Words Falling Slow is a twice weekly blog series written by Michael Timmins in which he writes about the writing, recording, history and inspiration behind some of the songs included in the Notes Falling Slow box set. You can pre-order Notes Falling Slow here. You can listen to a new recording from the box set here.
In late 1996 my wife and I rented a beat up old mill house, two hours Northeast of Toronto, idyllically situated in the rolling hills of Northumberland County. It was the most serene little spot. It overlooked a four-acre stream fed pond, which transformed itself hourly with the shifting light. Our days were filled with sound of the hundred or so birds, that made our patch of land their home: our nights with the sound of water splashing over top of the mill’s damn. The locals knew the spot as Maiden’s Mill, named after the family that established the mill over 150 years earlier.
This was in the time-before-children…an easier, simpler time. We rented the house for about twelve months and watched all the seasons pass on through our little slice of paradise. I wrote and she painted. During that time the rest of the band came up and took up residency for a while and we worked on the songs that turned into the Miles From Our Home album. Along with the songs that ended up on that album, I wrote about twenty other songs. One of those songs was One Soul Now.
One Soul Now was written right at the end of the Miles From Our Home sessions and we even worked up a full band demo of the song in order to consider it for that project. We always liked it, but we never felt comfortable with the groove or arrangement that we had come up with. We had a lot of songs on our plate at that time so we decided to shelve it. During the writing of Open we briefly took it out again (along with I Did It All For You, which was written and recorded at Maiden’s Mill and made it on to Open), but that album took on a life of it own and One Soul Now was, once again, put away.
When the songs for the “new album” began to form I immediately thought about One Soul Now and how its main lyrical theme about, all living things on this earth being tied into one overpowering life-force, was an excellent counterpoint to many of the songs that were about disconnection and confusion. And the title of the song began to take on a fresh meaning as the world began to turn itself upside down and splinter into more menacing and aggressive factions and tribes. The phrase One Soul Now almost began to sound like a call to arms (or at least a call to link arms) for these troubled times.
The song was inspired by those magical twilights at Maidens Mill, just as the sun was passing through its last few degrees before disappearing for the day. Everything would become absolutely still. The insects, the birds, the breeze, and even the water on the pond would just stop. And I would sit there on the edge of the pond and for a brief instant I could almost tap in to that life force which mysteriously binds us all. It was always an exhilarating and overwhelming moment. I often think that if we could gather up all of the world’s leading combatants, bring them up to Maiden’s Mill and have them all shut up and sit down on the edge of that pond and then have them all zone in to the energy “that twilight brings”………the worlds problems would be solved before sundown.
Our Notes Falling Slow box set is now available for pre-order. All pre-order box sets will be signed by the four of us and we will be mailing them out on October 12th in hopes of it getting to you before the official, Oct 30th release date. There will also be a digital version of the box set available on Oct 30th and we plan to eventually release it on vinyl (but that is a few months off).
This is a four CD box set made up of newly remastered versions of the three studio albums that we released in the 2000’s (Open, One Soul Now and At The End Of Paths Taken) and a fourth bonus disc that contains newly recorded songs that were written during the making of the three albums. There is also a 34 page booklet included with the box set.
The pre-order also offers some great bundles. You can buy Notes Falling Slow and add in one or both of our DVDs Open Road and Long Journey Home. Open Road was created while we toured the Open album. It contains over four hours of live concerts (full band and Margo and Michael acoustic performances), interviews and a behind the scenes documentary. The documentary was created from all of the photos and video that we shot while we were touring around the world. It is a true peak behind the scenes through the eyes of those who lived it. Long Journey Home is a full 5.1 HD concert DVD of a performance that we gave at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall at the end of the One Soul Now tour. It’s beautifully shot and recorded and the band was firing on all cylinders. It also contains interviews with all the band members and some behind the scenes footage shot during sound check for the show.
This coming week we’ll be starting a new blog series called Words Falling Slow in which I will be writing about the creation/inspiration/history of various songs found on the box set…so please check back here or Like our Facebook page where we will be posting links to the blog.
