The Prodigal Children Return Home

So…

I’ve said about ten billion times, but I don’t think we’re gonna self-produce another record. I think it’s just impossible to make that many choices without losing your sense of perspective, and your mind.

Case in point: There were two tunes that never really settled down for us in the studio. The first was “A Sovereign Nation Sleeps Beside Me.” I think both of us just felt like we couldn’t quite get that one to feel right in the choruses. It wasn’t… bad… it just didn’t really hit the right spot for me, personally.

That one was hard, because I love the tune. Love the metaphor… love the melody… loved it. Here’s the demo, and here’s the rough mix of the studio version with vocals.

The second was a song called The Tempest, which you haven’t heard yet. The Tempest really never settled in, and I hate to say it, but we sorta knew it when we tracked it. It was frustrating, because I couldn’t figure out the solution to the equation, and when you’re like us, you don’t have the luxury of months in the studio with the band to figure it all out.

So… we just went with it, and hoped that it would all work out when the vocals were tracked and everything was in place.

Our mixer is a guy named Brian Steckler. Brian picked up the nickname, “Stick” at some point in his life. Perhaps it’s because he’s like supermodel skinny. The cool thing about Stick is that he’s a producer and a writer as well as a mixer. In fact, the first thing we ever did together was write. In fact, you can hear the fruit of that labor here, as it was recently recorded by an artist named Tammy Trent.

Anyways… I told Stick about my grief over these two lost children… our prodigals. He went to town on Sovereign Nation, and came back at me.

“I think we’re ok… but we need a new guitar part for the chorus.”

He sent me his rough mix, and it sounded waaay better to my ears. Tight, focused, groovy. “Sweet,” I said. “Let’s go get that new guitar part somehow.”

We made some plans, and then he went to work on The Tempest. I returned to my computer a few hours later and was greeted by this on iChat: “So… how much leeway do I have on this song?”

“How much leeway do you want?”

“Well… I definitely want to keep the drums and the B3.”

He had an idea for simplifying the arrangement that has just totally redeemed the song. I have been so jazzed about it, because I was about ready to cut the song from the record, and it made me frustrated for several reasons. Again, I liked the lyric. I liked the melody. Songs are like your kids. You love even the screwed-up ones.

So, today, as good fortune would have it… Corey was in a studio and was able to retrack guitars with this new arrangement in mind. Dana will be able to retrack the bass at his house sometime this weekend. The Tempest has gone from our least favorite song to the one I’m really excited about. I’ll post you the full transformation, from demo, to recorded final, to re-recorded final, when it’s all done.

Bring me my best robe! Slay the fatted calf! My son has returned!