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.

 

 

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.

 

 

Our Big News.

ONE Atlanta Music is proud to announce the signing of its first recording artist.  Today, Rudy Vaughn signed contracts to make him the first offical signee of the new ONE ATLANTA MUSIC brand.  A press release, an album release party, and - of course - AN ALBUM are in the works. For now, you can read more about Rudy here.

 

For those who don’t know about the mission and vision of our music brand, click here.  We want to develop talent at the local level and help it grow to the next level, as 1ATL’s Dan Hannon has done the past few years with Aaron Shust, Manchester Orchestra, Elevation, and more recently Kristy Starling (album due out 09) and the Enemy Lovers (being courted hardcore by major labels right now).  

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped us get to this point: Glen Jackson and the team at Jackson Spalding, Kent Marcus up there in Nashvegas, Nick Kirk for introducing us to Rudy in the first place, Chris Morgan at 12Stone, our business guru David Fussell, Huff, Shane, our patient wives and kids, and many others of you.

 

Let’s make some music.    

    

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….

 

 

 

 

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?

Manchester in studio.

by Dan Hannon

Last week was CRAZY!!! We’re still wrapping up The Enemy Lovers’ mixes and started recording the new Manchester Orchestra EP.  The EP (as I understand it) will be released along with the DVD this fall.  As expected, the new material is amazing.  The band has experienced so much positive growth since we recorded their debut LP almost 2 years ago. The candle was burned from both ends throughout last week because we are not only trying to record 4 new songs, but we are enjoying the chance to get this much time together since they hit the road over a year ago.  I feel EXTREMELY privileged to be working with the band again, because with big record label deals, come big label opportunities.  So, to be hired among so many other options (insert any BIG NAME producer here) is an incredible demonstration of loyalty and trust–musically speaking. Thanks to Andy, Jeremiah, Chris, Jay, and Robert.    

Gene K

For the record, K is for Krcelic, which I’m still not sure how to pronounce.  Gene (left, with Dan) came down from OMG Music headquarters in Greenville SC today to meet with us about some stuff, for which Dan and I are very grateful.  I can already tell we can learn a lot from him.  OMG has just released the long awaited debut of Chasen (thanks for the swag, Gene).  

After Starbucks and lunch, we headed over to the studio, where we spent awhile debating whether astronauts really landed on the moon.  

I love that the studio is Grand Central Station for a lot of local talent.  Today the Winston Audio guys were in there, as was Jeremiah from Manchester Orchestra.  Nice guys, all.

Anyway, Gene’s dad worked for NASA and he wrote Gene’s name on one of the rocket engines that blasted our guys off to the moon back on July 20, 1969.  That is, if you believe it really happened.  No comment from me yet.  You weigh in.