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Feb. 13, 2010
Two chances to
fall into the Well
A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from
Miriam, the lead vocalist from Portland
band Miriam’s Well. She’ll be playing in town this month and she
was nice enough to send in a promo song, and I told her I’d see
about writing up a blog.
Until now, and I have no idea
why, I had a huge case of writer’s block on this one. Actually, I
guess this is technically “Blogger’s Block.” I mean, I guess I
could have just gone ahead and run the interview (after all, it’s
quite long) and left it at that.
But what fun would that be?
None, none at all.
I mean, I usually try to come
up with some story about something that ties me to the music, even
if it’s in a roundabout way. But on this one, I was stumped.
But thankfully, due to some
more e-mail correspondence with Miriam, I think I’ve latched on to
something that I can use as a reference point.
But first, let’s talk about
Miriam’s band for a second. They’re currently on the heels of
finishing a bang-up rock and roll record. For the last year or so,
Miriam’s Well has been laying down track after track of material.
And some of these songs, as I
understand it, could contain as many as 50 parts, maybe more.
That’s a lot of tracks.
The album is so huge, in fact,
Miriam and her musical partner, Mark Bowden, flew down to
L.A. last week to mix the album.
Now, I must admit, when I hear
of bands flying down to LA, just to MIX the new album, I believe
you could put me in the “Jealous” category. I mean, I joked that I
can hardly get my band to (ahem…) PRACTICE IN HOOD RIVER ONCE A
WEEK LIKE MOST OTHER NORMAL BANDS, and here I’ve got to talk about
a band that’s “Flying Down to LA to Mix An Album.”
It’s just not fair.
So, let’s switch gears for a
bit. Late last year, one of my 12 Shows in 12 Months featured a
performer who’s been on lot’s of recordings, and I have no doubt
that he’s been involved in the mixing process of some of those
records.
In fact, there was one particular record
he was on, that’s always been on my radar, probably since high
school. And luckily, the record is so old now, it’s usually found
in the bargain CD bins for $5.99 or less because it’s the classic
“Nice Price” series … you know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, since I believe the
original record I listened to actually belonged to my sister, I
hadn’t had the record in my possession for, oh, I don’t know, 25
years. So I was glad to pick it up a few weeks ago adding it to my
CD collection. And, as always, I thoroughly read the liner notes.
And, upon reading said liner
notes, not only did I confirm that the guy I saw last year was
indeed on this record, but now it’s coming to my attention that a
few of the songs on this “live” album were recorded in my home
state!
I knew there was some
underlying reason why I’ve always liked that record.
In fact, when I run the data
into the “Google Maps” application, I find out that my house was
approximately 43.6 miles from the actual concert venue (a bit
longer if you took I-287 South).
But of course, since I was
only 12 at the time the concert happened, it was unlikely I was
upset about not going to the show. When you look at the calendar
for Sept. 6, 1977, I can plainly see that it was a
school night. So there was no chance of me going to that show, for
sure.
So, what does all this have to
do with Miriam and mixing her album?
Well, just take a guess
who walks into the studio when Miriam is mixing her new album?
I’m telling you, it’s just not
fair.
n
Miriam’s Well will be
performing at Double
Mountain
Brewery on Saturday, Feb. 20 and April 10.
Read Jim’s interview with Miriam’s Well
here:
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