THE PLAYERS.

 

It is interesting that I did not play one note of musicon this album.  The guys at County Q tried to get me to play the acoustic guitar motif/riff for Secrets.  It was the last song that we recorded and they were having trouble finding the right groove and feel for this song.  I came very close to playing, however, in the end—partly out of fear and partly out of surrender—I decided not to play.  I am glad that I chose not to play because Secrets came out with one of the coolest vibes on the record.

 

As I look back over the experience at County Q, I remember mostly remaining prayerful and almost totally surrendered through the whole process.  When I met with all the players for the first time, I explained to mission and theme of the album—recovery rock.  Then I told them that I encouraged and expected them to put their expertise, their creativity, and their soul into the interpretation of the songs.  I completely let go and put into their hands the outcome of the music.  For each song (starting with Holy Ground and finishing with Secrets), I met with the band members in the listening room before recording and played the song for them on my acoustic.  They would all nod their heads and say something like “Cool…let’s go play it.”  Off they would go into the studio and various isolation rooms (for the acoustic instruments), while I went to the iso booth to sing scratch vocals.

 

I will never forget the first few notes of Holy Ground—the first song of the first session.  Paul counted off four clicks with his sticks and BOOM, JT jumped in with those very cool opening arpeggios, Dow grabbed that thumpy bassline and Gary was all over the acoustic.  Within 30 seconds, they had found the groove that you hear on record today—thirty seconds!  I had tears in my eyes and my heart was hammering in my chest.  I was so choked that I could not sing the scratch vocals on the first pass through.  Before 10 minutes was up, I heard Paul say in the headphones:  “OK Ace, let’s lay it down.”  Twenty minutes into the first session and on the first take the bed of Holy Ground was in the can.  JT and Gary did some overdub guitar parts and solos that took another 20 minutes but in forty minutes from the time that I played them the song it was done—in the can and we were moving on to the next song.

 

Gracie Vandiver—owner of Sunlight of the Spirit—told me that this was the way that things worked in Nashville but I just did not , could not, believe that anybody could play THAT well—good enough to do live single takes and it be great.  I just could not get my head or vision around that really happening.  What made it so jaw-dropping for me was not the musicianship, although these were some of the best players that I had ever seen—but the truly amazing thing was that they were composing as they were playing.  There were no rehearsals of this music.  Everything you hear on this album—every note of every song—was created in real time, live, with musicians jamming with each other while recording.  Amazing to me still.

 

Every song went this way.  Thirteen songs and—IMHO—the musicianship, the energy, the overall sound was perfect for each of the songs.  I have heard more critical than laudatory comments from people who have listened to the music thus far.  They have said that it is “too country” or “too folky” or “too much harmonica.”  While I appreciate other people’s experience with my music, I think it is perfect exactly the way it is and I would change nothing about the music on this album, even if I had unlimited resources.  If you listen closely enough, you can hear the energy, excitement and ecstasy of great musicians having a great time vamping off each other in a real-time jam.  You don’t get to hear that on very many records any more.

 

So who are these musical alchemists?

Paul Scholten (Image 2) (Drums/Pre-production/ Guru).  Paul is the owner of County Q.  County Q began as a studio in Nashville in 1985 and has come to be known as a “players studio” in the dog-eat-dog musical world of Nashville.  No bullshit.  No drama.  Just good musicians who love playing music.  This has been the ethos that Paul created and has sustained County Q for the past 28 years. “We’ll get you 13 ‘crunchy tracks,” is what Paul said to me the first time we SKYPE’d in the pre-production process.  In addition to playing spectacular drums, Paul charted all the songs and served as the de facto producer for this project.  He organized all the musicians.  It was his knowledge of the skills and temperaments of the musicians that created such a perfect storm of players for this album.  I liked Paul and his straight-ahead authenticity and dedication to the music from the first moment that we talked.  When I shared with Paul the hardships that I had experienced in my previous attempts to record, he said all the right things without being pandering.  He was patient as I moved slowly through all the contractual issues.  He stayed 100% transparent with every single business interaction.  He is not in recovery, but he works one hell of a program.  I suspect his integrity and singleness of purpose is why County Q has thrived in Nashville while hundreds of other studios have gone out of business.

 

Paul & Dow playing Holy Ground 1 (Image 6)
Had it not been for Paul Scholten, this record would not have been made.  We..I…am deeply indebted to him and I am privileged to call him a friend.

