The Dan Workman Studio Log

Hurricane Ike Books Time at SugarHill

2008-09-17T11:58:00.004-05:00

First and foremost, all of the SugarHill family are ok. Each of us suffered some damage at our homes, but nothing that can't be repaired. Jimmy Jaymes got the worst of it with some roof and wall damage. While I have power restored at my house, SugarHill Studios is not yet on line.

SugarHill lost many of the beautiful trees surrounding the buildings, and one huge ash (?) that marked the entrance to our warehouse. Sadly, that tree did not survive the windy maelstrom , and fell in a mighty arc that took down all of our power lines, and ripped our electrical service from the building. (See detailed photos, below)

We had a bit of water damage in the hallway in front of Studio B, and in one of our famous reverb chambers. We will be replacing the roof over the hallway and reparing the fences that got crushed by the trees.

All in all, we were VERY lucky: none of the studios, instruments, microphones, other gear were harmed, and all of the tapes and data are dry and secure!!! We have to rebuild the electrical service, but as soon as that gets done, and the city gets power to our neighborhood, then we will be back at full operational capacity. Our best estimate on when that will be is sometime early next week (9/23-24).

Gina is manning the phones and email, offsite: (713 926 4431, gina@sugarhillstudios.com). Check out the pictures below, and marvel that we are standing to start year #68 having weathered one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the Texas coast in over 25 years.

Limbs and branches down in the SugarHill park:

The Big Tree. " Tiiimmmbbeerr"

Tree 1, Fence 0:

When the wires came down, so did our electrical service:

A few spashes in the Studio A reverb chamber:

Gina Miller and Chris Longwood pull the saturated carpet out of the Studio B hall:

Just a bit of damage on the Studio A roof:

As you can tell from the photos

Sweet Surprise

2008-07-15T16:20:00.004-05:00

I'm mixing the second half of Sarah Sharp's CD, 'Flight or Flight', at The Treehouse with Steve Christensen. Sarah, and Buffalo Speedway show up, along with Alistair Sharp. So along with assistant, Stephen Davis, the gang is all here.

We're working on the songs, enjoying the company, and Sarah checks her email. Bam. The news comes in: Sarah's first half of the record (released in EP form for SXSW, 2008), is reviewed on NPR's All Songs Considered.

How very, very cool. The nice thing is that the review articulates just how I feel about our work. So strange that The Universe would be kind enough to send some validation our way right when the affirmation can do the most good.

Some days are sweet like that. Good for Sarah. Good for all of us at the Treehouse.

Getting Out of the House

2008-07-08T15:03:00.007-05:00

I'm working from the Caroline Collective today. Presently, I have set up my pro tools rig and keyboard at the table we are sponsoring at this amazing co-workspace. If you don't know what that is, hit the link above. CC reminds me of the energy of the mid 1980's (yes,... I was there with the dinosaurs), when all of the artists in Houston busted out of their studios and built spaces into the Commerce Street Warehouses.

I'm having my picture taken Jessica Grieves right now. I'm actually getting a TON of work done. Gina Miller just showed up from the studio leaving Stephen Davis in charge back at the shop. I feel like I'm getting away with something naughty by being here.....

I ducked out of the main work room to talk to Christi Chaos on the phone in the 'library'. I love checking out what books are on the shelves wherever I go, and the library of the Caroline Collective did not disappoint. Check out the Boyscout Handbook!

Mr. Workman Goes to Washington

2008-06-21T16:04:00.008-05:00

The Capital rotunda as seen from the floor of the United States Capital Building, between the House of Representatives, and the Sentate Chamber.

Where to start.

Since I last wrote, I've been the the Pot Luck Con in New Orleans, (formerly Tape Op Con), where I got to hang out with the many friends I've made in the industry over the years. I also hosted a panel on Urban Music. I met Raj Smoove and Billy Hume on that panel,... both extremely cool guys who have carved out quite a niche in their respective towns of New Orleans, and Atlanta.

While in New Orleans, I picked up the Voodoo Cold From Hell. The setting: I was at the closing event of the Pot Luck Conference, at the New Orleans Rock & Bowl, with Allen Corneau, Jeff Carrol, Mitch Easter, bowling it up and listening to some killer bands. Everybody was having a great time (read: half in the bag). I had this GIGANTIC SNEEZE, and Jeff ran over to me and asked, "Bro! What ball are you using???" I replied that it was the blue 12 pounder. He urgently replied, "Then stick out your hand!!" He then whipped out a pocket sized Purell bottle and squeezed a large dollop on my bowling (and sneeze-stopping) hand. We all laughed!!! Then next day, I had the full blown Voodoo Cold, and I just bet that Jeff did not. Bottom line, is that his paranoid, germaphobe, geek move most probably saved him from T.V.C.F.H. He most definitely had the last laugh.

Mr. Workman Goes to Washington.
I was asked by The Recording Academy to go to D.C. to take part in a lobby day in support of a national performance royalty for radio broadcasts (details can be found at the MusicFIRST Coalition's website). There I was (runny nose and all), walking the halls of the House of Representatives, meeting with congressmen and their staff to discuss a hearing that was taking place on the issue that afternoon.

