I used to play in bands. Through time and tempest that is no longer the case. So what does one do when they find themselves without a band and afflicted with a case of tinnitus that could render an elephant incapacitated? You do what any dedicated musician that really should know better does and grab an acoustic guitar.

Then you figure out how to play some of your old songs in a solo setting telling yourself all the while that without a band you will have more flexibility to play what you want when and where you want. It also won't destroy what's left of your hearing. You set about rearranging your "classics" to make them more palatable for the coffee-sipping masses instead of the PBR-soaked denizens of basements and bars. You also decide to demo some of these new interpretations at first on an iphone and then on a handheld Tascam digital recorder in order to hear how this new thing you're doing is coming along.

You begin to think your stuff could really work in this format. So you set up a few microphones and fire up the laptop, run the decade-old bare-bones version of Pro-Tools you have and try to put together a proper solo acoustic album. You know with a click track, mic'ed and line-in blends of guitars, and multiple vocal tracks. It's minimal, but still has a lot going on considering what it is supposed to be. You listen back to it and realize it's all a pile of shit. So you try again in a different room with a different set up. It still turns out like shit. You figure the third time's the charm and give it another go under a different set of circumstances. It still doesn't work.

Why not? Well, it's missing something. What is that something? Well whatever it is I just wasn't hearing it in any of those sessions. However I did hear it in those original iphone and handheld digital recordings. I was overthinking the "real" recordings. Anxiety ensued and was captured in an audible way. The handheld stuff? Imperfect and absolutely fun. You then realize there is a path forward here...

What's the common thread between Daniel Johnston and Robert Johnson? No, I'm not talking about Satan. How about between Robert Pollard and John Darnielle? They all sat in front of a microphone on a simple tape machine with just one voice and one instrument (mostly guitar, although Daniel had a thing for pump organs and pianos) and created some absolutely wonderful works, fidelity be damned. There is a certain audience for this kind of thing, too (as evidenced by the careers these artists have or had maintained). I count myself among that crowd of people. You know, the kind of people that prefer the homemade stuff over the glossy stuff. That's not to say the glossy stuff is bad (because it's not) but moreso due to an appreciation for a certain kind of aesthetic and modus operandi. "Make your own kind of music" Mama Cass once sang. These artists have done that. So shall I.

What you have here are live solo performances recorded on a Tascam DR-40 in my living room using a Martin D-16 RGT guitar. This my art. I hope you enjoy it.

-J
4/30/2020