Forgotten Genre Productions

My friends in the Faux Minx are doing a show at the Whitaker Center this Friday. This is definately a show worth seeing. Not only do you have the Faux Minx but you also get The Reese Project. All this for just $10. Now I know this sounds like a cheesy advertisement, obligitory in nature, but don’t be fooled. Both of these bands are worth seeing and the musicianship on display is excellent. In a world where we are constantly being force fed music like Rhiannan and Lady GAGa, going to see 2 bands with this level of knowledge of there instruments are a breath of fresh air. The other factor that is worth mentioning is going to a show at the Whitaker Center. I went to see Jerry Douglas a few years back and the sound was superb. That is a great room. All you engineers need to be reminded to get out and see/hear live music being played by an excellent band in an excellent room on an excellent PA to hear what music should sound like. This will be a great night to renew your passion for music and what it can do for your soul. Tickets are still available so contact the Faux Minx to get them..

To get you pumped up and ready I am including an MP3 of a song I recorded for the Faux Minx at Building Character in Lancaster. This is a magical version of Maiden Voyage that the guys played last year. We set up in a wharehouse with doors all around that we used for some baffling. At the end of the night we tore down and the guys went their seperate ways not feeling to confident about there performance. I loaded all the gear up moved it back to the studio and loaded it back in to the studio and decided to do a quick mix just to make sure I got everything. I started with Maiden Voyage and was drawn into it. As I brought up all the virtual faders and started to add this and filter that the song really grabbed me. I quick ftp’ed a copy to David Green, the bass player to assure him it wasn’t a waste. To this day it is one of my favorite mixes I’ve done. It is not perfect by any means but the excitement of going with your first instincts and letting it be as opposed to reworking and second guessing yourself was refreshing.

I hope the guys don’t mind me posting this to get you pumped up for the show. Let’s keep it on the down low people. Go see this show you will not regret it.

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 Faux Minx [
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So I get an email from Al Kooper this morning. Yea I realize it is obnoxious to open a blog post with that sentence but it actually happened. Al is mixing an album that a friend of mine is producing for the Legend Charlie Gracie. I have been preparing the files for Al to mix. Al is very particular about his workflow. First off, He hates Protools. Don’t even bring it up. Al works in Digital Performer (MOTU). The next thing is, Al has to have files in Aiff, not Broadcast wave which is the industry standard but Aiff. Al also likes everything on a disc. He did not like the idea of ftp’ing files or using a dropbox. They had to be on a disc. We sent him the album on 2 DVD’s, 10 songs in all, 5 on each disc. The second disc we sent him, he could not find the files on, so I rushed him out another disc the next day that I, of course, checked on a second computer to verify that files were on it. Today I get an email from Al Kooper addressing me as Anthony Boy. It seems that the second disc was “blank” but he was able to find all the songs exept one on the first “blank” disc I sent him. Now I need to send him the one song so he can complete the project. So here I am burning another DVD for 1 song and another 25 dollars to fed ex the songs to Al to make it right. The moral of the story is….. Don’t argue with Al Kooper. The guy mixed Freebird people. I don’t care if he likes his files with a ribbon attached to it. It is pointless to argue or defend yourself or explain that you checked it and it must be on his end or any other excuses that come to mind. Just make it right. Does Al care about me or my resume’? Of course not. Just make it right. So today I will be checking the files on 2 computers, Mac and PC to make sure Al gets his files.

Oh yea, and Al Kooper called me boy.

Tomorrow at the Guitar Center in Lancaster PA I will be hosting a Melodyne Clinic with the guys from Melodyne. Melodyne is a very cool program that brings some very cool science to the area of pitch correction. Although many people are familiar with Autotune, it is not the only kid on the block, so to speak. The cool thing about Melodyne is they have just released DNA which stands for Direct Note Access. This sofisticated software is able to take a multi note source such as a guitar chord and actually split the chord into individual notes. Then you can change the pitch, correct that one note in an otherwise flawless solo, etc. I am anxious to see and hear this at work. Any one in the Central PA area is welcome to come out at 6:00 to take it all in.

