Setlist, 4.13.2012

PA's Lounge, Somerville MA - 4.13.2012

Boundary Blurring
The Thing About This
Nightdrive
Jaked
Summer Feels Like Forever
To Reason Why* ->
Twelve
Vapors
My Father's Watch

* - Tease of "Ask" (The Smiths)

With Tad & Kate, Ashpark, Big Ghost

Setlist, 4.11.2012

Mojo Main, Newark, DE - 4.11.2012

Jaked
Boundary Blurring
Nightdrive
The Thing About This
Summer Feels Like Forever
Turn Of Phrase
To Reason Why*
Vapors**
My Father's Watch

* - tease of "Ask" (The Smiths)
** - Nick's "drum solo" during band intros involved restarting the "ba-ba-ba's" from To Reason Why and getting the audience to sing along.

With Crossing Oceans, Adam Randolph Band

Setlist, 4.7.2012

Lot 10, Ithaca, NY - 4.7.2012

Boundary Blurring
The Thing About This
Jaked
Summer Feels Like Forever
This Old Town
To Reason Why*
Nightdrive
Vapors
My Father's Watch

*- teases "Ask" (The Smiths)

With State and Plain, Hubcap

Setlist, 4.6.2012

Monty's Krown, Rochester, NY - 4.6.2012

Boundary Blurring
Turn Of Phrase
Nightdrive
The Thing About This
Jaked
Summer Feels Like Forever
To Reason Why* ->
Twelve
Vapors
My Father's Watch

* - tease of "Ask" (The Smiths)

With The Saturn Return, The Silver Threads

On So Thin A Line: Stories and Tales From Studio and Beyond, Part 4

Continuing to explore On So Thin A Line, here's "Halfdone."

James: This song was actually written for my solo shows initially: I felt (and still feel) like I had too many songs based around G chord formations. In a band, lots can be done to work around repetitive voicings; solo, you're on your own. If your voicings are the same all the time, your songs will be same-y all the time. SO, I sat down to work in E, and the rhythm came almost immediately. The first verse was the third verse of the first draft, until I realized that it was much stronger than the earlier part of what I'd written and threw the rest away. A lot of times, I just need to find the template for a lyric: the phrasing, the timing, the rhyme scheme, and then the right words just fit like a puzzle. Once I caught onto the hook, this song came together really fast.

I had the idea for horns, based in part on a Spoon song; Josh came and helped chart my ideas, and then he gave the charts to his wife, Kanako Omae, who proceeded to make them way hotter and, well, good. He called in a couple favors, and Josh Anderson, Ted Blohm, and Mark Allen came in, drank some of our whiskey, and nailed the parts down in no time. Mark's sax solo made us all do Don Pardo impressions. Thanks, guys!

Dan: Songs in E have always been a challenge for me. I know this makes no sense for a guitar player, since you always have that low E to leave open and go back to. But I don't really capo unless I have to, and I try very hard to never capo in the same place that James is. This is not to be contradictory; I feel that layering different voices of the same chord on top of each other leads to very full and rich sound. Anyway, E is hard for me. Too many bar chords, which I also like to avoid. Give me C or D any day.

That being said, once I got comfortable with the song, it became very fun to play. I like ascensions in major keys, and with the bass staying pretty steady, I'm allowed to play some interesting chordal choices over the chorus ascension. It became more of a game of muscle memory than actual musical intuition, and that has actually helped immensely when we rehearse it with me on bass now.

When I first heard the sax solo, everyone yelled at me. I'm not kidding. It came on so strong and reminded me so much of something from G.E. Smith's SNL band, that I was originally not that into it. And I said so. And then everyone yelled at me. So I gave it some time, and now I love it. Great job, Mark! Thanks for making an awesome solo, and thereby preventing me from having to write one myself.

Nick: I totally yelled at Dan. In a Don Pardo voice.

