So for a few weeks now it has been postulated that at some point we might throw together a “for real” bluegrass ensemble to record two tunes that lean in that direction, “Beauty Lay Beneath the Wheel” (a song central to our Murder at a Circus Sideshow mini-opera) and “With His Blood” (my best stab at writing a totally non-ironic, sincere-sounding gospel tune).
However, you know how things go for us. They don’t.
So imagine my surprise when Glen and I arrived at the studio only to find that young Daniel Sturdevant had actually returned to Su Su Studios OF HIS OWN VOLITION AND FREE WILL! And not only that, he’d brought a guitar and a mandolin!
Well, I had never reckoned on this day actually coming to light, so I hadn’t bothered to relearn these songs. I also hadn’t brought my acoustic. All that was left was “Fiddlesticks” (aka “Ol’ Rockytop”), which is the name of the heavily “modded” acoustic guitar that I got back in fourth grade and learned to play my very first songs on. (Ironically, the first song I ever learned to play was “What a Friend We have in Jesus”. So perhaps it was meant to be that I would play this crappy guitar on these songs, and bring it full circle.
Daniel was game, as was Glen, and after only a handful of runthroughs, we had both songs sounding tight as well as strangely authentic. I played the crap guitar and sang while Glen played a shaky tomato and sang harmony, and Daniel played mandolin.
We then did a version with the same lineup, only Daniel switched to guitar, and then we had him do some overdubs.
It turned out really nice. I’m eager to get these mixed.
Two more weeks until tracking wraps! Stay tuned to see which songs get finished and which ones are saved for “Bicentennial”.
One Comment
You asked me if I liked Arsenio. …’Bout as much as the Bicentennial!