In the last month I have been working on a project with an old friend of mine Eric Lawrence. Eric and I went to school together in New Guinea. He is in a band named the Lyrebirds and they have been recording an album on there own in Canada. Eric also spends time over seas in Turkey I believe. I am mixing the album for him here in PA. What allows me to do this is an organization named yousendit. You send it allows me to transfer large files back and forth instantly. Let me give you some history so you are able to appreciate this. Back in the day if you wanted to work long distance like this you would have to mail your tapes or dat’s or DVD’s and wait for them to arrive. At best you could pay an arm and a leg to have Fed-Ex overnight them and then you could overnight the mixes back to the client and wait for them to get back to you with the changes. This was of course time consuming and costly. Enter yousendit. For a nominal fee you can transfer files instantly and get instant feedback to speed up the session. This has been a great tool for me. Eric will send me the individual wave files for the song by dropping them in my drop box. I will download them and go to work and send him the mix. This is great for all those guys that say there is not enough musicians in their town to keep them busy. Now you can work outside of your community. Embrace technology, move on, check out yousendit. 

I heard a great interview by a friend of mine Kevin Breuner with Howard Massey about his book Behind the Glass. This is volume II which has just been released. I am a sucker for these books that document and interview pros that have recorded projects that I respect and are legendary in there own right. Some quick background on those involved is due so let me fill you in. Kevin Breuner was the guitar player in the Grammy nominated band, Smalltown Poets who I toured with as a road manager back in 1998. Kevin is now working for CD baby. Cd Baby is the largest online distributer of independent music and is a great resource for all of you interested in getting your music out to the masses. Howard Massey is a producer and engineer and author who has written many books on recording and equipment. The interview between Kevin and Howard was extremely interesting and delved into the difference in the business in this day and age compared to the climate when Howard wrote Behind the Glass volume I. They talk about how many of the big name guys are working at home now. Check out the interview here  Also they are offering a 25% of discount on the book so jog over and enlighten yourselves.

We are excited to be moving into a new studio space in Lancaster. It has been awhile in the making but we are finally moving forward. We will be teaming up with an organization by the name of Evolve 2 Trust. These guys have been working with Urban Gospel and Inspirational artists in the Lancaster area and had many of the long term goals that FGP aspires to. They were in need of some technical advice and engineering help and we were looking for a home in Lancaster city so we teamed up. Look for a grand opening in January or February. We will be adding a control surface from our friends at Euphonix. The MC Control and MC Mix system will be installed and we will have 16 faders and full control of Pro Tools and Logic. Look for an upcoming review of the system once we get it up and running. Since we are mixing primarily in the box and it is 2009 the Euphonix artist series seems to be the perfect choice for us. The room is an adequate 15 x 20 and will be a control / live room. In it’s formal life it was a walk in freezer for a produce company so it is sealed pretty tight with no bleed from the outside. We are looking forward to upcoming projects for Doug Plank and Crossway Church in January and finishing up mixes for “Big Red” from here in Lancaster and “be lyrebirds” from Canada and points beyond. We will also be having some classes available for recording and mixing in the near future. Contact us at bookings@forgottengenre.com if you are interested in more details or have any other production needs.

Here is a recording show that I stumbled upon a while back that I find enjoyable and intriquing. Check it out.

Wow this thing is absolutely amazing. I have used eleven as a plug in and loved it. But now having a piece of hardware that also acts as an interface and allows you to use those sounds on stage is crazy. Check it out.

Yesterday I got a chance to hang with one of my old friends Jeff Lavallee better known as Jeff Lava. Jeff was my roommate in Nashville and we did several tours together. I met Jeff on the Big Tent Revival and The Waiting tour were we agreed to look for an apartment together. This was a big step for me because I was in Atlanta with the Waiting and had no place to live and didn’t know anyone but the band. So when we came off the road for a couple days off, of course everyone wanted to seperate to get things done and as a result I had to fend for myself. I slept in my car, on couches, in the woods, in cheap crack house hotels or wherever I could find. I was making $700 a month so I had to be careful with my pesos. and couldn’t afford an apartment by myself. I had always dreamed of living in Nashville so when Jeff said he was looking for a roommate I said why not. The next week he found a place at the Canterchase Apartments in Antioch near the airport. That place became legendary and at times the 2 bedroom apartment hosted up to 5 people at once. We were always open to having someone crash while they were trying to break into the business or in town for a visit. I spent so much time on the road that although I was one of the original renters, I slept on the floor in the living room.

Jeff was and is a lighting designer. We did a few more tours with the Waiting and then we took a gig with a little act called the newsboys Jeff was a light tech and I was doing backline and spent hours and hours with Duncan the drummer on setting up the hydraulic drum riser that rose up and spun around on 2 axis’. We had to get the weight proportioned just right so that it would travel consistently around accounting for Duncan and Peters weight. It was a miserable pre production and outside of Duncan, the newsboys management and production crew were some of the most difficult people I have ever worked with. I will spare you the details but eventually I got fired because I didn’t see eye to eye with their way of doing life. Jeff had to finish the tour and has many stories of woe. Interestingly enough it worked out for me because in the industry sometimes who you can’t get along with reveals a lot about who you can get along with and I actually got a better gig with Sixpence.

