I didnt do much over the holidays. I watched TV. I read a few books. I played soccer with my nephew. I ate enough food for two of me. The second half of December is--if you can get away with it--for doing things that dont really connect to your job. The career thing is for the other 345 days. The one exception happened last Monday when we shot a video for a contest run by NPRs Tiny Desk Concerts. Ive been watching Tiny Desk Concerts since they started in 2007, and the way they present the music just as it is, without lights or overdubs or a big PA--Ive always loved that. Tiny Desk is a big reason why I started my Wigby series a few years ago. So of course I would be excited about the prospect of shooting a Tiny Desk of my own. Its a bucket list dream of mine so of course I want to do whatever I can to make it happen. A few weeks ago I called up Paula and Lucas, who Ive been playing with for years now, and my new friend Jerry, and told them what I wanted to do. It being the holidays, they too were mostly doing anything-but-music, but they made an exception for me. As a bonus, my friend David Axelrod, a dedicated engineer, and my partner in the WIGBY video series, agreed to record sound. He brought his brown beard and his expensive gear over and my buddy Dawson brought his camera. We all got together at Scarpatis house over by Belmont. Scarpati is responsible for the Stuffed Piranha album art on my last record, and is also my chief nemesis in ping pong and chess. Its hard to convey the strange evolution that happens when you do a live video shoot. Even for something simple like this, theres a lot of pre-production. Where to shoot. Where to put the lights and how many. How to set up the band. How many mics to use. Then its weird again because youre performing, but theres no audience. So you kind of have to play to the audience in your head. Dont look at the camera, even though you can feel it looking at you. It was a cold and wet Monday night in Nashville. Everyone arrived at Scarpatis and we started drinking coffee or wine and laying out mic cables. There were 10 or so of us, including crew and boyfriends and girlfriends. It was a fun hang. David forgot the power cable for his ancient laptop so there was a momentary emergency since we couldnt record without it. But after a few phone calls we found out the neighbor across the street had the right cable, so David got the Pro Tools session up and started checking levels. While I tuned my guitar, I watched him hunch over the laptop screen with his frowning face and squinting eyes and I knew everything would be okay. At the last second, Jerry rolled in with an upright bass and a superman Tshirt and we were set. We recorded two songs: Here We Go Again, and Hurts Me So, both from my most recent record. This is Hurts Me So. Every time I play with these guys, its an inspiring experience. The music has so much feeling, and theres the weirdest juxtaposition between Paulas deliberate approach to music and Lucas constant improvising. Paula is so serious about her instrument, practicing until the wee hours of the morning, day after day. Shes getting her phD in harp performance right now. And Lucas is one of those people for whom music just pours out like theres too much of it in him. We recorded Hurts Me So five times in a row and every time his solo was completely different. Its a crazy thing to see in real life when youre right there sitting next to the person doing it. I know it sounds naive but while I was watching it happen that night, it me feel full of hope, like the world is still a magical place. So this video, I really hope it makes the Bob and Robin at NPR stoked. Hopefully they pull the trigger and we get to play their stage at SXSW, and play our own Tiny Desk Concert in Washington DC. I cant really control that part. But in a way the gift has already happened. I got to do this, live it. Like Willie Nelson says, the life I love is making music with my friends. This is a captured moment of us doing just that. Speaking of playing music out in the world--these last few years, Ive had the opportunity to tour around a lot and play music for many people. I feel lucky about it. Ive seen a lot of interesting places and made a ton of new friends. The only thing thats missing is that Im doing it alone. I just dont have the money to take more people out with me. But Im working hard to change that. Hopefully Ill be able to start bringing the band. Making music, making memories. Fighting over where we eat breakfast. I cant wait. Thanks for watching, and being part of this musical journey Im on. Im working on a brand new record this spring. Hope I see you out there in 2015. --Korby
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 18:46:55 +0000
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