Tangerine Tamborine

So I'm pretty deep into this project to just start blogging of it now, but it's been a great expereince and I wanted in one way or another to document. So, I'm working on a children's album. The brainchild of the musical genius of Jeff Sharp (Whitey Herzogs, Tim Tucker and the Uh-Huhs, Girlfriend Voice). Most of you who have known me a while will know my long time music playing partner Josh Lovvourn whose name I've never spelled correctly. He has a nice studio setup and had been playing with Jeff a while when they started working on this project and asked me to be involved. I've always liked working with Josh and have always wanted to work with Jeff so it was a pretty great opportunity for me.

So far we have a lot of songs...some finished, some almost finished, some not even close. But we've been pulling in people from all over to come out and help us out. We've had guys in playing trombone, drums, percussion, etc. We had Tasha Jones (Tim Tucker & The Uh-Huhs, The Tasha Jones Band, Ben Trussell) come in the other day and put some vocals on a couple of songs. They turned out really great. She is an amazing singer and really fun and relaxing to be around.

The education I'm getting from just recording with these guys and learning their knowledge sets, from Josh's ability to place a microphone, to Jeff's ability to hit an instantly recognizable but still original melody every time he picks up an instrument is inspiring to be around. I get nervous and fumble around when I have to play or sing in the studio. Things I can just throw out with ease under normal circumstances, and a little less ease on stage, I just wilt when it's time to record it. 4 simple notes, and I sound like that rock monster from "Never Ending Story" trying to play piano.

Josh is truly an engineer. He moves around this stuff like he was made for it. Jeff Sharp is truly a producer. He'll do the most bizarre shit I've ever seen. He'll make Josh record something completely stupid that he knows we're not going to keep. And when you see him do it you realize the brilliance behind doing it. You're doing "something." And those things inspire other things. You brainstorm. A bad idea is no reason not to go forth with it until you have a good one. Good lessons for me to learn in the studio and as a writer as well.

I'm so excited about all of these songs. We still have a good ways to go, and I'll continue to update this blog about it.

Superdave and Jeff Sharp rehearsing a part:

















Josh and Jeff not working: