Recording in Brooklyn

I just got back from four days of recording at Acme Hall Studios in Park Slope. Oh, did I mention, I'm finally making an album?!! Well it's happening for real here folks, and there's no stopping it now. 

If you've been following my deal for a while, you probably know that recording has been a bit of a hangup for me. Writing new songs and playing them for people has never been too tough, with its constant creative spontaneity and generous room for error. But the idea of laying these songs down into a final (or at least final for now) product always brings out an unhealthy perfectionism and indecision in me. Its permanence has been paralyzing.

One thing I have learned, both in and out of the music business, is that feelings of paralysis and overwhelm are almost always calls for companions on the journey. And this time, I am lucky to have companions in great supply. Anna Coogan, who has helped me front, back and sideways on all things music since the day I met her, is the producer at the helm of this project. She  has worked for months in advance, helping me whittle down my song list, coordinate the logistics, and make every difficult decision. We were joined in the studio by a truly wonderful band. Brooks Miner came with us from Ithaca to lay down Wurlitzer and piano tracks, and worked painstakingly on the Wurly in between takes to soothe its funky humming (which we kind of dig anyway). Michael Hunter, who years ago taught me how to make manhattans behind the bar at Stella's and now makes his living as a musician of all trades in Brooklyn, played drums and percussion and kept us all in the pocket. Jeremy Chatzky, seasoned pro with some serious artists and albums in his roster, played about a thousand different basses and lived up to his reputation of being one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. It all went down at Acme Hall Studios in Park Slope, with Richard Bennett engineering, keeping us level-headed, and eating about five pounds of spicy asian trail mix. 

We're not done with this by any stretch, but we've covered a lot of ground in the last five days and have returned to Ithaca with the solid bones of an album. I'm incredibly excited to share how it all sounds, but I also get a little kick out of keeping suspense in the equation. 

For now, feast your eyes upon this fun gallery of photos from the process. As soon as there's something ready for your ears, you'll be hearing from me.