The Tater Blog

Archive for the ‘Craig’ Category

I’ve had a great weekend here -- a very fun show on Friday night (more on that later, including some clips), beautiful weather (is this the same week that last Monday was in?!?), the half a tree is gone from the yard (thanks to Tobe Marrs for that one!), and our cable is hooked up again after a week, so I have internet at home. A lovely convergence of good things, just makes me feel like dancing

As a side note -- this song is being sung by Tony Burrows, one of a handful of guys who seemed to sing on most every AM pop record from ‘69-’72, including “Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes”, “Beach Baby”, and “United We Stand”.

The Taters music was included in another podcast, this time on the Indie Music Sampler blog. We have several songs out on the Podsafe Music Network, a site that is sort of a host for bands to share their music roylaty-free with podcasters looking for songs to add to their online shows. It’s a great way to get people to hear the band, and we often end up with new fans and CD sales as a result, so it’s a win-win in my book, especially for indie bands. Check out the Indie Music Sampler, download their podcast, and be sure to tell them you’re a Taters fan!

Here’s a few other shows that have played Tater music on their podcasts. Several have played us multiple times, and in most cases you can contact the podcast owner and ask which episodes we’re on:

Dalecast (we’ve been on episodes 164, 165, 204, 206… oh, just lots!

Bugcast

Poddycast

Inside My Head

A Quiet Time

UC Radio

WLSO

My Pocket Player

The New Forest

Filmed But Not Forgotten

If you or anyone you know hosts a podcast, be sure to tell them about the Podsafe Music Network, and point them to the Taters on there!

OK, so this one’s not really a Tater posting, but Nick is coming out with a Best of collection next month, and the deluxe edition of the CD comes with a DVD of some classic Nick videos.  This little widget was on his site to promote it, so I thought I’d put it up here to give him a plug.  Nick’s a huge favorite in the halls of Taterdom!

If the video doesn’t play right away, just click one of the little thumbnails.

OK, time to pull back the curtain a bit. We haven’t gotten to the mixing stage yet on the new CD, but we have been laying down tracks all over the place. Many of them have stuck to the CD, so they’ll probably stay.

Here’s a few sound clips from a couple that are getting close to done. Again, no final mix has been done, so you’re likely to hear some parts too loud or too soft, but you’ll get the general idea.

• No I Don’t
  This one has some bits & pieces to work on, a few things to move around, and vocals to mix. This is one that Gary & I wrote some years back but never really did anything with. It’s one of the kids we’ve had rattling about in the cellar for years, and we’ve decided to let him out. Hope he doesn’t hurt himself. This was one of the first songs, way back in Monday Week, that I ever played piano on in a live show
• We Can Work It Out
  This is one we didn’t write, at least not yet. A different take on a favorite of ours, with some beautiful guitar work from both Brad & Greg.

If you like hearing these, let me know and I’ll try to post more in the coming weeks.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted anything here. Not too blog-worthy of me! Been pretty busy, though, so at least I have myself to blame. And that’s a comfort

Lots of side projects happening of late, since we haven’t been scheduling as many shows while the CD is being made. On Saturday I played bass up in MD with one of my favorite bands, The Grandsons. Lots of fun doing that one, and not a little time spent woodshedding to learn the tunes. It’s been a few years since I was a backup ‘Son, so I had to re-learn a lot of the material. It was a great show, a split bill with The Hula Monsters, who were outstanding. Both bands are well worth a drive to go see anytime you get a chance! For anyone in Taterland unfamiliar with the Grandsons, they are the horn section on our live album of a few years ago. Nuff said!

Last night Brad, Greg & I played at in a 70’s “flashback” show, a fund-raiser for Good Shepherd church to help buy some new audio equipment for it’s music programs. It was a pretty ambitious set of 60s & 70s tunes, including songs from Chicago,  Cat Stevens, Eagles, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Beatles, Turtles, and about a dozen others, and the only rehearsal was a few hours before the show!  But it came off really well thanks to the players involved. Also on deck was Mark Scott, one of the many Tater emergency drummers we’ve used over the years, and he played and sang his little head off!

Tonight Brad & I change gears once again as we rehearse for the Rock and Roll Revue show coming up in Ashland in a few weeks. This one features us, along with Jim Wark (a long-time A-list side Tater!), Flyin’ Brian Sulser, and Tater alumnus George Garrett. Most of you know George & Jim, and you should get to know Brian, as he and Jim both have cameos on the upcoming Taters CD!

