Monthly Archives: February 2010

February roundup

I have been very busy for the past couple of weeks, so I have not bothered to update anything on the blog, so I think now is the time.

I have just finished doing the live sessions for the Glen Patrik Elephant Shelf albums. We had 4 very intense days recording tracks. Some are complete songs and just require mixing, and a couple of over dubs whilst others are essentially rhythm tracks. Glen is providing a couple of lead vocals on tunes too.  In the 2 weeks that Glen has been with us we also managed do play two gigs with him so it was pretty hectic. During this time and on the way to our first gig with Glenn the clutch cable snapped on my car but I did manage to make it with assistance from Vicky & Glenn and some burly police types who helped get the car to a safe place a sit had broken down on the approach to traffic lights facing up hill at very busy junction not far from the north circular road in north London. it was also of course raining to add spice the event. When we got to the gig  at the the Blues Room in St Albans the gods of feedback had taken up residence, but fortunately Glenn had a cunning plan and saved the day by notching out the midrange on the system. Â Due to a series of annoying incidents I was not I think on my best form and I don’t think the band were either, but the audience enjoyed it, Â Glenn is a very charismatic performer and had soon charmed a fair number of the crowd.
Next day I got the AA out to tow me to the garage.  Saturday we had another gig at the Mermaid in St Albans and Glenn also played on with us, for the whole set and it was even better received than the previous gig. Monday was our first proper recording day and got off to a good start.  Tuesday  marked Robbie’s first serious recording session with double bass which really added something to the sound. Wednesday and Thursday were also pretty solidly dealt with. Some of the recording sessions were videoed too. On Thursday Evening we went to the Blues Room again and Glen sat in with Eric Ranzoni a very entertaining Blues & New Orleans style pianist.  It was a fun evening but due to the rain there were not many people in attendance. Eric will be doing a residency there with Terry & Robbie from Elephant Shelf as a Thursday night regular.

Friday I was checking the tracks we had recorded and making copies to go on to the PC. On Saturday we played a Delta ladies gig at Oliver’s Jazz Bar in Greenwich which despite the ever present rain was quite well attended. We had Robbie along on double bass again to beef up the sound too.