Guitars.

The record lurched forward in maybe the biggest day since we recorded drums. Matt Beck laid pedals out and tap danced through most of the songs. Harmonium on "Everybody Knows," and monster 335 to "Next Time." We proceeded the same direction we took the rhythm section: From the loud and fast to the soft and slow.

Lap steel on what is still called "The Dobro Song," and also on "Ready or Not." Ethan came by and put a tambourine down on "Waving Goodbye." Andrew Sherman, who will be arranging strings, dropped by. A lot of good minds in the same room. For a moment, I stepped out of myself and felt fortunate.

We worked late, ate Thai, killed Ethan's xylophone part (sorry dude).

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Day of Keys:

Matt Beck, in on keys today. I have a special love for the piano, and want a healthy amount on this record. It's not so much the notes I like, it's the way a piano note hangs when the sustain pedal is pressed down. All the strings in the spectrum reverberate sympathetically and the sound reminds me of infinity. No, I'm not high.

We went down every song -- I have a folder that I'm endlessly thumbing through to find my notes, charts, thoughts, checklist -- and Matt pushed down the sustain pedal and began building the 3-D picture on top of the rhythm section.

"You Could Be Anywhere" began a debate about the difference between piano and Rhodes, especially as it contextualizes against either acoustic or dobro on my parts. I noted that Rhodes can sound very Lite Jazz in the wrong hands. Matt sat down at the Rhodes and played the intro to Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place." Touche. We took one pass of each, and will decide down the road.

Piano in what I call "The Dobro Song" (no lyrics yet) was found by simply plinking notes in space (very "When I Get Out of Jail"/"Coney Island"). We call the technique "Kind of Bloom App" -- part Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue," part Brian Eno's trippy iPhone app "Bloom," which features a multicolored touch screen that you can zone out on. No, I'm still not high.

Keys. Done. Next. Guitars.

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Ken Rich and I sat in the studio, let the smoke clear, opened up the basic tracks, listened, edited, assessed. They're sounding great. Drum sounds, parts, songs. Hilariously naked, right now, of course, with only acoustic guitar pinging away the architecture of the song, and me barely knowing the words yet. But it's there. Like an ultrasound. It's there.

Matt Beck came in later in the day, hung out. We tried a piano pass on "You Could Be Anywhere" but d'oh: piano's out of tune. Tuner comes tomorrow. Beck comes back tomorrow. Day of Keys to follow.

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Day Three, Basic Tracking

We've reached the place where the road ends, and we push forward in a collective directional hunch.

The song architectures are all there, and have all survived brilliantly. My Phil Rudd jones has been satisfied. The electric bass I've used on almost all of my recordings is packed away. I just know my basic feelings about the record:

It's a song record. Not a performance record. Everything serves the written sections of songs.

A good "part" is the gold standard. Find them.

Everything good deserves a good edit. Raymond Carver had an editor. Cormac McCarthy has an editor. It wasn't until I actually worked as an editor to understand. A good editor takes good and makes it great. Good writers, and good musicians, know this.

Johnsburg, Illinois: The Tom Waits song. Years ago, during a bout of insomnia, I took his piano arrangement and put it on guitar. It's always meant a lot to me. Used a great Larrivee that was sitting in the studio. Jeff Hill dropped a beautiful acoustic bass on it.

On the Other Side: I wrote this to be a big loud song, and everyone I've played it for has told me the same thing: It's not a loud song. Oh. So, I've been listening to them, turning it down, and you know? They're right. Ethan press rolls into the arrangement, and then goes straight to the ride. Jeff found a great repeating phrase for the choruses. This one's growing into something right before my eyes. We just have to give it room and see what it does.

The "Dobro Song": Another true favorite of mine, because it is stretching in an entirely new direction. I got to the studio early and worked out a ride part for the middle section. The basic patterns call to mind "Sweet Anesthesia," "Underwater," "1000 Miles" -- the songs that I return to. No lyric yet. I know. I'm working on it.

You Could Be Anywhere: This was done as a solo guitar/vocal on "All In," and I wanted to give it a chance in an arrangement. It fit with this group of songs, so we're going forward. Mallets, acoustic bass. More to follow.

These guys were amazing. I asked a lot, and they brought it. I'm honored.

Next: Guitars.

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Day Two, Basic Tracking

Deeper water. Bigger fish.

Conversation has moved from Phil Rudd and his lack of ride cymbal. Songs we started with are the jumping off point for new territory -- Next Time (co-written with Raul Midon) has a 6/8 groove that took a while to find. Ethan was amazing, taking every idea and incorporating it into the arrangement. Jeff finds a way to support and enhance without being flashy or pulling from vocal lines. He's a classic bassist -- all he does is everything right. And he's hilarious. I wish I could tell some of the stories, but I haven't cleared them with him. For all the heavy lifting going on here, we're having a really good time.

