man that was fun.  and a whirlwind.

here’s the hour-by-hour recap of the 24 hours in question:

thursday, january 19th
5am: wake up, drive to airport
7:35am EST: soar into the sky in metal craft
8:40am CST: land in houston
9am: pick up rental car
10:50am: arrive at red tree studio
8:50pm: leave red tree studio
10pm: arrive at lovely people’s home to sleep
10:45pm: sleep

friday, january 20th
4:55am: arise, bleary-eyed.
5am: eat bagel.
6am: arrive at airport for 7:03 flight
6:10am: enter single-lane security line
6:45am: leave single-lane security line
6:50am: arrive at gate
7am CST: barely make it onto plane, row 37 of 38.
10am EST: land gratefully in atlanta

all whirlwindyness aside, it was really a great trip.  now for a bit more detail.

i got to the studio before robbie and met the engineer, Jefferey, and the drummer for the day, Dave Keil.  we chatted while they got the drums set up.  Robbie arrived before long and we chatted about the song – where it should go, what it should sound like, tossed ideas around, etc.  mostly he gave me suggestions and i took them because, well, he’s basically wiser than i am.  :)

we picked a tempo that felt good and i recorded a rough scratch track first, just guitar and voice, to the click track for everyone to play to.  after a brief conversation about feel, Dave tracked the drums and they sounded really good.  drummers amaze me sometimes – guy heard the song for the first time that same morning and then just goes in and does it.  wacky.

then Robbie’s guitar player, Matt Kidd, arrived, who would also be playing bass as well.  he is affectionately referred to by everyone as ‘Frodo’, presumably because he bears some resemblance to said character.  i would have loved to call him Frodo since i feel like that nickname is awesome – but then again i had just met him.  so i called him Matt.  seemed like a safe call to me.   anyway,  he recorded bass next and it sounded great.  i think the chinese food arrived somewhere in here, which was eaten off and on while we kept working.

next i recorded one acoustic guitar track, and then Matt recorded a second.  it’s great watching stuff take shape one track at a time when you record  - each layer  you add just brings the song that much more to life.  first you have a beat and you really start to get the feel of the song.  then you add that low end and the thump is complete.  add acoustics and it gets even more depth.  and then come the electrics.

oh, the electrics.

adding electric guitars almost always seems to really fill everything out.  but you put someone as tasteful and creative as Matt at the helm and things really start to take off.  the sound and atmosphere the guy can make with a guitar is genuinely inspiring.  i told him later that he totally redefined my outlook on electric guitar playing, which is the truth.  i’m extremely proud of and grateful for the work he did on the song, and i hope it really comes out in the final mix so you guys can hear it too.

so then it was time for me to do vocals, which i did.  it took me a few takes to warm up but that is nothing new for me.  i think it was sounding pretty good toward the end there.

we finished everything except background vocals, which is set to happen in a week or so.  then it’s mixing and mastering and the song should be done and in my hands by mid-february sometime.

so far the trip was entirely worth it.  going out on a limb, having a crazy and slightly sleep-deprived 24 hours, driving a lot, meeting new people, leaving my comfort zone a bit, all of it was worth it.  all those guys were great to work with – nice, diligent, professional, had good ideas…it was great.  and if the final mix sounds anything like what we were hearing in the control room at the end of the day…then we are all in for a little treat.  :)

most of the pictures i took were kind of average at best, but i did shoot some video as well and some of that came out okay.  i chopped it together into this to give you a little taste of what the day was like — enjoy!