The political process was fascinating, and the experience of talking to the lawmakers was pretty cool. Over the course of the day, I was whisked from office to office, from meeting to meeting, with congressmen and their aides. Talking to the lawmakers was interesting. In most cases, they did not understand the issue.

The smart ones, deferred to their aides to brief them--in front of us if necessary. The majority of those that we lobbied, tried to speak on our level of experience and expertise and, unfortunately, showed their true colors: that they were trying to appear informed and decisive when in fact, they didn't have a clue what was at stake. The political process was fascinating. The politicians, for the most part, were disappointing. It is interesting to note that even the least informed of the members of congress with whom we met, were surrounded by very smart people, telling them, basically, what to do and say. It is important for me to note that one of the members of congress from Houston was one smart cookie. I wonder if anyone caught my cold?

As for what I'm up to in the studio, I'm finishing edits on Sarah Sharp's new CD. We mix during the second week of July. Just a few more vocal edits and I'm done. Sarah's music always excites me, and I eagerly await the birth of the record (and her second child, soon-to-be daughter, Stella!). Sarah is really one of my heroes (heroines). She is always engaged in moving her career forward, and has become an extraordinary songwriter in the process of living a balanced life, and reporting her experiences and observations of the world in the form of compact, well told stories. Interesting note: I always mention Sarah, when people ask me who I'm working with, or what I'm liking. As of the past year or so, where ever I go in Texas, people have heard of Sarah. She's going to become one of the 'Texas Treasures' like Patti Griffin, and Towns Van Zant. You heard it (have been hearing it) here first.

I'm also winding up Winter Wallace's next three songs. Winter and I will be cutting vocals next weekend, and I am ready,... I've been listening to the songs over and over,... I'm ready to hear them in their final, and full vocal glory. Ross Wells is SUPER CONCERNED that Winter should be famous RIGHT NOW, and that her songs be FINISHED TODAY. I understand. What Ross doesn't know (and w0uld probably shock him), is that it's taken Winter about 5 years to get 7 songs done. Or almost done. Ok. Just about done.

Ross Wells, of Zenfilm, shot video on location at SugarHill's studio A for two projects: Jennifer's Grassman's song, Pretty Girls, and The Southern Backtones' song, Slumber Party. We are starting preproduction on The Backtone's fourth CD next week, and Jennifer and I have cut all of the piano performances for her 2009 CD. Jennifer continues to amaze me with her song writing, and is prolific to boot. Working with Hank, John and Todd is effortless in that we all seem to have complimentary visions for the songs. Look for a lot more about these two projects in the very near future.

Jake Dalton is gearing up to do the vocals for his first set of three songs, while at the same time, he and Rich Whiting and I are going to start working on arrangements for his next set.

I have arranged a song for David Enriquez. We are hoping to get together soon to get the final vocals and guitars on it. David's manager, Rolando Cuellar, and I have been wanting to work together for quite some time. Looks like it's finally going to happen.

Anne Loo's CD, Perfect Rainy Day, has finally undergone the final mastering/packaging revision and is on the streets. I written quite a bit about Anne and the Christensen, Jarvis, Workman, Loo production team in the past. I've said it before, and I'll say it again now, these are some of the best songs I have ever worked on. No qualifications. Do yourself a favor and see if you might agree, hit the link and actually buy a CD.

I'm still working like a mad man trying to keep up with the team at The Loft studios, helping to produce South Park Mexican's new CD. I know that the guy is controversial (check out the link, if you don't know what I'm talking about), but I'm here to tell you that his CD is going to be phenomenal. Think what you like about him, the man is in prison, but his music is going out in the world, and I'm here to tell you that his message, and his music, is unlike that of any rap album ever produced. There is a certain vulnerability, honesty, and purity of spirit--perhaps born from hubris--that is still in language that is straight from the street (or the pen). I'll only have one chance to work on art like this in my lifetime, and I'm going for it. Look out for some big changes in DHR in the very near future. In the meantime, Arthur Coy, Pain Ortiz, Slip, and Carolyn are busy putting Houston on the map with a ground breaking project.

Repurposing Old CD's

2008-05-09T07:10:00.006-05:00

Before I update, you need to click on this link (be sure and come back for you 'non-tabbed' browser folk!) and see how one enterprising soul is using a record cutting lathe to scribe music on old CD's--WHICH CAN THEN BE PLAYED AS 45's!!!!! I'm sure that the sound quality is not all that great, but this is just way too cool. Sort of the inverse of the little black CD's that are printed to look like a 45 RPM 7" single.

BIG NEWS: For those of you that know my work, you might be surprised to learn that I have been in cahoots with Jaime 'Pain' Ortiz, producing, engineering and playing for Dope House Records. Working with Pain, Slip, Shadow, Carolyn, and Arthur is shaping up to be an amazing experience. I'll post more about what, exactly, we're up to, but suffice it to say that all of my previous experiences working in the rap world (like, both of them) have been far surpassed by this amazing collaboration. More Will Be Revealed.

