Let the Christmas Giving [and Listening] Begin!

On Wednesday, November 17, Chris Palmer notified us that the video he has been working on for the Elf Louise Christmas Project was available for viewing on his Facebook page. Steve and I had a quick look and were very pleased. Mary Lou came home from shopping and cried throughout the entire 5 minutes. Kathy got an opportunity to check it out during lunch. We all agreed that it was a suitable salute to the absolutely amazing woman known to all of South Texas as Elf Louise, and it was also a pretty cool showcase for our new song, “Everyone Deserves a Christmas.”

The next morning, Steve, Mary Lou, and I drove over to Louise’s house to formally sign the licensing agreement guaranteeing that ALL proceeds from the song will go to charitable organizations – first among which, of course, is the Elf Louise Christmas project. Our good friend Jim Johnston was there to watch the “ceremony.” It’s hard to do anything in a formal mode with Louise. I can’t remember laughing this much before 8:30 in the morning since I was working the midnight to eight shift in the Air Force.

Now, we have just heard that the video is up and available for viewing on YouTube, and that Elf Louise’s site now has a prominent “DONATE” button available for those of you who appreciate the video, approve of what Elf Louise has been doing here in South Texas for over 40 years, and kind of like the song Steve and I wrote. We hope you’ll recommend the video to your friends and help it go “viral.” Click HERE to listen. Click HERE to donate to The Elf Louise Christmas Project, and help ensure that everyone gets a Christmas they deserve.

Next up for the band will be the 2010 Ford Holiday River Parade. We will be performing “Everyone Deserves a Christmas” and other seasonal and fun music on the Grand Marshal’s barge the day after Thanksgiving, November 26. This will be a 2+ hour gig for us, as the barge winds around the world-famous San Antonio River Walk. The Paseo del Rio Association estimates that our audience along the banks may be in excess of 150,000 people. Millions more will be able to watch the parade live in as many as 40 different television markets around the country. Hmmm, 150,000 people. Well, I suppose we can perform for an audience that small!

And then what for The Tim and Bob Show? Well, for the remainder of the holiday season, we’ll be popping up at Elf Louise events, and on local television and radio promoting her good work. And then we’ll be starting 2011 in the best way we know how – at San Antonio’s Olmos Bharmacy for a no-cover-charge performance the evening of January 1.

Things continue to be interesting in Tim and Bob Nation.

“Everyone Deserves a Christmas”

The Tim and Bob Show took one step closer to finishing our contribution to The Elf Louise Christmas Project on Sunday, November 7. Steve and Kathy, freshly returned from their vacation in Nashville, joined Mary Lou and me at Ken Branca’s Dreamland Studio to “enhance” the recording of our song, “Everyone Deserves a Christmas.” We’d recorded the song earlier, but at one of our planning sessions, Louise agreed with Steve’s suggestion to add children’s voices, saying that “it would be nice to have children singing like angels” on the chorus. Since The Elf Louise Christmas Project is all about children, we readily agreed.

The band’s good friend KONO DJ Steven O. Sellers, suggested that we contact a lady named Susan Larssen. She teaches elementary grades at San Antonio’s Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran School. I talked to her, and she seemed enthusiastic about the project. After some missteps, we got a recording of the song to her, and asked if she could select the children and then join us at the studio. She was able to do the former, but was not there for the recording, since she had flown back east to be there the moment she became a grandmother for the first time.

The idea was that the band would be there with Ken to help get the children used to the studio and the process of recording. Thanks to Susan, they were all familiar with the song. The sound check process showed us that they could carry the tune of their portion of the song very well. The first time we heard the children sing their line, all four of us lit up like … well, like Christmas trees. We had six children, and all of them contributed. Because Ken had only four headsets, he worked the kids in and out until each child had sung with every other child, and each child had an opportunity to be the one closest to the microphone. The mixing, of course, was all up to Ken.

While the recording was going on, the four of us had an opportunity to meet and talk to the parents. They were as excited as their children about the project, and there were dozens of photographs being taken. Among the photographers was Christopher Palmer, one of the members of the “Everyone Deserves a Christmas” team in support of the Elf Louise Project. Chris was there to document the recording, both in photographs and in video. He will be using these, along with the song itself, in the production of a video that we hope to have uploaded to Elf Louise’s site, our site and, of course, YouTube before Thanksgiving.

Before the children and their parents left, we asked Chris to take a picture of the 10 singers whose voices you’ll hear on the final recording, and we did. After much hand-shaking and thanks all around, the four of us sat, chatted, and drank our Route 44 Diet Cherry Limeades until Ken had finished doing his magic. The final product sounded brilliant, and I think we’re ready to “publish” the song with all proceeds going to the Elf Louise Christmas Project. All that’s left is for the lawyers to dot the I’s and cross the t’s.

While that’s going on, The Tim and Bob Show have other gigs to get ready for, but none more exciting that the one waiting for us on Friday, November 26, when we participate in the 2010 Holiday River Parade by providing the music for the Grand Marshal’s float. As soon as we find out which markets outside the San Antonio area will be televising the parade, we’ll publish that information.

There definitely IS magic at Christmastime, and that magic’s name is Elf Louise.

Tim and Bob + Elf Louise = Big News

People who don’t believe that magic can happen any day of the week have not met Louise Locker. People who don’t believe that miracles can happen at Christmas have not met Louise Locker.

Louise, known here in San Antonio as “Elf Louise,” is a member of Tim and Bob Nation. She comes to our gigs, sits as close to the band as she can, and enjoys every note that is played. Once you get to know Louise, you begin to understand that she enjoys every minute of every day. She was introduced to us by our friend Steven O. Sellers who thought our particular blend of music and fun might be what she needed to get over some pretty extreme radiation therapy. Louise is a cancer survivor, and during the time we’ve known her has been undergoing either radiation or chemotherapy. We’re proud that our music makes things easier for her, and we are all thrilled to be her friends.

