It's amazing how time slip away from you! Rather than attempt to name specific dates and happenings, I'll just give you a rundown of the last several months:
My EP has turned into a full album project. Rich Brotherton is a guitar god, and he's laying down holy fury all over this record. My live guitarist, Jim Foster, came in and impressed Rich by providing a stellar solo on "Buck You" - a track I was afraid I might abandon for now. While I'm not planning to use Augie Meyers for "Buck You" like I had in mind before, I still have him on my radar for "Spittin Pissin Cussin & Fightin." Perhaps most exciting, grammy award winner Lloyd Maines may be contributing some pedal and lap steel tracks. This guy is famous for producing the hit Dixie Chicks album "Home," and is the father of lead singer Natalie Maines. Cross your fingers that it works out with these heavyweight musicians!
There are still 3 tracks that need bass and drum basics laid down, and 9 others awaiting overdubs. The budget seems to curiously keep stretching, and has now reached an estimated final cost around $30,000. Thank God I finally have a decent job. How I ever expected to achieve this working at a pawn shop for $8/hr. is beyond me.
My official website, http://www.jeffwarrenjohnston.com, is finally up and running. The album will be on sale there as soon as it's finished and promoted properly. I fear the promotion may cost even more than the recording! There is a donation button set up on my home page for anyone that may feel inclined to help speed this process along. Any contribution will be most appreciated, and anyone who contributes a minimum of $20 will get a free copy of the CD when it's finished.
I hope to officially release this record by the end of the year. I'm excited to get the ball rolling and start touring! Next on the agenda is a professional video, most likely for my song "I Love You to Pieces."
As always, I'm intensely interested in any feedback you might have regarding all this. Drop me a line!
-Jeff
Followers
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Jeff Warren Johnston Band EP Diary
Ok folks.. Making this EP has truly turned into an epic pursuit for me. It might be fun to document what's happening for the sake of reminiscing in the future. Here's a primer to get us up to date:
Dec 26th, 2009 - Kris Wade (bass), James Gwyn (drums) and myself walk into Penny Creek Studio in North Austin and lay down the basic rhythm tracks over the next two or three days with savvy recording engineer Sarah Van Ballegooijen. A guy named T Jarrod Bonta shows up to lay down some piano tracks and is gone within 45 minutes, leaving us to humbly collect our jaws from the floor. Later on in January 2010, I finish up the vocals, and Jackie Rae (fiddle) and Jim Foster (lead guitar) overdub their parts.
I spend the next several months editing the tracks, searching for an appropriate mixing engineer, and finishing school at UT. It seems to take forever.
May something, 2010 - I'm graduating college, and looking to relocate somewhere I can rock all night and sleep all day. My buddy Jessica "Mustang" Graves tells me I should move in with her friend, Mark.
June 1st, 2010 - I move in with this guy, who turns out to be Mark Rubin - a very accomplished musician who is kind enough to offer some very valuable referrals.
June 21st, 2010 - I land my first decent job in 31 years of life and start putting money aside for finishing the EP.
Septemeber 3rd, 2010 - Thanks to Mark, my first session with Rich Brotherton takes place. Rich is the guitarist in Robert Earl Keen's band, and he's also produced three of Keen's records. Very cool. Unfortunately, Rich discovers that a fundamental part of the recording is not useable. Since I'd rather not hurt anyone's reputation over it, I'll refrain from revealing the culprit. Everyone I've worked with has done their very best and it was truly an honest mistake. The point is that I won't be able to deliver this product by the date I've been promising some eager folks. Very not cool.
9/9-9/11, 2010 - Now we have some extra work to do.. I'm faced with having to re-record certain tracks from every single song. On the bright side of things, the incentive to rush through the project has been effectively disabled. Rich and I are delving much deeper into the tracks than we might have otherwise, and we're beginning to brainstorm some creative ways to improve the EP overall. Here's a short list of things we're mulling over:
Leeann Atherton to record backup vocals
Marty Muse to record pedal and lap steel guitar (This is Robert Earl Keen's steel guy.. Nice!)
Jimmie Graves (aka Jimmie Dreams) from Cyril Neville's band to record lead guitar over Spittin, Pissin, Cussin, & Fightin, and changing the bass rhythm to an electric 8th note honky tonk groove.
