Saturday
Apr252009
Recording: AJ Woodworth
Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 04:54AM
Photo by Kris Krug
In late February I was privileged to be asked to play some bass at recording session for the lovely and talented country singer-songwriter AJ Woodworth. I met her through my good friend, the irrepressible Jesse Tucker, who co-wrote a few of the tunes with AJ and played electric and acoustic guitar on the tracks.
I had gotten some demos of the songs and chord charts ahead of time, but I had never actually witnessed AJ singing in-person, nor had I met the producer for the session, Paul Shatto, drummer Kyle Radomsky, and keyboard player Simon Kendall who were also working the session out at Vogville Studios in Port Coquitlam, BC.
This is actually the kind of scenario that I love for one main reason: Even though I hadn't met these folks previously, I knew them by reputation and résume and therefore knew that they were all excellent at what they do. That means that I get the thrill of making music with people I've never worked with before, all the while trusting that it's probably going to turn out totally rad.
And I think I was right.
(Judge for yourself by listening the totally finished mixed-and-mastered tracks below.)
For anyone curious about the nuts-and-bolts of the day:
We did four songs in total. AJ sang a live scratch track for each take into a mic in the control room and Tucker played scratch guitar tracks in there as well. Bass and wurlitzer and drums were all set up in the same room, which I like because I can watch the drummer to make sure I lock in with what he's doing. We did four or five takes of each song on average, everyone helping to make slight arrangement and harmonic adjustments as necessary. For two tunes I played my Lakland 55-01, and for the other two I played a 1970s Fender Precision bass (with strings older than me) that was graciously loaned to me by my buddy Dave Hall. Both basses sounded killer through the Avalon M5 preamp and perfect for their respective songs -- the Lakland a bit more slick and growly for the poppier stuff and the Fender to get a bit more of a vintage R&B-style tone. Simon did some more keyboard overdubs (Hammond organ, etc.) on a different day, and all the guitars and final vocals were done over the course of a week or two after my session.
To see some behind-the-scenes photos of the session go to my Flickr page.
AJ is a tremendously talented artist who is moving up fast in the Canadian country music scene, so expect to hear her name again if you're into this kind of music.
"Get Away Car"
(M. Pulver/C. Thorsteinson/D. Ruttan)
"Real Best Man"
(J. Tucker/A.J. Woodworth)
"Love Like That Too"
(J. Tucker/A.J. Woodworth)
"Right Our Wrongs"
(J. Tucker/A.J. Woodworth)
Reader Comments (2)
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Nice tunes, good energy and definitely worthy of a wider audience. Good luck.