they play together. For some reason, Neil's long guitar solos just make sense to me. Anyways, I realized that some of long NY songs were actually quite short if the extended solos were taken out. I also was listening to One Big Holiday by My Morning Jacket and realized that they had fit a really short song (lyrically) into a 6 minute opus. This was to be Slow Burn's destiny. It took a bit of effort to convince the rest of the band that I wasn't some mad-scientist-songwriter. I had a vision and we started putting together the pieces of the song at our first ever rehearsal.
Rehearsal, January 28, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Slow Burn is put together like this: intro, song, outro. After we had played it a few times in rehearsal, we came up with the idea of having a harmony guitar bit in both the intro and outro to somewhat "tie" those pieces together. It took us a while to get it right, but we were planting the seeds. This version of the song features me screwing up the harmony guitar part pretty badly, but it shows where things were headed.
Rehearsal, March 25, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
At this point, Slow Burn was clocking in right around 8 or 9 minutes long. When Ben joined the band, this quickly moved up to 10+ minutes. I remember telling the band, "It doesn't matter how long the song actually is, it's how long it feels. If we make the whole thing interesting, no one will even notice that it's ridiculously long". My next crazy idea was to have dueling lead guitars in the outro (with a special shout-out to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Drive-By Truckers). Again, I think the rest of the guys thought that I was crazy, but I didn't care at that point.
Rehearsal, October 10, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
So, Slow Burn grew to epic proportions. It generally clocks in around 12 minutes and we have a ton of fun playing it live. We recorded it for Ghosts and Pride (in one take!), but we're not quite ready to post that yet. Here are two live versions. I'm not sure that the recorder really captures the energy of the live performance, but they still sound great.
Live at the Berkley Front, February 12, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Live at the Magic Bag, March 11, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Video:
Slow Burn, Live at the Berkley Front, July 31, 2010
Slow Burn, Live at the Marshall Blues Fest, July 16, 2011
Slow Burn, Live at PJ's Lager House, March 10, 2012
Lyrics
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Interstates
I know this might sound a bit ridiculous, but this song actually came to me in a dream sometime in late 2009. I saw myself fronting a band and we were playing Interstates. It's too bad the dream didn't include the words to the whole song, because this one took me quite a while to finish up. I played it in Dave B's living room unfinished because I was pretty excited about the whole "dream song" thing.
Demo, January 2010
Notes: Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave B might be in there playing acoustic guitar
We tried a rock version of Interstates, but it just wasn't working and I didn't really have enough of the song finished (I hum along and free-style a little bit, gah). However, in the next snippet, you can hear what my general attitude was towards putting songs together when we first got together as a band. Watch out for really, really rough vocals in this one. It's not for the faint of heart.
Rehearsal, February 11, 2010
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
We tried working on it a bit in April without drums, but there was more "nah, nah, nah" for words and it was still kind of going nowhere, so we shelved it. Dave B plays a sweet lap steel part on this version though, so I wanted to include it.
Rehearsal, April 4, 2010
Notes: Dave B on lap steel guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Steve on bass
Interstates was reintroduced after Ben gave me a good idea about flipping around what I thought were the verse and chorus parts. It gave me just the boost I needed to finish off the song. Steve also gets a shout-out for giving me some lyrics that helped out with the imagery in the new "chorus" part. Dave B and Ben also play an octave riff in the verses that gives me goosebumps. This is pretty close to it's current sound.
Rehearsal, January 29, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Lyrics
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I Will Not Fade Away
This is a pretty freaking heavy song. I originally wrote the riff in the spring, 2010.
Instrumental Demo, March 2010
Notes: Paul on electric guitar
But, I had no idea what to do with it. I had no melody and everything I tried just sounded silly to me. So, I just sat on it. I listened to the demo every once in a while and hummed along, but no ideas sprang forth. Then, one day I was listening to an old Hold Steady record and I realized how crazed and awesome Craig Finn used to sound. And, he did this over some pretty serious rock riffing. An idea was born! I'd talk all crazy-like over the verses of this song. This gave me the spark to finish up the rest of the song. The only problem was that when I brought the song, I had never tried the speaking part out loud and in front of anyone. I wasn't even sure that I could do it. However, knowing that the guys had heard me make an ass out of myself many times, I decided to give it a whirl. We had a practice with just me and the Daves... and we tried it out.