For those who don’t know Louise’s story, let me do a brief introduction here. While a freshman at a local university, Louise was struck by the idea that some of her childhood toys might make some local children happy. Armed with her charm and an amazing positive attitude, she convinced some local postal employees to let her read some “letters to Santa.” By the time Christmas came around, she had begun what has become known as the Elf Louise Project. Thanks to her, thirteen local children had their first ever Christmas presents. That was over 40 years ago, and in the time since, the Elf Louise Project has become a registered charitable organization that has made hundreds of thousands of children happy through the generosity of the larger San Antonio community. All this has been possible because it is impossible to say no to Louise Locker. We know.

After we had become friends, Louise contacted me through Facebook and we discussed the possibility of getting some musicians together to just “appear” and play Christmas music for people who needed cheering up. There’d be no fanfare, just a bunch of folks trying to make other folks happy. At some point, I said that maybe my Tim and Bob Show partner Steve and I could write a new song for the holidays.

It was in early September that Louise contacted me and asked if we could have a song ready in about ten days. [Ten DAYS!!!] She said that if we could, we could debut it at a news conference, but she couldn’t tell me any more because it was all a big secret. Suddenly pressed into action, I contacted Steve [who writes our melodies] and said that I’d have some ideas after doing some research. After combing over Louise’s website, it seemed to me that the whole point of the Elf Louise Project is that everyone deserves a Christmas. After Steve and I exchanged several phone calls and email conversations, we settled on the concept of our new song, “Everyone Deserves a Christmas.”

On Wednesday morning, September 15, the four of us joined several other people in the lobby of the Drury Plaza Hotel in downtown San Antonio. We were there to watch the Paseo del Rio Association announce that the Grand Marshal of San Antonio’s 2010 Holiday River Parade would be “Elf” Louise Locker. As part of the ceremonies, we performed the song for the very first time. Steve did most of the singing because he was the one most familiar with the tune. The rest of us came in on the chorus. As Louise was being interviewed by a television news reporter, we chatted with the director of the Association. During the conversation we found out that all barges, including the Grand Marshal’s float, will have bands. We wondered if The Tim and Bob Show could perform on Louise’s barge. Within 24 hours we had our answer – Louise wanted us to play on the Grand Marshal’s float in the River Parade on November 26. We were happy to accept.

Since that time, a small ad hoc organization has developed around the song. In addition to Louise and the four band members, Steven O. Sellers, photographer/fundraiser Jim Johnston, and media personality/fundraiser Sonny Melendrez have formed the “Everyone Deserves a Christmas Project.” In the weeks that followed, the band recorded a four-part version of the song at Ken Branca’s Dreamland Studios. Ken will continue to blend in the efforts of other San Antonio musicians until the song is “ready for release.” Our idea is to license the recording to The Elf Louise Project so that any proceeds from its sale will help to continue her dream of bringing Christmas to everyone. In very short order, we hope to have an mp3 that can be downloaded from her website and where contributions can be made.

We are also assisting in planning web-site upgrades, music videos, and personal appearances throughout the Christmas season with Elf Louise. Rest assured that we’ll be letting everyone know when the song can be downloaded, when the video is on You Tube, and also just before the River Parade. We understand that the parade is carried in 40 different markets with a potential viewership of 20 million people! So, you might get a chance to see and hear us far away from South Texas.

There are more wonderful things to come. It isn’t even November yet, and it was in the 90s earlier this week. But The Tim and Bob Show is here to tell you that there is indeed magic and there are indeed Christmas miracles in San Antonio. We know it’s true, because we know Elf Louise.

CD Release Party Review

Well, after months of planning, we introduced our CD to the world on Saturday, October 18, at Casbeers at the Church in San Antonio's historic King William District. It was our first time to play at this venue, although Mary Lou, Kathy, and I are very familiar with the location, having performed there many times when it was the Alamo Street Restaurant and Theater.

We were on the patio, and the weather was magnificent. It was clear and the temperatures were moderate, although the sun was full in our eyes for most of the first set and we could only see shapes in front of us. We designed the gig list to intersperse all 14 songs on the CD with our favorite covers. There was a good crowd to start with, and it stayed pretty much full for the duration.

The list of Tim and Bob Nationals who attended is long and distinguished, and we're going to name them all. Before we do, though, we want to thank "The Blue Team" who helped wrangle the CDs and manage their sale. Bethany, Matt, Casey, and Marcelo did the honors. They hung in from start to finish and even helped us break down. They all got a free CD and a free meal in thanks.

In addition to new friends, David and wife, Marcelo's friend Presley, some great folks from Pet Pals of Texas, and some folks who dropped by after reading Jim Beal's recommendation, here's the Tim and Bob Nationals who attended: Rich; Rodney; Roberta; Nikki & Lee from PrimaDonna Productions; Peggy; Carole and Glen; Meg, Karl, Liam, & Lindsay; Gary; Joe; Ron [The Sweet Music Man] and Rhonda ; Michaele; Keith & family; Marcie & John; Chris & Teresa; John-Michael & Katy; "Doctor Dave" and Linda; Kacey and Krissie; Vicki and Linda [YAY PET PALS!]; Jerry and Mary Ellen, and Teresa and her Little Sister. Wow! That was a bunch.

A special shout out for Mark and Barb who were also there for the duration. Mark took some great pictures of the event, and we'll be posting them very soon.

Well, we sold some CDs and we made some music, and we didn't run out of either. You'll be able to get a bunch of live and recorded music from us at lots of venues all over town for the remainder of the year and beyond.

Watch the newspapers and your email in-basket for details.

Click here to buy our CD

September 30, 2008 – an Afternoon Visit to Core Media

It has been a long time since I last blogged about the recording of The Tim and Bob Show’s new CD Take It Outside. There’s a reason for this. Once principle recording, mixing, and mastering had been accomplished at Mandala Music, there wasn’t much for we band members to do, other than make plans for the CD’s release, try to drum up some advanced sales, finalize the cover design and art, and – most importantly – get some extra gigs to help pay the bills!

