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7 -10
Summer has finally arrived in Seattle, just a few weeks after I myself rolled back into the fair city. The Iowa interlude this early summer was a bit shorter this time around, but none short on wonderful, earthy moments.
I wish I could express the gratitude and awe I have for Kilburg, Haferbier, & Kelly- the midwest version of Silverhands- for being able to pull new things out of the songs every time we play them, and teach me a thing or two in the process. We played a loose set in an old haunt out by the fork where the Maquoketa joins the Mississippi, and we picked it up right where we left off last summer, with extra fermentation. And I do wish I could express my gratitude to the band, but unfortunately at the end of a night in Green Island, my powers of expression are often greatly diminished.
I have but a short time back here in Seattle before I send myself out on a trek for my mother's country in a long-past-due attempt to get space on the music and proximity to the family back in El Puerto.
shows and more good stuff on my return...
---
5 -10
It is spring, and anyone who knows Silverhands knows that thoughts have turned to the Mississippi valley. The early summer will surely find me on the Jackson county border, but before I go we'll be rocking the three-piece band show one more time with electric guitar and drums at the Tractor in Ballard and Dante's in Portland.
This, along with a couple sit-down type appearances, including two more rounds of Sanchez & Hammer's Songwriter Shindig up in the U-district, and I'll be more than itching to hit I-90 East.
For those of you back home in Iowa, I hope to be able to play a low-key show somewhere in the Mississippi backwaters on the first weekend of June. If I can find a way to play it in my favorite new format of Songwriters-in-the-round, that's what we'll do. I hope to see you there.
---
2 -10
The new year has jumped right at us, rolling a month right under my heels before I even noticed. I missed a month, and I'm in catch-up mode once again. The need I feel to get everything done at once is quite apparent as I type these words while leaning over a guitar on my lap.
The time off from gigging that I had intended to take has gotten a little spotty, as offers and opportunities have presented themselves. I am now looking at a flurry of activity to be dealt with immediately.
As I alluded to in a blog a while back, my original little Datsun diesel has finally punched the clock on her shift hauling Silverhands around. But as luck (or obsessive searching) would have it, I managed to find a younger sibling, another almost identical 720 pickup, just one year newer, but powered by the same obscure 4-cylinder diesel motor, to fill the role of band transport. And she's got a busy year ahead of her. In just a few weeks, we'll be on the road down to Oakland for a short collaboration with the incredible Scott Simón, and I am thrilled to be able to do so yet again under the power of domestic bean/canola juice the whole way down. This will be her maiden voyage, and I have hopes that she will prove to be as road-worthy as her predecessor, who tacked on a few thousand of her last miles as the Silverhands company car.
After our mid-March meeting with Scotty, we'll be back home for some shows, some short travels, and some visitors. And lots of playing of the songs.
It seems like all the traveling, bouncing, un-racking, and re-racking has finally taken its toll on my beloved Drawmer 1960. The go-to piece of gear in the studio has ceased to pass signal in a pleasing manner, and to make matters worse, my second-string shiny box in the rack is suffering grounding issues (I guess it's English, so that would be "earthing" issues). Maybe when the studio starts turning a profit (!) I can get them both repaired, but in the meantime, I've taken it as a cue to get the songs out in the air a few more times, and find their ideal place to be before committing them any further to the cold world of digital duplication. At least this is the best spin I can come up with for this latest roadblock to the completion of the next record. Regardless, I still believe the songs will only benefit from time.
---
12 - 09
Stepping into winter, and what is considered the end of flood season here in the Green River valley, it seems to have been dry enough and cold enough to avert a major Noah-type catastrophe this year. I'm keeping the studio unracked upstairs for at least another month, and hoping for patience from anyone out there who has grown weary of waiting for tangible evidence of a follow-up to the Silverhands debut album.
