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Robert Ranolph covers Will Gray for new album?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:51:00 -0800

18 months ago
I was returning home from LA after working on some music with T Bone Burnett for my album Honeysuckle Wine. When I got back, word was sent that T Bone was producing the Robert Randolph & The Family Band record and they were selecting songs for the album. So, I sent T Bone 2 or 3 songs that I thought might fit the vibe. They chose one song, “Don’t Change”, that I wrote with my former bandmate Jason Hamlin, BUT, they needed me to rewrite the lyrics of the song to fit more of the theme of the album. I don’t know if you’re a songwriter or not, but I think re-imagining a song is one of the hardest things you can do. It’s particularly hard when it’s a song you’ve sung hundreds of times, but haven’t thought about in 3+ years.
I wanted to get the song on the record though, so I started tearing it apart, and re-writing the lyrics. They needed them in 3 days before they tracked the vocals, and they had already begun recording the drums and keys. So, I finished the lyric and sent it off. A couple of days later, I heard back from their crew that Robert and T Bone liked the changes, and everything was moving forward.

A year or so went by, and I never heard anymore about Robert’s record and when it would be coming out. In that time, I moved to LA and continued work on my record, and started work on my documentary film project, Broke*. Then I got a call from T Bone saying that the record label would like to record another song of mine, “Back to the Wall”. So, I was really excited because I’ve been a fan of Robert Randolph for some time, and wondered what it would sound like to have him record a pop song like that, with T Bone producing. The label also said that they wanted to feature me on the song as a guest and have me in the studio when they recorded, so that they didn’t “mess it up”.

I was glad for the invite, but the record was in fine shape with T Bone, and Lenny Waronker, the Warner Brothers Records A&R, at the helm. The studio time was crazy! Robert, and his crew are some of the nicest people you will ever meet, and unbelievably talented!
We worked for about a week on the song, at The Village Studios in LA. It was like I walked into a scene from a Tarentino film, and we were making the most amazing soundtrack. So many people came through the studio to play on the record, or just to say hi to Robert & T Bone, and offered me some wonderful compliments. Leon Russell, Tommy Sims, Lenny Waronker, Robbie Robertson, Jim Keltner, Jay Bellerose, Tom Whalley, and Steve Jordon just to name a few.

So, we recorded the song, and I think that it sounds great! Robert plays an amazing solo, and his sister sang the lead vocals. Very soulful! Can’t wait for everyone to hear it.

It’s the music business, so nothing is ever certain. They could find some other song they love, record it tomorrow, and my songs gets bumped from the record. But maybe we can all hope together that it makes the final cut.

So, keep your eyes out for Robert’s new record in early 2010. I just may have a couple of songs on it :-)

P.S.A

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:45:00 -0800

My Godmother, “Aunt Jackie” passed away.
It seems to happen in flashes like that. Stark reality and frigid truth hit you in the gut with no apologies. In an instant, life is boiled down to what you remember. I remember that my godparents had a room that was a complete mirror… walls, ceilings, everything. Tons of small mirrors. It probably wasn’t like that, but that’s what I remember from when I was 5 or 6. I remember summers in DC, going to basketball camp, and late night chess games with Uncle Bill. I remember their lush garden full of flowers and how they used to travel to places I couldn’t pronounce.
Life isn’t so simple now. It was on one of those trips that she crossed from this life to the next. No one knows exactly what happened, but I’m not sure that reasons matter. This is the great stark reality of the common language. The certainty of death is the truth that connects us all, and that truth is chanting in my ear louder than most days.

I wrote a song that’s been haunting me this morning. The basic concept of the song is to give up the the trappings of this life, this world. Aunt Jackie lived a philanthropic life with her heart and eyes wide open, and I hope to live in the same way. So here is my P.S.A. Stop fearing what other people think about you and live your life for something bigger than “stuff”.

give up the world
give up the world
cause life finds a way
to lose in the end
and no matter how hard
you try, you can win
give up…
and live.

bethanyjohnson: themadeshop: (via ronenreblogs)

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:49:15 -0800

bethanyjohnson:

themadeshop:

(via ronenreblogs)

damadesign: themadeshop: Oh that’s HOT. Yes please. (via...

