Studio Update 10

It's been a while since I posted an update so I thought I'd give a short note on where we are. I'm deathly ill with the flu so the last couple of vocals will be done by the end of next week, I hope...and we'll have to hire out the bgv's...but...we're almost done!!! The album will be mastered February 19 and from there I hit the road on my radio tour. And in a little less than 90 days you will have this record in your hands (figuratively of course, if you get it on iTunes).

There are now 13 songs on the record. Brown is producing 7. Steven & Brown are co-producing 3. And Will Owsley is producing 3. Of course tracking was done on everything by early December, so it was just overdubs and vocals. I'll kind of go through all the songs and give you guys an idea of what is done.


Arise (Running Back) (Brown) - I did almost all the guitars on this one. I already talked about doing vocals earlier on. A few days after I did vocals, Chris Rodriguez came in and we teamed up on some background vocals. Everything on this sounds incredible. Basically, it sounds just like the demo, but it just sounds better...but most of the parts that I came up with ended up staying the same. Blair Masters came in and did some keyboards on this one and really took it up to the next level. This one is completely done and mixed.

Cry Tonight (Brown) - this one is the one from the HPF album that has changed the most. It still has the same basic arrangement, but the addition of acoustic guitars and a different guitar riff at the top of the song and on the bridge really take this one even another step up (and this was one of my favorites from TACOSB). I did most of the guitars on this one, though we did keep the new intro riff that Jerry McPherson came up with in tracking. We also added an acoustic guitar part that I composed, but had George Cocchini actually play because we had limited time and it was a pretty difficult part. On Tuesday, Don came up and we recorded strings. We basically used the same arrangement that Don had on HPF, but he fleshed it out a little more and the real violins take this one up a notch. I still have to do vocals on this one.

I'm Clean (Owsley) - This was one of the first 4 songs we mixed, so it's been done for a while. Owsley works a little differently than Brown in that he plays most everything. We tracked drums and then Will went and recorded bass, guitars and some keyboards. Jason Walker played piano on this one (actually on the original demo) and I did some synth stuff as well as a string arrangement and midi string playing. We used only snatches of the string stuff, but where it comes in it's cool. I pulled off the vocal on this one in about 2 hours. This one is all done and mixed.

Empty Me (Brown) - Obviously, it's the first single, so it's done and mixed already. In fact, it's already been mastered. Blair Masters added a bunch of cool piano and keyboard stuff that really took the song up to the level it's at. And Chris Rodriguez and I tag-teamed on the bgv's on this one.

Something Beautiful (Brown & Stephen) - I talked about how this one changed a lot. Some of the first vocals we did were on this one, so it's been done for a while. Stephen went back and re-edited the bass so it's a little bouncier than the original tracking session, but it sounds great. This one is all done and mixed.

Let You Know (Brown) - The basic arrangement and most of the parts are completely the same on this one as the HPF album. On Tuesday, we did the strings and the real violins added a nice touch. Don's string arrangements are really fantastic. I did the vocals a coupla weeks ago and did all my own bgv's. I did all of the rhythm guitars and some of the lead stuff on this one. Blair Masters did the keyboard stuff. Paul Moak did some cool Edge-like guitar work on this one. This one is done and ready to be mixed.

In a Moment (Brown) - this one is basically the same, though it is a little poppier throughout. I gave one of my best vocals on the record on this song. We kept the key change but changed its placement a little bit. We did the strings on Tuesday also, though the string arrangement changed a good bit from the HPF version. Blair, again, did keyboards. This one is done and ready to be mixed.

Are You Pleased (Brown & Stephen) - this song took a HUGE step forward when we got into doing keyboards. I had done the vocals a while beforehand, but something still wasn't quite clicking. So, Blair literally did like 6 different piano parts plus a bunch of keyboard stuff and it ended up having a very, very cool Keane kind of feel to it. This one was one of the first four songs up for single consideration, so it's been mixed for a while.

Potential (Brown & Stephen) - This was the song that changed the most from my demo. I was surprised at how close many of the songs ended up being to the demos I did out on the Idol tour and in my house. But this one took a surprising turn in tracking when the bass player came up with a cool different bass line. The vocals on this one ended up being really cool, too. This one is basically done...it just needs some bgv's.

Loaded Gun (Brown) - This song started off as an in-your-face rocker complete with almost screamed vocals and raucous guitar riff. Then I had the idea to turn the song on its head and do it completely different than anyone would expect...just strings and vocals. And it worked! I am so pumped about this song. We did vocals last night and it sounds incredible. Don took a string arrangement I did and made it 100 times better and on Tuesday we had 3 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello and a double bass come in and record it. It's so different but still rocks your face off. I can't wait for you to hear it. It just needs bgv's.

Waiting For You (Owsley) - One of two songs that still need vocals. Owsley did the bass and guitars and I'll be adding some synth stuff. It's basically the same as the HPF recording...just sounds better. Owsley and his 10 year old son did the bgv's! They sound great.

Love Is Raining Down (Owsley) - This one ended up exactly like the demo, including my loops and synth parts. It sounds great and I gave a great vocal for this one. I love this song. It's all done and ready to mix.

Vessel (Brown) - This song was on my first solo album (in fact the title song) and we felt we needed one more "change of pace" song. I did a little demo of it and everyone flipped for it. It's very simple...two acoustic guitars, string quartet and vocals. We did strings on Tuesday. Don's arrangement on this is seriously one of the best things on the album. He seriously knocked it out of the park. It's just a simple prayer that will close out the album. It just needs bgv's and it'll be done.