On Tuesday afternoon [what a great name for a song!], Kathy, Steve, and I met at Core Media to take delivery of our baby – precisely 960 copies of our offspring, that is. And it’s beautiful. The cover art is quirky and colorful and representative of the CD, its contents, and the band that produced it. All the important people have been thanked and attributed, and everything is spelled correctly. All the times are where they should be, and – after I cracked open a copy and played it on my stereo – I can attest to the fact that it sounds very good.

The CD is what we all had hoped it would be from the start:
1. It sounds like us [only richer and smoother].
2. It reflects the variety of the music we perform.
3. It takes advantage of the vocal and instrumental strengths of each member.
4. It gives no evidence of anything close to a “typical Feinstein/Hymel song.”
5. It shows that we can write songs as well as we can sing them.

And so we picked up the CDs. We’re developing a list of folks who get a free copy – for either contributing to the creation of the CD, being one of our regular performing venues, or for promotional purposes. The list is fairly long, but I expect that, once the Christmas buying season has ended, we’ll still have a CD or two boxed up and waiting in our spare bedroom.

There will be a CD release party, of course. It’ll be at Casbeers at the Church – the new location for one of San Antonio’s signature music venues. We’ll be on the patio from 5 until 8 on Saturday, October 18. On the day, we’ll be selling the CD for $2 off the usual $15 price. Additionally, for each CD we sell, we’ll be contributing money to Pet Pals of Texas, a charity that has become sort of our personal favorite. Just like we promote each of our gigs, we’re promoting this one. We’ve already done a lot of flier passing-out here in town, and there’ll be advance gig alerts as well as the weekly regular one. All of this is fine if you’re local, but we’re well aware that we’ve got friends all over the country and, in my case, in several countries as well [thanks to my soccer addiction]. So we’ve developed a way to order the CD in advance of the release date for the same reduced price [and the same contribution to Pet Pals].

In addition to the CD release party, we’ll be appearing on local radio and television programs. If there are any video or audio links, we’ll connect our fans to them. We’ll also be linking the CD to various national and international radio sites. We don’t know how to do this, of course. That’s why we have PrimaDonna Productions to assist us. Finally, we’re developing a PayPal link, as well as CD sales through the CD-baby web site. The CD [and individual songs from it] will also be available through iTunes. It’s a strange new world out there for your humble correspondent!

So, how can you get in on buying a copy of our brilliant child? Watch your email in-box for details. Can’t wait? Contact Don HERE and I’ll give you specific information. I’ll also be writing an article for fulhamusa.com with all the necessary links once the CD release party is history. And every person any of the four of us has ever known or ever chatted with on line or on the telephone will be given every opportunity to buy this gem. Trust me; it’s one of the benefits of being part of Tim and Bob Nation!

Session 9: Beginnings, Endings, Mileposts

Tuesday, August 19, was our last in-studio work with Mandala Music. We had already gone through multiple listenings, tightenings, and revisings. This was to be our last night to get out the ratchet-head wrenches and screwdrivers and tighten everything down – or would that be “tighten everything up?” We started the session an hour later than scheduled, and with a bit of trepidation. Our mini-drought was over and the rains were upon us. Bearing in mind the difficulties of recording during adverse weather conditions, we were more than aware that August 30th – our target date to have acquired the much-sought-after Gold Master – was fast approaching. We were comforted by Bett telling us that the leaks are in the recording portion, but not the engineering portion of the studio.

There were two notable changes on the evening. First was the temperature. At 79 degrees, it was 20 degrees cooler than our usual drive-time temperature for these sessions. The other change was that we brought no musical instruments with us. Recording was essentially over. It was mixing and mastering time now. Our job in the studio was to listen, discuss, and communicate suggestions to Joël in an effort to get just the sound we wanted. Over the next 2½ hours, we reviewed the most recent versions of all 13 of the songs we worked on at Mandala. Concerned as we are with all things vocal, most of our comments dealt with the mix of voices with voices, and voices with guitars. For each song it was, “Can you bring up this track here?” and “Can you adjust this vocal track so that it blends better with this one?” By this time, though, most of the major stuff was over. As usual, the notes that we took on previous versions and that we had communicated to Joël in advance, kept our studio time down. By 9:30 we had all done our best, and were heading out the door into San Antonio’s latest light show.

Joël and Bett had said they’d provide a pre-master mix for us to peruse early the next week. For those of you who haven’t been through this process, “mixing” is the art of taking all the individual tracks of a particular song, and putting them together with the right blend of instruments and voices. A well-mixed song won’t have any instrument buried under a vocalist, nor will it have a vocal harmony track over-driving a vocal melody track. In addition to his technical skills, the producer needs to use his ear to detect any flaws. Being a jazz musician by trade, Joël’s ear is excellent. Being married to a singer, Joël’s concern about vocal quality is also second nature. This makes mixing an art and a science. Joël preferred that he do this without an audience, and we concurred.

Mastering a song is a different matter. The process is far too technical for me to even pretend to keep track of, but the result is that the pointy bits get smoother, the extreme highs and lows get mellowed, and the instrumentation and vocals each get emphasized but not at the expense of the other. The two modifiers I heard most were “sweetening” and “fattening” – as in “the guitars will be fatter” and “we’ll sweeten the vocal mix.”

As it turned out, Joël went ahead and provided us a mastered copy on Wednesday the 27th. I made copies and we all listened. We agreed with Joël that there needed to be one final tweaking of “Crazy Love,” and we did this over the phone from Steve and Kathy’s house, just before we familiarized ourselves with the songs we’ll be playing at Beto’s on Friday evening. Once we get a call from Bett that the “Gold Master” is ready, we’ll pick it up in the usual “kidnap ransom” manner, and that will mark the end of our association with Bett and Joël and Mandala Music. It’s been quite a ride, and we’ve really gotten to like and admire the talents of these two folks. What next?

