November Birthdays 
Voodoo Court has completed recording of basic tracks for their first CD release since 2002. This last week was also the first time we played together since 2001, and even if nothing else comes from it, I at least learned that Asheville, North Carolina has some really good local beers.
I didnt note the specific brand names and types of equipment Mark built into his studio, but it did not have a computer or any tape machines; just board and hard drive (plus all the other miscellaneous stuff). His reasoning for not having a computer is that he wants to record performances that are not cut and paste like excel spreadsheets. I can understand that, but Asheville has some really good beer, and the less time spent re-tracking would mean more time drinking it.
The weather was pretty nasty most of the time, so we had to stop fairly often to wait out lightning and thunder storms. The engineers working the board were a large cast of characters. The engineering chores for two days were done by Joe Kelly, and the remaining time by Marks wife Debbie, the bass player Joe (a different Joe), me, or no one. There were a few times when one of us would set it to record, walk down to the studio and wed go for it.
I used Marks funky Sonar set which I had previously used for recording Why Do Fools Fall In Love for the American Graffiti Revisited, but brought my own tom stand because the last time I couldnt use his tom because his stand was worthless. That song was played with only a snair, kick, floor tom, and one cymbal. This time I also brought my 22-inch ride and foot peddle.
Our original plan was to record a CDs worth of original music and one of cover songs. It didnt exactly work out that way, as we ended up with about 80 minutes of material, where about 30 minutes or so are jams, but those jams were pretty dang fun and have moments that could be used on a disc. The remaining material consists of original instrumental songs, two original vocal songs (that sound more rockabilly than surf) and Mr. Moto, Journey to the Stars, and a twisted take on And I Love Her by the Beatles.
It was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again. Only next time, Ill take two weeks instead of one, so I can stop after a few days to take a mini-vacation to see whatever there is to see and come back rested for the final days. I could use a weeks worth of sleep right about now.