J T Corenflos (Image 3)(Electric Guitar—genius).  While I had no idea who J.T. was the first day I arrived at County Q, I do now.  He is one of the top guitarists in Nashville.  He is voted into the top five every year and has been nominated eight times for Guitarist of the Year from the Academy of Country Music.  And he played his guts out on this record.  Listen carefully to the electric guitars on this record—every single note is perfect.  His solos are perfectly timed and articulated, oozing with heart and soul, and just straight-up perfect.  His rhythms are perfectly in the pocket and capture the spirit of every song.  We were working on Crawling and it hadn’t yet gelled and he walked back to me in the iso booth and asked, “I’m hearing a baritone guitar on this song, mind if I give it a try?”  WTF?  Of course I don’t mind.  Did you hear Crawling?  The baritone vamp off that G-chord is the bricks and mortar of that song now.  Simple, clean and essential.  He is obviously capable of playing flourish and filigree, however, I just love that he finds the RIGHT thing to play.  I played him this little whimpy arpeggio thing for Martha and what does he do?  He comes up with that centerpiece ascending and descending riff that just makes that song.   Perfect.  He plays guitar like I want to recover—egoless.  That is not to say that he plays tentatively—he positively struts in the Willingness solo—but you can hear the maturity and lack of anxiety (but brimming with energy) in all of his playing.  I am so grateful that Paul selected J.T. for this project.  He was the perfect match.  When we had finished and were listening to the final of Crawling JT said, to no one in particular, “Well, we don’t sound like a bunch of old men sitting in chairs, do we?”

 

There is one interesting anecdote that I can share that I believe says a great deal about who J.T. is and what he is about.  On the second day of recording, J.T.’s son came to the afternoon session.  While J.T. was working on a solo, I asked this 14-year-old mildly emo-looking young man if he was a player.  He silently nodded his head.  I then asked him, “Are you as good as your old man?”  He laughed and looked me in the eye and said, “My dad is a guitar god.”  I almost teared up as I immediately thought about how good a relationship a 14 year-old must have with his father to be able to say that about him.  It was a very sweet moment.  Turns out his son is right, JT IS a guitar god.

 

Gary Brunette (Image 4) (Acoustic Guitars) –  Gary did a great job with the acoustic guitars throughout the album.  When we were recording, I thought Gary was the one who was the least into the project.  However, after he heard the final mix he wrote a very positive email about the project.  Here are some of the excerpts from that email:

 

In every way, based on the premise, theme, general emotion that Eric set out for us when we started this record, IMHO, is near perfect. It maintains and supports the demeanor of his personal message thru-out…..lyrically and musically.

 

Not an easy feat.

 

The addition of the BGV’S and the various instrument overdubs…. Harmonica, cello,12 string that appear  sprinkled thru-out makes for a good, interesting listen from top to bottom.

 

 The mix is soulful and very believable…….just the facts…no gags

 The mix, to my ears goes along way in reinforcing the spirit of the lyric…..warm…. soulful…once again believable

 

The restraint on all levels is admirable. especially in a musical time period where EVERYTHING sounds fake and “fiddled with”

 

This record sounds like something that would make Bob Dylan proud…….in his “good” mid-70′s period

 

These days, a record made by real musicians sitting in a room together playing off of each other, exchanging ideas on the spot, in the moment, while the singer sings is a rarity and something that should not under estimated.

Thanks, Gary.  Glad you played on this record.

 

Dow Tomlin – Bass.  Dow was the bottom of the album, both in his bass playing and his mellow and grounded presence.  He was a pleasure to play with and did a very solid job driving the low end without competing with anyone.  His bass lines, like JT’s licks, fit perfectly to the songs.

 

Shane Keister – Piano/keyboards.  Shane is “one of the most recorded musicians in the world.”  He’s played with everyone…from Foghat to Five for Fighting…to Elton John to touring with Elvis.  It was a privilege to have him on this album.  His syncopated intro and outro for Go I makes that song into something completely different than as it began.

 

Jim Hoke – Harmonica.  Jim’s discography, like the rest of the ensemble that played on this album, reads like a who’s who in American pop, rock and country music.  Jim plays everything wind.  On this album he did those spectacular harp sounds from the anthemic wail in Crawling, to the dark greasy sound in First Time to the wistful Neil Young-esque sound in Hope, Jim fit the part to the song.  Another perfect pick from Paul for this record.

 

Austin Hoke – Cello.  Kleen 2013 was Austin’s first professional gig.  He is Jim’s son and had just a month previously graduated from the music conservatory with his degree in string instruments.  He did a great job on the three songs we asked from him.  He does an especially nice job with the solo in I Believe and the fills in Secrets.  I hope that we do him proud for his first professional record.

Paul & JT on Surrenders bridge