1000 Miles: Yes. Again. It's just so worth it. I think there's more to pull from the mood it sets. As Ben Mink says, It's a mini-film. I agree. We tried editing it every way we could imagine, and it just resisted. It'll be the original length, with all the long hallways and creaky doors to explore. It'll just be better.

Everybody Knows: Ethan built something in pieces that became hypnotic. I can't wait for the upper registers on this one. Jeff brought out the upright bass and supported beautifully. This one is a pet favorite of mine, and things are really going its way.

Count to Ten: I think Ethan got a little misty over this track. Maybe? Not sure. But this song continues to affect people very deeply. Groove supports without falling into the "ONE two three ONE two three" cadence of a waltz. I didn't envision drums or bass on it, but the song absorbed them brilliantly. Funny, I've never met the co-writer, Angie Pollock, but she's touring with Goldfrapp and hopefully in June, when they come to NYC, we'll meet backstage.

This is a new place. Exciting, breathless. No idea where it'll go. But I'm liking the direction.

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Day One, Basic Tracking:

Drummer Ethan Eubanks and bassist Jeff Hill are in the building for the next three days. Today was a tone-setter, and we started with the louder edge of the record. "Till I Get It Right," "Waving Goodbye" (co-written with Eric Krasno), and "Ready or Not" (co-written with Ari Hest).

I'd envisioned simple, but driving drum parts for these, and after trying a few takes, we started talking about the genius of Phil Rudd (from AC/DC) and Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty). Bam. If those two walk into the conversation in the middle of a drum/bass session, you're nailing it. It's like installing girders for a building.

Lunch on the patio included discussion of faulty plumbing in the neighborhood, mostly the result of nearby restaurants dumping fryer oil and food remnants down the drain. In short, it does to the city what it does to your heart.

To close Day One out, we began building a sample for "Next Time" which will include hand clapping, percussion, and I don't know what else. Or we'll throw the whole thing out. The morning listen will reveal a lot.

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I played a fantastic benefit at Oakland, CA's Fox Theater. Video review of the show and the cause is here: http://www.notesandwords.org/ (click on the ticket)

Their note:

Thank you for supporting the first ever Notes & Words!

For those of you who came last Thursday - what a cool experience! To be on stage together with you and the musicians (were you blown away or what?) and Ayelet Waldman and then to have the whole show stolen by those phenomenal kids from Oakland School for the Arts – wow! We've never had so much fun doing good and we hope you left feeling the same way.

For those of you who missed it, check out this video cut together by our friends at Borders: http://www.notesandwords.org/. We wish you had been there in person! 

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Wrote the charts out. They all look so weirdly the same on the page. They've been rattling around in space for so long, the eventual reality of them will be strangely unfamiliar. Like a doll in the attic that suddenly starts talking.

I watched them roll through the fax machine, all 34 pages, chords, lyrics, song structures, face-up, then collected on the other side, face-down and warm.

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New song seems to have gone over awesomely well. Sad that no one, myself included, knows what it's about, yet.

Thursday: Fox Theater, Oakland, CA photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/campbell.christopher/NotesAndWords#

Friday: Benefit for Sing for Hope, NYC. 6,000 miles without incident, no troubles til the NYC cab hit another car 50 ft from the venue. Everyone was fine, lots of screaming. Nice to be home. Soon after, backstage with Dick Cavett. Dirty stories about the Marx Brothers, Milton Berle, Tallulah Bankhead. Then, a rope trick. Total awe.

Saturday: Catatonia. Re-entry to civilian life.

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Insomnia rages. Hate that, just laying there.

While locked in my house over the weekend with a dobro I borrowed from a friend, I wrote the music for what I think is the final song on the record. If all goes well, it'll be a 12-song set. I know, no one listens to records anymore. Look, I'm not going to get into it. There's a group of 12 singles. Call it what you like. But know they are, or will be, intended to be listened to in a group. At least a couple times. Then you can hit shuffle on your iPod and do your thing. I've understood consumer choice since I picked peas out of my dinner as a kid. I know the meal was intended with the peas in, but you know? As a consumer (literally), I said no peas.

Something like that.

You get the option. Peas. Or no peas.

Today I just throw the music on tape, humming the melody, and getting it off to the boys before jumping a plane to the west coast for the Notes and Words Benefit (http://notesandwords.org).


Did the music-writing portion of the record snap shut behind me, just now? Maybe now I can stop focusing so hard on the trees, and start checking out the forest.

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