Well, Core Media Inc. begins their contribution to our CD. They get the final master from Mandala, press it, and put it together with the cover and insert art and verbiage package … . Um … er … what? You mean I’ve been doing this diary all this time and I never mentioned the LOOK of the CD? Well, if that’s the case, it is beyond time to introduce Nikki Young and PrimaDonna Productions.

Kathy, Mary Lou, and I know Nikki from our theatrical exploits and, most recently, through her association with the Texas Music Coalition (TMC). Nikki has been helpful to us almost from the start of the group – from making friendly suggestions to developing our promotional packaging. We decided early on that PrimaDonna was the best company to handle not only the look of our CD, but also the promotion of it. While all of the recording was going on over at Mandala, Chadd and Lee worked on graphics, art, and content, while Nikki made connections through TMC to find us a venue for our CD release party, and avenues for us to promote the CD. As is the case with Mandala, we’re down to the last few details with PrimaDonna. Once we’ve got everything properly attributed, once all the lyrics are correct and the thank-you section is to our liking, once the art is exactly right, they also pass along their product to Core Media.

As for Core Media, we were pleased to discover that we had a production company right here in San Antonio. This allows us to pick up product at the source rather than having stuff shipped to us. These are also local guys and gals who, like us, are TMC members. We’re very pleased that every individual who contributed to this CD belong to this organization.

Meanwhile? Well, we keep playing. We need to. Cutting a CD to our exacting standards is expensive. It has basically taken every penny we’ve earned as a group – that hadn’t already been spent on equipment upgrades – to finance this endeavor. While Core Media combine the contributions of Mandala Music, PrimaDonna Productions and, of course, The Tim and Bob Show, we keep doing what we do. We can’t announce the date and venue of the CD release party – not all t’s have been crossed – but we’re looking at mid-October. I can tell you that the party will also be a fundraiser for Pet Pals of Texas, one of our favorite charities, and that people who attend that function will get a two-dollar [never-to-be-repeated] discount on CDs purchased. I can also tell you that the CD will go on general release the next day. All the band members will provide their mailing lists the link to order the CD on line, as well as the iTunes information for those of you who don’t care how beautiful our cover is!

So, the “beginning” in the title refers to the work Core Media will do over the next month or so. The “ending” deals with the culmination of the much-appreciated efforts of Mandala Music and PrimaDonna Productions. The “milepost?” Well, Wednesday, August 27, is the third anniversary of our first paid gig as The Tim and Bob Show, at Fralo’s Art of Pizza in Leon Springs. We had barely 30 songs in what we laughingly called “our repertoire” – we’ve over 160 songs now – and Steve and I hadn’t even discussed the possibility of writing a song together. We only got the gig because Kathy decided that we needed to stop TALKING about playing in public and actually DOING IT. Since that time, we’ve played over 100 gigs all over South Texas and, venues and audiences willing, we’ll be doing it for a long time to come.

Session 8: Dodging Edouard – August 5 Recording Session

In a summer this hot and dry, the phrase “60% chance of showers, some of them intense” is usually encouraging. It usually is accompanied by wistful smiles of anticipation. This is how it normally is for the four members of The Tim and Bob Show as well, but not this summer. We’ve already documented the sieve-like nature of the roof at Mandala Music, and how Bett and Joël often have to camp out on the premises overnight if rain is forecast to ensure that none of the sensitive recording equipment gets damaged. And so it was that the fact that it was a good 15 degrees cooler than any of our previous recording sessions [83 degrees!] as we approached San Antonio’s Southtown, didn’t give us any of the relief that it should have.

We began watching the skies in the early afternoon. TS Edouard was hitting the Texas coast around Houston and was supposed to proceed northwest of Austin. If this turned out to be true, and if we continued to be at the weaker, southern, outer edge of its rain band, then we should be okay. Of course, tropical storms either have a mind of their own or no mind at all. As early as 1 in the afternoon, we could hear the echoes of thunder. I kept in touch with Steve and Bett, and we all agreed to give it a shot and hope for the best.

In preparation for the gig, the three of us – Kathy was in New Mexico this week on business – had reviewed the rough cut of four tunes Mary Lou and I picked up Monday afternoon. Once again, we developed a script detailing what we – the musicians – needed to do, and what Joël – the magician – needed to do. We could tell by listening to the four tunes that Joël had made good use of studio time when we weren’t there. Guitars sounded “fatter;” there was the odd dash of echo here and there. The little touches that make a finished product sound “finished” were starting to appear. We were all getting a bit excited.

This is not to say that we had no notes for the session. On the contrary, we had comments on no fewer than seven tunes. We knew that we needed Kathy to be able to listen to “South Texas Saturday Night” before we could decide on whether or not percussion was required, and we also knew that we hadn’t reached a consensus on whether “Sweet Music Man” was “pure and unadorned” or “thin and in need of instrumentation,” but we still gave ourselves a list of 5 songs to work on. We figured that this would take up plenty of the four hours ahead of us.

The four of us had already discussed enhancements to “Looking Back” and “Decisions.” Each required an additional guitar track from Steve and from me. We started at 6 o’clock, and by 7:35pm, both songs were passed on to the “ready for Joël” category. Things were moving along.

“Everything Sounds Like a Song” was next. At our request, Joël had added some finger chimes in a few places. Steve, Mary Lou, and I all had different ideas about the efficacy of adding more chimes in more places. In classic Tim and Bob Show fashion, everyone’s point of view was heard and considered, and then we came to a consensus that embraced but did not exactly replicate any individual’s initial desires. Joël was able to adjust the chimes to our liking, and then Steve laid down a guitar track that considered of down-strumming a low E-minor chord four times. After that simple enhancement, this song also slipped into Joël’s in-basket.

