G. Love tour diary - Lollapalooza wrap-up
So, I'm out here on the never ending road, the road that keeps going and going. As a matter of fact its been going for 15 years. Damn, that's a pretty long time. Ahh the places I've been…you name it just about every big city and small town in this god-fearing country. I play the hip hop blues. Please don't say, "I love that kind of music" if you've never heard of me before because, not to sound like a jerk, but I'm the only one who plays the hip hop blues. So on Sunday I had the great honor... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #6
[Above: Bobby Drake]Every band has its own dynamic. Sonic Youth, DBT and Dinosaur Jr are all very different bands internally. Some are more democratic than others, and with that, dealing with each band and individual member is a case by case scenario. The same holds true with The Hold Steady. In terms of songwriting, both Tad and Franz are strong songwriters in their own way.... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #5
[Above, L-R: Bobby Drake and John Agnello]Things are really rolling. We’ve been tracking furiously and the band is really hitting their stride. We’ve nailed easier songs like “Stay Positive” and harder ones like “Creepy Jam,” which will end up being called “One For The Cutters.” That song became one of my favorites early on. We cut it live with Franz playing the intros and verses with a synth harpsichord simulation. We knew we needed a real harpsichord on the song, but we had to find one that was accessible. But that would be for another day. ... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #4
“I don’t think anyone could have anticipated 'Adderall' not making the record.” Sound familiar? The first part is all too familiar with me. That’s how our administration explains levy breaches or not finding WMD’s, etc. But that’s a different blog for a different day. At least in this case, my statement is absolutely true.... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #3
On a panel a few years ago at SXSW, a producer/manager sitting to my right discussed how he developed a camaraderie with the artist during the making of the records. He described it as “making the record company the common enemy.” I found this transparent and short sighted. And those were two of the nicer things I thought about this idiotic approach. ... read more
Bell X1 tour diary: Southern Bellies
So we're driving from Lake City, Florida to Athens, Georgia and we've just heard that Munster have beaten Toulouse 16-13 to win the Heineken Cup. Phil sound engineer has been receiving text message updates during the game. This would be rugby (the oval ball), and yes, it's kind of a big deal. ... read more
Colour Revolt tour diary: 5/25/08
I haven’t Pasteblogged in awhile, honestly, because I haven’t had much to say. Now I sort of do. After two weeks of dismal dreariness briefly punctured by one (uno) snippet of lovely in New York, the sun decided to haul its butt out from behind the clouds and make the day not look so ugly. We spent the whole day with our wonderful sweet booking agent, Wendy, and we saw a bunch of kids fly kites. As the past two weeks have been a plague-bespotted misery for some of us (our van was starting to resemble a sick ward, only... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - #2
Above [L to R]: Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka, John Agnello, Bobby Drake As fans eagerly count down the days until The Hold Steady releases Stay Positive, the follow-up to Paste's #2 album of 2006, on July 15, we thought it would be interesting to hear a little background on the record. So we asked producer John Agnello to reminisce on the recording process of Stay Positive. This is his second post. Read his first here.The Hold Steady tours a ton. I believe the number of shows they played last year was around 200. That’s amazing, but essential for bands these... read more
The Hold Steady studio diary - Stay Positive - 11/29/07-2/19/08
Above [L to R]: Producer/Paste blogger John Agnello and mastering engineer Greg Calbi As fans eagerly count down the days until The Hold Steady releases Stay Positive, the follow-up to Paste's #2 album of 2006, on July 15, we thought it would be interesting to hear a little background on the record. So we asked producer John Agnello to reminisce on the recording process of Stay Positive. This post, the first in a series, covers the album's first single, "Sequestered in Memphis," which is available today (Mary 20) on iTunes. “That sounds great, Greg! Really awesome. Okay, let’s do... read more
Brett Dennen tour diary: 5/15/08
I am writing from UC Berkeley, on the day of my mother’s birthday. My whole family is coming to the show tonight. Having family in the audience always makes it special. We are playing Zellerbach hall, an intimidating and stunning venue. Though I love San Francisco, it is nice to play in the East Bay for a change. ... read more
Colour Revolt tour diary: 5/12/08
Geez, okay. We stayed with this kindhearted dude, Mr. Ryan Chavez, in Houston, and he was a gentleman and a Beatles scholar. We listened to the four-track breakdown of several Sgt. Pepper songs, and let me tell you, the ghost vocal tracks on “A Day in the Life” were lovely and shocking. Not even talking about the bassline from “With A Little Help From My Friends.” Good god. Despite being the only Beatles song that sounds better covered (see Joe Cocker’s glorious Wonder Years theme, something the movie Across the Universe happened to get right), it still sports the most... read more