Rich Whiting and I finished our last two songs for Christian song writer, Susan Goforth. The songs, which were to be demos, have turned out to be full on finished product. Susan gave us a lot of latitude, and as a result, Rich and I had a blast arranging and performing the songs. In an uncanny twist of fate, I actually did a Zappa-esque RAP on the song, 'Spill It'. Is my world changing, or what??!!! Susan will be moving with her husband to the northeast. We hope to have some internet collaboration when she gets settled down.

I am involved in more than the rap scene. I've played Casio SK-1 parts for Eric Jarvis' client, Scott Spencer. Scott is a songwriter doing some innovative, rocking singer songwriter work. Eric trusted me to slather some SK-1 sauce on a few of Scott's songs. Eric claims to have been moved to the brink of tears by one of my parts--I hope that he regains his emotional balance soon, but appreciate the love-returned.

Rich Whiting and I will be recording vocals and some other overdubs on Jake Dalton's trio of tunes that we are currently working on. Jake is an amazing songwriter who, like Susan Goforth, has trusted us, mightily, to arrange and record his tunes. Seems like forever since our last arrangement meeting. I can't wait to get my hands on the tracks.

I've been mixing songs for LA songwriter/producer, Owen Thomas, on tunes for Mateo, and Pete Loughran. Owen has a penchant for infectious hooks and killer bridges. I've long admired his songs, and I'm honored to be playing parts and mixing for him.

Steve Christensen mixed Sarah Sharp's EP in time for an iTunes release during SXSW. Sarah was just at SugarHill doing the final vocals to complete the rest of the album. Sarah is pregnant with her daughter, Stella. She and Stella sang really well, and now I just need to comp the vocals and book a mix date. ALMOST DONE!

My work on Winter Wallace's CD continues. We have three, sweet songs in the bag. We are getting ready to cut violin and lead vocals. Everyone that knows of Winter's music, knows that she has something special going on. What I really need is about a week of continuous studio to finish her project. By the way, I got to play bass on these songs!!! I'm known as 'the bass monster' because my parts are all distorty-aggressive, but her songs are so freakin' beautiful. Beauty and the Beast. Sort of an inverse of my roll in my work with Pain Ortiz.

Today I start basic tracks on Jennifer Grassman's next CD. We'll be recording piano this afternoon. Jennifer has done well with our last effort, Keep Silent .
I don't plan to arrange and play on all of the songs on this next CD, but I'm sure that there is no way that I'm going to be able to pass on the opportunity to play on her songs. She is a magical performer, and I most definitely have the 'Jennifer Receptor Site' in my brain. I'm honored, as always, to be her producer and collaborator.

Marfa Run

2008-04-21T09:21:00.001-05:00

Cat's Paws

2008-01-26T14:45:00.000-06:00

My friend Leslie-Anne broke her nose yesterday in a tragic encounter with a heavy door,.... send her some love!

I'm working with classical pianist, Angela Johnson, from Canada, but most recently from the docks in Galveston Texas, where she disembarks from her cruise ship gig, flies up I45 to SHRS, plays for 4 hours, and scurries back to the boat for the next cruise cycle. Sounds exhausting, right? Well, she shows up and she brings it. Today we recorded in Studio A and were pretty productive. I'm just getting to know Angela and her music. The songs are solid, and she has the best attitude---superpro and a nice person to boot. She also has some amazing clothes:

Will Alderidge and I are still figuring out how theatrical poetry readings are supposed to be scored, performed and recorded. The trip is taking longer than I thought, but we're engaged and making progress.

We finished remixing Trystan Layne at The Treehouse with Steve and Chubs and Whitey.

So much more to report,... negotiating deals with The Blue Hit (see myspace), and a songwriter named Jake Dalton. Rich Whiting and I are working on a song for a very talented writer--Susan Goforth. Susan is a cool chick who's songs are an inspiration--Praise and Worship music meets U2 and Rush. Really. Christine Wu and I are negotiating a deal to play on a big rap record. More will be revealed on that!

Working very hard with Sarah Sharp to get her CD done. Must.....start.....editing...... Kevin Ryan is co-producing, arranging and playing, and will be there to help out with the mixes. Awesome!

I'm totally honored to be working with The Southern Backtones on a new song for Hank's movie,.... the song is has a new flavor now that John Griffin is playing bass and the band has become a badass trio.

Steve Christensen and I are going to be recording three new songs by Winter Wallace in a few weeks. I cannot wait. I've stuck my neck out and offered to play bass on one of the songs... hope I don't suck!

Christi and I will be married 13 years on 1/28/08. Time to go buy her a card and something nice.
Dan

Red Eye Special

2007-12-28T06:24:00.001-06:00

Well. THAT was hilarious/predictable. I just woke up (6:25am, CDT), and I'm listening to a piece on NPR about blogging. This week they ran a story on blogging every day in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the word 'weblog'.