Rehearsal, February 27, 2011
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums
We had a show scheduled roughly two weeks from February 27th at the Magic Bag. Of course, I wanted to show off my shiny new song in front of all those people. So, the next week, instead of getting the rest of the songs in the set ready for our show, we played I Will Not Fade Away a whole bunch of times at rehearsal to get it ready. Warning, this next recording was the 6th time we had played it that night and my voice is shredded.
Rehearsal, March 6, 2011
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
We pulled it off. It rocked.
Live at the Magic Bag, March 11, 2011
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Lyrics
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Dead Man
I wrote this song quite a few years back. It's based on real-life events, but definitely changed a bit for dramatic effect. I remember how struck I was by Jason Isbell's (Drive-By Truckers) song, Decoration Day. It's such a great take on the crap that happens in a small town and how these things move from generation to generation. I believe that I wrote the words for Dead Man at the airport on the way home from a research trip to Ecuador. I remember that I didn't have any music to go along with the lyrics for quite a while... but then saw Paul Lamb play at Macs Bar in Lansing one night and got the inspiriation for the original music. Dirt Road Logic recorded the song for our second album. The track kicks a lot of ass and Eric did a great job singing it.
The Rock-n-Roll EP, Dirt Road Logic, 2009
Notes: Paul D on electric guitar and vocals, Luke Elder on drums, Eric Kelly on vocals, Jeremy Mackinder on bass
When RCE was formed, we initially talked about playing this song similar to the original arrangement. However, I wasn't sure that I wanted to get into that type of overlap with DRL so I sat down with an acoustic and tried to work out a more laid-back version of the song. It wasn't too hard and the band picked up on exactly what I was going for. Ben, Dave B, Steve, and I worked our an arrangement in early January of 2011, then we played it together as a band for the first time later that month.
Rehearsal, January 29, 2011
Notes: Dave B on acoustic guitar, Paul on pedal steel guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Like many of the songs in the "acoustic" set, we played around a bit with the instrumentation. The pedal steel and banjo combo sounded so cool on some other tracks that we tried it out on this one also. And, again, Dave B knocked it out of the ballpark on the banjo and adds a huge level of "creepy" to the song. In the current live version, we have Ben on electric, but when we go to record album #2, I think the acoustic will be much cooler as it is on the next track.
Rehearsal, May 1, 2011
Notes: Dave B on banjo, Paul on pedal steel guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on acoustic guitar
Lyrics
Original lyric sheet
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More Than a Normal Life
This is another older song. It's still not quite done... but it's getting there. I think I wrote it in 2006 or something... but didn't get around to recording a demo until much later.
Demo, Summer 2009
Notes: Paul D on acoustic guitar and vocals
We've tried to play this song a few times in rehearsal, but we're just not quite there with it yet. It's a weird one because it floats in some weird tempo right between loping and moving. This version is about as close as we've come to getting it. Ben gets a lot of credit for suggesting a "Stonesy" vibe on it.
Rehearsal, January 29, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Lyrics
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Storm Blowing
I wrote this song right around the same time as I Will Not Fade Away. As happens with many of my songs, it's still not completely finished even though the band is playing it quite often. I can't really say where the song came from. I think it was the imagery that drove it more than an actual idea for a song. In the end, it's about relationships and sticking together through rough times.
I initially imagined this song as an quiet to loud electric song. However, I tried it out on the acoustic guitar and really dug how the chords sounded in this format. Given that, the first time we tried the song, we were plugged in and loud(ish). I wouldn't be surprised if this song eventually is recorded both ways.
