Always Here, Always Now
No need to undercomplicate things (song previews for you paid members)
Preamble: Note! The album I blab about below comes out this Friday 9/20! You can pre-order/pre-save/pre-plan/pre-empt HERE
Late last fall I was busy writing songs. This is not abnormal for me. As a matter of fact, it is also predictable that before this annual late fall/early winter songwriting bender, as the heat of summer is still mightily pushing back against the advance of autumn, I am typically in a low spot in my songwriting cycle. At least here in Minnesota, as the photo period and the geese are beginning a poem of fall, the thermometer is like a dying car salesman for summer. I complained to Chloë this very morning that I have been unhappy with everything I’ve written recently. Knowing my next sentence would include threats to hang up the guitar and notebook and dust off the tool belt, she stopped me in my tracks and said, “Dave, you know damn well that with the first cold breeze it’s gonna be all cashmere hats and wool shirts and you’ll be vomiting songs out faster than you can say chord change.” That was a paraphrase.
Anyway, late last fall I was writing songs. Most of the time when I start in on a new batch I have some kind of idea of what I want to do with them. In fact, I think that idea often prompts my writing process. Do I want to make a Trampled record? A solo thing? Something with Dead Man Winter? I usually grab one of those and run with it. This time, however, I was curious about trying the same group of songs with more than one project. I thought it would be an interesting process, anyway. So, when I had five songs that made me happy, I decided to record them first with TBT, and then with the guys that make up Dead Man Winter. Instead of trying to write two different versions of each song, I thought I would just play the songs like I had been playing them in my living room, and the other human beings involved in the recordings would make each version separate from the other. People make all the difference.
So, that’s what we did. Both groups took swings at the same five songs. The resulting split album, dual ep, or whatever you want to call it, is titled Always Here, Always Now (coined by Ryan Young). I like both versions of these songs a lot. Both were done fairly live, as I’m wont to do, but I think they show their liveness in different ways. The two recording and mixing engineers involved, Nick Tveitbakk at Pachyderm for TBT and Holly Hansen at Salon Sonics for DMW, approached their work individually. Neither version of any song is perfect, nor could it be. What I hope is that each version of each song reflects the people playing and recording it in each specific room on each specific day on this specific planet. Polaroids. Or, maybe more accurately, Polaroids run through Lightroom a bit.
There’s more I want to tell you about this record, but I’m trying not to let all the cats out of all the bags before this thing is released. For the last long while, our approach in the music business has been focused on promotion prior to release. This time, we thought we’d mention our new creation just a few days before its emergence. This way, we figured, you could give it a real listen without months of buildup and silly self promotion. I’d hate for you to be sick of our album before it even comes out.
In my head this is one album with two sides. When the vinyl comes out that’s the way it’ll be. With the way the bigger digital streaming services work, however, the two sides will be listed as separate albums under each band. There is one place, though, in the wide and haunted vault of the internet, where the listener will be able to hear this project as it was meant to be heard. On Bandcamp, my favorite place outside of a record player to listen to music, you will be able to find Always Here, Always Now as one piece of work. Bandcamp also allows you to buy music if you choose. Imagine that.
As a little window into the process, below the following paywall I’ve added three versions of the first song on the album, You Never Let Me Down. First, is the demo I made at home and shared with all the involved musicians for reference and education. Next, we move on to the DMW version, and finally, the TBT version recorded last December. I know there are infinite directions a song can go once it’s grabbed out of the ether. These are but three humble possibilities for this one. Feel free to make your own if you wish!
Thank you all so much for the love and support. Releasing new music is really the most exciting time for all of us over here. Each release refreshes the cache, so to speak. It makes us feel new again. As stated in bold at the top of this article, if you’d like, you can pre-save and/or pre-order this stuff by going here.