The band sessions for “The Lucky One” were killer–now for the overdubs
From Friday to yesterday I recorded the rhythm section, guitar, and some harmonica tracks for my upcoming rock record “The Lucky One.” At this point we have twelve such tracks in the bag, meaning that in the 27+ hours of recording starting Friday we’ve averaged…
RIP Toots Thielemans
I learned a few minutes ago that Toots Thielemans died at the age of 94. It’s impossible to overstate how important Toots is and was to the development of modern harmonica styles. If you play chromatic harmonica, you had to decide whether you were going…
An Outtake from “The Lucky One”: Waka Blues
The sessions for my upcoming record “The Lucky One” are taking place in Philadelphia in the third week of September, and preparations are feverishly underway. My producer, Ed Abbiatti, passed on this piece, a basic blues driven by an auto-wah harmonica part. If we’re not…
Another day, another (country) session
I took some time off this week from working on the songs and arrangements for my upcoming record, “The Lucky One,” which is set for recording in the third week of September in Philadelphia, to record harmonica parts for Austin TX producer Bobby Flores. (Congratulations…
Harmonica Master Boris Plotnikov is Teaching in Denver on June 15!
We saw a post recently on harp-L about Boris Plotnikov teaching a harmonica master class in Denver on June 15. Boris originally hails from Yekaterinburg, Russia, and it’s pretty rare that he sets foot in the USA, so this is a great opportunity for anyone…
The Kickstarter Campaign for “The Lucky One” starts in a few days
As I work my way through writing and recording demos for my upcoming record project, “The Lucky One,” I keep in mind that making a record takes money as well as talent and dedication. On that score, within the next couple of days I’ll be…
Recording for the “The Lucky One” is Set for September in Philly
I’ve been hard at work writing songs and recording demos for the upcoming record sessions. The tentative title for this project is “The Lucky One.” We’ve set the date for the sessions in late September, and we’ve got guitarist Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner, who I’ve played…
Digitech’s Software and Firmware Troubles with the RP360 Continue; We Recommend the RP500 Instead
It’s been about 2 years since Digitech released the RP360 and RP360XP, two great-sounding devices. Unfortunately, in that time Digitech hasn’t seen fit to address the terrifically daunting software issues they’ve laid on unsuspecting RP360 owners. Those issues begin with a firmware update that consistently…
Why Bullet Mics in Home Studios are Not Tops for Recording Harmonica
In a recent post to the Harp-L list, the poster said that he’d found a recording setup that he liked: a Green Bullet mic on a stand, into which he played from over a foot (about half a meter) away. I’m glad the guy got…
The new record is taking form
A couple months ago I announced on this blog that I’m getting ready to make a record. The shape and sound of that record is coming into focus. For a start, it’s going to be stripped-down. I’ve realized that the stuff I’ve most enjoyed playing…