I thought that I should update this neglected page, and I mused that would write something like, "it's way too early in the morning, but I'm going to try to write anyway since I have the time and inclination...". Well, I promptly opened the page, wrote the title, and posted a blank page. For the four or five folk who subscribe to this, well, they got a blank page.

I met with Ken Valentino and got pressed copies of the Contraband CD. When they told me that they were going to do a double CD, I thought that there would be two CD's in one package. Not so. We did record two sets, original songs and covers, which they put in two separate packages that look alike except for the color tint of the cover shots. The original CD, entitled 'Ours' and the cover song CD called 'Theirs'. The final effort looks great, and as usual for me, sounds even better with the art work and packaging done.

I also received finished packages from JJ Worthen and Anne Loo. Both CD's look beautiful. Anne's CD is a very 'high finish' piece of work with elaborate graphics, drawings by her children, Hannah and Peter, and a detailed book of liner notes. All three are digipacks (no plastic jewel cases to loose, break, and throw into a landfill. I'm having a real end of year moment looking at the physical manifestation of so much work. Excellent work, I might add. I've written extensively about how these three projects have been some of the best I have ever done (major label artists included in this assessment, btw). For some reason, I keep being blessed by incredible music and wonderful people showing up in my life wanting to do the work.

My current roster includes some more amazing artists. Will Aldrige is a poet. He's also the son of Melissa Cherry whom I've known from back when she worked at the Houston indie press paper, Public News. When Will came to me to talk about doing some songs, I thought that he is a rapper. Turns out that he's a poet whose performance experience is centered on readings and poetry slams. Will is unassuming, and has a literary, almost theatric style of writing. We are creating soundtracks to support his readings and I love it. What we are doing defies the normal music performance vocabulary, so I'm constantly asking him to sing, rap, speak or declaim. I can't settle on the worlds to describe his performance. In my mind, I'm writing and recording the music to a film soundtrack or theater musical (or track to a hip hop song, but I'm trying to stay away from that low hanging fruit only because I feel like that would be giving up too early). Yesterday, while we were working, we started to add orchestral elements to our 'beats' and the soundtrack idea was sealed in my mind. I can't wait to work on it some more.

Speaking of soundtracks, I got to mix another Jeff Walton movie soundtrack! Jeff scored an excellent film for Regent Entertainment, and as usual, I had a total blast just being with Jeff. There is something about my relationship with Jeff. As I've written before, he and I have a common reference point in music when I was playing in Culturcide, and his band, the Judy's were our contempories in the nascent punk/new wave scene here in Houston. Jeff and I never really knew each other back then, but I was a Judy's fan. When I got the opportunity to work with him in the mid '90's, he and I instantly hit it off. Jeff is one of those men in my life with whom I have an instant and deep connection each time I'm around him. I have the greatest respect for Jeff as a musician, and as a person. Besides working on his killer orchestral score, I got to play guitar and mix a separate project-- a cartoon theme song for an anime cartoon being pitched to a certain cartoon cable network, called Sgt. Frog. The song has the entire cast of the original Judy's playing the music,... and.... ME! This is an honor and a thrill. Hopefully, Sgt. Frog will get syndicated, and I'll get the chance to work on the series with Jeff. (Fingers crossed!).

This afternoon, I will be equally honored to return to the studio with The Southern Backtones. Hank (lead gtr., vocals) is a talented photographer/videographer. He's shot a movie, and of course, the Backtones have some music in the film. Today I get started with John, Hank and Todd on what is so far just called 'the movie song'. We're going to record bass, and some backing vocals. I'm changing the batteries in the SK1 as soon as I get to the office. Working with the Backtones, like working with Jeff Walton, is a day with some of my favorite people and dear friends who also just happen to be very talented. Awesome.

Well, I'm awake now. If I don't screw it up, this post should follow that blank page and make it safely to the net...

Trystan Layne, JJ Worthen, Anne Loo, Sarah Sharp, Maggie Walters,.... and,... me

2007-11-21T13:48:00.000-06:00

Steve Christensen mixed the bejesus out of Trystan Layne's last 3 songs. I produced Fade Away. Josh and Averille did an acoustic version of the same as well as a beautiful tune called Victims of the Way. I was really surprised at how quickly the tracking and production went on Fade Away. The guys stuck with some of their early, intuitive performances, which resulted in a track that is tight, focused, and rocks. I think that Averille and Adam were a bit freaked out when I kept telling them they had it nailed quickly on their parts. I KNOW that Josh Applebee was. We came in to track the drums and Josh had everything roughed in on mic ideas and preamps already. We spent an hour setting up, brought up the faders and the drum sound was just there. I believe we repositioned a hat mic, and that was it. Scared Josh to death---he's normally extremely meticulous in setting up the drum recording (read: slow as Christmas -- but worth it). Funny thing, I actually bitched out Josh because I thought he was late for the session,... when it turned out he already had everything done the night before. DOH!

Rich Whiting and finished our project with JJ Worthen. Look for a song or two to be on the Sound Board in the next few days. JJ's project was so good, that I'm left with that super empty feeling, "... certainly we have more stuff to track,... don't I have another part to play?..... Isn't Trystan Layne doing something with me today,...?" JJ, Rich and I are going to work on some new arrangements just so I don't slide into a black depression.

