We’re All In This Together

Check it out.  Very cool.

 

http://www.nowontour.com/news/stories/story.php?id=1272

It’s 4 am. I can’t sleep. Maybe it’s all the coffee I had at Jammin Java in Columbia, South Carolina tonight. Maybe it’s the steak and eggs I had at Waffle House before Shawn and I came back to the hotel. Not sure. Whatever it is that’s keeping me up, I feel like writing… We left Tuscaloosa early today, so we could get to Atlanta in time for a meeting. That went very well. You’ll be hearing about that sooner or later. From Atlanta, we headed to Columbia. I was supposed to go on at 9 pm and we got there at 9:03. I basically jumped out of the van, went down the stairs into the club, plugged in and played. Afterwards, I went back to the merch table to help Shawn with the custom t-shirts.(We have a portable heat press now, and we can make shirts to order. Very cool.) A couple people came by and said they drove all the way from Clemson to see me, but missed most of the set. “Would you be able to play some more songs for us?”, they asked. “Sure”, I said. So, we went upstairs and out onto the curb in front of the club. When I got my guitar out and looked out at them, I realized there were a lot more there than I thought. Maybe 15 or 20. I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed. I think it was around 11 when I started to sing. The street was empty, except for our little gathering. I took a couple of requests and played for 20 minutes or so. I just kept thanking them for being there and wanting me to play for them. It was one of the best nights I can remember in a long time. I keep thinking about their faces. How they sang with me out on the street. It probably looked weird to people driving by, but so what. We didn’t care. Man, I live for nights like that.

I am sitting in The Mud House in Springfield, MO, taking ‘er easy for a day. I haven’t had a chance to upload any of the pictures of our trek home until now. On the way back from L.A., Shawn and I decided to stop for anything interesting along the way. Turns out there’s a lot to see, if you don’t have to drive through the night 18 hours for the next gig. We hit Las Vegas(no crazy gambling stories, I’m afraid…I think I bet $3 in the slot machines), drove over the Hoover Dam, caught sunset at the Grand Canyon, went to another ghost town, visited the petrified forest in Arizona, saw the Cadillac farm in Amarillo(?), Texas and we’re not even home yet. I have been trying not to listen to the record every five minutes, so I don’t get burned out on making mixing notes. Honestly, it’s hard to refrain from hearing it and I don’t have many notes…I am so proud of this record.

Shawn and I left home on May 14…that’s one month and some change ago. As we pulled out of his driveway on that day, I realized that we had been working so hard for so long that we had forgotten to get excited about doing this record. Well, that changed pretty quickly as soon as we got out here. I have been thinking about that kid in my parents basement, playing guitar for hours alone and day dreaming about singing his songs for people. If he knew what I know now, he wouldn’t believe the sounds coming out of the studio speakers in front of me. I almost can’t believe it myself. It’s been a long time since I was that kid, but part of him still lives inside my head. I hope he always does. I never want to lose that feeling of elation, when you turn an amp up all the way(to 11, of course) and play and E chord like [insert your rock hero here] with your legs spread out and your head held back. It sounds a little stupid to say, but that’s kind of what this is about. Innocence and innocence lost, taking your youth and encapulating it into a 3-4 minute epic song, letting the melody be your solace, singing at the top of your lungs - even if your voice cracks - so you don’t have to scream at someone. I have always thought( and maybe even told a couple of you) that if it wasn’t for music, I would have gone crazy. Everyone needs to express how they feel. Some people paint pictures, some make movies, some become UFC fighters…you get the idea. I am so grateful to have finally realized this dream of mine. I wanted to make a classic album, like the ones I grew up listening to and learning from. Now, I have it…or at least my best attempt at making one. No matter what anyone says when they hear this, no matter how many get sold, no matter how many people hear it…I am proud of it. That’s not all that matters, but it matter a lot. I have never been so proud of anything I’ver ever done. I hope you will like it too, cause I could not have done it without you. I made this record for you and I. Now, I’m coming home. We are all in this together. - Andy

We did a bunch of little overdubs today. BGVs, small guitar parts, etc. Oh, and I finally recorded ‘Are We Going Down’. It came out just like I wanted…You’ll have to wait to hear just what it’s like now. I don’t think you’ll be dissappointed. Tomorrow is our last day here. We’ll be making “rough” mixes of all the songs, which will still sound better than anything I’ve ever done.

We did back ground vocals today on ‘Find You’ and a couple others. Arnold McCuller, who sings with James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and a bunch of other people, did this really cool gospel choir on the song. I am so happy. It sounds amazing now. Brian Mcleod came back and did some percussion on some of the songs too. Everything is coming together so well.

So, I’ve just finished the vocals for the rest of the songs…minus ‘Are We Going Down’. I’ll do that one Monday, with the rest of the overdubs, etc. Stuff is sounding killer. I can’t wait to start polishing things up a bit with percussion and other texture things.

I finished up the vocals for ‘Last to Know’ this morning. Then I moved on to ‘No Shelter’, ‘Keep On’ and ‘Feel the Weight’. That leaves ‘Maybe Tonight’, ‘First to Promise’, ‘Lie to Yourself’ and ‘Are We Going Down’ for tomorrow. We’ll do percussion and other over dubs next week. 

Long past are the days of $8 hotel rooms. Shawn and I are yet again in our home away from home - Super 8. We’ve stayed here so many times now, that I can actually go out for a run in the neighborhood and know where I am. I think I’ll get up and go for a run in the morning, before going into the studio. I like to stay active as much as possible[Shawn says I'm protecting our investment], especially since much of my time involves standing in place for hours, cutting ferocious guitar tracks and beautiful keyboard parts. Tomorrow, I will add killer vocals to that list. (I am being a little cocky here for a bit of humor, but I do think the songs are sounding great.) I played the main guitar parts for ‘Lie to Yourself’ today. There’s a bit of Portishead and Pink Floyd in there. I’m digging it. Michael Belfur, our engineer and additional guitar player laid this awesome part down today for ‘Last to Know’ with his Boomerang pedal and ebo. It sounds kind of like that thing at the beginning of ‘How Soon is Now’ by the Smiths. You’re going to love it. There are a couple things that need tweaking for some of the guitar tracks for the rest of the songs, but for the most part we are ready to move on to vocals. We might even get to use another studio with a real B3 and Wurlitzer soon. I think that will add a much needed element to ‘Easier to Crumble’, ‘Feel the Weight’ and ‘Find You’.