Next up was “Raccoon Rumble-seat”. This song is a classic blues-screamer in E that I began writing about 30 or so years ago. Some time in the mid-1970s, my friend Bruce Limpus handed me a slip of paper with these words on it: “I got my bottle of bootleg gin. I ain’t gonna let no depression set in. I’m at the raccoon rumble-seat flapper-dan crystal ball.” It took me only another five years or so to add enough lyrics to make this into a standard 1-4-5-1 blues. I had pretty much forgotten about it until Steve and I formed the group. We had so few songs in our repertoire at the time, and the key of E is so much fun for guitar players, we added this one almost at once. Steve’s assistance with the song’s structure and his scorching solos over the last couple of years have more than qualified him for co-writer status. From the beginning, Steve wanted two things for this song. First, the two guitars needed to be recorded on a single track. We slow down and speed up and trade licks when we do this live, all of it cued visually between us. This is almost impossible to replicate “one track at a time.” Steve’s other plan was for me to record the vocal late in a tiring session so my voice would be rougher than usual.

The original recording satisfied both those desires. Steve then added a nice rhythm track, and, when we heard this on the rough cut, we had only a couple of “I gottas” to discuss. Joël was able to dispose of them and fix the track in only EIGHT MINUTES. Man, we were seriously smoking. We were about two hours and 15 minutes into our session and had completed all band work on four more songs. Then came “Light in the Night.”

This was the first song we had recorded, and we did it without the clicker – the little metronome thingy that keeps us on tempo. I’m the rhythm player on this song, and I have a bitch of a time with the metronome. Why? Because my rhythms tend to be a little syncopated and this doesn’t work well. So, we recorded it without the clicker. Mistake. On stage we each can keep the other from running away with the tempo on a song with looks or other cues. We didn’t have this opportunity, and so it turned out faster than we’ve ever played it on stage. Since the lyrics are more symbolic than concrete, going fast isn’t a good idea. Unfortunately, we were so new to the process, that we recorded all the vocals and all the guitars all at that breakneck speed. When we heard it, each of us was sick. Money is a little tight in Tim and Bob Land, and we thought about just leaving it. But then we realized that if we left it, we’d hate it every time we heard it played. So, it came down to two choices: start from scratch, or forget the song entirely and go with 13 songs on the CD.

Since we were moving along so nicely, we decided to re-record it. Steve took the initial rhythm track, since he’s much more disciplined than I am in using the clicker. One take got it down. Then I added my rhythm track. So far still so good. Steve then added his lead track. There’s a simple, but gutsy lick here that makes the song rock. As a matter of fact, that lick came before anything else in the song. So, three guitar tracks down and it was time for vocals. As we do with a lot of the songs we cover, Steve and I trade off, with one taking the melody and the other the harmony and, then, switching off at points. This song was written that way, so we needed to do a single vocal track with each of us singing. This is fine, except that one of us making just a little gaffe will, in effect, kill two tracks. We took a lot of time knocking off the rough edges, but we still had all of “Light In the Night” in the can one hour and fifteen minutes after we started. I’m glad we didn’t decide to ditch it. I really like this song.

At this point, it was 9:30pm and we had completed work on five songs. Joël said he’d get a rough cut of “Light in the Night” for us ASAP so we could be prepared for Monday’s session. We’ll have Kathy back in time for Friday night’s gig, and so I’m confident we can work out a script for the three songs not yet fully in Joël’s hands in plenty of time. Joël is guessing that he’ll need a total of four more studio hours to complete all the mixing. The mastering should be fairly speedy, and then we’ll have something to deliver to the presser.

It’s amazing to me. It was only three years ago this month that the band played for the first time. Our gig on August 2, 2008 was our 100th. We started with a repertoire of roughly 30 songs, and now that repertoire includes 159 songs. We’re a cover band about to produce our first CD with 12 original songs on it. When she was setting up microphones for our vocal track, Bett mentioned to me that she and Joël were still waiting for our first in-studio temper tantrum. She was amazed that we had spent so much time working so hard and concentrating on each second of each person’s performance, and we still spent most of our non-recording time laughing. I said that in three years I could only remember about 5 or 6 even momentary losses of temper. I guess it’s just not in our nature.

Well, another gig on Friday, a team meeting on Saturday – wine will be involved – and then into the studio. Life is good when you play rock ‘n roll. Oh, by the way, the rain never really showed up here in San Antonio.

Session 7 and beyond, culminating on August 2, 2008

It's been a long, strange trip getting this CD done. The first few sessions went by like clockwork, and then came the complications. The rain, the heat, the difficulties in breathing, the difficulties in getting “the message” in both directions. It’s been interesting.

Most recently, the problem has been illness. Steve was seriously hammered by one of his periodic allergy related sinus infections and, just as he was beginning to recover, Joël was knocked sideways by food poisoning. This, added to a long illness followed by a bereavement in Joël’s circle, tended to weaken the unity and the focus of the four band members and the two producers. It was in view of the fact that Joël was just recovering and that we had a long, demanding gig that evening, that Saturday’s recording session was scheduled for only two hours – between 10 and 12 in the morning. Our plan was to try to “fix” everything we could that required Kathy, since she was leaving town on business on Sunday and would miss our next session the following Tuesday. We weren’t sure how much we could get done, but we had taken the time to take copious notes on the “rough tracks” Joël gave us, and we arrived at the studio very well prepared.

As it turned out, the two hours we spent were extremely productive. Joël’s method is to complete all the mixing of the various tracks before he goes on to the mastering phase. Our plan to augment that was to provide several observations to help him with his mastering, coupled with a list of things that band members could do to augment the tracks. The most recent rough cut CD including some studio enhancements – “fattening” the guitar tracks and adding some echo to the vocals. We do a lot of multiple harmonies live, and we wanted to make sure that each voice could be heard clearly with none of them at a volume so as to be at the expense of any other. This is, of course, why Mandala Music gets the big bucks. Well, they’re getting our bucks in any event. [If you’d like a simplified overview of the relationship between musicians and producers, your attention is gently invited to the last few lines of the refrain of Ben Fold’s song “Rockin’ the Suburbs.”]