Colour Revolt tour diary: 5/6/08
Nothing in God’s Universe is more depressing than Vegas in the daytime. We crossed the Mojave desert and I saw the huge Louie Anderson and Carrot Top billboards and I quaked and wondered things. What else was there to do but bust out Woven Hand on the iPod and try to take it head-on, like I was cavalry-charging Vegas, the Great Beast. I’ll lose to you, probably, but only a little. ... read more
Mason Jennings - 5/4/08 - Nashville, Tennessee
I am looking down at a passing train on a Sunday morning from a bridge in Nashville.Trains were once the new imagery of a powerful, new world. A force of progress cutting across countrysides bringing new cultures together and opening a route of escape for those unsatisfied with their lives. Song imagery using trains was representative of that force. Now trains have taken a new roll in our collective consciousness. Somehow they still evoke escape or power but, as the information age whirs up around them, they more often represent imminence or memory and the fading of all temporal things.... read more
Colour Revolt: 5/2/08
So, San Francisco rules, right? Certainly, but I’m getting ahead of myself. When we landed blissful and exhausted in San Diego, our first move was to hit up the world-famous San Diego Zoo. Incredible. We saw a polar bear try his damndest to retrieve a red ball lodged in an underwater crevice in his tank. I watched him for maybe 15 minutes, his huge paw swiping at the unreachable ball with all the tenacity of a 12-year-old hurling his dad’s tennis racket at the football stuck in the uppermost branch of a front-yard magnolia. The koalas, the baby panda asleep... read more
Colour Revolt: 4/29/08
The best part about a 32-hour non-stop drive from your hometown of Oxford, Mississippi where you left an on-stage cookout with Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele where your friend and resident math genius Brian Hall was onstage in his Michelangelo’s David apron cooking delicious burgers which he claimed are so delicious because he rolled them in his “secret ingredient” (brown sugar and onions…shhh! don’t tell!) and you’ve been in the van so long you feel like you’re in a space shuttle speeding onward infinitely, destined to crash land on the moon and you wake up in New Mexico which... read more
Pigeon John - 3/13/08 - Sean Connery in Cabo
The next day was my showcase with Money Mark, Tommy Guererro and Curmimin at Buffalo Billards. I was very excited and relaxed and had nothing to after soundcheck, so we walked and heard a thousand bands lean out of bar windows, scratching for an ear to listen. There are so many dope bands and sounds to choose from, that the audience gets paralyzed and runs into Coyote Ugly for peace and shelter. We were one of them. I forgot where we were holed up, but it was quiet, fun and warm. We were waiting till it was our time to... read more
Pigeon John - 3/12/08 - I Can’t Feel My Face
We left New Orleans in a stupor. Defeated and used and the wind felt good on our faces. Seven hours until Austin and the start of a carnival called SXSW. I drove the whole way. Peter and Davey slept, laughed and talked. We had no iPod connection, so all we could listen to was M.I.A, Lenny Kravitz (sorry about that) and a new “I can’t feel my face” mix CD on Dim Mak. We made it though, finally. First, we all met our Austin host Katie, hung for awhile, then met up with Ms. Sarah Landy at the house we... read more
Pigeon John - 3/11/08 - Wesley’s Birthday Party
I met Wesley in Austin last year at SXSW. He filmed us going around town, working and playing. Cool dude. Didn’t know it was going to be him who was throwing our New Orleans show the night before SXSW, but was pleasantly surprised we were in good hands. The city was still rough and the people felt like they’d seen war first hand. But the show came off light and easy. And we had some real good opening acts killing it. Guerrilla Publishing Co. and a real slick group living in Brooklyn played as well. I forgot their name, though.... read more
Pigeon John - 3/10/08 - East Point, Smoke Some Dank
We were all so happy when Big Boi’s part of the remix of the “I’m Soooo Hoood” song came on when driving through East Point, Atlanta. We’ve been to Atlanta maybe 10-15 times in our lives and we are still seeking that magic that Outkast found, raised and killed. Haven’t ran into it yet, but the search continues. Atlanta is a thick and ghostly town that will not tell her secrets. It was also the first city where I saw a black family (Dad, Mom, three kids and all) riding bicycles down the street in the sun. You will never... read more
Pigeon John - 3/8/08 - My Black Friend Jesse
The next morning we flew to Orlando, Fla. for Relevant magazine’s five-year anniversary party with Seabird and Baren Von Bear. It was held in their small and warm office off downtown. I missed Orlando. I hadn’t been there in almost a year when we played with Of Montreal. It’s a great city, but the South still reigns and people still say things like “...my black friend Jesse.” The show was fun though, real dope. I hope they do more. Afterwards, our friend Adam from the Relevant crew took us to the Backbooth to listen to music and look at people.... read more
