So Good: Rival Schools’ New Record, “Pedals”
Walking down the street, saw a wheat pasted sign for the new Rival Schools. Had no idea they had a new one. I used to love these guys, though their last record was a long ass time ago. This has to be very different. I guess I have to stop playing Radiohead’s “King of Limbs” on endless repeat and check it out. If you don’t have “United By Fate,” give it a listen. I used to cover “Good Things” from that record. It just reminds me of driving in Missouri. Weird…only Missouri. The way Bob Seger reminds me of driving across upstate New York. Either way:... read more
More Responses to Questions about “Wander Away”
(info [at] errico [dot] com, if you have questions you want answered.) Mike, Just a few quick questions that popped in my head after reading the track listing: 1) Newly recorded versions of ‘1000 Miles’ and ‘Someday’? If so, what was the inspiration that led to the decision to re-record them? 2) Is ‘Everybody Knows’ the Leonard Cohen song, or an original composition? Can’t wait to hear the new record and hopefully catch a show or two. All the best, Barry [@longarm04 on Twitter] Barry, First, yes, these are newly-recorded versions of “1000 Miles” and “Someday.” The main reason is simple: I wasn’t finished with them. The first recording of “1000 Miles,” on Pictures of the Big Vacation, is essentially a demo. I’d been sent to Vancouver to work with Ben Mink for a couple days to see if we’d be a good match. We clicked, and thought we could kill two birds by working on a new song. I had the basic musical pieces, he made them work arrangementally, and sent me back to the hotel at the end of the night, saying, “We’ll do vocals tomorrow.” I looked at him, like, “There are no lyrics.” “You’ll have ’em by then,” he responded. I freaked, but got them done that night. If you were to “solo” the vocal tracks, you’d be able to hear me fiddling with the lyric sheet. You’ll also notice it’s the only song on that record that uses programming, via an Akai Roger Linn MPC-3000. The idea was that we’d get a drummer, but of course, that never happened. “1000 Miles” was an orphan in that way, but... read more
Responses to Questions about “Wander Away”
(Question? E-mail info [at] errico [dot] com) Yesterday, I released the album artwork, song sequence and credits for "Wander Away." I’ve gotten e-mail back that is so great, I had to share. If you have questions, e-mail them to me, and I’ll do my best. Mike, Having grown up in small-town Illinois…I DON’T recall such a place as "Johnsburg"…! Either set my mind at ease by admitting you made up the name…or tell me EXACTLY where it is located! I knew of Bentown, Holder, Jenkin’s Switch, Sutter’s Siding…and even "Mindale," a probably demolished station on the Illinois Terminal Railroad (an electrc "interurban" railroad of the first half of the last century…!) Steven _____ (old Ill’s boy…!) Steven, Short answer is: You’d have to ask Tom Waits. He wrote it. He plays it on piano, so, on a sleepless night, I decided to arrange it for guitar. It’s a pretty tricky arrangement – pianists get all ten fingers to hit notes, while guitarists get four – and it uses a lot of open strings and harmonics to get the sense of piano rolls up the keys. I’m scared of playing it live because it’s pretty complicated (for me, anyway), and I’m not the same guitarist live as I am when I’m just relaxed at home. Tom has a stand-up bass on the original, and I have Jeff Hill on stand-up bass on mine. Otherwise, the singing is, well, pretty different. But then you got me thinking, so I had to check it out. The lyric states: …She grew up outside McHenry In Johnsburg, Illinois… …sooo, I Google mapped Mc Henry…and lo... read more