The first thing we did was to revisit “Take It Like a Man.” We came in thinking that we might have to redo the percussion track, both because the claves sounded a bit weak and also because there was a loss of tempo at one point. Luckily, Joël was able to take care of both these problems just by [warning! technical jargon follows] adjusting the thing-y and moving some stuff around. We also realized that we didn’t have to rework my guitar solo at the end. The track was there all along. All Joël had to do was bring up the volume. When we agreed that there was also nothing that needed to be done to Kathy’s lead vocal, “Take It Like a Man” was deemed “ready for final mixing.”

Given this quick resolution, we pressed on apace. How fast? Well, we fixed the “fullness” problem with “Love in Three-Quarter Time” simply by adding an additional guitar track. We were prepared to add a percussion track as well, but the basic act of down-strumming at each chord change provided the extra warmth we needed. Steve was also unhappy with his counterpoint vocals and re-recorded both of them. One more song in the “to be mixed” bag.

When we listened to “Fast” on the rough cut CD, Steve decided that we needed a couple of well-placed oohs. Steve figured out the melody and asked me to add a harmony. The idea was to teach both to the girls. In the end, he was comfortable with how we did it, so, two more mini-vocal tracks, and this beautiful song was already sliding over into Joël’s in-basket.

Then came the CD’s title song: “Take It Outside.” I knew it was much too easy for me when I got both my rhythm guitar track and my vocal track in one take each. There were two gaps in the guitar track where I had rushed the rest by about a second in each instance. It didn’t sound too bad at the time, but after Steve added his lead track and we had a chance to listen to it repeatedly, we knew we had to got back and add more guitar. No problem. After Steve did a little lead “noodling” to the song’s intro, THAT song was also ready for Joël’s magic.

By this point, we were most definitely in fast forward mode. On Mary Lou’s song, “Sweet Music Man,” we knew we needed some more instrumentation, but we only brought one concrete idea into the studio. Once again, as he had with “Love in Three-Quarter Time,” Steve added a very simple rhythm pattern that filled the song out nicely. We know we’d like to do a couple more things to the song, and we enlisted Joël’s and Bett’s brainstorming skills. We’re hoping to hear something from them on that next session.

Finally finished with what we thought we could do, I was busily packing stuff up and toting it out to the car when I heard, at our request, what Joël had done to “Everything Sounds Like a Song.” It’s amazing what finger chimes can do. We’re going to concentrate on this track, along with “Raccoon Rumble-seat,” “Light in the Night,” “South Texas Saturday Night,” ”Decisions” and “Looking Back” in our next session – please let’s have the entire four hours this time. We’re not committed to completing everything in our next session, but we ARE committed to having everything mixed and mastered by the end of this month. Once that happens, and once we’ve got our cover art, and CD innards, plus our CD release party details ironed out, we can start thinking about nagging everyone in the universe who knows us to buy it. We’re pretty discerning critics of our own work and we’re really beginning to like what we hear.

So keep your checkbooks dry and watch the skies for the release date. Until then, watch this space for our next chapter in the recording blog.

SESSIONS 5 & 6, July 12 and 14, 2008

“California girls are the greatest in the world – each one a song in the making.” So begins the last verse of Jon Stewart’s one hit “Gold.” And so begins this belated recording blog, belated not because I haven’t gotten around to writing it, but belated in that our two previous sessions were postponed – one of them twice. And California girls is the theme of this chapter in our recording history, because these two sessions largely revolve around two prime examples of the species: Mary Lou, and our friend vocalist/flutist Karen Emerson.

About the “belated” part, Mary Lou’s return from visiting her family in California coincided with the first significant rain we’d seen down this way in almost three months. This being south Texas, of course, the interval between welcoming rain and suffering from it can be very short. As soon as the rain started in earnest, Bett and Joël became concerned about the sensitive electronics that form the nerve center of Mandala Music. The studio is located in a somewhat elderly building with a flat roof. And, flat roofs being what they are, leaks occur – especially when precipitation goes from a delightful drizzle to a tropical torrent in record speed. In any event, our late June and early July sessions were postponed until order returned to the universe and Bett and Joël could resume being jazz musicians rather than a two-person bucket brigade. Once the water receded and the rain lilies began to appear, Mandala Music got back into the music business and we rescheduled our two missed sessions into one double session on Saturday the 12th, to be followed by our already scheduled four-hour session on the 14th.

You may recall that in our last sessions we had three songs “complete except for Mary Lou’s vocals.” We made them our first priority. Mary Lou set straight to work on providing the 4th vocal part to “Crazy Love.” By this time, Kathy, Steve, and I were very comfortable with the recording process, but this was the first time under the gun for Mary Lou. Thanks to the relaxed atmosphere that Bett and Joël create, she was able to cope quickly with the unfamiliarity and nailed down her part in relatively short order. Steve announced that we didn’t need to do any “dressing” on this song and that it was well and truly finished. We then moved on to “Take It Like a Man.” Now very relaxed, Mary Lou added her vocals without incident. I was a little surprised that she didn’t have any trouble with the second verse. While she was away, Steve came up with a second harmony and recorded it. I’m not sure whether anyone told her that the harmony would be there, but rather than being distracted, she carried on and nailed it. After another track in which the girls provided the percussion that is a feature of the song when performed live, “Take It Like a Man” was also finished.