As usual, we've gone through multiple recorded versions of each new tune, and a fair amount of cross-pollination has occurred as the West coasties have been handed back the baton from the Mid-westers. I'm sure at this point, if you are reading this, you know well to expect another round of revisions and at least one more trip back to the Mississippi valley before light is seen at the end of the tunnel. Regardless of my hopes for a quick and dirty recording process for this record, my standard re-thinking and re-doing process that often prevails, has done so yet again.
Mostly, I want to do right by these songs, and not suject them to an arbitrary timetable. yet. That time will come soon enough.
---
11 - 09
Down here in the valley we've got around ninety percent of music-making devices in mothballs, well in cases anyway. Even if the Corps of Engineers ain't as scared anymore, we don't like to play the odds. I ain't one to gamble.
The tunes are hindered, but not stifled. Don't you worry about ol' Silverhands, we'll stay busy.
---
10 - 09
Where does the time go? Back here in South King County, after a bit of time to sit and ponder our Midwest tracks- and where to go next- the PineBox studio sees itself faced with an issue of relocation itself. The dam that holds back the Green River down here is not going to be employed this winter to the extent that it has been for the past fifty years, thereby allowing a much greater chance for flooding the valley. One in Three chance, they say. As the studio is situated in the basement, this is cause for a bit of concern. The safest route would be to pack up all vital components and get them above ground, packed in such a manner so as to prepare for an emergency evacuation-type situation. We hope it doesn't come to that, but hopes have failed us quite miserably in the past. We' re preparing for the worst, and pressing pause on the record button for a bit, until we can find a nice, dry place to resume.
---
6 - 09
We are home indeed. Silverhands is back in Eastern Iowa for the duration of the summer. Reconnecting and re-scheming with the old cohorts of Kilburg, Haferbier & Kelly. There's a big batch of new songs that we are set to sift through together, hopefully leaving us with an album's worth of material to carry with me back to South King County in August. We'll be a studio band for most of our time here together, with the only exceptions being a show in Grinnell and a big bash at the Mooney Hollow barn in the same week towards the end of July.
It looks like right now could be a good time for good new music from many sources and we're looking to put Silverhands #2 high on the list. And I intend to enjoy myself in the process of doing so.
---
1 - 09
Thanks to all for the great turnout last week, it was a great show and will be memorable to me for the expansion in instrumentation that we experienced. The success and fun we had working with Dallas Neustel and his clarinet is feeding a whole new avenue of vaguely western-swing type musical ideas for upcoming projects for Silverhands, and possibly others.
You can expect to hear some of this on the next record, as well as popping up at live shows occasionally between now and then.
In other news, Silverhands was named in the Top Ten Northwest releases of 2008 by Christine Linde, Americana music director at KBCS! -Thanks, Christine! We're in good company on that list, and we hope to have the follow-up done in time to be mentioned on it again in 2009.
2008 was a great first year for Silverhands, and I have to thank again all the venues I played for on the spring tour, and the kind folks who put me up. My band back in Iowa, as well as the fine people who play with me out here.
Also thanks to Iaan Hughes, Christine Linde, Rus Thompson and all at KBCS, as well as Don Slack, Stevie Zoom, & Larry Metro at KEXP for putting Silverhands on the air out here.
---
12 - 08
Silverhands is getting busy. Putting together a great band of some of the coolest musicians (and people in general) for a set at Conor Byrne Pub in Ballard on the 2nd day of January. Also, we've hit the big red button (record) for the next album project. I expect it to be a bit of a long process, but there will be updates and the like posted here from time to time. I'll tell you all about it, without giving too much away, of course.
See you Friday.
---
Hello, and welcome to the new Silverhands online home!
This is where you are going to be able to keep up on all things Silverhands- show dates, updates on recording and where you can hear the music on the radio.
Of course, you can still find up-to-the-minute ramblings on the myspace blog.
You'll be able to find news on any major happenings as they happen- right here on the home page. Shows, pictures, and perhaps even new music will be posted on their respective pages. Check back often to see what's new, and we'll try to keep it interesting for you!
