Adventures in iTunes: The Nashville Roadtrip Playlist

As I wrote about last time, Sean Waldron and I drove out to Nashville last week to begin tracking his upcoming single. It was an overall fantastic experience, but yes, we drove there. It's about a 16-hour trip straight through, which means that the two guys driving the entire way themselves had to deal with closer to 20 hours of actual travel time (accounting for meals and restroom breaks and throwing a football around in a few parking lots).

The upside of all of this included great conversation, getting to really see the country we call home, and, of course, lots of music. So, I post today to share with you what albums we listened to (most of them all the way through) over the course of our four travel days to and from Nashville. Feel free to check it all out for yourself if you don't already know these records. I promise that you won't be disappointed.

• John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!
• Charles Bradley - Victim Of Love
• Toto - 35th Anniversary: Live in Poland
• Matt Wertz - Heatwave
• Huey Lewis & The News - Greatest Hits
• Dave Barnes - What We Want, What We Get
• Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Chasing Someday
• Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail, Here Come The Noisemakers
• Ben Rector - Something Like This
• Needtobreathe - The Outsiders, The Heat
• St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Half the City
• John Mayer Trio - Try!
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits

Adventures in Nashtown

Nashtown.

Because it's not much of a "ville" anymore.

Well, fine. I think it's funny.

Nevertheless, I've been down here for the last handful of days recording "Float Away", the upcoming single by my good friend & musical compadre, Sean Waldron. And, with the singular exception of Sean's voice running far, far away from him on the day we were hoping to record vocals, it's been an  incredible trip.

Featuring a stop along the way in Kansas City (during which I was able for the first time to visit the adjoining fields of the Royals' Kauffman Stadium and the Chiefs' Arrowhead), the chance to partake like kings at several of Nashville's best local eateries, and, most importantly, the opportunity to work with a couple of astounding musicians in the persons of Dwan Hill (our producer) and Garrett Miller (our engineer), this adventure has definitely been one for the books.

In addition to all of that, we got to track at the Sound Emporium, a studio which boasts the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss' Raising Sand, REM's Document and projects from the likes of Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, & Taylor Swift amongst its recorded credits. There's something really invigorating and inspiring about working in such a reputable room, and being directed by cats like Dwan and Garrett only bolsters the experience.

I have often said that, for me, performing for an audience full of family & friends is always more nerve racking then those shows with a more anonymous crowd. Similarly, when I get to work with talented people like I have this week, I always feel a particular marriage of nervous excitement and special blessing. There are few people I long to impress quite like the other musicians with whom I get to work, and the camaraderie the four of us were able to conjure up in just a couple days transformed the process into more fun than work. 

Sean Waldron - "She's Got"

Here's the final result of a recording & video production that I got to be a part of a few weeks ago with the über-talented Sean Waldron. Be on the lookout towards the final chorus for the answer to the question as to just who happens to be displaying such mind-blowing rhythmic mastery on the song's drum track.


(And don't forget to pick the song up here if you dig it!)

Sean Waldron: "whatchathinkabout LOVE?"

Sean Waldron's latest YouTube single features some pretty rad video design (by Sean himself), photos from real fans, and percussion by yours truly (we even recorded some leg drumming for this one).

So, check it out. No, seriously. Watch it. I mean, why wouldn't you at this point? You're already here, right? All you need to do is click on the video and enjoy 3 minutes & 21 seconds of sheer auditory bliss. You're more than likely going to find yourself singing this one later today, too, which won't be a problem because it's a great song. So, enjoy it, folks:

Best Of The Springs with Sean Waldron

Before I came out to LA to work on Tyler Ward's new record, I joined forces with Joshua Corbett to support Sean Waldron at a concert celebrating some of the best musicians in Colorado Springs, as voted by the readers of the local city newspaper. A pretty cool honor & accomplishment, to be sure.

The internet has kindly provided us with a few recordings of the show, and as long as you don't mind a bit of home video/camcorder quality, feel free to take a few minutes and dig on this here performance of ours.

Christmas In September

Today is a big day.