Rehearsal, February 27, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums
We picked the song up a month later... turning it into an acoustic song and playing around a bit with the instrumentation. The initial results were cool, but we kept tinkering with it. The next version is pretty cool, featuring Dave B on banjo.
Rehearsal, April 17, 2011
Notes: Dave B on banjo, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
This song actually went through a semi-rare transformation in that we stripped it down pretty far, but ended up beefing it back up with both Dave B and Ben on electric guitar. It's interesting because as we deconstruct and strip down these songs, they usually end up in a pretty pared down form. This one... not so much, which is why I mentioned earlier that it might get recorded both electric and acoustic. Ben isn't on this version, but you can hear where it's going.
Rehearsal, July 3, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Lyrics
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You Might Have a Prayer
You Might Have a Prayer sprang out of my brain a day or two after I saw an old video of Buck and the Buckaroos on Netflix. I can't remember which song they played, but it was a waltz and it was amazing. I'm not exactly sure if my intent in this song is to give advice, a warning, or a retrospective of my last few years. It's not quite done, so maybe I'll figure out before I finish it up.
I had the feel of this pretty much set walking into the first rehearsal. When we played it, the band unequivocally nailed it. They're such bad asses.
Rehearsal, March 27, 2011
Notes: Dave B on acoustic guitar, Paul on pedal steel guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Ever tinkering... we fooled around with the instrumentation. I wasn't sure if I could play it on the steel and sing at the same time, so I moved over to acoustic guitar. Ben played electric and Dave B moved to the banjo.
Rehearsal, May 1, 2011
Notes: Dave B on banjo, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Again, we figured out the pedal steel / banjo combo sounded very cool. I also felt more comfortable singing it, so I moved back over to steel guitar. We also slowed the song down quite a bit to give it that old-timey-tear-in-your-beer country sound. I love it.
Rehearsal, July 3, 2011
Notes: Dave B on banjo, Paul on pedal steel guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
Lyrics
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There Was a Song
Anyone that knows me can probably figure out what this song is about. I believe it was written in the fall, 2009. I have a special talent for writing songs in keys that I can marginally sing in and this one is a perfect example. It's in the key of D, which is a bit too high for me. But, I tried moving it all down to C and nothing sounded right musically. It's weird, but I struggle through it. Here's an acoustic demo recorded at Dave B's house in January, 2010 (notice the vocal 'squeaks' that the poor band has to deal with).
Demo, January 2010
Notes: Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals
Much like Hey Hey, we tried to play this song in some of our first practices. It didn't really fit in that well at the time, so we shelved it for a while. This version is probably the coolest from those rehearsals and features Dave B playing slide on his baritone guitar. I'm not sure what we're laughing about right before we kick into the song.
Rehearsal, April 18, 2010
Notes: Dave B on baritone guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass
We revived it for the acoustic rehearsals in early 2011 and it sounded much cooler in this format. It's amazing how just playing some different instruments can really change how we feel about merits of a song. This song is pretty straightforward, but you can hear me 'quarterbacking' the band in and around the solo section.
Rehearsal, January 29, 2011
Notes: Dave B on acoustic guitar, Paul on pedal steel guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
We weren't done tinkering with this one though. After realizing Dave B could play the hell out of a banjo, we had him play it on this song also. I moved over to acoustic guitar (afterwards, we realized that the steel guitar, banjo, electric guitar combo sounded cool, so that's how we play it now).
Rehearsal, May 1, 2011
Notes: Dave B on banjo, Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
Lyrics
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Waiting Around To Die
Written by Townes Van Zant. This is a fantastic song. I always thought this would be a great one to turn into a rock song, so we gave it a shot. We haven't played it live yet (this was actually the only rehearsal where we tried it), but I wouldn't be surprized if it sneaks into a set someday.
Rehearsal, May 23, 2011
Notes: Dave B on electric guitar, Paul on electric guitar and vocals, Dave O on drums, Steve on bass, Ben on electric guitar
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