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Carls Chair Report - MJEB Report - Part 1
Carl, Chair and Marsupial.
What a heck of a week. Read on for pics and Vids from the Carls Chair Project. There will be further blogs from the other guys but here's what I captured during the week (and some random stuff, you know, the usual)
Cumnock Day 5-6
Day 5
Today we finished tracking for the last two songs - Sunshine in the Rain & Rest My Bones - on the porch of the house as the rain was falling down. The temperature was well cold but I think it was worth it. We caught some nice rain sounds and managed to get through in time before our hands froze and MJEB's lips got stuck to his harp.
Rest My Bones is an interesting beast as it's more laid back than we've ever been - but it's got a nice groove to it and it's a gas to play - it'll be interesting to see how it goes down at the gigs.
After a big ol lunch we headed back to the pub to start working out the set list for tonight as we had a whole bunch of new material to play through. After that Stuart had cooked us a grand chicken curry for dinner so we feasted before the gig.
After the gig and back in my room I was reading some more on Cumnock - it's a village! This thrills me - I don't know why but it does. We tracked all these songs - in a village with population of around 290! This thrills me too.
Day 6
Theo and Carl went off to Orange to pick up the car that had broken down on the way to Cumnock. The rest of us started off with a bit of a communal breakfast before packing up all the gear and saying our goodbyes to Cumnock and our hosts Jo, Stuart & family (guys you are truly wonderful human beings).
One of the cars in the Stormcellar train got as far as Bathurst before breaking down - yep same car that had been picked up earlier same morning!
Drama.
But yes we did all get home okay.
I'm still thinking about Stuart's chicken curry - fancying a bowl right now!
:)
Rosie
Cumnock Day 3-4
Today was a good day - lots of warm sun allowed for comfortable recording. We were able to get down versions of the acoustic songs that we've been playing in the set for a while now - Running Jody, Tall Timbers, Hollow Tree, Cheap Hotel; as well as some newer additions such as Company of a Friend & Half Man Cow. In the afternoon Jo and family came by & we managed to convince Jo to help out with harmonies in Tall Timbers - sounded great! Watch out Jo - you may find yourself on a couple more songs shortly.
One of the big improvements was that Stuart brought out an outdoor heater - utterly fantastic! Thanks, Stuart :)
In the evening we assembled in the pub and worked out the finer points of three new songs - current titles: Southern Belles, The Way that she smiles & a third one with a title something about a mandolin. By the time we finished the good people in the room gave a seal of approval.
Day 4
It must be said that even though the temperature drops of rapidly after 3pm and gets real cold in the evenings, the sun in the morning is beautiful and warm.
As we were recording today a kangaroo come up and stood there watching and listening for a while then hopped away.
We started playing some more and it came back. Blues, roos n boogie!
The recordings are going well. Got all three new songs down today – including one which didn’t exist until a few days ago (yes, I am a little amazed by that!).
BTW it turns out that the Royal hotel has a long history. The apartment we're staying in used to be the town barber's shop & the people would wait in the pub having a drink until it was their turn. Also there was a fellow, a regular at the pub who requested that when he died that he be buried in the pub. It''s been estimated that some of the bricks used to build the place are up to 150 years old. Some with cat paw prints in them - 150 year old cat prints! I think that rates as a 10th life.
Tonight we worked on two more new songs, yet to be performed but to be recorded tomorrow - Rest My Bones & Sunshine In the Rain. Let's see how they go.
Oh and Carl-the-golden-roadie came in third in the Molong poker comp tonight too, so a good night all round :)
Rosie
Cumnock Day1-2
Briefly ...
Day 1: left Sydney roughly on time. Two cars. One van. One soundy. One filmy. One band. One destination. Cumnock.
Two cars got there on schedule. The car with the rhythm section in it was late. Nothing unusual here. Actually the car broke. First the stereo went (we'd been playing some Daniel Lanois - I've heard that can happen). Then slowly so did the rest of the electricals. Much waiting in the cold ensued - hours. Arrived at the Royal Hotel in Cumnock to amazing pumpkin soup (thanks MJEB).
Day 2: went out to The House With The Porch. Beautiful old house estimated to be a century old. Set up the gear over several hours. Repositioned to be in the sunlight. BBQ-delight. Started playing. At first the audience was just a fella named dozer. Soon after Jo and Stuart joined us (well it is their house and all). Ran through several songs to check that the concept worked. It did. Go golden soundy! Meanwhile Carl made friends with Dozer while testing out Carl's chair. The sun started to head south taking the temperature with it so we called time and headed back to the Royal for dinner and some more rehearsal.
Day three coming ... rapidly!
Rosie