That was FUN!!!

Friday Night at The Sett (UofW-Madison South Union) Devil to Drag set the stage with a killer opening set, and we took it from there.  Managing to start early, we had the chance to stretch out the jams, dig deeper into the grooves, and take tunes to places they've never been.  The debut of Steelbridge Songfest 10's "The Jesus Gonna See You Naked" broke out as a fave.  The end jam to "Reds were Blue" has always been a place for musical exploration, and true to living in the moment - the band went into new space and keyed into a melody that will surely become something on it's own.  Clearly the freedom placed within this new jam allowed for interplay between Jon and Keith as much as melodic tomfoolery 'tween Andrew and Barrett.  Cheryl's take on "Medicine" took the crowds ears to a new level... ...and her version of Jon's "Dopamine" helped establish the vibe of the show early on.

This capped off a few weeks of BHA intensity that is becoming the standard for us.  Hold on to your ears, and we'll see you June 1 at Lonies!!!

Mixing Dopamine

Last night, Keith & I worked hard on mixing the new version of Jon Rogers' "Dopamine."  This is going to be the 3rd version of the song i'm aware of.  Jon's 'other band,' Jack Salamander will have their version of the track on their upcoming CD.  The initial BHA version, sung by Jon, is available to listen to on our music page, and all over the interweb.  You can see the performance of it at House of Blues (chicago) here: https://vimeo.com/144283376 This live take is sung by Cheryl JenDaPro.  She's singing this newest version that we mixed last night.  It's a faster, grittier, thicker, take on this bluesy tune.  We had gotten everything in place, when Cheryl stopped by and said, "Why do i sound like a chipmunk?  And everything is sped up!"  I had a setting wrong, that played it back too quick.  Beer and whiskey skews the ears kids!  Anyways, we fixed it to the right playback speed, and VIOLA! our mix had come together nicely!  We pumped it through a 2 track ampex tape machine, and buried the needle!  That extra crunch really meshed the sound into place. We've still got fiddle, organ, and backing vocals to lay down, but it's well on the way.

Tomorrow night we'll lay those down, and some backing vocals to Jon Rogers' other contribution to the record, 'Woman Ain't Happy."  We've also got some cleaning up to do on that one having added percussion and fiddle last go round.