We’re back on the road next month and will be adding tour dates throughout the coming year. Please check out the tour dates page every now and then to see if we are coming to your neck of the woods.
I hope everyone had a great summer and had a chance to get away….and breathe. My summer was close to perfect; I caught some bass and speckled trout in the Adirondacks, salmon on the West Coast and some pike in Northern Ontario; spent many hours floating around a lake (on my back and in a canoe); watched my Blue Jays emerge from being just another bumbling, fumbling .500 team, in to World Series contenders; we played a handful of concerts around the country; and put the finishing touches on our upcoming box set release, Notes Falling Slow.
I'll spare you the details about my fishing adventures and stick to news about the box set. We don't have a definitive release date yet, but we are aiming for a late October release and we will have them in hand for our October shows on the east coast. The box set is made up of four discs that include remastered versions of the three studio albums that we released in the 2000's (Open, One Soul Now and At The End Of Paths Taken) and a fourth disc, called Notes Falling Slow. This fourth disc is made up of songs that were written during the making of the three studio albums, but never completed or released. A few of these songs made it to the band demo stage, some never made it past my songwriting demo phase and a couple were completed but were left off the final albums for various reasons. This summer we got together, re-imagined and recorded, all but two of the songs for this special project. The result is a collection of songs that has a touch of our trademark psychedelia with a large dose of our folk roots shining through. For a taste of what's to come, you can stream Cold Evening Wind by clicking here. This is a song that we have made a few attempts at recording, but we never felt that we had properly captured the quiet desperation that the song required, until now. We will be posting a lot more details about the box set on our website and facebook page in the coming couple of months so please check in. Also, make sure you keep an eye on our tour page as we have a few tours that are being put together for the coming year.
Run For Your Life is one of those songs that could easily be left out of The Beatles catalogue and no one would care a wit. It appears at the end of Rubber Soul almost as an after-thought. To be quite honest, its just not that good a song, its the sort of thing Lennon could toss off between waking up and heading down to Abbey Road for the days session. We came across it when we were asked to cover a song off of Rubber Soul to celebrate its 40th birthday. The good songs were already taken so we settled on Run For Your Life and decided to try and test the old silk purse/sows ear saying. We had fun with it, the bass line and bass tone is killer, I like the gang background vocals and Margo does an excellent job at turning the gender tables.
Jerry came in to the studio and tossed off a handful of the dozens of cover tunes that he has in his repertoire. This one popped out with all of its beautifully jagged edges.
Latent Recordings artist, Lee Harvey Osmond's latest release "Beautiful Scars", has been longlisted for Canada's prestigous Polaris Music Prize. The bands previous two albums A Quiet Evil and The Folk Sinner were also long-listed for the prize. All three albums were produced by Michael Timmins. Please stop by the LHO website and take a listen…we think you'll dig the groovy vibe…man.
This month's free Under Cover downloads are takes on a couple of traditional-ish folk songs: The Water Is Wide and One Grain Of Sand. The Water Is Wide is a true traditional. I think it has been traced back to an 17th century Scottish folk song. It was brought to us by the director Curtis Hanson (8 Mile, LA Confidential, Too Big To Fail) who asked us to record a version for the closing credits to his film The River Wild. The first version that we sent to him (the one available as one of this months Under Cover downloads) was sent back to us with the comment that it was too sad, too downbeat. I guess Hollywood wasn't quite ready for us (or maybe it was the other way around). So we recorded another version that stepped it up a bit and it was accepted and we got paid. But we've always preferred the slower version, it just seems to bring out the sentiment of the song in a more powerful way.
I was first introduced to Ivy Mairi when she was just about to graduate from high-school. A mutual friend, Anne Bourne cellist-to-the-stars, brought her in to my studio. Anne had heard her singing at a couple of community gatherings and was completely taken by her, as was I. One Grain Of Sand was the first song that she played for me on that day and this is the recording. The song was written by Pete Seeger and Ivy was excited for him to hear it, so she sent it off to him. To his credit, the old-axe-wielder responded to her note, but he snarked something about folk music being something that the masses are supposed to be able to sing along to and not something to be interpreted from the heart (I'm paraphrasing, but he wasn't too keen on Dylan and that electric guitar either, so I think I'm capturing the sentiment of his note). It's a beautiful recording, completely naïve and open, exactly what folk music should be.
