Getting it right.

Here are a couple more pics from Dan’s mixing excursion to LA, as I’ve blogged about much in recent days. These are basically just shots of Manchester Orchestra listening back to mixes, mulling things over, deciding if they’re liking what they’re hearing. 

 

These particular pics remind me a lot of historic Ardent Studios in Memphis, where I spent many an hour back in the day with Smalltown Poets.  We’d roll into town to work on a few songs here or there and would stay in the old, dilapidated “band house” next to the studio.  It was rumored to be haunted.  Don’t know about that, but it was creepy.  

 

On a completely separate, but good, note - today I led worship at North Lanier Baptist Church here in Forsyth County. They’re some good peeps and I had a good time.  The Veteran’s Day tribute in the service was pretty cool.

 

There was a color guard there; veterans were honored according to their branch of service (complete with military theme songs), and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice were memorialized by a bugler playing taps. I love that stuff.  Happy Veterans Day.

 

 

Oli and Steve

Dan sent me some pics from a cello session today at LA’s Sunset Sound with the brilliant Oli Kraus. There’s some beautiful stuff at his myspace page, definitely worth checking out.

 

It’s also worth noting that Dan called me last night to tell me that, the night before, he got to meet and hang out with Steve Perry of Journey, at a showcase for the band Public Radio.  That’s a big deal for anybody, even a guy like Dan who’s been doing some serious hobnobbing lately.  He said that Steve was just walking up to the soundboard and tweaking it at his own discretion.  I replied that, if you’re Steve Perry, who’s going to stop you?  (I really think he had the band’s permission to make tweaks if he liked, but it’s a better story with about that detail.)

 

Journey fans, represent.

 

 

Coast to Coast

I’m pretty proud of my partner Dan for the high profile work he’s been getting in the music industry.  And I’m excited about the doors it could open for ONE Atlanta as we begin doing our own recording projects in the near future. To add to the previous post, here’s a couple more pics from Dan’s mixing trip to LA.

 

But I have a pretty good story to share about Dan, too, and it happened back East, right here in the ATL area just a few days ago.  

 

Here’s the account of what happened at Picasso in historic downtown Buford GA last weekend, according to Rudy Vaughn’s keyboardist Mike Hankins:  We were “sloshing through” the intro to Purple Rain… So Dan - completely cool - comes up and takes the mic - guest vocalist Sam Tesh was struggling with the words… So they are singing together… We get to the break and… Well - it was a little weak… So Dan turns around and says “(Dang)… The band doesn’t even know the song”… And sat back down… It was actually a light-hearted moment… We love Dan!”

 

 

 

Sunset Sound

I’ve asked Dan to send iPhone pics from time to time while he’s out in LA mixing Manchester Orchestra.  He’s at Sunset Sound studio.  Here’s the first installment.

 

LA

 

My biz partner Dan Hannon is headed to Los Angeles to co-mix the new Manchester Orchestra record with big-time producer Joe Chicarelli (U2, Counting Crows, The Shins).  Of course, we think Dan is big time too.  

 

Apparently, the band’s manager and record label President were both in Atlanta this past week to preview the record, and were excited about it. Congrats to Dan for doing a great job, as always. Looking forward to getting my hands on that record.

 

 

What’s going on?

 

So, this morning I could’ve sworn I distinctly heard the sound of an accordion playing Free Falling by Tom Petty.  That’s pretty specific, I know, but it was clearly that chord progression.  Turns out my 11 year old son had found my old accordion in the basement.  I asked, “Is that Free Falling by Tom Petty?”  He laughed and said, “Yes.”  Then he started playing the melody with his right hand while playing the familiar chord pattern using the chord buttons.  It was the kind of moment that just makes a Dad happy, so I snapped this pic.

 

Anyway, just thought I’d post today about what a few of us in the 1ATL community are up to right now.

 

Tomorrow night, several of us are going to Safehouse Outreach to play a few songs.  If any of you want to come listen and, more importantly, volunteer, then please drop me a line.  It’s a great experience.

 

Dan Hannon is in the studio with Manchester Orchestra and fellow producer Joe Chicarelli (U2, Counting Crows, The Shins, Tori Amos).

 

Jamie JAMM Portee has meetings this week regarding one of Akon’s new artists, who is on Universal Records; he might be producing her next record.

 

Moxie Davis and his wife are returning from Puerto Rico.

 

Rudy Vaughn is gearing up for the big announcement that you’ll read soon here on this site.

 

And, by the way, here’s an update on our filmmaker buddy Brandon McCormick; he is recovering from a Vespa scooter accident last week in which he apparently had to slam on brakes while going 50 mph.  He will have to have teeth replaced and some facial reconstruction.  He’s covered with road rash, and has two badly sprained wrists.  He reportedly looks like death.  But he should fully recover. 

 

Anyone else want to tell us what you have going on musically right now?  Or, for you non-musicians who read this blog, you can tell us what you’re up to as well….

 

 

 

 

Action!

So, I’m sitting here waiting to soundcheck at The Vinyl for tonight’s show with Moxie Davis Worship.  Our buddy Chrystina Lloree Fincher is also playing; she rocks.

 

The pic to the left is from a video shoot today for theAMP and ONE Atlanta Music.  The video segments are basically songwriting tutorials and Q&As that we’re teaming up with theAMP guys on.