The coolest idea of all... Rich has asked the legendary Augie Meyers if he might be willing to play his fantastic organ on Buck You. Cross your fingers on this one. Here's what some guy named Bob Dylan had to say about Augie: "Augie's my man. He's like an intellectual who goes fishing using bookworms. Seriously though, he's the shining example of a musician, Vox player or otherwise, who can break the code. His playing speaks volumes. Speaks in tongue actually. He can bring a song, certainly any one of mine, into the real world. I've loved his playing going all the way back to the Sir Doug days when he was featured and dominant. What makes him so great is that internally speaking, he's the master of syncopation and timing. And this is something that cannot be taught. If you need someone to get you through the shipping lanes and there's no detours, Augie will get you right straight through….Augie's your man."
The list doesn't even end here, and I'm certain there are still plenty of great ideas to come. All things considered, this is shaping up to be the best recording experience of my life so far. Thanks a million, bachelor's degree!
UPDATE: On 9/13/10, Rich heard back from Augie's people who said that he has agreed to play on the EP! Fantastic news. The project has officially been taken to a whole new level.
Dec 26th, 2009 - Kris Wade (bass), James Gwyn (drums) and myself walk into Penny Creek Studio in North Austin and lay down the basic rhythm tracks over the next two or three days with savvy recording engineer Sarah Van Ballegooijen. A guy named T Jarrod Bonta shows up to lay down some piano tracks and is gone within 45 minutes, leaving us to humbly collect our jaws from the floor. Later on in January 2010, I finish up the vocals, and Jackie Rae (fiddle) and Jim Foster (lead guitar) overdub their parts.
I spend the next several months editing the tracks, searching for an appropriate mixing engineer, and finishing school at UT. It seems to take forever.
May something, 2010 - I'm graduating college, and looking to relocate somewhere I can rock all night and sleep all day. My buddy Jessica "Mustang" Graves tells me I should move in with her friend, Mark.
June 1st, 2010 - I move in with this guy, who turns out to be Mark Rubin - a very accomplished musician who is kind enough to offer some very valuable referrals.
June 21st, 2010 - I land my first decent job in 31 years of life and start putting money aside for finishing the EP.
Septemeber 3rd, 2010 - Thanks to Mark, my first session with Rich Brotherton takes place. Rich is the guitarist in Robert Earl Keen's band, and he's also produced three of Keen's records. Very cool. Unfortunately, Rich discovers that a fundamental part of the recording is not useable. Since I'd rather not hurt anyone's reputation over it, I'll refrain from revealing the culprit. Everyone I've worked with has done their very best and it was truly an honest mistake. The point is that I won't be able to deliver this product by the date I've been promising some eager folks. Very not cool.
9/9-9/11, 2010 - Now we have some extra work to do.. I'm faced with having to re-record certain tracks from every single song. On the bright side of things, the incentive to rush through the project has been effectively disabled. Rich and I are delving much deeper into the tracks than we might have otherwise, and we're beginning to brainstorm some creative ways to improve the EP overall. Here's a short list of things we're mulling over:
Leeann Atherton to record backup vocals
Marty Muse to record pedal and lap steel guitar (This is Robert Earl Keen's steel guy.. Nice!)
Jimmie Graves (aka Jimmie Dreams) from Cyril Neville's band to record lead guitar over Spittin, Pissin, Cussin, & Fightin, and changing the bass rhythm to an electric 8th note honky tonk groove.
The coolest idea of all... Rich has asked the legendary Augie Meyers if he might be willing to play his fantastic organ on Buck You. Cross your fingers on this one. Here's what some guy named Bob Dylan had to say about Augie: "Augie's my man. He's like an intellectual who goes fishing using bookworms. Seriously though, he's the shining example of a musician, Vox player or otherwise, who can break the code. His playing speaks volumes. Speaks in tongue actually. He can bring a song, certainly any one of mine, into the real world. I've loved his playing going all the way back to the Sir Doug days when he was featured and dominant. What makes him so great is that internally speaking, he's the master of syncopation and timing. And this is something that cannot be taught. If you need someone to get you through the shipping lanes and there's no detours, Augie will get you right straight through….Augie's your man."
The list doesn't even end here, and I'm certain there are still plenty of great ideas to come. All things considered, this is shaping up to be the best recording experience of my life so far. Thanks a million, bachelor's degree!
UPDATE: On 9/13/10, Rich heard back from Augie's people who said that he has agreed to play on the EP! Fantastic news. The project has officially been taken to a whole new level.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
JWJ's First Blog... Ever: Country Music Videos
Hey y'all. Welcome to my blog. I once said I'd never write a blog in my life. So much for that. Let's get right down to business. My mission in life is to make good music - preferably good country music. I'm an Austin, Texas native who was raised on the classics. Hope you enjoy my songs. Here's a couple videos to chew on for awhile. Tell me what you think!
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