You can download The Water Is Wide and One Grain Of Sand for free until June 15th off of the Latent facebook page.
When we were planning out the various themes that we wanted to include on The Nomad Series we decided at a very early stage that we wanted one of the albums to be made up of cover songs. We knew that we wanted there to be a theme that held the album together but were stumped as to what that theme would be….and then, on Christmas day, Vic died and our direction became obvious. The Demons album, (Volume 2 of The Nomad Series) was dedicated completely to Vic Chesnutt's songs. We recorded over 15 of Vic's songs and used only 11 on the album, one of the songs that we left off was "Marathon", which is now available here through the Under Cover Series. It is a harrowing song, set at a funeral reception, a song about the bitter battle that is life. I love this version, with Margo and Andy Maize sharing the lead vocal. "In training to run a marathon / miles and miles and mles / with your Sunday shoes on".
Bonnie Prince Billy is a truly unique voice on the contemporary music scene. He kind of sits outside of it and does what he wants to do, makes the sort of music that he is inspired to make. As a result he has written some truley idiosyncratic songs that take the listener on journeys that they may not want to go on, but are more often than not enlightening and inspiring. Here is a version of his song "I See A Darkness" recorded by Skydiggers during the "Angels" session, with Pete Cash on lead vocal.
You can dowload Marathon and I See A Darkness for free until May 15th off of the Latent facebook page.
This is our newly launched Under Cover feature. Every month we will be offering free downloads of two cover songs: one recorded by Cowboy Junkies and another recorded by a Latent artist. We are running this feature off of the Latent Recordings Facebook page. All you need to do is go to the page, click the Under Cover link and follow the prompts
If there is one person that acts as the glue that binds all practisioners of so-called Americana Music, that person is Bob Dylan. It doesn't seem to matter what "version" of Bob that you grew up listening to, he invariably finds his way in to your music. I came of Bob-age during his third rebirth, the one that took place in the early seventies and produced Blood On The Tracks and Desire. Those two albums found their way further in to my soul than any nun or priest that I had the misfortune to come up against in my childhood. I don't now if I could ever attempt to cover one of those songs, they are too special, too sacred in many ways. But it is necessary to express your inner-Bob every now and then and for this recording we took a little known gem, If You Got To Go, Go Now (at least it was little know when we recorded it) from early in his electric period and had some fun with it.
Jerry Leger would have become of Bob-age during Dylan's fifth, six or seventh rebirth. He was exposed and opened to some of Dylan's work that probably past me by. Shot Of Love was definitely an album that I ignored when it came out (I kind of got in to Slow Train Coming, but that was it for his Christian period for me). But the album found a place in to Jerry's musical DNA and here it is represented by his version of Heart Of Mine. Enjoy.
This is part three of our newly launched Under Cover feature. Every month we will be offering free downloads of two cover songs: one recorded by Cowboy Junkies and another recorded by a Latent artist. We are running this feature off of the Latent Recordings Facebook page. All you need to do is go to the page, click the Under Cover link and follow the prompts.
Lost My Driving Wheel is quite possibly my favourite recording of all the cover songs that we have recorded over the years. We recorded it in a short session that took place between the making of Black Eyed Man and Pale Sun Crescent Moon (I think we also recorded the song Pale Sun and also a version of Bob Dylan's If You Gotta Go, Go Now during the same session). I'm not sure why I like it so much, but I remember listening to the playback in the studio and thinking that, as a young band, we had finally caught on tape the simple majesty that we occasionally brought to our music on stage. Everything just sounded right….we were helped along by Ken Myhr's beautiful, tasteful guitar lines and the wise and wordly playing of the late great Kevin Bell on B3 organ who, during the session, regailed us with tales of his days in Janis Joplin's last band….and Margo's vocal performance is just so darn awesome.
