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| Josh Ritter Fansite, Josh Ritter Journal Entries from the Studio - recording the new album, Josh Ritter photos, producer Brian Deck, Doug Rice... |
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| 3.20.05 Hey All! The band and I are heading into our third day of recording at Bear Creek in Washington State. We recorded Hello Starling in a barn and that seemed to go pretty well so I decided the next one should be done in a barn as well. The particular barn where the new record is getting made is situated on about ten acres of pasture land with a small creek and some enourmous sequoias. The barn itself is a rambling one that has been added onto over the years and the bookshelves are filled with old books ranging from frontier life in the Old West, to Candide and turn of the century "National Geographics." Lots of statues by Frederic Remington and old horse tack make the place feel like we could get up on the horses tomorrow and hit mesa by noon. Being on the western side of the Cascades, we've been getting quite a bit of rain since we got here, but the day of arrival the sun was shining and we loaded all the gear into the studio's big room. Brian Deck, who is producing the record, showed us around the grounds until we felt at home. |
| Each morning I get up and go on a run and then come back and have breakfast and make a few calls. Then Brian and I sit down and decide what we want to work on that day. Then we get down to work. We work pretty steadily until around three when we have lunch and then it's full steam until dinner. Dinner has been a revelation here. Three days a week a chef named Courtney comes in and makes food so good that you almost cry at the end of the meal when it's all gone. On the other nights, we're switching off between band members and we have what looks like a fairly brutal competition schedule heating up as to who the true iron chef of Bear Creek is. After dinner we head back into the studio and work until around 10:30 or 11. |
| The songs are coming beautifully. I couldn't be more proud of them and the guys are giving the whole record everything they have. It is a pleasure hanging out with such talented musicians who also happen to be good cooks. So in summary, morale is good and it feels great to be finally getting these songs down in the way I believe they should be recorded. I'll write more over the next several weeks to let you know how everything is going. All the Best, Josh |
| More journal entries from Josh and photos coming! |
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| -- josh's journal entries -- |
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| 3.23.05 9 a.m. Morning breaks. 9:30 a.m. Coffee maker breaks. 11 a.m. We are deep into "Girl in the War." We recorded the vocal track and guitar track yesterday and then something involving crystals in the computer and crystals in the tape machine broke. I don't know and I may never know what that means. I was told it involved crystals. It's fixed now. We move on. 2 p.m. "Girl" really coming together. We take a break and Dave teaches Sam and I Wicklow rules snooker. 4:30 p.m. Zack finds a couple of skull rings that were left by the Foo Fighters. We're both pumped. We decide to wear them until the record is done or the Foos come back for them. 6 p.m. I record a solo song called "Idaho." Dave makes dinner. 8 p.m. We eat a beautiful Dave dinner. 10 p.m. Lots of "Lillian" Egypt stuff. This song is gonna cook. 12 a.m. Relax with a beer on the lawn. Listen to the frogs croak and spiders stomp around. josh |
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| 3.25.05 General Deck awoke this morning with a general consternation at the state of affairs in the mess tent. He marshalled the troops and set them about menial chores until 1100 hours. Coffee was made, papers dispatched. Commander of the Midwest theater Ritter showing no trace of lethargy. Operations seem to be going well and ahead of schedule. Drill Sergeant Kassirer is practicing new drill commands for studio use. His current favorites... "zero out the board!" "calibrate the buses!" "give me back my sandwich!" Dave "Grunt" Hingerty is currently in the lead for the pool championship. Mad Dog Hickman is surpassing our admittedley very high expectations in every respect. Unfortunately he found the chocolate easter eggs early. We will try to avoid a court marshal. The songs are surprising and astounding me with the life they seem to take on. Everyone is playing to the best of their abilities and the excitement here is palpable. More dispatches from the front as they occur... josh |
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| 3.27.05 We have the day off today and my folks were in Seattle, so I went out and had breakfast with them and my brother. Yesterday was really fruitful, with the band and I finishing the basic tracks of a song called "A Good Man" which features a western gunfight, a horse in the road and a collision with the sunset. Listening back to it sounds like Rick Reuben era Tom Petty. After dinner I laid down a vocal and guitar track for "In the Dark." It was dark and we filled the studio with candles and I sat in there and zoned out for about an hour and a half. When it's that dark and all you can really see are the pictures in your head while you're singing the song, recording can be a very mind out of body experience. The frogs were going wild last night, and the little jack russell terrier Rosie came into the control and slept on her personal satin cushion. The pool championship is heating up. Sam and Dave are taking early leads, but I'm coming along better than initial efforts would have suggested. We have two more weeks here. I'm a lucky guy. josh |
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| 3.29.05 Today the studio was hit by a rainstorm so intense that it looked like the creek would flood. The old german shepherd Ella came to the studio door with a look of panic in her eyes, so we let her in. She fell asleep on the floor next to the sofa and is still there, chasing rabbits through her dreams. We began this morning working on "Monster Ballads," adding to the vocal and piano tracks that Sam and I laid down last week. We're trying lots of things and seeing how they work. Tim Bradshaw, a friend of mine from Providence and a great guitar player and musical thinker came to the studio last night, and it's great to have him here and to reconnect and talk about stories from the road. Right now we're working on a song called "Wolves," which I've had around for a bit but couldn't quite finish. It's a song about a guy who gradually turns into someone who he didn't want to become, but who can't really seem to turn back the transformation. It rocks hard and it came together all at once and right now we have it cranked up. It hasn't woken Ella up yet, but she's deaf. Dinner tonight was Tilapia Fajitas and ginger bread. We're trying a type of "whiskey" called "Western American." It has none of the class of real whiskey, but it has all the style. Love to Doug and everyone reading this. It's gratifying to be able to talk about this stuff. I can't wait for you to hear it. All the Best, josh |