Anne Loo is threatening to get her juggernaut of project duplicated and done. I can't wait to post the art work. Team Jarvis/Workman/Loo/Christensen are meeting regularly to keep the torch lit.

I'm working on Sarah Sharp's next record with Kevin Ryan, and I met up with Maggie Walters to do some songwriting while I was in Austin. Working with Sarah is so natural that I forget that it's work. My connection with Maggie is still just as strong as when we last worked together. By the way, she has an album in the can produced by Paul Leary. I have heard one track from it and if the rest of the CD is as good as what I heard there will be a lot people talking about it. Check her out on her site for release info. It'll be one of those CD's that I wish that I did. Bam!

I'm playing another ambient music performance under the name 'Cautionary Tales', for a Wayne Gilbert curated art show. The first of the series was in Marfa, Tx. during the famous Chinati Weekend Open House in October. Next stop, Huntsville. The visual art alone is worth the trip.

Clarification on the SBT blog

2007-10-29T19:43:00.001-05:00

When I wrote that I was "...proud to have produced it,....." I meant the song, not this KILLER video.

*just making sure*
Dan

The Southern Backtones Video

2007-10-29T19:38:00.000-05:00

The Backtones have released a killer video of the song Forever. Hank, John, and Todd look awesome, and most important, the video looks like the song sounds. The imagery is so true to the guys' vision and attitude about music. I'm honored to have produced it with them and Steve Christensen.

There are some awesome cameo appearances by Logan Bosemer and Allen Corneau.

enjoy.

Release Date for Jennifer Grassman's: Keep Silent

2007-10-23T06:20:00.000-05:00

It took two years, but my Christmas CD with Jennifer Grassman is going to be released this week on the TLM Productions label. This was an ambitious project from the very beginning. Jennifer had an idea of doing a record that featured older and little known Christmas hymns. I asked her if she would be open to my producing and arranging the songs with a modern surreal twist. She agreed and work began in August of 2005.

Check out the review in That Texas Magazine by Howie Doyle.

trystan layne returns

2007-09-27T17:05:00.001-05:00

I'm really pumped because I started a new song with Trystan Layne this week. We've tracked drums and, today, guitars. Here are some shots of the session. The cute little girl is Averille's GF Tina. Oh, when she was a lot younger.

The song is amazing. We are a bit more stripped down in our approach to the instrumental arrangement, but the song sounds huge! Averille and Adam brought their A Game, as did my trusted engineer, Josh Applebee.

Back to the session

Winter Wallace Song and Video

2007-09-11T17:55:00.000-05:00

Just finished this song with Winter Wallace and Nolan Burke. I got the idea for the video while driving home right after Steve and I finished mixing it. I was listening to the song, and the evening sunset looked like the first line of the video; "It's early morning...."

Song Writing 101

2007-07-25T14:03:00.000-05:00

Last night, Rich Whiting and I had the pleasure of being guest lecturers in JJ Worthen's song writer's workshop at River Pointe Church in Richmond, Texas. Ignacio Gonzalez was one of the participants and he wrote a cool blog entry on the evening's proceedings.

Rich and I had a blast, and I learned something in the process (like, I was probably the least skilled song writer of the bunch). Check out the the blog here.

By the way, this is a bust of the Epic Poet, Homer. He was one of the topics of discussion at the workshop. Weighty!

In other news, Rich, JJ and I had our first official pre production session for JJ's upcoming EP! This has been years in the making, and we are all pumped. Stay tuned for more information, and possibly video, of the process.

Contraband Recording

2007-06-25T10:49:00.001-05:00

Well, for those of you that got a blank post in your email, well,.. oops. Here's the real deal. We have a busy week. Allen Corneau will be mastering projects for Christy Suggett, and yes, the Anne Loo project. Yea! I'm still talking with several new artists about projects for the Fall, and I'm going to be talking to the Drop Trio about finally doing their project.

Now that the housekeeping is done, I can relate what went down yesterday at Maple Leaf Studios. MLS is really the home of Zac, Lucy, and Ken Valentino--the three members of Contraband. We officially embarked on a two CD project yesterday. The first CD is of CBand arrangements of cover songs. John Griffin joined us in the effort which entailed bringing a bunch of my and John's gear over to Ken's home and transforming his living room into a studio. New Paradigm recording, for sure. Our mission was to record the band olde-school-style, no net: We recorded all of the playing and singing at once (how about THAT o' contrived record makers). Once we got in the groove, we didn't think about the process at all. We just recorded some great performances. We did 10 songs, and we got about half of them on the first take. Lucy had some awesome chopped beef sandwiches to keep us going, as well as cookies, coffee, and of course, Diet Coke. I'm not really sure that we appreciated how well we did until later. I am really pleased with the results. The recording was about the musicianship--not the gee-whiz of the process. Very well done, indeed.