Tom Wilson and I first bonded over the work of Canadian singer-songwriter David Wiffen (who wrote Lost My Driving Wheel). David is a shamefully under appreciated artist. When Tom and I went to record the first Lee Harvey Osmond album, A Quiet Evil, it made sense for us to include a David Wiffen song. Tom brought in Lucifer's Blues and laid down a stunning interpretation of this great road song. Different in feel and attitude to Driving Wheel (which is another great road song), but another excellent showcase for the talented Mr Wiffen. If you want to explore David Wiffen's music, check out his Coast To Coast Fever album….you won't be dissappointed.
(I'll be posting a series of blogs over the coming days all about the making of The Trinity Session. Check out our Facebook page to see rare photos and anecdotes from me and Margo.)
November 27, 1987
The pews and all seating had previously been removed so we had a choice of where to set up our equipment and recording gear, but since Peter had done some recording in the church he had a general idea of where he felt was the most acoustically sound spot. This was at the far end of the church hall away from the altar which would act as an enormous bass trap if we got too close to it.
The first order of the day was to set up all the gear and try and get a balance between the four of us, that would be the ultimate key to the recording. Once we were balanced properly the other instruments could be layered on top with a lot more ease. Peter set up the mic and we set up as we had for the Whites session in our garage with drums on one side facing the bass and guitar off to the side. As fate would have it we had a great stroke of luck that day. Whoever had been using the church before us had had the need of a PA system which they had left behind. It was head and shoulders above the one that we had brought from our rehearsal space and meant a huge difference in the final recording. Margo's vocals, like during the Whites session, had to be run through a PA speaker and some guardian angel had seen fit to leave us a high quality system. The "vocal" or speaker was placed on top of the bass cabinet, Margo then stood about six feet outside the circle and sang through a separate mic.
It took us about six hours of fussing to finally capture a sound that we were all happy with. This time was spent readjusting the microphone, moving an instrument five inches closer and then another instrument five inches further, turning one thing up and another down etc.. The process was far from simple and for a while it looked like we weren't going to be able to reign in the acoustics of the church. The natural reverb of the hall was overpowering our instruments. Finally after a few more adjustments we ran through a version of a song and adjourned to the small office (maybe it was one of the confessionals) where Peter had his playback equipment set up. The playback revealed Petes drums simmering softly in the background, Alan's bass rumbling underneath, my guitar airily chiming and Margo's voice floating easily above it all. We had found our sound.
While we had been looking for our sound the rest of the musicians had shown up. They were asked to go amuse themselves in the mall or find a place in the church and be very still. At one point Jaro arrived fresh from an overnight trip from Montreal, not having slept in two days. He quietly found a place somewhere near the sacristy, curled up and fell asleep. To this day he tells the story of the first time he was lulled to sleep by the sound of Cowboy Junkies music echoing dreamily in the distance.
The next couple of hours were spent recording the songs that involved only the four of us. Sweet Jane, Blue Moon and Dreaming My Dreams were all recorded within a few takes. The sound was holding together and as the music began to unfold the tension of the mornings efforts began to fade away. We then moved on to the simpler pieces which called for only one extra musician. Postcard Blues with Steves piercing harp solo, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry with Kims haunting steel playing, Working On A Building with Johns distinctive guitar work. After that we built the band up a bit more adding two players and recorded 200 More Miles and I Don't Get It. Every time we changed configurations it called for Peter to subtly shift the wave pattern on the microphone and to precisely place the added musician in a specific spot on the floor. This was the way the recorded sound was mixed – physically moving the instrument. If someone had a solo section they were asked to play a little louder during it (in the case of an electric guitar) or move physically closer to the mic (in the case of something like a mandolin). By the time we were arranged around the mic we were in a circle which measured about twelve feet in diameter. Standing and sitting side by side cueing off of each others playing or the nod of a head, listening and reacting.