This show will be a tribute to some of the founding fathers of this rock and roll music thing that’s been so big the last half century or so! We’ll be handling sets by Buddy Holly, the Everlys, Roy Orbison, and of course, King One (or Elvis, as his friends called him) in a small, scaled back live show – 1 microphone, mostly unplugged. It’s on Friday, March 6 at the Ashland Coffee & Tea, so come out and join us if you’re in the area!

Very happy for a day off of work today, rehearsal notwithstanding. We’re heading into the season where we seldom have full days free, and almost never a whole weekend, so it’s always appreciated when it happens! But as Henry Cabot Henhouse III’s faithful friend Fred always says, we knew the job was dangerous when we took it!

Back in the studio this week for more work on the new album, and then (finally!) a Taters show this Friday at Grandpa Eddie’s in Richmond.

Wonder what the lazy people are doing today?

Just a short posting to mention that Brad & I will be on Mike Lidskin’s TWIRL radio show via telephone this evening to Sacramento. The show airs at 4pm Pacific, and 7pm Eastern time. We will probably be on sometime in the first hour, but we’re never sure on that one. If there’s time, we hope to debut a few rough cuts from the new CD, so tune in!

Tune in live at http://www.twirlradio.com/index.php. Just click the Magic Twirl Button on Mike’s site to hear the live stream.

Things are moving along. Several of the tunes have all the parts down, just waiting for some edits and mixing. Still a few vocals to do, and some instrumental layers to add.

Last night Brad added some more acoustics to Spend A Little Time with Me, Oceans Apart, and Feet Start Walking. We did some editing on Fun at Home to shorten it a bit (sometimes we just get recording and before we know it we’ve got a 6 or 7 minute song on our hands!).

Worked last week on some more lead ideas that Greg had for No I Don’t and Cat in the Window, and got a nearly-done mix of Wolfman Told Me Tonight. I’ve done lead vocals for most of the tunes, and Brad, Greg & I have done a good amount of the backgrounds. I think you’ll like the variety of instruments on the album. As expected, lots of guitars, both acoustic and electric, as well as bass (stand up and electric), drums, piano and who knows what else! Also hoping to have some horn parts to add soon. I’ve enjoyed getting to do more piano on this album. This will be the first time I’ve played it on more than one or two songs.

Here is the tentative song list for the CD. Not sure if everything will stay yet, but this is what we’re working with:

• Cat In The Window
• Spend A Little Time With Me
• Fun At Home
• Wax Paper
• Such A Good Day
• Lonely Like That
• Oceans Apart
• No I Don’t
• That’s Me (new version)
• Wolfman Told Me Tonight
• I Forgot
• We Can Work It Out (by them Beatle boys)
• Cruel To Be Kind (Nick Lowe)
• Feet Start Walking (Gary US Bond)

We’ve still got a good bit of work ahead, but it’s coming together, bit by bit!

On Wednesday I posted a notice about the video I worked on for the Tax dept. This morning apparently Newsweek online found it, and it got a mention on their site:

(RICHMOND, Va.) Talk about cheesy. Virginia’s Tax Department debuted a video on YouTube on Friday intended to promote online filing of state income taxes.

The video opens like a trailer for a film featuring a superhero. Enter Phil Mousepower, a blue-caped and masked hand puppet — the arm controlling it clearly visible.

Now, we’ve just got to get some masks & capes for the Taters…

Nice little piece about the Taters in this morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, written by Melissa Ruggieri:

The last record from The Taters, “Just One Night,” came in 2007. The next one should come this year, as the band has been in the studio adding vocals to the songs “No I Don’t,” “Such a Good Day,” and “Spend a Little Time with Me.”

The Richmond Faves, whose live shows are renowned for their rollicking combination of roots rock, pop, Americana and a little skiffle, are only playing about one show per month as they continue to work on their album.

The band, led by singer-bassist Craig Evans and guitarist Brad Tucker, will do its January duty tomorrow at 8pm at Ashland Coffee & Tea.

Thanks, Melissa, for the PR.  Always appreciated!

As a side project, I’ve been working on a video for the VA Dept of Taxation, to promote their online filing options. Here’s their first video. I helped storyboard and write the script, did the voice-over and the closing music.

And my hand is on the cheese. What more can I say? Go watch, give it wonderful ratings, link to it, whatever!