That last blog took so long I had to leave a day in between parts, so without further ado, here's the rest of the week in pics from my cam.
The G Man re-setting for the day - note the unusual piece of recording equipment scavenged from the Royal. A patio heater!
Day 3 - Cold, Sunny and Highly Productive
As you can see from the pics, the weather was being extremely cooperative. Our relative distance from the sun ensured we were still Freezing, but there was plenty of sunlight. We pressed on with songs we have had in the set for a while, so we got through about seven songs on Wednesday.
As Dion was setting up a Lot Of Cameras, I didn't feel the need to shoot mobile phone cam footage. Did I say a Lot of cameras?
Yikes!
With the weather still on our side, we pushed onto into the early evening when the sun disappeared and once again, we froze.
Having managed to get this stuff sorted, it now only left the songs that were 'in development' so we trekked back tot he Royal for Stuarts Steak and Kidney Pie Night and worked on the songs for the next day's recording.
Special mention of those who stayed behind in the bar to keep going after we all went to bed - especially the new Box of Silence advertisement....I'll post that when I get a copy.
WIth the pressure on, we had 4 songs in need of lyrics, arrangements and bits and pieces. Would we make it?
The first day of recording saw the pipes at the Hotel burst due to the hot/cold differentials, which alarmed me, but Stuart was calm, 'these things happen all the time' he said.
Hmmm.
That night we had a Gas Problem when the tanks ran out, prompting Stuart and I to do an emergency dash out to the gas tanks to swap them out, lest the boys be greeted by cold showers in the morning.
Hmmm...(part 2)....
Despite all the tiny nuisances, Jo and Stuart maintained a sense of happiness that was grand to see. uh oh...I feel a lyric coming on.
And so the song previously working titled 'country shower' became 'the way she smiles' as the rehearsal wore on, and pretty quickly, the middle 8 and arrangements were put together.
A quick bit of work on Snowy's song (had to remove the reference to Gary Moore after prompting from the boys...) we were ready to proceed for the next day.
Day 4 - Blues & Roos
As we drove to Burgoon, we spotted a Roo running beside the road. When we turned up the drive, it ran ahead of us and hopped into the house paddock. Fair enough.
Back to Burgoon, Carl in his chair, the guys assembled on the lawns, it was time to get into it.
A little before lunch, we had a visitor
We think this is Chloe, a local pet, who wanted to know what all the fuss was about, so she came and spent a few hours listening to us...or maybe waiting for food. Probably food. But we weren't sure if she was wild, so no feeding the wild animals (not good for them). Besides which, I was already feeding 8 wild animals and we were running low on pumpkin soup.
Carl was very relaxed about the whole affair.
With a new important band member in the centre (the heater) and Chloe somewhere around the house, we continued working.
Just as we started to record the song which was previously entitled 'country shower' (now renamed The Way She Smiles) it started to shower.
Started. Stopped. Started. Stopped. Move the mikes, nope, put them back. Move them in again, nope its stopped put them back.
Until we had the brilliant Idea of forgoing our headgear in defence of the microphones, comme ca:
So in between bursts of rain, we completed 'The Way She Smiles'
Thanks to the heater and the partially cloud afternoon, the temperature allowed us to run a little longer and we packed up at dusk and headed back to the Royal for Theo's turn on Kitchen Patrol.
With one last day of recording and a gig on the same night, it was time for a review of what was ready, what was close to ready and what to redo.
We narrowed down the song development list to two finalists, that were closest to being ready - 'sunshine in the rain' and 'rest my bones'. Time pressure was on us once more to complete the lyrics and arrangements for the following day.
Day 5 - Last Stand at Cumnock
Ok, so we asked for it. I admit it. Recording a song called Sunshine in the rain is begging for a little ironic weather. So it was cold, wet, raining and cold.
No chance of sitting ont he lawn for this one, we all clambered up onto the porch and finally we had the original 'dirt music' concept - acoustic stuff, recorded on a wooden verandah.
The porch after we packed away.
It was super freakingly cold and we clawed our way through the takes, with Dion handing cups of warm water to the band members to keep their hands from going completely numb.
The takes for Rest My Bones and The way she smiles have dfferent lyrics in each of the takes as they were still being shuffled around as we recorded them. On Dions video (when ready) you should be able to see me scribbling lyrics in as we're recording...
The ambient sounds of the rain, wind and wildlife will be embedded in this recording, the whole way through, and you will be able to hear the environment in which we played each day, so it was fitting that for these two songs, the mood of the weather meshed. rest my bones is quite a darker piece and was the last song recorded on the day.
With the weather closed in, the temperature plummeting and a gig ahead of us, we packed and returned to the Royal for our first live performance of the new material.
The G Man contemplating the week as we finish packing.
At the Royal, things were swinging. The P&C raised $1500 in the raffle from the assembled crowd and we started the night with the new material.
We were still a little shaky with some of the songs at the start but we settled in by Running Jody and as we continued into the back catalogue of songs from the current and previous albums, the boys took it up a notch and a big night was had by all.
Scottys explanation to the audience of what to do during Southern Bells was priceless. 'When I sing this bit you sing that bit, ok, got it?'
And in the words of Willie Nelson, when you think that its over, its only begun...because next came:
Day 6 - Whatcha Gonna Do When the Band Breaks Down (part 2)
After a long and busy week, it was pancakes for breakfast and the GMan rigged up the recording system at the Royal to start doing overdubs...then discovered that the ambient noise level made it an unlikely recording environment. We opted to shift the harmonies to another date and location (TBA) and started the pack and cleaning process to try and leave the environment in the same manner in which we'd found it.
With Theo's car rescued from Orange, the troops fed, everyone packed and farewells said, it was back on the road.
as the weather rolled in....typical stormcellar weather? LOL
and out
Everything was just going swimmingly - good recording, good vibe, great ambience, good company...until the Curse of The Walking Dutchman struck again. I say walking, because yep, you guessed it, Theo's car broke down again.
Just outside Bathurst, we stopped for coffee and fuel. As Theo started her up again....calamity.
(sigh). Once again, this required some interesting reallocation of people and equipment and once more, Carl was sent to the rescue:
Whatcha gonna do when the band breaks down? Send Carl back off to Bathurst!
Thus as day 6 turned into day 7, the last band members made it home safely and we all proceeded to collapse into a well earned rest.
Hurrah!
What Happens Next
We have 12 songs recorded, with various live takes. We'll need to listen to them, pick the keepers, overdub any bits wanted and them record harmonies, then mix, master and voila, finish! I dont know how long this will take, so if you want to hear the songs, you'll have to come to a live gig.
Once in a lifetime stuff comes but....um....errr....once in a lifetime. Right.
Ahem (part 2)
Sometimes, whilst you're doing something, you get a glimpse that this is a rare moment in your life and that you can predict it will remain a happy memory you trot out from time to time when you need reminding of a good day. This was a series of good days, constructed from the love and enthusiasm of a disparate group of people and a very random confluence of events.