I had a hard time with the "feel" of this song. It's a rock song, but it has a lot of swing to it, and it was a challenge to find the right balance. Josh put on his music teacher hat at practice one day and knocked some sense into me. He helped me "get" the "feel" of this song "." For the recording, I practiced the fills a lot at home to make sure I could get them right in the studio with a click track.

This is such a fun song, and I almost fell over when I walked into the studio and heard Mark's solo blasting through the monitors. It's one of my favorite moments on the album and I hope Mark and all of the musicians who gave us a huge boost on this recording can play on stage with us at the CD release show in May!

On So Thin A Line: Stories and Tales From Studio and Beyond, Part 3

Delayed by a week, here's the story behind the On So Thin A Line track "Summer Feels Like Forever."

James: As anyone who has ever met me, and/or seen me move, will know, I despise the summer time. I inherited my father's genes as regards personal temperature, and so I sweat. Profusely. That said, I'm also a product of the American education system, where summer means no school, no homework, all my hours to myself, total freedom. This song is really my best attempts to reconcile that very all-American, Beach Boys-esque love affair with a season that mocks my attempts to enjoy it. It is a season of innocent teenage love and one of extraordinary discomfort. I tried to split the difference, but I'm not sure it worked...

My dear friend, Lee Morgan, came in to add harp in the studio, and while rehearsing in the then-unfinished third floor of Sine, he, having decided not to play over the choruses, sang along with the "ooh" that he'd heard on the rough tapes I'd sent him. Immediately, Nick and I looked at each other, and said "you should sing that on the record." So I'm not on the choruses at all on this track, and frankly, I think the track is better for it.

Dan: When this song was first brought to me, I'll admit, I wasn't jumping out of my shoes for it. It had a good melody and a fairly upbeat theme, and it sounded (to me) like a Buffalo Tom tune. It was only after playing the song about 50 times that something clicked with me, and I embraced the simplicity of the song. And it further strengthened my feeling that songs that have simple ideas and simple themes behind them are usually the best songs.

There was something about the first time we really first started nailing the vocals. Up to this point, the songs didn't have a lot of what I'd call "phrase harmonies"; instead they had a lot of backing "oohs" and "aahs". This was one of the early ones that got us all singing the same words together, and that is a powerful moment, like old spirituals or folk music. When we really started nailing those harmonies, it turned the song around for me, and I embraced it as one of the best songs we had for the album.

A bit of trivia: James did not have the the second line ("Wind through the trees breaks the calm") of the second verse written until we were in pre-production. Everything else was done and locked in, and we were just "lalalaing" that line. I was almost ready to just accept the line as "lalala", but luckily, James put in some actual words.

Nick: Those were two great perspectives on this song that I don't think I can top. I really just think "Summer" makes a great single. Oh, and this song was a challenge for me because the band decided that I should switch back and forth from double time to half time a bunch of times in the middle of a verse. I didn't like the idea, but the band finally convinced me to do it... and it's still hard to remember where it happens exactly. But this song makes a great single!!! And Lee Morgan is awesome!!!! And sometimes summer DOES feel like forever!!!!!!!

Tour Tunes

Sort of a weird trip this time, as various of us were in various cars at various times.

BUT:

Nothing's Gonna Make You Change The Way You Feel About Me Now - Justin Townes Earle
Mockingbird Time - the Jayhawks
Salt - Hoots & Hellmouth
Putting The Days To Bed - the Long Winters
I Want To Go Backwards [Box Set] - Robyn Hitchcock

Lots of crazy shuffling from Henry's iPod.

Setlist, 3.30.2012

Marq's Pub, Cape May, NJ 3.30.2012

Jaked
Push Me Away
Boundary Blurring
The Thing About This
Nightdrive
Summer Feels Like Forever
To Reason Why*
Vapors
My Father's Watch

*- "Ask" (Smiths cover) teased

Showcase set at Cape May Singer/Songwriter Festival

W/ George Cahill Band, The Levee Drivers, Guitardogs