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:29:13 -0700

damadesign:

themadeshop:

Oh that’s HOT. Yes please.

(via phildupree)

damadesign: Before … and I had to play with it. by d.aMa

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:28:36 -0700

damadesign:

Before … and I had to play with it. by d.aMa

Photo

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:26:00 -0700

damadesign: themadeshop: Made for fun. (Why else do we make...

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:24:45 -0700

damadesign:

themadeshop:

Made for fun. (Why else do we make things?).

First, d.aMa posted this; and then she made this out of it; so then I made this from it.

Reblog the original and make your own!

:-)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:35:50 -0700

:-)

"People steal music so they can put it on their iPod… I’m gonna start stealing iPods, so..."

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:49:27 -0700

“People steal music so they can put it on their iPod… I’m gonna start stealing iPods, so I can put my music on it!”

- w.g.

A quick thought on Anderson's thoughts just posted

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:14:26 -0700

revawilliams:

Does it strike anyone else as odd, that in a world where:

1 billion people don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water

1 billion people don’t get enough food or have basic nutriotion needs met

4 million people have died in the DRC in the last decade due to genocide and the consequences of war

Darfur is still happening

we can, with a straight face (myself included), discuss time and attention as “scarcities”?

More to come on this, methinks. The intersection of the “new scarcities”, American captialism, neo- and technological-colonialism, intellectual copyright, the plausibility of “free”, and basic human goodness seems an interesting and complicated one.

"…money is not the only scarcity in the world. Chief among the others are your time and respect, two..."

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:13:59 -0700

“

…money is not the only scarcity in the world. Chief among the others are your time and respect, two factors that we’ve always known about but have only recently been able to measure properly. The “attention economy” and “reputation economy” are too fuzzy to merit an academic department, but there’s something real at the heart of both…

There is, presumably, a limited supply of reputation and attention in the world at any point in time. These are the new scarcities — and the world of free exists mostly to acquire these valuable assets for the sake of a business model to be identified later. Free shifts the economy from a focus on only that which can be quantified in dollars and cents to a more realistic accounting of all the things we truly value today.

”

- From Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business by Chris Anderson, editor of Wired. (via revawilliams)

revawilliams: themadeshop: hmmm… i know! right?

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:12:00 -0700

revawilliams:

themadeshop:

hmmm…

i know! right?

"During the Gold Rush it was the men selling shovels and whiskey that got rich, not the men panning..."

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:56:52 -0700

““During the Gold Rush it was the men selling shovels and whiskey that got rich, not the men panning for gold.””

- Corby Pons

think about it.

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:55:50 -0700

think about it.

Gangsta!

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:40:57 -0700

So, I was thinking about Jammie Thomas-Rasset today. How in the world is this going to work? She can’t pay them, and this does very little if anything for the record labels that have ripped off and exploited people for years! Moby has some nice thoughts, so I will not continue. Anywho… I just wanted to say that I think it’s funny how everyone’s not really out for justice, but for themselves. I think I’m going to vomit the next time I hear one more, serial killing, drug dealing, thieving rapper, complain about how people are stealing their music. I don’t think people should steal music, but let’s take the plank out of our own eyes first.

"How you gon’ have high expectations, but got low patience?’"

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:31:51 -0700

““How you gon’ have high expectations, but got low patience?’”

- The Questions - Common, Like Water For Chocolate

"I know we’re facing a recession, but the music that you’re making is gonna make it a..."

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:02:00 -0700

““I know we’re facing a recession, but the music that you’re making is gonna make it a Great Depression.””

- Sean Carter, Death to Autotune

"Have you ever heard the saying, Happiness writes white? it’s a good expression, isn’t it? It means..."

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:01:29 -0700

“Have you ever heard the saying, Happiness writes white? it’s a good expression, isn’t it? It means if the story is too happy, no one will ever be able to see it on the page.”

- Rachel Weisz. On BlackBook mag May issue. (via damadesign)

umm… this isn’t normal! More here

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:49:29 -0700

umm… this isn’t normal!

More here

File this under Strange but Fresh.

Mon, 25 May 2009 15:57:50 -0700

File this under Strange but Fresh.