Well week two and I'm already late! It has been crazy...The show with Junior Brown
last week was a real treat. Gruene Hall is such a great room! Junior, of course,
put on one heck of a show. This week brought "Way Back Home" to #38 on the AMA's top 40 list.
Woo Hoo!!! I'd been hoping for that day for quite some time...The rest is icing on the cake.
Alright, at this point it's probably best to go back to the start. "Facebook Song"
was the very first song we cut as a band. Actually, the first time we came together
as a band. Jordan had been playing with me for some time with my Bluegrass rig I'd
been playing with since I first got to Texas. I knew I wanted to head in a slightly
new direction and had just met Steve Sarber and Andy Carrell through the internet.
Steve had just arrived from Boston and was staying in our travel trailer for a few
days. Oh the talks we've had... Steve's been all around the world playing his
guitar and was ready to see what Austin was all about. My spiritual bro.
Andy had been in Austin for a bit. We met through Myspace, via Craigslist and once
we connected realized our huge CD collections almost matched disc for disc. Must
be the midwest connection. Andy is originally from Indianapolis.
The session came together just after Easter, 2009. I had just written Facebook
Song after recently getting on the FB bandwagon. I was working on an entirely
different idea and the tune just started coming. The whole thing was so funny yet
amazing to me. Like it or not, FB has changed the world!
We were living at the time in a two story house we were renting. Strangely enough,
it's design was perfect for making a record. High, sloped cathedral ceilings that
went to a loft on the second floor.(Kids bedrooms) There was tile throughout and
the acoustics were perfect. The control room was assembled in an attached sun
porch with glass sliders between it and the living room where the drums and bass
were located. Steve and I were set up in th sun porch with Steve's amp isolated in
the master bedroom. We got mic levels, I played them the tune and we started
tracking. We tracked a handful of takes but ultimately wound up using I believe
the second pass. I knew this was the band!

 Here's a cool feature from my friends at the Alternate Root.

 

http://www.thealternateroot.com/aj-downing-artist-profile

Hey everybody, sure hope your Easter was as good as mine. Nothin' like relaxed quality family time around the house to keep a fella grounded.
"Way Back Home" is now in the hands of Roots, Americana Radio worldwide and initial response seems to be good. A big thanks to the friends and fans that have supported me over the last few years. Can't tell you what it means.
I thought it might be fun over the next 12 weeks to write a little snippet in my blog and newsletter about recent happenings and also each week give a little insight into each song on the album.
We played our first show at Gruene Hall this last Good Friday from 1 to 4pm then drove 120 miles North to play The Rattlesnake Inn in Florence TX from 9 to midnight. Thanks to all that shared some part of their day with us. It was a day I'll no doubt always remember. This next Saturday, April 11th we open on the Main Stage at Gruene Hall for Junior Brown. I've been a fan for a while so it should be a real treat.

WAY BACK HOME

The first song we'll cover I suppose is the most important for a couple reasons. First off it's the title track and second of all, it's really about where I'm at right now in my life. See, I spent a good number of years chasing someone else's dream. It was the American dream but it certainly wasn't mine.
I was young and dumb enough to listen to the voices 20 years ago that were telling me, "Awe there ain't no security in the music business boy. You need a trade to fall back on." A statement I now know only to be true if you believe it. What is security anyways? I guess it all depends on who you allow to define it. One thing I do know is that it seems in these times, financial security comes at a very high price. A spiritual price, I personally am no longer willing to pay. God wants us to follow our passion, no matter how hard the struggle. If we don't, we get a little taste of hell, right here on earth. The song was developed one afternoon while jammin' with my friend and partner in crime, Pete Weiss at his place in North Austin.
Pete plays accordion in the Buick6
but is quite a guitarist and songwriter as well. I took the basic structure home with me and finished the writin' the song.
While the majority of the record was recorded at our first house (More on this later) in Wimberley, WBH was recorded at our current address. It was drums(Jordan) and bass(Andy) in the garage, me and the J-100 in the laundry room and Pete and his squeeze box in the kitchen. Quite a scene, no doubt!
I went in after, laid down the Tele track, gave it a quick mix and it was finished.
Ok, so it was a little more than snippets! I know....enjoyin' myself a bit I guess. Writin' about a record that was so much fun to make with such a great bunch of amazing and talented people.

Till next week!

Peace

AJ