sheila sondergard- spoke too loud

Musicians

  • Sheila Sondergard - Vocals, Guitar
  • Jeremy Miller - Keys
  • Sean Martin - Guitar
  • Jason Littlefield - Bass
  • Bill Ray - Drums
  • Sven-Erik Seaholm - Production
  • John Hancock - Album Photography

Released 2008

Through my involvement with the Jamband known as Tubby I began working for other artists under the Barfly Promotions banner. Shawn Balch, a highly respected and regarded promoter in San Diego knows many great musicians through the shows he organizes and he brought us all together for a "hand-picked" foray into Sheila Sondergard, a singer/guitarist/awesome person whom he manages.

We began rehearsing for the sessions at Shawn's apartment in Mission Beach, CA. Tiny amps were the rule and I brought only a snare drum and brushes; the idea was to feel out the corners and nuance of the music. We really approached it as if it were a Jazz singer's album; Sheila is "small but mighty" but still it's good to play in the lower dynamic as to really get a sense for where her music comes from. More bands should relegate at least two practices like this to their preparation work; it's much easier to think and assess things when you are out of the "normal" band environment.

We started tracking at Sven Erik Seaholm's Kitsch -n- Sync studio and the songs just sort of flew together. When you've got the right ingredients, great things happen. Sven captured the rhythm tracks perfectly. Chuck Prada and Jeremy Miller came in and laid their parts after Sean, Jason and myself then Sheila went in and sang over the tracks. I'm really proud of this album too. It was at a point of my life where a lot of bad energy was being cast aside and a new rebirth if you will was taking place. It was also the first recording session my son attended with me and he sat right beside me as we were tracking "Spoke Too Loud".

So with a band this hot and good you GOTTA take it on the road, right? So hit the road we did! We traversed the West up into Colorado for some very memorable shows in Arvada and Telluride especially! We did go to SXSW but that was a very stressful trip, as we played a show in Phoenix the night before and had to make the 18 hour drive the very next day. I still don't know how we managed to do that and survive in one piece.

A lot of lessons learned on that trip. Some great, some I wish I could claim as a "Mulligan" and get a do-over. But it's all part of being forged in this crazy business of Rock & Roll.

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