Mr. Workman Goes to Washington

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

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

Cat's Paws

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

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

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

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

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.