 

We got some cool interviews with producer Dan Hannon, Casey Darnell (pictured with me; I’m on the right), and Michael Johnston.  Not sure when they’ll be edited and posted, but please stay tuned; I think there’s some cool stuff there for aspiring songwriters.

Lollapalooza Trip with Manchester Orchestra, Day 2

 

by Dan Hannon

Jeremiah (MO’s drummer) and I started off Day 2 by heading to a local favorite greasy-spoon-breakfast-joint called Jack and Benny’s.  Jeremiah had the ‘Eggs Benny’ with a potato pancake and a Nantucket Nectar OJ. I had the ‘Max Meat’ omelet.  I had recently given up sodas and drinks with caffeine in them, but a roadtrip like this calls for cruddy, greasy, fatty, trans-fatty grub with an ice cold ‘pop’. So, I had a Pepsi and savored the freedom of a guiltless meal.

 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn on West Lane in downtown Columbus, which happens to be located about 100 yards from the Lane Avenue Bridge. The Lane Avenue Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge over the  Olentangy River and it’s actually quite a marvel of engineering.  Jeremiah and I snapped some pictures of the bridge and headed back to the room to wake the rest of the bunch.

 

We loaded-in to a club called The Basement at 4 pm and the venue was already sold out with a line of dedicated fans sitting along the wall starting at the door and stretching out into the open concrete common  area.

 

Manchester Orchestra soundchecked with 4 new songs that they’ve written for the upcoming release tentatively titled “Mean Everything To Nothing”.  Let me just say that the new material is unbelievable  and will represent a landmark shift in the band’s maturity as a musical brotherhood and as a serious ROCK band. A lot of the material is based on REALLY memorable melodic guitar riffs and finely-penned  lyrical intensity.  I can’t wait for the world to hear this new and improved Manchester. The 5 people on staff at the club were riveted during the rehearsal and clapped and whistled after each song.

 

The crowd was amazingly engaged (even throughout the frayed performances of the new material) and the band treated them to an energetic, indie romp that would make a Kid Rock concert look like Wii Fitness at a nursing home in Russell, Kansas.

 

Lollapalooza Friday at 1:45 pm. We have to leave Columbus after the show and drive overnight to Chicago.

 

I miss my kids. I miss my wife.

Lollapalooza Trip with Manchester Orchestra, Day One

By Dan Hannon

Yesterday started in Atlanta with the band (Manchester Orchestra) and me meeting at 11am at Vision Rehearsal studios, loading the trailer and hitting the road!  Well, we hit the road to QuickTrip for some Rooster Booster Icees, 20 oz. Red Bulls, the current issue of Us and Star magazines, and some waters. THEN we hit the road!!

Well, after discovering that the GPS no longer worked, we hit the road to WalMart in Chamblee  (which is surprisingly short on van and trailer parking) to purchase a new unit. While Robert circled the parking lot, the rest of the guys sauntered into Walmart and I hurried into Smoothie King to get a 32 oz. Power Punch Plus to give me the ‘healthy boost’ that I expected to need for the first band road trip that I’ve embarked on in several years (not counting the short run in April for which I flew to Newport News, VA, hopped in the band van and rode with them back down to Atlanta after 2 shows).  So after acquiring the new Garmin GPS unit,  complete with a handy dash-mounting kit, and a selectable vehicle icon–either an arrow, car, or Monster truck–we were HITTING THE ROAD!! The road that led from Walmart to Suntrust Bank!!

Jeremiah needed to pull out some cash for per diems and other travel necessities. This would be the third trip up or down Peachtree Industrial Blvd. for me on this exciting first day of tour with world-traveling indie rock sensation Manchester Orchestra.  FINALLY, we have the money, we have the GPS, we have snacks and rivetingly-entertaining-celebrity-gossip-periodicals…we’re ready to HIT THE ROAD to Columbus, OH–our final destination on this exhilirating first day of the tour!!! YES!! Except that we have not yet redeposited any of our crisp $10 bills that we all received as per diem money (yes, even little ole me!!) at the  prestigious Bank of Chik-Fil-A, an establishment that has welcomed many a $10 bill from us throughout our many roadtrips! How could we pass up such an opportunity to invest in our nutritional futures?!  SO, once again we were journeying up Peachtree for another arduous two-tenths of a mile.

After we finished eating at Chik-fil-a (I chose just to finish my Smoothie), we headed back up Peachtree to Vision Rehearsal Studios to complete a sort of round-trip-supply-gathering-test-run-tour. ‘Why back to Vision Studios’, you ask? Well, I had forgotten my sunglasses, of course.

We arrived in Columbus, OH at about 11:30 pm est at the Holiday Inn.  We ordered 3 medium 3-topping-pizzas from Papa John’s and retired to bed with full bellies.

Over.

A whole lotta palooza.

ONE Atlanta’s own Dan Hannon will be tour managing Manchester Orchestra this week as they head to Chicago to play at Lollapalooza ‘08.  Check back here starting Thursday for his blogs from the road.

 

This year’s fest includes: Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, The Raconteurs, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets, Gnarls Barkley, Dierks Bentley, Manchester Orchestra, Iron & Wine, Toadies, and many many others.  Check out the Lollapalooza web site for the complete list.

 

Who do you wish you were going to be there to see?  Or will you be there?

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