Sampler? I hardly know her

This weekend had a bit of everything... Friday night we had a good long rehearsal in advance of our Saturday night outdoor festival show. We had an hour and a half to fill, so we pulled out of couple of old tunes we hadn't played since... the last outdoor festival we played. It was actually pretty fun to play these songs after the time off from them.

Saturday, I taught all day and then we went right to our show. The festival was small and was a benefit for a grade school in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. It turned out to be a great gig. The sound was amazing. We played nearly non-stop for an hour and half, I took a turn in the middle playing two solo tunes while the band used the bathroom, and we even made up a song as a band on the spot during an extended jam. We were loose, and although there weren't a lot of people there, we got rid of a ton of CDs, so many that we're running dangerously low on our second pressing of the EP and will have to order a third pressing of 1000 immediately to make sure we have some for the summer.

After the gig, we all went back to our magical Grecian backyard, drank beer, and ate pizza. And had a good fire in the firepit. Good times. Some of our tenants' friends stopped by, and suddenly it was 3:00 am.

Sunday morning, I headed into the studio for an early session. I was a bit worried because I'd sung so much on Friday and Saturday and stayed up so late... but the song we worked on, Seraphim Do Mar, called for a weary sounding voice, so it worked out well. It's actually some of my favorite singing I've ever done, really relaxed, really gritty, really genuine.

Seraphim is the last song on the album. It's different from anything else we've done. The guitar sound is... as heavy as it gets. For a lot of it, there are something like 16 guitar tracks (part of it has almost 30!), all layered and textured. It sounds like Smashing Pumpkins, but wider and warmer. And there's an apocalyptic ending that is nearly A Day in the Life-esque. A really cool way to end the album. 

SERAPHIM DO MAR Angels of the dirt We ask of you Go and get your kin They'll know where to begin Rise up, fall down Rise up, fall down Angels of the sea Take these sunken dreams Raise them to the sky So maybe can I Rise up, fall down Rise up, fall down What's left when it's all gone?

The melody is very much like a nursery rhyme, as are the lyrics. What's the song about? I'm not sure. The title is a pun, sort of. And the imagery is meant to evoke Atlantis, a group of angels lifting it up from underwater, and, well, "what's left when it's all gone."

I guess. After recording, I headed up to Deerfield to attend the Village Music School Spring concert. I had two students performing and they did great. One performed "More Than a Feeling" by Boston. And it killed. And the other performed Little Peter Cottontail, accompanied by me.

It was great to see them both succeed and to talk to their parents about how much they enjoy guitar. I guess I must be doing something right.

Or at least not wrong.

jbg