5/24/25 Session

Josh showed up with 2 guitars. Unusual.

The second (not his typical go-to) was a classical guitar. He used it to write a song some time ago and thought we might work on that one today.

After settling in and having some lunch, I asked if he’d just play through the song. I wanted to record it, for reference, for fun, and a chance to try techniques and mics I don’t usually use—a pair of Rode NT-1As in a stereo configuration.

He played part of the song so I could get levels and I was immediately inspired, so I grabbed an acoustic to play along.

7 hours later, we had added several parts AND layers and were happy to have made something.

As much as we loved building the song, there was magic in the early, dry version.

Sometimes recording a song is like building a custom home—There’s a specific plan and vision and the goal is to bring the vision to life.

Sometimes it’s more like building sand castles. It’s fun and there’s no expectation that it’ll last. and despite the transient nature of the approach, sometimes that sandcastle miraculously withstands the waves and becomes a model for a new house.

That’s what happened today. Here are a couple snapshots of the process.

The name is only a working title.

If i’d had an inkling we’d spend the day using the initial scratch track, I wouldn’t have been noodling on another guitar while Josh was playing the song, but maybe the throw-away nature of the performance is part of the magic?