And now it was on to “It Ends; It Begins.” Although Mary Lou likes to refer to her contribution to this song as “my one note,” the three of us had developed a somewhat tricky and very precise phrasing while she was away. Once again, no problem. With a touch-up or two, the song was almost ready. We had previously provided Karen Emerson with a rough cut of “It Ends; It Begins” and asked her to see if she could come up with a flute solo for us. We also encouraged her to supply some phrases elsewhere in the song if so inspired. As it happened, Karen arrived to the studio just as Mary Lou had finished her tracks. After greetings to everyone, Karen unpacked, had a single rehearsal play through, and then provided a mesmerizing performance. She had indeed provided phrasing throughout, and there isn’t a bit of it that won’t appear on the CD. I had felt for a long time that Kathy’s haunting lead vocal would make the song a highlight of the finished product. Karen’s contribution only confirmed that opinion for me. Less than 45 minutes after she walked into the studio, Karen was heading out the door. What a wonderful artist and person she is.

With the three “almost” songs completed, all that was left for us to record were four songs. Three of these feature only Steve and myself, and the fourth is the song on the album that we wrote for Mary Lou to sing. Because it only came into the repertoire the night before the Saturday session, we decided to let it wait until Monday. So, the four of us looked at the time remaining and figured that we should at least get the guitar tracks down for the three “Steve and Don” songs before the session was over. And then hunger arrived. Joël was also shattered after spending the previous night recording into the wee hours, so after Steve laid down a guitar track, we took a one-hour food break.

The studio is in the perfect neighborhood for such things. San Antonio’s “South Town” features art galleries, live theater, music venues a ‘plenty, and excellent food. The girls had done some scouting and we settled on Mad Hatters Tea Room for a sandwich and soup sort of late lunch or early dinner. There’s something about the name of that place that appeals to me.

We returned to the studio refreshed and well-provisioned and jumped into the song we were working on before. This is a love song that Steve and I wrote that’s in ¾ time. We call it “Love in Three-quarter Time.” It’s the most complex song we have written, featuring three distinct themes as well as vocal counterpoint. Despite its complexity, the most difficult element for us to execute was maintaining the tempo. I’ve often thought that it’s a good thing that we’re not primarily a dance band! After two or three tries, I gave up, and left it to Steve to lay down the all-important first track. After that, the vocals came relatively easily, and yet another song was “in the can.”

It was always Steve’s plan to save “Raccoon Rumble-seat” for late in a session when my voice was tired. It’s a blues shouter in E, and we always play it late in our gigs so that I can take advantage of the raspiness in my voice. We figured it would be the last thing we could manage, so we jumped into it. Because there are two changes of tempo in the song, Joël thought it a good idea for us to lay down the guitar tracks simultaneously. Steve just played his funky bass runs and I hammered away at the Takamine. Then Steve put in his lead licks, and, finally, I let it all hang out on the vocal. With just a “quick fix” or two, this song was also in the bag. I’m looking forward to hearing this on the CD. More than 30 years ago, an old friend of mine handed me a piece of paper that included what has turned out to be the first fifteen words to this song. It’ll be fun to hand him the finished product.

Unfortunately [or not], we finished the song too quickly and went on to our last “Steve and Don” song. “South Texas Saturday Night” is a good-time song. It’s got a little country and a little rock in it. When I first started working on the lyrics, I thought that it would fit into the genre called “Texana.” Steve and I had some difficulties getting it ready for live performances, and we had put it away for a time before we completed it. However, once we debuted it, it has become a favorite of ours and of our audiences. I also thought that this song would be a problem to record. Steve and I swap lead vocals for one thing, and for another, Steve’s initial guitar lick is keyed by my hammering on the low E string. Not an easy thing to record individually. Joël asked us to play it and, after we finished, he said that we should do it in two tracks – one just guitars and one just vocals. So we did it and, with significant help from Kathy’s amazing ear, managed to get the song’s ending perfectly.

And we were still not finished. We had time for Steve to lay down two guitar tracks for “Sweet Music Man,” the song we had written for Mary Lou’s lead vocal. But that would wait until Monday. Back to Leon Valley we came. The girls picked up some Thai and Steve and I selected a bottle of Syrah to have with it. An amazing day!

On Monday, Mary Lou and I arrived at the studio first, with Steve and then Kathy to follow. I laid down my guitar track to "Sweet Music Man," a song that was inspired by our friend, jazz trombonist, band leader, and vocalist Ron Wilkins. The first hint of the lyrics came to me when we were visiting Ron in the hospital. Steve carried the lyrics around with him and came up with a beautiful, simple tune for it. Steve’s guitar solo on this recording is economic, free of frills, and gorgeous. Mary Lou’s task here was not to over-vocalize. Simplicity should be the key not only to the guitar work, but also the singing. And so, Mary Lou delivered a soft, yearning vocal that pleased the four of us. “Sweet Music Man” was in the can with only 90 minutes gone in the session.

So, all thirteen of the songs we had intended to record were at least in the rough cut stage. Steve, and Kathy took advantage of the time remaining to add some vocal flourishes to “Looking Back.” Mary Lou will have some contributions to make there, and there’ll be even more from Kathy on the song, but we left early so that Joël could provide us with a rough cut of the whole CD. The four of us will listen and decide which songs require a touch of guitar here, a bit of vocalizing there. We have two more sessions scheduled for July, and we’re hoping to use them to make our final contributions. Everything else will be up to the magic of Bett and Joël.

These two sessions were a long time coming, but they were very productive and very rewarding.

FOURTH SESSION, June 12, 2008

Well, after twelve hours in the Mandala Music studios, you’d figure that Steve and I were getting halfway good at the routine – standing there while Bett and Jöel set up mikes and boards, turn the air conditioning on and off, work alone while wearing headsets – good enough to be able to do it on our own without Kathy or Mary Lou’s help. I guess you’d be right, but it sure was different for the two of us last night – hopefully the LAST time we’ll have to go into the studio alone.

It continues to be hot here in South Texas – triple-digit highs coming to visit on Saturday and, like a quirky aunt you’d rather talk to on the phone than in person, staying around for days on end. The fairly constant breeze of the last week or so keeps the air a bit cleaner, but also keeps everything hot and dry. As I followed Steve down IH10 in the blazing sunshine, I was looking forward to the cool, cave-like atmosphere of the studio.

