Update and Song Series

Quick updates and then the beginning of a series on the individual songs of the album.

The print copy is on the way. It is a double disc set, "The Day After Labor Day" is the album, "The Day Before Labor Day " is a disc containing demos of all the songs except for "I Don't Wear My Seatbelt Either," and "On The Eve Of The Zombie Apocalypse." Answers to questions about those songs not having demos will be answered in their individual profiles. I have the jackets in hand, they will be assembled and numbered individually on demand. The discs themselves are being produced by an outside company and will be arriving about the time that the album comes out. Orders will be processed as quickly as possible. The official track listing is as follows:

1.) I Don't Wear My Seatbelt Either
2.) Cutlass
3.) The Co. Ink
4.) Try So Hard
5.) Knights Of Livonia
6.) On The Eve Of The Zombie Apocalypse
7.) Lazy Sunday
8.) 4:10 (Sure)
9.) Restocking Fee

I am still trying to devise the best way to set up the downloading. If anyone has experience with web design and file distribution let me know. Help would certainly warrant beer.

If you have not heard it, the album cut of "Try So Hard" is currently on the MySpace

For the next nine days, which happen to lead up to the release of the album, I will be giving, in album order, info on one song per day.

I DON'T WEAR MY SEATBELT EITHER does have a lost demo somewhere. If a copy actually exists I don't know. I would love to get my hands on it, but I'm not sure if anyone that has a copy would remember it. I suppose the story starts quite a while ago. I went to go see the band Mofro with my friend Jonny. The band has adequately named their genre 'Back Porch Soul." After seeing their amazing lap steel player, I mentioned to my father in passing that I was interested in procuring a similar instrument. Lo and behold next Christmas I received such an instrument as a gift from my father. The music for IDWMSE was written a few hours later. This song floated around for a good while without any lyrics. Eventually I ended up jamming with some guys known as Russian Spy Orchestration, which was an early grouping of what is now the band Prussia. In this band I played a drums and lap steel. We did record a demo, but as I said, I have no clue where it is. I would love to hear it again, espescially with the lyrics that Ryan came up with for it, which I don't remember at all but I am sure they were much better than mine.

Then one night about a month ago on a warm, wet night, on a forty minute drive home on semi back roads coming home from a friends house, I blew through a yellow light. A while back someone taught me that when you go through a yellow light that you kiss your hand and touch the ceiling of the vehicle you are in. Some people think this is for good luck, or good sex, but this person, and subsequently I, believe that a yellow light is the traffic light gods winking at you, letting one know that at any time they could send someone through that intersection and take your life from you. A kiss is just your acknowledgment back to them that you are humble to their mighty power. Going through this particular yellow light inspired the lyrics for this song.

Blowing past a yellow light is just like God is winking right at you
'Cause next time you go past one you don't quite know if you will make it through.
Drivin' with me you know that you take your life in your own hands
'Cause ridin' with me you know you won't take me as your man.
But I'm gonna keep on drivin' straight, gonna blow every red light that I can.

ALBUM COMPLETE!

I finished the album at about 12:15 today, today being Sunday, August 23, 2009.

Now comes the fun of designing the website to get the album out. Truthfully I am not even sure if I have the bandwidth to get the album out there. That was not something I even thought about until after I had purchased the space. It doesn't really matter, because I have no clue how many people are going to download it. I suppose I will cross that bridge when I get to it. For the record I am going to make the album available in high quality MP3 and Aiff Formats.

I also am Ninety-Nine percent sure that I will have a print copy available for purchase. The idea is that the print copy will be a double disc set with all the early demos from the album on the second disc. The title of the album as you know will be "The Day After Labor Day;" the demo disc will be titled "The Day Before Labor Day."


DandyLyon Whine - "The Day After Labor Day" - Get it 16 days from now on the day after labor day, 2009.

Finished Tracking

Tracking for The Day After Labor Day wrapped up last night, Sunday August 9th, at approximately 9:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. I've spent the morning mixing two of the songs, "The Co. Ink," and "Try So Hard." I am going to do a first mix of all the songs and then give them a multiple stereo test as a group as opposed to doing that with each track individually. That way I can create the tones I want first and fine tune later, while at the same time getting a chance to experiment with album order.

While it is important to use as much ass power as one can to finish a project, I believe the rest of the afternoon is going to be spent rummaging the local Salvation Army in search of personal cassette players for use in the Walkman Mellotron I am building, and fishing.

The album will come out as scheduled, available as a free download from my website, DandyLyonWhine.Net, at Midnight September 8th, 2009, which happens to be the day after labor day.

Tracking To Wrap Up This Sunday

Or, at least that's the plan. I am getting pretty close. I think...

I've been told that it's time to talk a little more about the music itself, and not so much the process. I've described basically all of what I am doing on the recording and technical side of this project already. The problem is that I am not quite sure of what direction to go. How does one describe the artistic side of it? How does one describe something that is supposed to hit people different ways? Certainly I have crossed into pretentiousness; My music is far from high art. I think for the moment I will give a list of what tunes are going to be on the album.

In no particular order (meaning that I haven't even thought of the album lineup) :

I Don't Wear My Seatbelt Either
Cutlass
Try So Hard
Restocking Fee
Lazy Sunday
the Co. Ink
Knights Of Livonia
Leavin' Tune (Working Title, will certainly change)
410 am - Sure

As it stands that is 9 tunes, something that my buddy O.T. will appreciate.

The other day I started to track Knights Of Livonia, and my friend Josh came over and took some pictures, which is something I really appreciate because I find it hard to take pictures of myself when I am recording. Myspace angles don't flatter me anyway. Here are some of the photos. If you haven't seen it, he also took the picture on the front of my website. Here are some of the best shots.
















The most important part of the recording process is making sure that there is hot coffee at hand.