As the day progressed the occasional invited guest would drop by. Peter's wife Caroline dropped by with a couple of pizzas at one point knowing, otherwise, we wouldn't eat. Alan's wife Melanie stopped by with a friend and our friend Noel Archambault came by with his camera to visually record the proceedings. We also had a few uninvited guests throughout the day. One condition on renting the church was that we weren't allowed to close it, it had to be open to the public to wander through. A few takes were ruined by tourists stumbling through the front door admiring the faux gothic ceiling and almost bumping into Pete's drums in the process. I distinctly remember one young couple walking into the church and sitting down at the far end of hall and hanging out and listening for about thirty minutes. Years later I was having some work done on my house and one of the labourers doing the work told me about the day that he and his girlfriend had walked into Trinity church to take in the peace and quiet and had discovered a band playing inside.
Once all of the sound bugs had been ironed out the day progressed magically. No song took more than three or four takes to capture and every musician seemed to be connecting with each other on a very subconscious plain. We were all having one of those magical moments that musicians rarely find themselves in, when the music takes over and you feel like you aren't really responsible for what you are doing – you are just the channeler. It rarely happens to an individual and it is even rarer for it to happen to a group of players and it is even rarer for it to happen with the tape rolling. I remember sitting in the confessional during a break and listening to the playback of I'm So Lonesome I could Cry. Jeff Bird was there standing over my shoulder, this was only the second or third time that I had met Jeff. The song ended and Jeff looked at me and said, to no one in particular, "it's a beautiful thing…." And indeed it was.
The biggest challenge of the day was going to be the songs involving seven or more musicians. There were three potential problems: the first was that we were running out of time. We had only booked the church for twelve hours. This problem was easily solved by Peter slipping the security guard twenty five dollars to let us stay another two hours. A more serious problem was that the more musicians involved the more difficult it became for Peter to properly place them around the mic. The other potential problem was that the bigger the group got the more complex the arrangements of the song got. These large arrangements we had never practiced so the potential for a complete cacophony when we started up was very real. As we ran through the arrangements for Misguided Angel, Peter fussed and fretted over the sound problem. By the time we were ready to begin Peter was too. Four minutes and thirty seven seconds later we had recorded Misguided Angel and it was time to move on. It was just one of those occasions when you perform a song and after it is over everyone looks at one another and you all know that you got it, there is no need to do it again. The miraculous thing was that it was the first time we had all played that song together and that is exactly what you hear on the album. To Love Is To Bury was next and it went just as smoothly. I distinctly remember playing the song that day and being swept up in swirl of sound that the steel, fiddle and accordion created when they started to breathe as one.
The final number to be recorded was the big jam numberWalking After Midnight. We had purposely left the details of this song vague. All we knew was that we wanted all nine musicians to play on it. We quickly assigned who would soloin what spot told Peter to hit the record button and away we went. It is probably my favourite number on the album, because it is so impossibly loose and ragged just like music is suppose to be. It is the sound of a group of people tired, yet satisfied, celebrating the end of a long, but extremely succesful day.
Epilogue
One little fact about the session that few people know is that it was not all recorded in one day. Later that night as we were winding down at the bar we realized that we had forgotten to record Mining For Gold. We had kept putting it off to deal with the more complex songs, thinking that we would do it at the end of the day and then had just forgotten. A few days later Peter was back in the church recording the Toronto Symphony and on their lunch break he called Margo to come on down to the church. There in front of the entire TSO munching on sandwiches and sipping from thermoses, Margo ran through a couple of versions of Mining For Gold. The album was truly finished.
****
The beauty of the Trinity Session is that what you are hearing is exactly what went on in the church that day. Nine people communicating openly and honestly with one another through their musical instruments. It is a rare thing to come across in this day and age of hard sell and celebrity. The day following the session I went over to Margo's house with some cassette copies of the session. Coincidentally our mother was there. She had dropped in after doing an errand downtown. We put on the tape and listened in silence. After it was all over we sat there a little overwhelmed by what we had heard. Two days earlier this had not existed, now it was here and it was ours forever. My mother, clearly moved by what she had just heard, said, "my god, it's like you've just given birth to a baby". I suppose we had.