Leonard Pedals Have Landed!!

Yesterday I picked up the first 10 Leonard Overdrive pedals.  Today I plugged it up, gasped, played for a couple of hours and then filmed a bit of it to show you.  It's probably a little too much jamming around, but you'll hear the pedal, a few different settings and with a Les Paul and a Strat.  Only 20 of these will ever be sold, and the first 10 have already gone.  If you want one, email me and let me know.  $200 including shipping.  Just click the little envelope icon on the top right of my website and I'll get your pedal on the way to you!!

(Sales of these are helping me finish up the costs for printing the record, so thank you!!)

Jon Troast - "One of These Nights"

This is a live version of one of the songs off Jon Troast's next EP, "C", in the series of four that I got to produce for him.  Jon is one of my favorite songwriters and this is one of my favorite songs of his.  Stacy Lantz adds her stunning voice with us here in the video and on the record.  Can't wait for you to get it.  Release date is May 1.

Record Executives Unite!!

Years ago making a record and actually getting people to hear about it took one thing: a record label.  These days, the labels are mostly gone, and in many ways they're not missed.  

However, when you make a record you feel has a ton of potential beyond your group of supporters, well, that's when it gets tricky.

Artists in my orbit, making a living but not selling out huge tours or getting on the radio, have a hard time getting anything heard outside of their normal sphere.

You see, what record labels did wrong (took more than their fair share, tried to water down great artists, held records under lock and key) were the unfortunate side effects of the good that they did, mainly fronting the money for the records to be made and then doing the work of getting the music out there.

Well, I believe in this record.  More than anything I've ever done before.  And I want people to hear it, and I want to be able to get enough people to shows to do some really fun stuff with production and band.  So I'm trying to figure out ways to get there.

And I've realized something.  You guys funded this record and so many of you are linking, retweeting, blogging on my behalf...

YOU ARE MY RECORD LABEL!!

You are doing what they used to take a chestful of money to do.  And arguably doing a better job!!

All this to say, because I care about this record and want it to do well, I'm not going to release it yet.  

Not completely.  

Those of you who have kickstarted it will get mp3s in the next week or so, Rabbit Room preorders shortly thereafter, and then it'll go dark.  Like the label people all had copies of our records months in advance, you guys will have it, can listen and get to know it, and then if you like it and want to support it further you can help out.

Doing a full release (indie record stores, iTunes) in September gives us a few months to get reviews in magazines and on websites, gives us time to have stories about the building and the concept told in newspapers and local publications, gives us time to build some excitement for the project.

So thank you for your patience and support (some of you paid for this record A YEAR AGO!!), I hope you just love it.  I do.  I've never been more excited about a project.  I can't wait for you guys to hear it in the weeks ahead.

If you haven't preordered yet, you have about a week and a half left!  CLICK HERE!!

Limited Edition "Leonard" Overdrive pedal

My good friend Tim Creek, AKA The Pedal Doctor, builds the 4-Speed Overdrive, which is my all-time favorite overdrive pedal.  

I asked him if he'd help me create a custom pedal as one of the incentives for my kickstarter campaign, basing the tone off the sound of the record.

We talked over tones and style and he built a prototype that blew my mind.  We decided we couldn't just have four of these built.  So we're building 20.  They'll be available to purchase soon, I'll keep you posted.  

Also, I'll be rebuilding my live board soon and will post reviews and details on a whole slew of fun, new pedals.  But I mainly can't wait until you hear this bad boy!  

This is really one of the most fun things ever.

Mixing "Leonard"

Hello there Internetters.  I hope today finds you on as beautiful Spring(ish) Friday as we have here in Nashville.  The window's open and the breeze is floating through the studio.  All week I've been at Sputnik Sound, where I spent a few years working and learning under some amazing guys (Vance Powell and Mitch Dane) before moving into my own studio in 2009.

Vance is mixing "Leonard" and it is sounding unbelievable.  He's got a few Grammys under his belt, one for best engineered record a few years ago, so he knows a few things about what's going on here.  He's been very encouraging and complimentary about this record, which has been wonderful to hear.  And he's making it just sound enormous.

It has been so fun.  Right before we start each song I just get giddy.  These are some of my favorite songs I've ever written and recorded and to hear them finally come to life is such a rush.  I just can't wait for you to hear this.

Once we finish this process, hopefully today, we'll move on to mastering, which is where the songs are put in their final order and gently shaped to sound like one cohesive whole.  

And pretty soon after (late March) I'll send you a link to an early download of the record!

Here's a shot of Vance, Mark (who's assisting) and I, in the studio.  (This is also the room where I recorded "Letters to the Editor, Vol II" and a good chunk of "Choosing Sides", among other projects...)

 

Also, here's a little video clip...