Progress on the Next Track... and a New (But Old) Song

The next tune should be ready within the week. With the exception of taking another stab at the guitar solo, everything has been tracked and it's now just a matter of getting it mixed and mastered. It's not the tune I talked about last month; I was working on them both, and this one just happens to be the one that got the attention. I won't say to much with it just around the corner, but it's a rock tune with a thick vein of funk throughout, and I hope you'll enjoy it.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share something to tide you over. It's not really a tune to be considered part of the project, more of a reflection back to my early musical endeavors. When I was recapping my trip to New Orleans, I talked about performing a swing tune I wrote with my old band when I was back in high school. Our placing in that battle-of-the-bands won us a two-song demo's worth of recording time at the home studio of one of the organizers. That swing tune was one of the recordings, and it's the one you hear below.

Mean Left Hook



So where did the tune come from? I'm somewhat prone to what are called styes, which can cause an angry-looking bump on the eyelid. I'd frequently get asked what the deal was with my eye, and after a while of giving the same old straight answer, I started having a bit of fun with my answers.  On one particular occasion when asked what happened to my eye, I responded, "never mess with a woman with a mean left hook". Afterwards I realized it would make a good lyric, and I managed to form a song around it.

The recording itself was pretty tough. Due to the fact that the "recording booth" was a basement room that couldn't have been more than 8 feet by 6 feet with a 9-piece drum kit taking a substantial portion of the space, we had to track the instruments one by one rather than play together as a group. I don't think a single one of us had ever been forced to record in such a degree of isolation before. It was certainly difficult, but somehow we managed to pull the parts together.

I could try to re-record this tune - and at some point I might - but this recording of the tune is special to me. The song wouldn't be a fraction of what it is without the other members of the band I was a part of. They were three of the finest musicians I have had the opportunity to play with. I respect them greatly, so if any of them somehow stumble upon this post and do not wish their name associated with it or their performance used, I will gladly edit their name out of the post and/or remove the tune.  Until then I want to give my heartfelt thanks to Jeff Graville (drums), Matt Schrock (sax), and Alan Fiddler (bass) for helping give life to a tune that never would have seen the light of day if it weren't for your contributions.