Hello all, it’s been a while. I’ve been very busy lately. After this summer’s symphonic mountain theatre extravaganza (Romeo & Juliet facing the Matterhorn) it was back to the old drawing board, chipping away on new stuff and finally completing the studio I have been building with my good friend Tom Etter. We’re up and running now, recording and playing as I write this.
It has been a privilege and a pleasure to spend two weeks at Powerplay Recording Studios with Moes Anthill, recording their fourth album “Quitter”. I sat in the producer’s chair with Mario Baumann handling sound engineer duties. This young band centers around Moe Schelbert’s songs. I honestly don’t know how to describe this music. There’s americana in there – you know, banjos, fine acoustic guitar picking etc. but also catchy pop stuff, good lyrics and some elements commonly described as “alternative”. All I know is I like these songs and these people, they’re a fine bunch of musicians. I am currently recording pedal steel, dobro and baritone guitar overdubs. Mixing is scheduled for winter/spring. Look for a release somewhere in late summer 2018.
As for my own stuff, I’ve been doing something I haven’t done for a while: demoing new songs and in the process getting deeply lost in my new instrument of choice, the pedal steel guitar. The plan is to record a new album with this material in the coming months. I am also really excited about forming a new band with my fellow musicians Simon Baumann, Tom Etter and Michael Flury. This is going to be a band, not me and really good musicians playing my songs. After playing as a trio and then as a quartet it has become clear that this group of musicians has its own sound. So we’re about to form a real band where everybody brings music to the studio floor to be recorded and then we’ll go out and perform it for you. Can’t wait!
In the meantime, here’s a peek into the workshop. See you soon, best, Hank