Hardly anyone uses these mixing boards as anything other than tables.

Chris Freeland’s studio is in scenic Woodstock, MD, a place I didn’t even know existed until I went there to record backing vocals on a track for Midway Fair’s Jon Patton. Chris is a really unintimidating person, and so is his slightly disheveled studio. Way out here, there’s no need for tiny soundproof rooms with glass walls, and I can’t stand those ultra-sanitary places. I need to see a bunch of miscellaneous instruments sitting around and a well-worn couch. Chris has those things, and they make me comfortable.

I have already selected an order for my track listing. I explain that this album tells a story that constantly apologizes for being too truthful. It will be called “Unravel: Acts of Contrition, Volume I.” The apology is in the title, for fucks sake. Right now, I have 10 solid songs that comprise a Side A and a Side B. Something is missing in the middle – another song? Maybe an intermission. He asks to listen to Side A, and I play all five songs.

He really listens to every detail. I talk about some of the things I like in recordings and play him a couple of my favorite examples of engineering. “One” as performed by Aimee Mann. “Sleeping Lessons” by The Shins. Clean vocals, lots of layering. I’m not a big fan of reverb on vocals, and neither is he. All good signs. We’re going to work well together.

I’m recovering from a cold, but we want to get something accomplished, so we decide to lay down a scratch track of the first song on the album, “Autumn.” I play to a click track (successfully! this is so difficult for me and I did it!) and then go back and add vocals. We listen to playback and I try to explain what I like and what I want and I realize

I just don’t have a vocabulary for this. I want it to sound more… something. Less something else. YES I like that tone. I like the brightness of this one but it sounds hollow. I have a lot to learn.

I’m going back next week. The thing is, I finally started this. Finally.

Chris Hamilton of Radiation Puppy on bass,
Sharif Kellogg of ilyAIMY on piano, and
Rowan Corbett of ilyAIMY and Tinsmith on percussion.

I’m incredibly excited – this is essentially my dream team of musicians, and I always wanted to play with these guys but never thought we could make it happen. As soon as we have some shows booked, I’ll definitely post about it here. Wheeeeee!!

Last summer, some friends of mine got the opportunity to host a weekly open mic at my favorite Baltimore hang-out, Teavolve Cafe and Lounge. Due to a series of unanticipated cancelations and promotion difficulties, the open mic had a hard time getting and sustaining any attendance. Let me be perfectly clear – I am not blaming the venue, the hosts, the promotion process, or the customers for this open’s mic’s demise. I’m saying a bunch of unfortunate things happened that led to a slow fizzle of a really wonderful open mic at a really wonderful place.

Now, I love this place, and I want to hang out there. I want my friends to hang out there. I want hear my friends play music there. When I heard the open mic was being canceled for good, I approached the owner and opened the lines of communication to see if I might be able to take it over and move it to a different night, so as not to compete with a popular open mic hosted by my friends in the band ilyAIMY. A couple of months passed, and we ended up agreeing that we could make Monday nights happen every single week.

So: starting Monday, March 15, 2010, I will be hosting Teavolve’s new open mic. Sign up starts at 6:30, music will commence at 7:00, and we’ll finish out the night around 10:00. I know this blog entry will be stale in a couple of weeks, but the information here remains the same. Come play some music at Teavolve every Monday night – I would love to see you!

However! Baltimore – specifically Fells Point – is pretty darn convenient, in terms of location, and the Teavolve itself has lovely, high ceilings (hello, acoustics!) a cool, open floorplan, a delicious and affordable menu, and a staff that is never less than exceptionally wonderful. Now, I can’t possibly commit to making it every single week, but I have the best of intentions to make it whenever possible.

So! If you’re interested in seeing a nice variety of local artists, or are interested in performing at a new open mic, I highly recommend coming to Teavolve on Thursday nights. Sign-up is at 7:30ish, the music starts at 8, and it goes until midnight. I hope to see you there!

You can find the lyrics on my blog at myspace.com/acaciasearsmusic.