Fancy Pants Recording Session!

So far, tracking for the record has been done in Adam's studio - The Community Musician. I love the Community Musician for many reasons, including:

1. It's super cozy & comfy.
2. The New Orleans painting on the wall inspires/scares me depending on the time of day.
3. Adam gets killer sound on everything - including drums.
4. Currently there is a gorgeous Rhodes in the control room.
5. There is whiskey, tea & chocolate in stock at all times.

However for a couple special songs - namely So Hard & Stranger Things - we wanted to track a performance of a giant Grand Piano, Cello & Live Vocals. Little to no editing, just a straight through shot of the song. These days, a talented engineer or producer can create songs out of very little actual music - and we wanted to go old-fashioned and just give the real raw music. So we turned to the 9th Street Opus Studio. 9th Street Opus is LUCE's (Adam's band) record label - and their studio is equipped with the giant Grand Piano we were looking for.

It was pretty freakin' gorgeous in there. I'm talkin' a real FANCY PANTS studio. I walked in and thought "should've worn my heels!" First of all, it was the size of a house. The kitchen & bathroom had the shiniest of new fixtures and counter-tops. They had a cappuccino maker AND a mini-keg dispenser. The control room was like a movie theater with multiple sets of speakers the size of your front door. And then there was the tracking room.

Twas a fancy day of recording :).

Who Needs the Great American? I'm a House Concert Convert...

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing Megan Slankard & Matt Nathanson perform at a House Concert in San Francisco. It was part of KC Turner's House Concert Series (get on that email list - he has some super performers!) and put on at Peter Finch's house from KFOG. It was lovely. Both musicians were amazing, Peter's house was beautiful and KC was a kick-ass host! I left feeling totally inspired. As an audience member, I felt so connected to Matt & Megan, and appreciated the music far more than some giant arena where I'm staring at a big screen TV's. As a musician - I began planning my very own house concert.

Two, to be exact. Technically the first was the Redding Backyard House Concert. The second, held indoors in SF was so generously hosted by one of my best friends (from childhood) Leigh Renard. She has an adorable place in the Sunset of San Francisco - so we rented some chairs, hit Costco for some snacks and let it happen. We were lucky to have the lovely ladies of Kindness & Lies open the evening, and they were (surprise) a smash! There's just something about women singing 3-part harmony that I'm a sucker for. I was joined by my sister Shelby Grolig, Rebecca Roudman (cello) and Abigail Picache (cajon). I remember half way through the set thinking - this room is packed full of some of the most important & wonderful people in my life. Awesome. And then there was an encore (who knew?!?) so I asked Adam (my producer) to join me on So Hard, which is the oldest song going on the new record! The cheesy moment of the evening was Niall & I doing a cover of one of my favorite songs - Stephin Merrit's "The Book of Love." After which, it turned into a cross-band-audience jam session fading into a party of whiskey & wine. Does it get better than this?

100+ Degrees of FUN!

Last month I had the pleasure of road-tripping it up to Redding with Niall, Shelby & Barry for a show in my hometown. A couple things about Redding; The people are wonderful, the scenery is gorgeous and the Summers are HOT AS HELL. I'm talking 106 degrees hot. So naturally we thought - Outside Concert!

A good friend of mine, Gerry Gitchell, offered to host this Backyard Concert & BBQ - The Willis St. Day on the Green. Despite the heat, it was a great weekend! Hometown hospitality is the best kind. We had a few local businesses sponsor (Special thanks to Kelly Wooden of Chase Bank) and I even had my first interview in the local paper, the Record Searchlight! Gerry's backyard easily fit the 70 guests, and there was a little built-in stage area where we set up the keyboard and PA system. Jamie Clark who is another Bay Area artist, opened up the set. His guitar skills were fantastic and his voice was full of soul and power. That guy knows how to work a crowd!

By the time I took the stage, the sun was setting and you could see Mt. Lassen in the distance. I forgot just how beautiful it is in Redding. I was joined by my sister, Shelby Grolig and then two special musicians - Barry Pfeffer, who played both drums & guitar, and Anthoni Polcari, a local Redding cello player. We even had a surprise showing from the house kitty cat on stage... adorable! It was a blast. People were so supportive, and I spent hours after the show getting to know the people I had just performed for. I can't wait to get up there and do it again!

Water --> Throat Coat Tea w/honey --> Glenlivet straight up.

Vocals in the studio on Monday went like this:

It's been a long few weeks. I can't complain, because I've been singing nonstop. If I'm not in the studio working on the record, I'm lugging my keyboard to Redwood City Plaza for an outdoor show, or driving up to Redding for a backyard concert. It's been so much fun, but it is taking a toll on my voice. I'm so exhausted! Top it all off, I'm fighting off a cold.

So my trip to the studio on Monday was a bit of an uncertainty. We were set to record vocals for my songs "Taken" and "Fight or Flight," but I had no idea if I had the juice for it! I sipped on water, to stay hydrated and we got started. Half way through "Taken" I decided to dive into the Throat Coat - and let me tell you, if you haven't tried this miracle potion, you must! It's like a massage for your tired and swollen vocal chords - and I'm considering just ordering a boat-load online to keep for emergencies. That's right, me with no voice is a freakin' emergency. For me at least. I think for N it's sort of a God-send... But back to the studio: we surprisingly finished "Taken" with very little trouble and it was on to "Fight or Flight." I was a bit nervous because we've modified some of the lyrics and updated the bridge a bit - but we went head first. Adam pulled out the Glenlivet and I took a nice big glass into the vocal booth with me. Oh yeah, it was like 1:30 in the afternoon :) There's something about whiskey and singing - it's my go-to for shows and now its becoming my standard in the studio. Never more than 1 glass, because then it just turns into a sloppy karaoke session (oh how I miss those NY nights), but a little warm fuzzy whiskey helps loosen everything up. Crazy that I'm saying this, but so far, Fight or Flight has been my favorite song to record. Heading to the studio tonight to work on some editing...

Lucky Me.

This guy... I don't think this record would be really happening if it weren't for him. Niall's support has been crucial over the last few years - and I think its no coincidence that after meeting him, I began to take my music career more seriously. He puts me in my place when I'm not working hard enough, helps me breathe when I'm working too damn hard, and has the utmost faith in my music even when I have a hard time finding it. Niall comes to every show, sits in a dark studio for hours of a gorgeous day, and manages to capture it all on his camera so we don't forget a single moment.

And I'm proud to say he's pursuing his passion as well. Niall David Photography is progressing faster than either of us could have imagined - and at this point he's shot for performers at Slims, The Independent, Yoshi's main stage and more. He's taken beautiful pictures of families, musicians, aerialists, landscapes, SF parades & even the occasional clown. Plus, he was just featured as one of Imagekind's Aritst of the Day! Noone captures a moment the way that Niall does.

Lucky me.