May 28, 2007: Moving Forward

It's been a month since the Mainman/Mainsqueeze reunion in Vegas and we are still feeling the 'rush', so to speak. It's inspiring to reconnect with old friends and to have those moments that remind us of what we can accomplish musically and that the possibilities are endless. This summer's goal is to complete our CD of original material - an ambitious goal, true, but certainly do-able. We have a large backlog of originals that just need to be polished up for recording and we now have the tools and know-how to get it done. So we are off and running once again.

We took advantage of Bassman John being in town for last Sunday's practice and came up with what we think will be the final version of "Rhythm Of The Radio (Favorite Position)". It's a rockin' version with a particularly strong drum performance by Bobby Delicious (he did the dishes at Frisch's). With the addition of a final vocal track, a couple of tweaks and some mastering, it should be a wrap. This song was another of those 'moments' - we got it all in one take, essentially a 'live' recording with no overdubs or do-overs. Funny how these things happen when everyone is 'feeling it' at the same time. Just wish we could figure out a way to capture the process and re-use it on demand.

It looks like our earlier recording of "Bad, Bad Man" is a keeper, so these two songs give us a jump start on our CD project. Mike's "Call Me", Bob's "Hold The Phone and Doug's "Back To Bimini" are next in line. Bassman John is now living in Milwaukee, but we are counting on him to record more bass tracks from time to time when he is back in Columbus. In the meantime, we keep moving forward.

The Korg D888 recorder has been a great addition to the recording toolkit, making it possible to do the bulk of the recording (up to 8 tracks simultaneously) in the Prince George Studio, then transferring everything to the DAW (Adobe Audition) for additional tracks and editing. We still plan to use Alba Studios for the final editing and mastering. The learning never ends, but we've reached a point where we can now create credible recordings independently at our own stress-free pace with only minimal cost. Ain't technology great?

April 26, 2007: Windrush In Vegas...and more

Ok, as good as it sounds to say Viva Windrush In Vegas or Mainmen Play Las Vegas, it wasn’t exactly a paid gig for anyone. But, hey, we actually did play and record in Vegas, although the real truth is that we were the ones who actually had to pay to play. Nonetheless, it was definitely something even better than a paid gig: it was a magic moment in Vegas with the Mainmen and Mainsqueezers, i.e., old friends from WRHS, reuniting once again at One Vibe Studios, Las Vegas, for a recording-jam session, thanks to Walt’s idea to book a studio and make it happen.

It all started when a couple of close friends from 'back in the day' decided to go to Vegas for a weekend. Once word spread, about 20 or so others, now scattered all across the country, jumped on board and turned the weekend trip into a WR mini-reunion and magical mystery tour. It was Walt who came up with the idea of booking a recording studio for a jam session with all our guitar-playing and singing friends.

Back in the 60's on the far east side of Columbus, it seemed like everyone was in a garage band. For those who didn't experience that era, it's hard to describe how immersed in the music of the day all of us were in one way or another. Music was always a part of everything we did back then, whether it was playing in garage bands, watching Shindig, listening to WCOL, hanging out at Valley Dale, going to street dances or going to big-time concerts at Veterans Memorial. The music was always there. So Walt’s idea to reconnect in a studio and see what happens was the perfect fit.

Saturday, we found our way to One Vibe Studios in Vegas for a 4-hour recording session. The studio was filled with guitars, wires, mics and friends. Players at the session included Windrushers John, Doug and Mike, plus friends from ‘back in the day’ Walt Coleman and Jack Vanderzee. Filling in on backup vocals, percussion and general inspiration were The Mainsqueezers Chorus: Debbie, Sharon and Joyce (hope I didn't forget anyone). Jack’s son, Todd, who lives in Vegas, provided a guitar for Jack and a bass for John and spent the day hanging out with us and hauling us around (Can’t thank you enough, Todd).

The plan for the day was that there was really no specific plan other than just getting together, playing some music and seeing what happens. We did have a couple of songs in mind that we thought we might take a shot at: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles) and Handle Me With Care (Traveling Wilburys). Plus, we were hoping we might get some free-style rapping from Neal (former Deadly) on his original creation, Talking WR Blues.

After spending some time solving some studio equipment issues, we quickly knocked out versions of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Handle Me With Care, with everyone joining in on chorus. Very nice. And very very special to have everyone jump in and have such a good time. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

The finale of the session was an impromptu and slightly altered version of Steamroller Blues (James Taylor), with Walt and Mike on vocals, that turned out to be the best song of the day. All three songs were recorded and mixed by One Vibe at the close of the session, so the magic moments were preserved . . . the studio chatter and the good stuff as well as the mistakes - a priceless audio snapshot capturing an event that we now have digitally preserved forever.

All in all, a unique and wonderful way to re-connect with friends. and yet annother chapter in The Most Hallowed Book of Mainman Stories.

By the way, drummer Bob was unable to go to Vegas, so we filmed a shout-out from him to all the WR Vegas touristas. You can view the video, titled Bobby Delicious, on YouTube by clicking here or by searching YouTube for 'wr67'.

In other Windrush news, Bassman John announced that he and Sandy are moving to Milwaukee in a few weeks, a great move for them but a difficult change for Windrush. “Life comes at you fast”, as the commercial says. Windrush loses a part of its soul and will never be the same. However, we will carry on, stay in touch with John and look forward to John staying connected to the band, either by sitting in when he and Sandy's travels find them in Columbus or maybe even by sharing and recording tracks electronically.

What happens next will be another leg of the Windrush journey. All of us have had a life-time passion for the music, so that will never change. We will keep playing, keep writing and keep recording and look forward to the next place this road takes us. The immediate target is to keep working on recording the CD of originals, hopefully getting it done by the end of the summer. We'll keep everyone posted on our progress.