Here are some shots from the day:

Here is Ken's "Contraption" (as Lucy has dubbed it). Ken plays guitar, hi-hat, porch board, and sings. All at the same time. This is his rig:

Here's Lucy wondering wtf we are doing to her living room:

Here's a view looking back towards the front of the room. You can see 'the contraption' area being blocked off with blankets to prevent hat-bleed:

Lucy, singing and playing at the same time:

Here's Zac and Ken:

I love this shot,... You can almost see it in Ken's face,..."left foot, hat,... left foot hat,...." How in the world does he play with both hands, both feet, and sing?

As you can see, my job was easy. I hung out on the couch and did quality control. I did get to put my hands on the gear,.... maybe twice. John did a killer job of that. So I got to hang out like Rick Ruben, chillin' with my homies (or doggies), Holly and Winnie.

By the way, the part of Ken's 'contraption' at the top of this post, is the porch board (with Ken's special clod-hopper, 'trigger shoe', resting on top). The porch board is an electric device that, when plugged into an amp, makes a sound like your foot keeping time on an old porch. Next year's model will probably have a midi out port. ;)

A Short Breather, KPFT INTERVIEW

2007-06-04T22:22:00.000-05:00

Anne Loo's project is finished, except for the mastering. Wow. THAT was one hell of a ride. Thank you, Anne. And Brad, and Peter, and Hannah. And Steve, and Eric, and Matt, and Paul, and Dennis, and Max, and Rick, and Jose Miguel. The music is amazing, and the journey was one that will mark the past year and a half in a wonderful way. If it's ok with Anne, I'll post some of the music on this site after it's mastered. I hope that everyone reading this gets to hear Anne's amazing songs.

Right now, I'm getting ready to record a TWO CD SET for Ken Valentino's Contraband. John Griffin is going to engineer, and I am very excited with the rehearsals. We're going to do a cover song CD, and an original song CD. Both will be very original. I'll write more about that project soon.

I'm making great headway on Jennifer Grassman's Christmas CD. I'm about half way through the writing and arranging and recording and mixing (whew) of what will also be a two CD set. (What the HELL am I thinking with all of these double CD's,... I am grateful for the work).

I'm also working on Sara Hickman's arrangments, (but don't tell her,.. it's a surprise), and Kevin Ryan and I are getting started working with Sarah Sharp's (the original Sarah) band on arrangements for her new CD.

Even though I have all of that going on, I'm considering this to be a bit of downtime for me. I'm getting ready to go to the annual Tape Op Conference in Tucson on Thursday. Allen Corneau will fly up there with me. I'm honored with the task of moderating the mastering panel this year, and I'm pumped about that. Christine Wu will be joining us on Friday as she wings it over from LA to do the Tape Op hang for the first time.

Today I was a guest on the local Pacifia affiliate, KPFT 90.1. The show was the Living Arts show. The format of the show is to interview artists and discuss their work. This was exciting for me because I usually am interviewed about my work in support of the artist I'm working with. This time I was the artist in question. Check this link for the show.

I'm the second guest, and I got a whopping 35 minutes of the show. I played Kawasaki Green, by the SK-1 Project, Anne Loo's Perfect Rainy Day, and part of Christine Wu's and my composition, Darkest Night at the end of the show. During the rest of the time I waxed prolific on all sorts of topics ranging from the state of the music industry (local and international), as well as iPods vs. LP's (those old big black CD things that played with a needle). It was a TON of fun.

Finally, in this multimedia age, I made an avant garde video resume for a performance art piece in NYC. The video is mostly a delivery system for the music, but I had a good time doing it. I found it to be a BRUTAL experience to edit footage of my face. ROUGH! The music is all stuff that I have produced, performed, composed, or mixed. You can check it out below thanks to youtube. Woot.

Joyce Pierce Press

2007-05-04T06:54:00.000-05:00

Joyce Pierce's CD, 24/7 Intimate Praise, is building momentum one gospel station, one church, and one fan at a time. Consistantly over the past year, the press and reviews have become more frequent and more positive. Here is a story link to the Houston Chronicle.
The only downside (for me) of the article is that it didn't mention the beautiful arranging/composing and playing of Kevin Ryan and Shaun Green.

Joyce and I became very close during our work, and today I count her as a wonderful friend. You can hear one of her songs, Abba Father, on the Soundboard of this site.

Way to go, Joyce.

Sara Hickman, Rocky Raccoon, and Walter

2007-04-27T14:37:00.000-05:00

Sara Hickman came to Houston to do some songwriting with me this week. I met Sara while working for the Recording Academy's Board of Govenors. We hit it off, and found that we admired each other's work. We worked on 4 songs, two of which show great promise. I am excited and honored that Sara wanted to explore what we can do together. If our work goes well, she might be debuting one of the songs at the ACL festival in the Fall. Woot! While Sara was here, she sang backing vocals on one of Anne Loo's songs, I'm Leaving. Anne and I had a wonderful time working with Sara, and she added her cool mojo to the track.