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| 3.31.05 Hey All, It's very late and we're sitting in the control room and listening as Tim Bradshaw makes some of the loudest music I've ever heard in the next room. The song is called "A Thin Blue Flame," and it's meant to read as a kind of escalating newsreel. It's been a pretty emotional couple of days with results that are really satisfying. The difficult stuff is the sweetest in the end. Sam's folks came for dinner tonight, and though the weather is rainy we're beginning to see some daylight. Darius arrived yesterday and it is good to have him here. We had amazing food tonight whose ingredients and adjectives escape me at the moment. Everything here at Bear Creek is tired but happy. Sleep Well, josh |
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| Wanna take a look around the studio? Check out this 360 degree view of the main room from Darius! Click above to open the Quicktime window, then click and drag on pic. |
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| 4.2.05 Hey Everyone! It's 9 a.m. here and I think I blew a fuse in the kitchen. The coffee maker won't work and the other kitchen appliances are non-functioning. Everything else, however, is well. This morning I'm gonna re-record "Monster Ballads" trying to get a little bit closer to the sound I have for it in my head. Yesterday, Dave Hingerty worked on some things in the songs he wanted to tighten up a bit, and Sam and Zack and I will also be doing that over the next several days. The songs are going through my head in my dreams these days. I'm going to wait to post a little more today until I have some coffee... josh |
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| 4.5.05 Hey All! Dave Hingerty left to go back to Ireland this morning. It is one of the great pleasures of playing music to be able to work with him. We wish him a good flight and a good, long, musician-free rest. Scott Graves from V2 came in yesterday ala New York and we treated him and Dave to a bonfire with scrap from all over the farm. The ground and wood were wet so it took a while to get the whole conflagration going but once it did it was really something to see. Rosie the jack russell terrier came and sat on Dave's knee all night. I woke up in the middle of last night with the woodfire smell. Things here are beginning to take their final shape. Zack is working today on "Thin Blue Flame" and I'm practicing a few of the solo songs I'm going to be putting down again for good luck. One is called "Idaho," another "Peter Killed the Dragon." Both have the quality in my mind of weird old half-blues songs like the Elvis Sun sessions songs but slowed down and tweaked out. We shall see. It's pretty exciting. All the Best! josh |
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| 4.7.05 Hey all! Zack, Sam, Deck, Brandon and I are the only ones left here at Bear Creek. Darius is back in San Francisco and Scott is back in New York. We are finishing up "A Good Man" today. It's interesting to me how recording is sometimes like moving house (something I know a fair amount about). The whole thing will feel huge and ungainly, but you begin by moving things around here and there and suddenly it all begins to make sense. We are all tired, but the prospect of moving on into a new stage (mixing) with what is a great, great full canvas is exciting. We had another bonfire last night. I'm starting to get into this bonfire thing. I'll be back in a few hours, josh |
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| 4.20.05 Hey All! After a week and a half away from it, Deck and I are starting the new phase of making the record. This stage is called mixing and it's the stage where we make decisions as to how each of the instruments will sound, and how the overall delivery of the song comes across. It's the point where you hear everything and hope that what you recorded is all you need. Mixing is going on in Chicago and it's been beautiful out here until today. I'm hoping some of that sun comes back. Deck and I are going to see Iron & Wine tonight, and tomorrow Darius gets in. Everything is cooking along. Not much to report on the song side of things. We are still really just setting it all up and deciding how to do it. Much more later! All the Best, josh |
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| 6.26.05 (final entry) Hey All! I realized that I never really finished the album journal. As a matter of fact, I left it saying I’d be back in a few hours…Well, I’m back, if slightly more than a few hours later! Save for a few small changes, the actual recording and mixing is done. It’s been with me for a while and it feels great to have it off of my chest and coming through the speakers. It’s a strange thing to have the record done but not have it out yet, but it’s a new kind of schedule with V2 and it’s really interesting and there’s still a lot to do that I’m pretty involved in. Right now I’m working on the art for the record and I’ll be recording again for some b-sides in Canada in a few weeks. It’s been really impressive to me just how much better as a band we became with the recording process. It was as if working on all the new stuff (and there was a lot of it) opened up a door to a new way of playing and a new way of thinking about each song, whether new or old. It’s pushed me to take more chances in the shows, and it’s reaffirmed my strong belief that if you make music with conviction and love, it will be received in same. To say that I’m excited to get the record out would be a pretty huge understatement! That’s all for now. I’ll be around on the road during the next few months, heading to new places and revisiting old ones. I’ll be in touch from the road! All the Best, Josh |
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| New Behind-the-Scenes Photos |
| I'm proud to bring to the Fansite new, exclusive photos from two talented photographers that capture Josh and the band hard at work, and at play. Jon Strymish is an amazing photographer who has always captured Josh Ritter brilliantly (his work is peppered throughout the Fansite), and Dave Hingerty is one of the most underrated photogs you'll find (you know him as Josh's drummer). Enjoy these great, revealing pics! |
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| photo by Dave Hingerty |
| Photos by Jon Strymish >> |
| Photos by Dave Hingerty >> |
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| Click HERE for a page created to pool together everything that has been revealed about this new album - from the songs, the album title, to the release dates - gathered from this journal, recent shows, and random things heard through the grapevine... |
| THE NEW ALBUM: News & Info! |