Summer has finally arrived in Seattle, just a few weeks after I myself rolled back into the fair city. The Iowa interlude this early summer was a bit shorter this time around, but none short on wonderful, earthy moments.
I wish I could express the gratitude and awe I have for Kilburg, Haferbier, & Kelly- the midwest version of Silverhands- for being able to pull new things out of the songs every time we play them, and teach me a thing or two in the process. We played a loose set in an old haunt out by the fork where the Maquoketa joins the Mississippi, and we picked it up right where we left off last summer, with extra fermentation. And I do wish I could express my gratitude to the band, but unfortunately at the end of a night in Green Island, my powers of expression are often greatly diminished.
I have but a short time back here in Seattle before I send myself out on a trek for my mother's country in a long-past-due attempt to get space on the music and proximity to the family back in El Puerto.
shows and more good stuff on my return...
---
5 -10
It is spring, and anyone who knows Silverhands knows that thoughts have turned to the Mississippi valley. The early summer will surely find me on the Jackson county border, but before I go we'll be rocking the three-piece band show one more time with electric guitar and drums at the Tractor in Ballard and Dante's in Portland.
This, along with a couple sit-down type appearances, including two more rounds of Sanchez & Hammer's Songwriter Shindig up in the U-district, and I'll be more than itching to hit I-90 East.
For those of you back home in Iowa, I hope to be able to play a low-key show somewhere in the Mississippi backwaters on the first weekend of June. If I can find a way to play it in my favorite new format of Songwriters-in-the-round, that's what we'll do. I hope to see you there.
---
2 -10
The new year has jumped right at us, rolling a month right under my heels before I even noticed. I missed a month, and I'm in catch-up mode once again. The need I feel to get everything done at once is quite apparent as I type these words while leaning over a guitar on my lap.
The time off from gigging that I had intended to take has gotten a little spotty, as offers and opportunities have presented themselves. I am now looking at a flurry of activity to be dealt with immediately.
As I alluded to in a blog a while back, my original little Datsun diesel has finally punched the clock on her shift hauling Silverhands around. But as luck (or obsessive searching) would have it, I managed to find a younger sibling, another almost identical 720 pickup, just one year newer, but powered by the same obscure 4-cylinder diesel motor, to fill the role of band transport. And she's got a busy year ahead of her. In just a few weeks, we'll be on the road down to Oakland for a short collaboration with the incredible Scott Simón, and I am thrilled to be able to do so yet again under the power of domestic bean/canola juice the whole way down. This will be her maiden voyage, and I have hopes that she will prove to be as road-worthy as her predecessor, who tacked on a few thousand of her last miles as the Silverhands company car.
After our mid-March meeting with Scotty, we'll be back home for some shows, some short travels, and some visitors. And lots of playing of the songs.
It seems like all the traveling, bouncing, un-racking, and re-racking has finally taken its toll on my beloved Drawmer 1960. The go-to piece of gear in the studio has ceased to pass signal in a pleasing manner, and to make matters worse, my second-string shiny box in the rack is suffering grounding issues (I guess it's English, so that would be "earthing" issues). Maybe when the studio starts turning a profit (!) I can get them both repaired, but in the meantime, I've taken it as a cue to get the songs out in the air a few more times, and find their ideal place to be before committing them any further to the cold world of digital duplication. At least this is the best spin I can come up with for this latest roadblock to the completion of the next record. Regardless, I still believe the songs will only benefit from time.
---
12 - 09
Stepping into winter, and what is considered the end of flood season here in the Green River valley, it seems to have been dry enough and cold enough to avert a major Noah-type catastrophe this year. I'm keeping the studio unracked upstairs for at least another month, and hoping for patience from anyone out there who has grown weary of waiting for tangible evidence of a follow-up to the Silverhands debut album.
