Word came to me down the long grapevine that Millage just got inducted into the Hall of Fame.
A true gentlemen.
I hear that he's reviewing the tracks we cut together.
It's been a big year for Millage, with a long overdue article in Living Blues, now this Induction and hot on the heels of this will be the album we've recorded with him. Millage is under represented in recording terms so this is some rare stuff indeed.
I was stoked when he was willing to record the song we wrote for him. I'd been listening to his live performance at the first Woodcox lawn party and tried to write something that was in his preferred 'feel'.
But imagine trying to write lyrics he'd find acceptable. I grew up singing 'kookaburra sits in the old gum tree', for crying out loud.
Fortunately, we'd been to the river and been 'schooled'.
I introduced the song to him at Knux, before the show. He peered at it. Large font on the Laptop screen.
I backed off, not wanting to crowd. What would he think?
I watched him read a line, read it again, do a double take and then move on.
At one point he cracked a smile and looked around furtively to see if anyone had caught the grin. I had, but I didn't let on.
When we took him into the studio, we recorded a bunch of his originals and a few covers.
Would he be willing to try Last Man Standing? Sure, but can he work on it overnight and come back.
Argh. Could be the kiss of death.
Nope. Millage was straight up. The version we did as a guide was too fast for him. We re-recorded the track and worked on the lyrics with him until he smoothed them into his own speech patterns, made the song his.
He liked the idea behind the song and he was gonna 'brag a little'
Me too.
Congratulations Millage.