just a quick update to let you know that the recording on the new CD is nearly finished! We have a few tweaks here and there and then we’re ready for mixing, so I’m still hoping for a late Spring or early Summer release! Working with The Grandsons this week, who are putting horn parts on a few songs – Alan came down to Ashland to add trumpet to “Spend a Little Time with Me” and “Lonely Like That”, and Chris will be recording his parts in MD and sending them through this marvelous new Internet thing I hear so much about.  I’m looking forward to hearing how the final mix comes out! Those who have been around Taterland for any length of time have heard the Grandsons before, either live – we’ve done Christmas shows with them for the past 5 years – or on our live CD, “Just One Night” from 2005.

We have young Jim Wark back on a tune this time around. Jim was also on the live album, and it’s fun hearing him on the new material. Jim’s been playing with Brad & I, along with Brian & George in the Rock & Roll Revue shows, another of which happens this Saturday in Ashland. You can see the videos from the last show on the new Taters YouTube channel, TaterVids!

OK, that’s it for the nonce. Stay tuned!

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent from the blog for the last several weeks. I get caught up in so many things and more often than not I get to the end of the night -- or usually the middle of the wee hours of the morning -- and finally have to lay myself down for a few hours of sleep with visions of all I didn’t get done. But I’ll try to catch up a bit here…

Recording
The bulk of the recording is done, with just a few bits to add on at this point. Still have a few guests that are going to add to the mix, and we have to schedule all of that. Then it’s down to mixing and mastering, and looking at a way to get it pressed. In the meantime, here’s a few more clips of what’s been going on. As with some of the previous posts, keep in mind that these are just unfinished clips, still need mixing, some EQ’ing, etc:

• Wolfman Told Me Tonight
  This is a song that Gary & I have had for years, and it usually only gets totted out around Halloween each year for the live shows. Somewhere at one of those shows last year someone said, “Why do we only play this at Halloween”?”Because… it’s got a werewolf in it?” I’m sure there was more to the conversation, but I’m pretty easy to convince when it comes to adding some monster fun to the calendar year, so… on the CD it goes!
• Fun At Home
  I put an earlier version of this up about a month ago, but we’ve added some more vocals, including the Nonexistent Taters Horn Section on the bridge, so I thought I’d stick this up and let you hear the progress
• Wax Paper
  Another very fun song that comes from the Monday Week days, this has been dusted off and refitted for the new millennium. This has got to be one of the few songs out there with distorted guitar and banjo on it, not to mention one of the surprisingly few odes to household products and food containers specifically.

Other stuff
As always, in addition to Tatering live and in the studio, all of us stay busy at whatever side projects come our way. Here is a recent video that I worked on for the VA Tax Dept’s online filing initiative. The lyrics were a committe process, and the tune is me trying to write and perform my best Zimmy impersonation! I’m playing bass, guitar & singing on this, with Richard Schellenberg on lead gtr, as well as recording & mixing. Guest spot from Kevin Cronin on harmonica. And no, the guy in the kilt is not me -- I’m behind the camera on this one.

Rock & Roll Revue
Brad & I have started rehearsals for the next R&R Revue, coming up in May. We’ll be reprising a lot of the Elvis, Buddy, Roy & Everly’s tunes from the first show, and adding in a few new ones, including a few appearances from Ricky Nelson. Backing us up again will be the vintage talents of George Garrett, Brian Sulser and Jim Wark. Check the calendar for the dates and call early for tickets!

Here are some of Brian’s videos from the first show

By the way, if anyone would like to volunteer to film or photograph the next show, we’d love the help! And we’ll be glad to let you share in the fame and glory

I think that’s it for now. Should have a version of the CD cover finished soon, so I’ll post a draft of that when it’s ready. For now, here’s a shot we’re using for some new flyers. Click on the image for a larger version.

Hope to see you soon!

Craig

Brad & I had a great time playing in the revue last weekend, along with “the band” featuring George Garrett, Jim Wark, and Brian Sulser. Brian has videos of most of the show up on his YouTube site, so go take a look! I got to do Elvis and Roy Orbison, Brad was Buddy Holly, and we each became half of the Everlys. It was a pile of fun to play, and very eye-opening for all of us; it’s been awhile since any of us had really listened closely to those recordings, really trying to pull out some of the nuances that get lost when modern bands (guilty as charged) play them. Not saying one is better than the other, but it was sure done differently back then, and we tried to do our homework! We’re already planning a follow-up show, so be sure to keep an eye on our calendar for future dates.

