sarah sample returns

it's nearly 4am christmas eve, i guess technically it's christmas day now, and i'm currently lying on the floor in the room of my two sons, making sure they dont walk downstairs and catch santa doing his work. don't ask how it got this late, lets just say these boys are having a hard time sleeping, so it's been a long night.

anyway, seems like as good a time as any to go ahead and give you the rundown of last weeks amazing sessions.

sarah sample, whom ive been lucky enough to make one album with, called a few months back to find out about recording an ep. problem was, the budget was pretty small. so how could we make it work. obviously, things had to be done fast, with as few musicians as possible.

but before we settled on a super stripped-down, acoustic guitar/vocal ep, we figured we may as well ask around to see who might be willing to lend a hand as cheap as possible.

i gave sarah my musician wish list -

dustin christensen - piano, guitar, vocals

paul jacobsen - guitar, mandolin, vocals

ryan tanner - guitar, keyboards, vocals

pat campbell - drums, percussion

brian hardy - keyboards

ryan tilby - bass, anything else with strings, vocals

dylan schorer - guitar, dobro, lap and pedal steel

then, in addition, i could fill in on bass, keyboards, guitar or whatever might need to be done and we would have sarah on guitar and vocals.

we hoped we might get one or two guys to come down. the amazing part - they all said yes, and they all said they would come for free!

what a tremendous group this was. we set everyone up in the studio a at june audio. all in one room, and for the most part, no headphones. there was gear everywhere, mics everywhere, and in the end, bleed everywhere. and it turned out amazing.

the setup took most of the morning, 7:30 am until 11:30am or so. but once we got rolling, it was one of those experiences with music that makes you realize just why you do it, and how great it can be. everyone working together to make sarah's songs the best they could be. no ego, people playing whatever instrument was needed, or sitting out if need be. on one song, pat, paul, brian and I all just stomped and clapped while we sang background vocals. everything was live, no overdubs, no punch-ins.

ryan tanner, dylan schorer, ryan tilby and dustin christensen

paul jacobsen, ryan tanner and ryan tilby

pat campbell's view

ryan tilby and pat campbell

ryan tanner, sarah sample and dylan schorer

me - filling in on bass

mr patrick campbell

ryan tilby on the upright bass

dustin christensen

sarah and last minute bonus musician nate pyfer of code hero

nate on the accordian

given that the studio was set up, and available the following day, we decided to see who wanted to return for a second day and record some songs of dustin christensen and paul jacobsen. we were lucky to have everyone return except for pat campbell, who apparantly values work and providing for his family more than hanging out, recording for free and eating diegos.

paul jacobsen

brian hardy, paul jacobsen and ryan tanner

nate pyfer at the piano

ryan tilby on the j-45

another bonus musician-darin lesueur stopped by to help out with some percussion, and vocals on the amazing christmas song (you can listen to that below)