True Believer
Year of Kings. Day 294. We got lucky with the recordings. Things came together. For example, in “True Believer” the band had talked through the ending the Thursday before, four different elements, and it was very shaky in practice. But it worked in recording like we’d been it doing for years. In “New Suit” we didn’t really have an idea for a bridge or third verse. When we played it in the studio I was like - well I hope something happens after the second chorus. And there it was… a new made-up, free-styled, totally winged vocal bridge just arrived in that moment. Merlin made sure we recorded “Shaking Us To The Ground” and we had no idea how to end it. But here was the band singing gang vocals, Kyrie playing another few bars of fiddle, and Colleen singing the lonesome chorus one more time by herself.
Year of Kings. Day 295. So we went in the studio with Kevin Moloney for a weekend and came out with 8 songs. And then we went back to record two more songs and make it an album. We went with the stuff we were just creating in practice, songs we’d played at shows once or twice - and they worked. “True Believer” and “Trouble” are a big part of this album. The opposite of filler.
Year of Kings. Day 296. We are in the stream, we are in the river, and the river is running fast. The goal now is not to swim to the shore and catch our breaths. The goal is to stay in the river and to listen and appreciate and create.
Year of Kings. Day 297. Next Sunday - just giving everyone a head’s up - playing St. Patrick’s Day at Shiloh & Gaines in Asheville. St. Patrick’s Day is like Mardi Gras and New Years Eve - just a good excuse for good dancing, bad dancing, average dancing, any kind of dancing!
Year of Kings. Day 298. Yeah - when you hear our new album and you hear like different percussion and additional guitars - that’s Merlin playing four different instruments on a track. And if you hear the fiddle harmonizing with another fiddle harmonizing with another fiddle - that’s Kyrie - just making that happen like it’s as natural as breathing.