Work on menagerie (yes, the new CD has a name!) is coming along. Here are a few new clips of some songs we’re working on:

• Oceans Apart
  This is one that Gary & I started quite a while back, but just never really got finished. I finished it up last year and we worked out a new arrangement of it with the walking bassline, which I think helps it a lot. Vocals are pretty straightforward duet throughout, with Brad taking the high harmony. I’m playing a bit of piano on this one as well.
• Fun at Home
  One of my oldest tunes, we used to play this in Monday Week, though I never felt like we quite had the rhythm down that I was looking for. His majesty Buz King is taking care of that on this version by pounding on a leather chair cushion, which we then mixed on top of the drum track. Very cool sound, sort of an acoustic-electronic groove. The sound of the leather gives it an organic tone which keeps it from being too mechanical. Lots of great slide and 12-string work from Greg on this, and Brad & I reprise the famous Non-Existent Tater Horn Section on the bridge!

more later

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, 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!

Check out this article about New York band The Dictators -

During this period the band was christened with their nickname, “The ‘Taters.” This culminated in an incident during a tour with Uriah Heep and Foreigner in which Foreigner’s roadies strung a net filled with potatoes above the stage and released it during the Dictators’ set.

For those that can remember back that far, we had something similar happen back at a U of R Dance concert some years back. Strange, but true!

This week in the studio we added more vocals to the songs, putting lead & background vocals on No I Don’t, Such a Good Day, Spend a Little Time With Me, and adding more background parts to Cat in the Window. The songs are starting to take shape now with vocal there!

It was a long time in coming, but here is the poem that came with our anonymous gift (see the posting on Dec 23rd to read about this Christmas mystery!). This was included in the envelope, and I’ve been meaning to type it out and include it here, but just kept getting sidetracked. I finally enlisted the help of the better typist in the family, so here it is:

The Night Before Christmas-Tater Style

Twas the night before Christmas
And around Richmond town
All the music was quiet
There wasn’t a sound

And the Taters were snuggled
All warm in their beds
With visions of new
Dancing in the heads

They’d been very good boys
Throughout this whole year
They were nice to other people
But they had one big fear

They wanted to make
This brand new CD
But they needed money
And they needed plenty

They worked very hard
They sang and they played
But there wasn’t much money
There were bills to be paid

But as they slept,
So peaceful and nice
Came the sound of loud scratching
Like possums or mice

The door to the studio
Was flung open wide
And a very strange creature
Ambled inside

It was wearing a shirt
With The Taters logo
And all of their pins
And it was carrying dough

“I’m here to help
Those fine Taters boys
Finish their CD
And make some new noise!”

“I’m leaving something
For the boys in the band
Don’t ask who I am
I’m Anonymous Fan”

“I just want to hear
This brand new CD
Cuz that Tater-type music
Is special to me”

So Fan lay down
Its little old packet
And tried to sneak out
Without making a racket

But It was kind of klutzy
This anonymous fan
And it tripped on its feet
As away it ran

The noise woke The Taters
And they sprang from their beds
Rubbing their yes
And shaking their heads

First Craig, then Buz
Then Greg and Brad
Then Mike who said
“Wow that sound sure was bad.”

And then they saw Fan
As it ran out the door
And Fan turned and said
“Uh-oh” and more

“Here’s something small
I want to do my part
I wish it were more
But it comes from the heart”

And then Fan was gone
Yelling with glee
“Merry Christmas you guys
And a great new CD!”

(Thanks to Tammi for typing it out)

So there you have it. We roll into the new year with this mystery remaining … mysterious! But meanwhile, we’re working to try and honor this wish for a “great new CD”. So far we’re pretty happy with most of what’s been done, and I hope “anonymous” and everyone else will be too!

We had a great session in the studio last night, including a visit from a few old friends of ours (Click the link below to listen to one such instance). And thanks, too, to our mystery damsel in distress for her help on Wolfman!

Cruel to be Cruel

Besides this one, the other Taters put down vocals on several songs, including Wolfman Told Me Tonight, Cat in the Window, Oceans Apart, Lonely Like That, and Feet Start Walkin‘ (an old Gary US Bond tune). And by the way, once Dino had a go at his tune, Brad stepped in to show him how it’s done. Several of the tunes are getting pretty close to done, so we’re excited about that.

Got a few shows this weekend, at Positive Vibe tomorrow night in Richmond, and 2 shows on Saturday at Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville, including a Tater Tots show for kids in the afternoon, and a blow-out with Scuffletown for the evening set. Back next week to the studio for more work – who knows what will come from that one?