Momma Raccoon decided to crawl into my office wall to have babies. When she left, she abandoned one of them, so Allen 'Raccoon Whisperer' Corneau (left) and Jimmi Jaymes Garlington (right) helped me knock a hole in the wall (behind my office) to get the tyke out of there. We named him Rocky, naturally, and took him to the SPCA who promised to ween him and release him into the wild (presumably away from our neighborhood). Good Luck, Rocky!

This is a picture of my dad, Walter Workman, during my most recent visit to see him in the hill country of central Texas. We both ride 1970's era BMW motorcycles, so we did what came natural and rode around the hills. My dad is one of my best friends, and most certainly my hero, so I thought I would include this picture of him and his bike.

Today I'm working on my Christmas CD with Jennifer Grassman. I have about 9 more songs to write arrangements for, and play on. Jennifer is one of my favorite female vocalists and is a close friend. The songs are coming out very well, so I'm going get back to work.

I just noticed that my 'writing voice' on today's blog is incredibly 'blah',.... I guess that I am saving my creative juices for the music.

(smiley emoticon),
dAn

Olivia Lane

2007-03-12T07:07:00.000-05:00

My friend, Maureen Doherty, recommended that I speak with a young lady that needed a vocal demo, Olivia Lane. Olivia is an aspiring actress/singer who already has an impressive resume (she is 16). I usually don't do demos, but Olivia seemed talented, motivated, and was a really fun person to be around. Her dad, Brent, and mom, Mary Ann, were equally charming. What sealed the deal for me was that they wanted to do cover songs.

Now it's been a long time since I've busted a move on a cover song (Carolina Bedetta's Welcome to the Jungle, on the soundpage of this site). We negotiated a long list looking for songs that were very recognizable, suited Olivia's personality, and were not 'untouchable' in the sense that the original artist/performance would just invite a negative comparison to the original. The challenge, in my mind, was to tweek each song's style so that the hearing of the song would create a mild surprise once the tune was recognized in it's new form.

Olivia and I settled on Alanis Morissette's Ironic, and Stevie Wonder's Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day, (I am getting really tired of typing that song title). We did Ironic as a ballad, and Shoo-Be as a hip hop song. The results were far more cool than I originally thought. Olivia brought it like the pro that she is, and Rick Thompson (keys), and Max Dyer (cello) , put some great love on the tracks. Check out the tunes here: Ironic
and Shoo-Be .

Conde Mix

2007-02-05T09:31:00.000-06:00

We've been mixing Mike Conde's songs over the weekend. Steve and I are in the groove after finishing Anne Loo's incredible six songs--then hitting it hard with Mike and Rudy.

Steve has really taken the lead on our mixing chores, which surprises me when I think about it. Steve's focus and talent are great, and my trust in him is implicit. So I find myself gravitating more and more to the producer roll--less 'hands on' at the console than I ever have before. This is probably as it should be, but I do so enjoy mixing.

Yesterday we mixed a song, Days, that started out life as a long rocker and has become a much more dramatic piece. At 7:38 it is a long song, but it doesn't seem like it. If Mike agrees, I'm going to post it here on the soundboard. Mike and Rudy have been a pleasure to work with. Steve has been the most amazing co-producer. All is good for our final day of mixing.

I'll post more about Anne's mixes soon.

SHRS in Mix Magazine

2007-01-05T11:31:00.000-06:00

Dotson Pics

2006-11-26T12:20:00.000-06:00

First of all, the Mike Conde sessions are going sweetly. Steve has been an invaluable asset to the team as both engineer and co-producer. We have one song that is not exactly kicking our ass, but it is challenging our ability to channel what we know is ready to be born. The song's name is Daze (Days? I can't remember..) Like These. We are trying to create a tapestry of feedback orchestration along with traditional orchestral (and rock) elements. We haven't even gotten to that part yet due to some tuning issues on our tracks. One thing I do know about this song, is that it is going to the be total schiz-nit. Yesterday, my band, The SK-1 Project was playing at the Santamojo Festival, and I had a KILLER idea while playing onstage for Daze. I'm pumped and can't wait to try it. It's using the SK-1 with an overblown vocal sample to create JUST the 'roaming wooley mammoth' sound that's been in my head. More Will Be Revealed.

I just go through doing pre production edits for Trystan Layne rehearsal today. This is our tracking rehearsals for the two new songs we are doing together. (We have a 9AM studio date on Tuesday!!!). I've been in a long gestation phase on these songs. I got up early this morning, and slipped on the phones and did some drum editing on the old songs. Then I crafted some loops in Reason to cut with as click tracks. I'm looking forward to rehearsal today,.. oh, and I'm coming up with TONS of stuff to make the songs sound huge.... mostly those 'ghost parts' that I like to create with keys and guitars in the background.

My sessions with Anne Loo continue to be productive and fun. Anne is at the 'learning to produce herself' stage as regards her vocals, and I have decided to let her lead in this respect. She has a great ability to tell when she can do it better, and I have been wrong a couple of times in thinking that she has already done her best. Go Anne! Eric has been black boxing some sweet mandolin, backing vocal, and string parts, and I through in the ideas that I feel passionate about. I'm still not real used to having such a talented co-producer at my disposal, so I am still learning to get out of the way of Eric's strengths!

