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Liner
Notes:
- Groovemaster
- "Sounds like it's in two keys at
once... but somehow it makes sense." -
PR
- Commotion
- "Probably the meanest tune on the
record... Acoustic Metal... I love
Laurence's stuttering machine gun
entrance." - PR "One of my favorites, a
little surfy." - LJ
- Shoganai
- "A word I learned in Japan. The
feeling of sadness that sometimes goes
with doing what you have to." - PR "I'm
a sucker for a pretty nylon string
melody." - LJ
- Hurricane
- "I grabbed the Baby Taylor and tuned
it to almost open A. This one hit me
like a Hurricane. I had so little time
to think about it." - LJ "Reminds me of
U2." - PR
- Private
Dick - "Early 60's spy/martini music."
- PR "A lounge-jazz-detective style
thing" - LJ
- Bad
Attitude - "A funky groove thing" - LJ
"Would have been a good cop show
theme." - PR
- Airborne
- "A moody excursion in 7/8 time." -
PR
- Ricochet
- "I don't remember taking a breath
during this one." - LJ "A one-take
jam." - PR
- Dirty
Boy - "Easy ridin' cowpoke finds
himself in the big city." - PR "I like
the distant dog bark at the end." -
LJ
- Last
Train - "A good ending tune. I like the
way it builds, layer by layer." -
PR
The Art
of Spontaneous Composition
After several days of playing their
fingers off at the NAMM show we stuck
these two weary Acoustic Warriors in a
small studio and told them to make a
record. Grant Headley (a very experienced
engineer) turned to me and said, "You're
telling me we only have a few days to make
this record and we don't have any songs?"
I am not going to tell you it was all
magic; these guys had to work to make this
happen, and this CD is as big a testament
to their professionalism as it is their
talent. Laurence described it this way:
"Playing with Preston presented some
serious challenges. Keeping up with his
raw energy for one. Having to concentrate
on my own parts, instead of simply
delighting in the close up experience of
such technical wizardry for another. Most
of the time I felt like I was working with
a rhythm section rather than another
guitarist. Because his technique and
tunings are so unusual and Preston's left
hand would generally not offer me anything
recognizable, I found myself relying on my
ear to follow his advanced harmonic
concepts (those college ear-training
classes can be usefull after all)." We
found that due to Preston's use of low
tunings that Laurence's Collings OM model
worked better than his normal trusty
Taylors. For variety and color we also
utilized LJ's old Gutter nylon string, a
metal Dobro, and the funky Baby Taylor
used on "Hurricane" (note to Taylor:
They're not just for kids). I would like
to take credit for this music, but
producing this record meant staying out of
harm's way for the most part. Interrupting
the flow of ideas would have been
unforgivable. We had the most unusual
weather, but the storm clouds outside the
studio couldn't match the thunder inside
from Preston's propulsive riffing and
Laurence's symbiotic return volleys.
During mastering, Doug Doyle was heard to
say more than once during the playback of
"Commotion", "I hear a kick drum and a
tabla! I thought this was just an acoustic
guitar record." Did I say producing this
CD meant being like a fly on the wall?
Here's the buzz: "I got it!", "Is that too
vanilla?", "My intellectual side needs to
have it work harmonically.", I'm tired of
perfect fives, how about an ambiguous
five?", "Let's try this... works good... I
like that chord!... but does it work?...
Let's go with it... It's pretty sick...
It's nice... It has potential, we can
refine it", and my favorite post take
comment, "You know we're in different
tunings?" It was a lot of pressure, but a
lot of fun to bring this CD to you, enjoy,
and keep grooving." - JJ
Personnel:
Preston Reed - Guitar
Laurence Juber - Guitar
Produced by James Jensen
Recorded and engineered by Grant
Headley at The Sign of the Scorpion,
Studio City
Mastered by Doug Doyle at Digital
Dog and Digital Bros
Photography by Nathan York
Art Direction by James Jensen in
association with Todd Ellison and
Shadowfoot Studio.
All compositions © 1997 by Laurence
Juber/Juber Music ASCAP, and Preston
Reed/Suite Hodeet Music ASCAP. Preston
Reed appears with the kind permission of
Dusty Closet Records.
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