Recording is finished!

For me, at least. I think they’ll still be laying down additional tracks (guitar solos, mandolin, flute, violin, etc.) and finishing production & mixing until Wednesday. Next Friday we’re meeting at TB’s for a pizza-slash-listening party. After that I have no idea how long it will be until I actually get a copy. I’m gonna get J to let me put a couple tracks up on my site, hopefully in their entirety.

J & Snow want me to come to Aspen, CO in May to perform the material for Sai Ma, but I have no idea if that’ll work out – I’m willing to go, of course, but airfare from CR to Aspen is probably prohibitively expensive, and landing in Denver would do me no good since it’s so far from Aspen and I ain’t takin’ no damn Grayhound bus up a mountain.

Sunday, the last day of recording for me, was a bhajan-style song… names of the Divine Mother (Lakshmi, Durga, Kali, etc.) in call-and-response format. J invited several additional background singers from his satsang group to make it sound fuller, so I was basically nothing more than a choir member. We spent literally HOURS punching in – about two thirds of the way through the song – to get a tricky tempo change nailed; we could have re-recorded the entire track about five times in the time it took them to nail the punch (*insert the heavy sigh of the eternally-beleagured-vocalist-who-waits-on-musicians HERE*). After we finally got it right, we did another track of response vocals, then we listened to it and I was finished with my part of this project.

I think I’m vaguely bummed it’s over, actually. I haven’t sung in so long. Maybe Snow and K and I really should start a band and do late 70’s/early 80’s covers; we’re all from the same planet and would have an absurd amount of fun. Or, as K said, “Fuck that! Let’s write originals!”

Anyway, after we finally finished recording I gave K a ride home. (MY GOD I LOVE K AND A. WHY DON’T I HANG OUT WITH THEM?!) (I see them once a year at Amma, and they live right smack dab in Fairfield; it’s not like it’s hard to find them fer chrissakes.) A was home so I went in and ended up spending a lovely fun hour there. (MY GOD I LOVE K AND A. WHY DON’T I HANG OUT WITH THEM?!) We talked about music and concerts and listened to CDs. I got to hear Walter Becker’s [song] “Book Of Liars” for the first time since I lost my cassette six years ago. They made me listen to some tracks off of the latest Duran Duran album. And K burned me a copy of Steven’s album ‘Let Me In’.

Steven! Is recording albums in his bedroom! In New York! How cute is that?! Actually, I guess his name’s Derby now, but either way – I sang with him when he was Steven – the album’s got some really nice moments on it. The first three tracks are solid, at any rate. I’m SO brutally amused. Steven (er, Derby) actually called when I was there – about five minutes after we started talking about him – so I got to say hi to him for the first time in about a decade. He sounds like he’s doing really well. A says she talks to him practically daily. Who knew?

A caught me up on the whole Steven/Ilana-Barbara/Katya/etc. crew; it was great to hear about everybody. Barbara STILL wants to record the a capella group (twelve years later!) and is threatening to get us (me and A) to NYC this August or so to actually accomplish it. I told Derby I’d record with him while I’m there if there’s time. HOW FUN WOULD THAT FUCKING BE?

Very. That’s the answer: VERY. FUCKING. FUN.

Anyway, go to Derby’s site and download some smooth tracks. Some of it’s pretty tasty, you might dig it!