As usual, we've gone through multiple recorded versions of each new tune, and a fair amount of cross-pollination has occurred as the West coasties have been handed back the baton from the Mid-westers. I'm sure at this point, if you are reading this, you know well to expect another round of revisions and at least one more trip back to the Mississippi valley before light is seen at the end of the tunnel. Regardless of my hopes for a quick and dirty recording process for this record, my standard re-thinking and re-doing process that often prevails, has done so yet again.
Mostly, I want to do right by these songs, and not suject them to an arbitrary timetable. yet. That time will come soon enough.
---
11 - 09
Down here in the valley we've got around ninety percent of music-making devices in mothballs, well in cases anyway. Even if the Corps of Engineers ain't as scared anymore, we don't like to play the odds. I ain't one to gamble.
The tunes are hindered, but not stifled. Don't you worry about ol' Silverhands, we'll stay busy.
---
10 - 09
Where does the time go? Back here in South King County, after a bit of time to sit and ponder our Midwest tracks- and where to go next- the PineBox studio sees itself faced with an issue of relocation itself. The dam that holds back the Green River down here is not going to be employed this winter to the extent that it has been for the past fifty years, thereby allowing a much greater chance for flooding the valley. One in Three chance, they say. As the studio is situated in the basement, this is cause for a bit of concern. The safest route would be to pack up all vital components and get them above ground, packed in such a manner so as to prepare for an emergency evacuation-type situation. We hope it doesn't come to that, but hopes have failed us quite miserably in the past. We' re preparing for the worst, and pressing pause on the record button for a bit, until we can find a nice, dry place to resume.
---
6 - 09
We are home indeed. Silverhands is back in Eastern Iowa for the duration of the summer. Reconnecting and re-scheming with the old cohorts of Kilburg, Haferbier & Kelly. There's a big batch of new songs that we are set to sift through together, hopefully leaving us with an album's worth of material to carry with me back to South King County in August. We'll be a studio band for most of our time here together, with the only exceptions being a show in Grinnell and a big bash at the Mooney Hollow barn in the same week towards the end of July.
It looks like right now could be a good time for good new music from many sources and we're looking to put Silverhands #2 high on the list. And I intend to enjoy myself in the process of doing so.
---
1 - 09
Thanks to all for the great turnout last week, it was a great show and will be memorable to me for the expansion in instrumentation that we experienced. The success and fun we had working with Dallas Neustel and his clarinet is feeding a whole new avenue of vaguely western-swing type musical ideas for upcoming projects for Silverhands, and possibly others.
You can expect to hear some of this on the next record, as well as popping up at live shows occasionally between now and then.
In other news, Silverhands was named in the Top Ten Northwest releases of 2008 by Christine Linde, Americana music director at KBCS! -Thanks, Christine! We're in good company on that list, and we hope to have the follow-up done in time to be mentioned on it again in 2009.
2008 was a great first year for Silverhands, and I have to thank again all the venues I played for on the spring tour, and the kind folks who put me up. My band back in Iowa, as well as the fine people who play with me out here.
Also thanks to Iaan Hughes, Christine Linde, Rus Thompson and all at KBCS, as well as Don Slack, Stevie Zoom, & Larry Metro at KEXP for putting Silverhands on the air out here.
---
12 - 08
Silverhands is getting busy. Putting together a great band of some of the coolest musicians (and people in general) for a set at Conor Byrne Pub in Ballard on the 2nd day of January. Also, we've hit the big red button (record) for the next album project. I expect it to be a bit of a long process, but there will be updates and the like posted here from time to time. I'll tell you all about it, without giving too much away, of course.
See you Friday.
---
Hello, and welcome to the new Silverhands online home!
This is where you are going to be able to keep up on all things Silverhands- show dates, updates on recording and where you can hear the music on the radio.
Of course, you can still find up-to-the-minute ramblings on the myspace blog.
You'll be able to find news on any major happenings as they happen- right here on the home page. Shows, pictures, and perhaps even new music will be posted on their respective pages. Check back often to see what's new, and we'll try to keep it interesting for you!