To wit:

Hello. Love. Heartbreak.

Alright

Found

Never has $17 gone so far. 

I didn't have the pleasure of getting to play on Alex G's record, but I do get to spend a month traveling around Europe getting to see her perform. And my, my, my, what a difference a year makes. Ms. G has come so far in such a short amount of time and her latest release proves it.

To say that it's an honor to get to work with such a talented group of people is in all ways an understatement. In the midst of this very confused (and confusing) era of popular music, to be directly involved in the recording & release of such truly musical offerings is an exciting experience, to say the least.

Can't wait to hear everyone's feedback on the new releases. I hope you all enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoyed performing on them!

Making of 'Alright EP': Parts IV-VI

Parts IV-VI of Sean Waldron's YouTube video series giving a bit of a song-by-song behind-the-scenes look into the making of his new EP.

Making of 'Alright EP': Part III

Part III of Sean Waldron's YouTube video series giving a bit of a song-by-song behind-the-scenes look into the making of his new EP.

Making of 'Alright EP': Part II

Part II of Sean Waldron's YouTube video series giving a bit of a song-by-song behind-the-scenes look into the making of his new EP.

Posted with Blogsy

Making of 'Alright EP': Part I

Part I of Sean Waldron's YouTube video series giving a bit of a song-by-song behind-the-scenes look into the making of his new EP.

2012 - The Road So Far...

Well, here we are: halfway through the Year of our Lord, Two-thousand-and-Twelve, and it has occurred to me that a quick moment of reflection is appropriate.

The other night I sat with my wife before going to sleep and it dawned on me that this year has quite possibly been the most musically adventurous and awe-inspiring of my life. In the early part of the year, music allowed me the opportunity to not only visit, but tour the European continent for the very first time. I got to see things I've been waiting most all of my life to see. I met wonderful people from other countries who knew my name before I knew theirs. I played concerts for thousands of fans with two of the dearest brothers in my life.

The late winter gave way to spring, and as Tyler took the next step in his musical journey via writing sessions and constructing the framework for his very first album, Josh Corbett, Drew Hartley, and I joined forces with another incredible talent by the name of Sean Waldron. Our efforts with Sean have led to the recording of a tasty 6-song EP, due to be finished in late July. Señor Waldron also got the call to open up for the up-and-coming band Churchill at the end of this week. Not bad for a group's very first show with full personnel.

Hornsby & The Noisemakers get it done in Boulder.

In the meantime, God saw fit to bring three of my all-time favorite artists (joined by three of my all-time favorite drummers, to boot) to the Front Range of Colorado. In the last six months, I've been blessed to get to see Sting, Toto, and Bruce Hornsby perform live (with Vinnie Colaiuta, Simon Phillips, and Sonny Emory occupying the thrones, in case you were wondering). I've seen a ton of great concerts in my time, but I think it's probably safe to say that I've never had the opportunity to see that amount of masterful, jaw-dropping talent in such a short span of time. (And to top all of this magnificent concert-going revelry off, Peter Gabriel is bringing the entire original lineup of his legendary release So to Red Rocks to perform the album start-to-finish in September. Shoot dang.)

Earf Day

How did you all spend your Earth Day?

What's that, you say? Didn't even realize this past Sunday was Earth Day? Me, neither. I was too busy recording a new track with Sean Waldron.

All mic'd up at Soteria.

We spent a few hours in the afternoon recording drums at Soteria Studios here in Colorado Springs. It was my first time tracking at this particular studio, and I ended up having a fantastic time. It was probably the best raw drum sound I've ever had the pleasure of recording and I can't wait for the rest of the band to get their parts laid down (which should happen sometime next week). There will be an accompanying video for this particular track, as well, so be sure to check back often for updates.

There are also some additional plans to record a 5-song EP with the aforementioned Waldron, so rest assured: Señor Ward isn't the only one finding himself in some unexplored territory this summer. All kinds of new musical adventures are being had by the whole Crew, and I'm going to try my darndest to carve it all (or at least my part of it) into stone here on the blog.

Stay tuned, kids. Same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.