Sitting in MN without a guitar

There is something about traveling so much that makes the most unusual…usual, the uncommon becomes common and the waves become still. I am in Minneapolis getting ready to mix our album and I don’t have a guitar, and I don’t know how to feel about that. I have grown to become comfortable with routine…late nights, late mornings and little sleep, lots of sweat, some music and great conversation. i have grown to become comfortable with discomfort and a simple routine to comply with it. Not having a guitar blindsides me and leaves me to feel a little helpless in this strange arctic city.

…..But why would I expect anything different from this whole experience. When we entered the studio in Iowa City with Bo Ramsey I expected to….maybe get some sounds, plan our approach and track a song or two. I didn’t expect to play through 5 songs, be recording the whole time, loose my sense of the recording process and have someone I respect so much repeat “a take is in the performance not the overdubs”. I have never finished something so fast and felt so comfortable with it in my life. And I see clearly…Comfort lies in the community we build around us and, so far, this album echos that ethos. So, why should I be surprised I am here, vulnerable and naked in this city without my guitar…my support. If there is one thing I have learned in this process its trust the communion…the engagement, not the second guessing… Which is good…because without my guitar before me…ill be a lot closer to the action.

September 21, 2011 | Categories: full band, music | Tags: bo ramsey, greg brown, Mike Mangione, mike mangione & the union, new album, Offering, pieta brown, recording, tenebrea, the pines | Leave A Comment »