This past Thursday evening I got a call from Kip, moments before we were to debark for Kitty Moon: He stated that Kitty Moon was not in possession of an alcohol license, despite the active bar we’d encountered on previous visits, and that this fact had finally come to light with the man (or something to that effect). Gig off. Best of luck to KMoon for a speedy recovery.

Then tonight (Sat), a few minutes before I was to pack up and head for the Wabash Tap, on the heels of our successful and enjoyable appearance on LIVE AT THE HEARTLAND on WLUW this morning, Paul called to say the club had double-booked, and that for the second time in three days, our show was again OFF.

Our apologies to anyone who attempted to catch either of these shows. I reckon our agent will be given a plum good lickin’ for all this balderdash.

Hopefully Metropolis will welcome us with the usual open arms tomorrow night. After that it’s off to Mom and Dad’s house back East for Thanksgiving and then down to a remote southern whereabouts with Alisa for a week away from it all. I look forward to returning just in time for another run on WLUW, this time on Billy J. Iver’s Saturday morning bluegrass special.

Here’s a list of equipment used in the recording session, for all you gear nerds… (more…)

I posted four MP3s from our session with Bob on Friday. These are raw digital dumps, not transfers from the analog tapes. That said, they should still sound pretty decent.

Here are the new tracks:

1. Banjo in the Holler
2. Spoonful
3. Orange Blossom Special
4. Old Joe Clark

You can download `em on our music page.

There’ll be more information about the recordings after we all have a chance to rest and recover.

This past Friday, we successfully recorded multiple takes of 17 songs, live to two-track tape, via some very nice mics and an old tube mixer. The esteemed Bob Weston supplied and manned the gear, all of which he graciously brought to my house for the day to capture Tangleweed as we know it, circa November 2004.

We’re now reviewing the tapes and will send something off for mastering as soon as we’re all in agreement on what makes the final cut. Hopefully we’ll have an official release early in the new year.

Here’s what we tracked:

Whiskey in the Hall
Banjo in the Holler
Cindy
Columbus Stockade
C-Jam Blues
Farewell Blues
Katie Kline
Ragged But Right
Orange Blossom Special
Blackberry Blossom
$2 Bill
Train 45
Make Me a Pallet
Old Joe Clark
Home Sweet Home
Summertime
Spoonful

We’ll post a few mp3’s shortly once we’re in agreement on the keeper-takes.

This blog has been quiet for a few days. I was in Pennsylvania helping my grandmother celebrate her 100th birthday, and then went from there to Wisconsin to work to get out the vote. It was great to see so many people from Chicago make the trek up north to get people to the polls. I have a lot of stories about election day, but I’ll spare you the details.

We all watched the election returns. We mourned. We puked. And now it’s time to get back to work. We’re back at the Kitty Moon tonight and ready to play. We’re playing shorthanded this evening. Ryan is heading home for his brother’s wedding, so we’ll go as a banjoless quartet. We’ll be back up to full strength for our Sunday show at the Metropolis.

We’re in the final stretch preparing for our November 12th recording date. We’re tightening up our harmonies and arrangements and picking the tunes we’re going to commit to tape for posterity. If you have any suggestions, let us know.