We have had Dennis Dotson and Paul English play some parts for us. Here are some great photos of the Dennis session:
We were fortunate to have John Griffin engineering for us while Steve was busy.

Dennis played trumpet and flugelhorn (which he hates because it's hard to play in tune..... but he is great at it anyway).

Here's Anne praying that the part comes out OK,... Dennis looks on skeptically....

Here's 'The Gang'. After all was said and done, Dennis played some awesome parts, and we had a ball. Thanks, Dennis.

SugarHill Celebrates 65 Years of Music

2006-11-03T16:33:00.000-06:00

From the November, 2006 issue of Mix Online.

The SK-1 Project

2006-10-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

Sunday, October 1st, 2006. Yeah, I haven't blogged in quite a while. As I write, Christi is out decorating the porch here at Casa Workman for Halloween. I helped with the animatronic spider (cool), the 3/4 life-sized glow in the dark skeleton (sort of cheesy), and the halloween lights around the front window (cool). Fall is here, and it is always busy. I love the rush of energy that I get when the summer comes to an end, and the darkness start to slip up earlier and earlier each day.

One of the reasons I haven't updated lately is because our band, The SK-1 Project, has been rehearsing and playing quit a bit. Click on the subject line link for this post to go to our myspace page and hear and see what we are up to. For the uninitiated, The SK-1 Project is Phil Jones, Heba Kadry, Leigh Crain, and myself, playing circuit bent Casios, vintage synths, and an occasional traditional instrument (guitar and,.. well,.. melodica!). There is talk of a west coast tour (!), and we are planning to do some shows where we play a live soundtrack to a silent screening of a contemporary film. More will be revealed.

I have been super busy in the studio. Running the front office at SugarHill has been a challenge as well. Somehow, I carved out the time to finish my mixes on Christine Wu's project. Allen Corneau at Essential Sound just put the finishing touches on the mastering. Check out The Soundboard on the danworkman.com site to hear the song "Spacey" which is my current favorite. Christine composed, performed, and recorded all of these herself. Amazing. Check out her site to see where she is playing. Christine and I are also working on two performance art pieces, scheduled to take place in 2007. 'String Theory' will be performed as a part of a multi-media art show, and 'Nomad' will be Christine and I doing a music/video interpretation of modern globalism as it impacts one's sense of home. (Did that sound good?)

Work on Anne Loo's remaining 9 songs for her CD is coming along really well. We are getting ready to cut the drums on 6 more songs over next week. Eric Jarvis, Anne, and I have been hard at work in arranging sessions. Anne has continued to mature in her production skills at an amazing rate. I'm sure that I'll have pics from our tracking session to post next week.

We are getting similarly close to tracking Mike Conde's band. We have the songs sewn up. Steve Christensen is on board to co-produce. Now were at the final pre-pro stages. Funny thing: we are talking about trying out a pretty ambitious idea--using guitar feedback as source material for an orchestral arrangement. I started talking about a Sigur Ros song to be used as a reference, and all of the sudden I'm using a visual description of 'a woolly mammoth' lumbering across the ancient tundra to describe the tone. Now I can't get woolly mammoths out of my head. Stupid, I know, but the sound is SO EXACTLY a woolly mammoth lumbering across.... The visual image is so great. I can only hope that it leads to a killer song.

I'm getting near to signing a deal with Trystan Layne. This is a modern pop/rock band who is hiring me to produce 4 songs. I'm supposed to pick material tomorrow, so I'll bring you up to speed soon.

My childhood & adult friend, Andrew Amelang, and I have formed a record label. Yes, you read that right. I cannot believe that I have gone over to the dark side and become a label owner. Well, in this case it's the LIGHT side. Andrew and I have formed TLM Records, and signed our first artist, Jennifer Grassman (who just got married and is now, really, Jennifer Greenberg, but that's for a different blog). Another funny thing. I did NOT produce the record. My friend, Mike Thompson did this one. I'm working on another project with Jennifer (our Christmas CD, due out in 2007). Andrew and I have founded a community of young artists in Brehnam, Texas, called TLM, which stands for Truth, Love, and Music.

Jennifer is happy as a clam, and I am super excited to be creating a brand of exceptional music with my friend, Andrew. FYI: Andrew and I played together (along with a guy named, Bill Smart), in our very first rock band way back in Jr. High School. We were called 'The Remaining Few'. Bill's second hand drum kit already had that painted on the front head, so we decided to keep the name. DOH!

Speaking of the stone age, my old experimental rock band, Culturcide, is having it's first LP, Year One, re-released. I've had to get a bunch of old art work and posters scanned. Here's the poster that became the cover of Year One. Spooky, huh. By the way, Really Red were an INCREDIBLE Houston punk band.

This just about does it for the catch up. The final thing of note is that Steve Christensen has lead a team of SugarHill'ers through a massive renovation of Studio C. I don't have my pictures downloaded from my camera on that yet, but I do have a picture of Steve, hard at work. The renovation looks and sounds really good. Way to go team!