Category: Down to the Mountain

  • I wonder why I wonder

    I wonder why I wonder

    We managed to squeeze in a second mixing session last month (January 13, 2025). I wasn’t able to get to Oakland for this session, so I “phoned it in” (well, zoomed it in, I guess) and that seemed to work out just fine. (Produced by David Gans and Jeremy Goody. Recorded, engineered, and mixed by…

  • I surrender, I surrender!

    I surrender, I surrender!

    We got back into the studio (at last!) on October 21, 2024, as “Down to the Mountain” completed its evolution from string-band ditty to secular gospel roof-raiser. Down to the Mountain We met for a rare evening recording session at Goody Sound to get these harmony vocals added to “Down to the Mountain.” Lorna Kollmeyer,…

  • Don’t tell me all your secrets, talking crow!

    Don’t tell me all your secrets, talking crow!

    This song, “Down to the Mountain,” is made from some of the oldest ingredients. On the album it has developed into a kind of secular gospel tune but when I play it solo, as I did here on September 19, 2024, it’s still bog-standard string-band stylee:

  • Palette nearly full

    Palette nearly full

    At this point we may have recorded all of the instrumental parts. I mean, we reserve the right to add a trombone here or a french horn there, maybe a synth part, etc., but for now we have got all the instruments recorded according to the current plan. Next month we’ll work on backing and…

  • Picking up steam

    Picking up steam

    A little while back we all agreed things felt like they were starting to drag a bit, and since then we’ve been making rapid progress toward completing the recording of all the parts for all the songs on this record. This month has been another ambitious one. Just a week or so ago we went…

  • Down to the studio

    Down to the studio

    This record recording process started a year ago in February and for twelve months through January of this year we recorded one song a month, getting the basic tracks down. Since then we’ve been working on the arrangements and recording overdubs. I feel like we’re building momentum here toward the finish. In the meantime, I’ve…