We're making records, that what we're doing! (pt. II)

So, as promised, an update on record making activities this weekend. Unfortunately, there's nothing to report. Sessions have been cancelled (at least I found out yesterday) for the weekend. I may wind up back at Effigy this week for a couple of hours. Apparently the guy from Candlebox will be laying a solo on one of the tunes this Monday.

I can't say that I'm entirely disappointed with the way things have turned out. I definitely had my own ideas about how and what I should play on the session. Jack, the engineer/owner and now producer, had different ideas. So I can't say that I'm surprised that I'm being moved off the session. I just kind of wish people would be straight forward about it.

I definitely learned some good lessons this past week. One, unless you're paying me, I'm going to play it my way. Period. End of story. Actually, unless you have a really good reason and are able to explain that reason to me, AND you're paying me a lot of money, I'm going to play it my way. It's not worth the frustration and time for me to do otherwise. People ask me to play on their records because of who I am. If they want something else they can go find it.

Two, the amount of preproduction on a project should be at least an order of magnitude greater than the amount of time spent in the studio. Of course, this is if you have a limited budget and want a decent outcome. This will be of particular use to me as I prepare for the next Dorothy Heralds album and my planned recordings this summer.

Three, I'll never feel bad about playing someone else's part and not getting it in one take. I guess this kind of goes back to what I was saying above. If I have to read a chart and watch someone for cues and try to cop someone's feel at the same time then I'm already doing more than I should be expected to do. I won't feel bad because if I'm in this situation, then I'm helping someone out of a bind.

In closing, I do want to thank everyone that was involved in the session. Thanks of course to Trin for having me there. Thanks to Bill, Buddo, and Gary, all great guys to play and hang out with. (Bill still intimidates the hell out of me.) Thanks to Perry and Jake at Effigy for their input and hard work. I'll let you all know if anything else happens with this. If not, next on the plate is Josh Harty next weekend. I'll be playing banjo and guitar on that one. I'll also be spending a lot of time finishing up demos for TDH this week.

Have fun!