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| JERKS FANS CAN FINALLY COME ON HOME |
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After performing throughout New England for over a decade, Portland Maine's own
JERKS OF GRASS release their first CD - "Come On Home".
After a week in the studio with engineer/producer Jonathan Wyman (Rustic Overtones, As Fast As, 6gig), Jerks of Grass completed mastering at the famed Gateway Mastering Studios with Grammy award winning engineer Adam Ayan.
Recorded live on the floor with no overdubs and staying true to the band's live show the album features mix of original songs including the title track "Come On Home", old bluegrass standards and high-energy newgrass instrumentals.
Our new album "COME ON HOME" available locally at all Bull Moose Music locations
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Featuring:
MELISSA BRAGDON (Fiddle & Vocals)
KRIS DAY (Upright & Electric Bass, Vocals & Guitar)
CARTER LOGAN (5-String Banjo, Dobro, Guitar & Vocals)
JASON PHELPS (Guitar, Mandolin & Vocals) |
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TRACK LISTING
1: Frank’s Reel - 3:07 J. McCusker
2: Big Spike Hammer - 2:54 B. Osborne, P. Goble
3: Stomping Grounds - 5:35 B. Fleck, V. L. Wooten
4: Something - 6:04 K. Day
5: Twin Peaks - 2:22 R. Zenkl
6: Foggy Mountain Special - 3:41 L. Certain, G. Stacy
7: Down In The Willow Garden - 3:41 C. Monroe
8: Tennesee Waltz - 5:29 Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart
9: Nellie Kane - 3:00 T. O’Brien
10: In The House of Tom Bombadil - 3:59 C. Thile
11: Come On Home - 4:22 K. Day
12: Deep River Blues - 3:31 A. Delmore
13: Why you Been Gone So Long - 4:17 M. Newbury
14: Big Country - 4:25 B. Fleck
Recorded and Mixed by Jonathan Wyman at the Halo
Assistant Engineer - T.J. Swan
Produced by Jerks Of Grass & Jonathan Wyman
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering Studios
Photography - Matthew Robbins
Layout & Design - Jason Phelps & Kris Day
CD LINER NOTES - by Jonathan Wyman
I was honestly a little surprised when Jason contacted me about working together for the Jerks of Grass record. In a business that loves to pigeonhole, you might not think a guy who’s logged more than a few hours conjuring up big pop hooks would be entrusted with a bluegrass record. Yet a few recommendations and a mutual love of the work of luthier Scott Conley somehow convinced the band that working together might just make for some interesting results.
The first thing that I knew I had to do was to get them playing together in the same room, at the same time. For those unfamiliar with the black art of record-making, some projects are approached somewhat systematically and surgically; instruments are laid upon others, one at a time. And while this method has it’s merits and applications, it just wasn’t going to work for a Jerks record.
We set up in the biggest room in the studio, with wood floors and high ceilings. The band sat in a circle - just like they would at a rehearsal - and it wasn’t until they gave me the thumbs up that things sounded good and were comfortable for them that I placed a single microphone. We eschewed the use of headphones; this let the band hear each other and play off each other dynamically.
On the other side of the glass, the results of everyone playing in such close physical proximity really contributed to the overall sound of the record. Though there are techniques for getting the microphones to grab more of what you want to hear and less of what you don’t, inevitably, there will be bleed; the fiddle mic picked up the top-end slap of the bass, and the guitar and the vocal were all over each other. Rather than try to fight it, we embraced it. Instead of striving for isolation and the individual perfection of each signal and reuniting them downstream using elaborate artificial ambience and studio juju, we chose not to take the whole thing apart just to try to put it back together again. And I think the end result was better. Its nothing new - Phil Spector had this figured out 15 years before I was born - but with the advent of new technology, we can sometimes forget that the simplest means can be the best.
So, the band all got together in a room and played these songs. Every note that is on the record was the band playing together - there are no overdubs. It created an energy in the room that I think was captured on the recording. In short, what you have in your hands is the closest, truest representation of Jerks of Grass, the same way you would hear them if you were at the Bramhall on a Thursday night.
Well, maybe if you went to the Bramhall with a bunch of valve microphones in your pocket...
Jonathan Wyman - May 2008 |
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