Jeff is quite successful and has toured with everyone from Audio Adreneline to Scott Stapp, INXS, Lorrie Morgan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, MuteMath and many others. His latest gig is with Trace Adkins. At the same time Jeff runs a design company in Nashville and designs light shows for corporate affairs or music touring or film and video. Jeff does more than climb a truss and focus lights. He gets into programming intelligent fixtures and entire show scenes. He is a talented guy with a great eye.

Trace Adkins was playing the York Fair last night and Jeff also had a video shoot he was prepping for in Nashville so to get a few more hours of work in he flew into Baltimore instead of taking the tour bus all night. I picked him up and played chauffeur  so he could get some more work done. I also got to see an old friend from my Small Town Poets touring days. Traces FOH engineer James did production on The Small Town Poets/ Clear tour. He is a great guy and worked hard on that tour. We got to catch up a little and discuss the joys of digital consoles since he is mixing Trace with a digdesign Venue rig. You can’t push digital like you can push analogue and sometimes during a show you need to give it a little extra ummphh if your gain staging isn’t right it is challenging. Again here is a guy that does more than stand 5 feet from the faders or read a book during the gig. It was enlightening for me and good to see him.

Check out some of Jeff’s stuff at www.jefflava.com

Saturday night I was up to see my old friends The Rainchildren at the Onstage Theater in Lebanon PA. This was a legendary venue from back in the day whose history deserves a post of it’s own. However, the real star was the Rainchildren. The Rainchildren were a band that played locally in the Lancaster area and beyond back in mid 90’s. Back then there was actually a “scene” attached to the music that was being played and it was exciting times. When I say scene what I mean was there were people, ordinary people that loved music and would actually leave the confines of their house, apartment, etc to venture out into the unknown to attend what we liked to call a concert. Not only was there people who actually cared about music there were many local bands that were excellent and as they continued to play these “concerts” they became more excellent and there was a camaraderie between the various bands and friendly competition ensued which allowed them to hone there craft. There were bands like The Rainchildren, Jawbone Hill, Mack the Coffeeman, Reveal, Scarlett Thread, and many others that use to roam these parts playing music and having fun.

The most polished and musically fit out of these was a band called the Rainchildren. Last night when these guys played. I felt like a kid again. My face muscles were hurting because all I could do the whole show was smile. There were points in the show where I who hooed in falsetto. It was so enjoyable that I actually forgot you could have so much fun at a concert or musical event. The chemistry of the rainkids was overpowering. The five of them playing together equals 200%. I have seen all these guys play with other bands and acts that are great but not as magical as these guys together in the rainkids.

On of my favorite parts of the Rainchildren is the guitar player Steve Bridgeman. Steve is an amazing guitar player and I was reminded that he was one of my favorite guitar players back then and now he has solidified that position. First off Steve is a humble guy. Anyone that knows him or has seen the band live can attest to this. Second, he can play. The great thing about Steve is his playing is diverse and he doesn’t walk on his musical partners. Even more important he doesn’t tramp over the song. All musicians take note here. In my opinion this is the key to good music. Steve has the chops, but in verses he stays out of the way of the lyrics. The focus is on the words and what is being communicated. During verses you have Marty(vocals) clearly sending the message as the rhythm section holds it down, and let me tell you, these guys are tight. Kevin(drummer) locks in tight with Dennis(bass) with my buddy Aaron (percussion) putting the special sauce on the top. Then the chorus comes. Steve stays out of the way of the hook. Let me say that again. Steve does not try to upstage the hook of the song. And then the moment you have been waiting for; Marty shouts “Come On Steve” and Steve is off on an interlude. Again I don’t even call it a solo because Steve doesn’t just whip out some exercise he has been practicing or some scale he just has to force into the song. He plays fast, he plays slow, he bends notes, he picks with his fingers, he plays slide, he plays double stops, triads, arpeggiates, jazz chords, blues licks, switches pick ups on his guitar. It is a guitar players delight and then just like that you are back to the hook.

Honestly this is one of the greatest bands to play this area. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is the best band in the world or even in this local area, but when you see these guys live they will completely capture you and mesmerize you for that hour and half. You will feel like you are experiencing something unique. If they play again do not miss the opportunity to see them. I have never been disappointed.