Since it was to be the just two of us, Steve and I decided to record two songs that feature only our voices. We chose “Decisions” – the second song we wrote together – and “Looking Back.” Both songs are somewhat reflective in nature, and each tells a bit of a story. “Decisions” is all about someone for whom life is a sort of movie to be observed rather than a play in which he has a part. Rather than trying to understand what is happening around him and what he should do about it, the singer’s only dilemma is “which guitar should I play.” The song changes tempo at several places. This isn’t unusual for songs performed by The Tim and Bob Show. What IS unusual is that, this time, it’s by design!

Steve laid down the base guitar track on the koa. This was the first song in which he strummed this particular guitar, and Jöel will have some fun emphasizing the sound of this amazing instrument on the finger-picking while tamping it down during the strumming. As we’ve mentioned before the deep full sound of the koa fills the room. I followed with my own guitar track and then we did the vocals. Steve has the lead on this song and, while singing along, I discovered that I had no idea of the vocal rhythm he uses on those lines in which I don’t sing. Oh well, we’ve only been performing this for about 18 months! Several false starts and “cleanups” later, and we had the song done except for the possibility of a bit of guitar "dressing". It took only about 95 minutes from first note to last.

Next up was “Looking Back.” Like “Decisions” this was a song in which Steve wrote the melody to lyrics I had already delivered to him. This is the opposite to songs like “It Ends; It Begins” and “Light In the Night” in which I wrote lyrics to fit a melody Steve had written earlier. “Looking Back” is also introspective in nature, and deals with a mature man who is living a comfortable, happy life, but can’t quite get over the difference between his present reality and the way he envisioned his life turning out when he was young. The danger in this sort of self-reflection is summed up in the song’s punch line, “you can’t see where you’re going / when you’re looking back.” As is the case with “Decisions,” we don’t expect that this will be anyone’s first-time favorite recording on the CD. We do, however, think that both these songs will resonate with listeners on their fourth or fifth playing – especially those listeners who are “mature.”

Steve had a new idea about recording this song, dealing with the way the first two lines of the chorus begin. This idea was so new that he didn’t mention it to me two hours earlier when we were having dinner! It took a good 10 minutes for him to explain what he had in mind so that my feeble brain could grasp it. No surprise to me that it was a great idea. Steve switched to his “strumming and lead” Taylor 814ce that he plays during our gigs. Once again, Steve has the lead vocals on this song, so we did the same sequence of Steve’s guitar followed by mine, and Steve’s vocals followed by mine. Although there’ll be some “dressing” to come on this one before it becomes “ready for prime time,” it is finished for a time.

LESSONS LEARNED: Man, it is LONELY in there when you’re not the one on the mike! Thank goodness Steve and Kathy’s daughter Bethany dropped by for a short visit. Steve and I are confident that we did a good job, but we missed the input from Kathy and continue to miss ML’s contributions. This should be the LAST time any of us has to miss a recording session. Speaking of which, we don’t go back into the studio again until the 24th of June. We have four sessions scheduled for July, and it’s our hope to have everything recorded and almost ready for pressing by then. We’re also working on ancillary issues – distribution, CD art, pressing, publicity, tax issues, and finding a venue for a CD release party – not to mention a full range of gigs every month through the end of November.

Man, this is tiring stuff; but boy is it FUN!

THIRD SESSION: June 2, 2008

Well, May has turned to June, but it’s still mid-July according to the thermometer. For the second straight time, my “outside temperature” reading was 100 as I drove down I10 to Mandala Music. It had been a full weekend for The Tim and Bob Show. We had very enjoyable, but demanding, gigs Friday and Saturday night, and both Steve and I had some aches and pains. Steve’s left hand felt a bit better, but I was still suffering from the neck and shoulder stiffness and pain that’s been plaguing me on and off for a week or so. I bombed myself with some naproxen before I left home. It had the effect of lessening the pain, and it had the added benefit of making the traffic signal lights much more interesting.

Of more concern to both Steve and me was the fact that Kathy was suffering from some vertigo-like symptoms – enough of a concern for Steve to drive back to his house to collect Kathy rather than having her join us at the studio. The good news was that we all got to the studio together. The bad news was that none of us was really in top shape, and that the one of us who felt the most poorly was the one that the third session was “all about.”

When Steve and I began to discuss the idea of a CD of original songs, we quickly realized that we had to write “for the girls.” Our band is very much a four-person group, and we depend on Mary Lou and Kathy to give the band more variety in pitch, style, genre, etc. It would make no sense to make a CD that didn’t feature the two female members of the band, and it would not be The Tim and Bob Show if those women didn’t take their turn at the forefront. So Steve and I wrote one four-parter featuring the women taking the lead, as well as a song for Kathy to sing and one for Mary Lou to sing. With Mary Lou still in California – COME BACK SOON; ALL IS FORGIVEN! – the third session was all about getting the most out of Kathy.

The first song we worked on was “It Ends; It Begins.” I’m not sure how to describe the style of the song, but Steve and I wanted something simple and haunting, something that could let Kathy feature what she calls her “little girl voice.” The genesis of the melody is rather interesting. Steve was just finger-picking a random chord change – an E minor and B minor run with varying bass lines – and I chimed in with steady high E minor and B minor barre chords. It made an interesting sound. One of the women said, “That sounds cool. What is it?” When we said it wasn’t anything, we were instructed that we needed to write a song with those chords. Well, we know how to do what we’re told. Steve got the melody down in short order, and I finished the lyrics not long after. The song has been ready to take before a live audience for almost two months, but because of Kathy’s theater commitments and Mary Lou’s “nursing” commitments, we’ve never performed it live.

Steve took the initial track, laying down the finger-picking on the beautiful-sounding koa, this time using the "click". I added a second guitar track after several false starts. Once we had the basics down, Kathy laid down the lead vocal. Although it sounded very good, we suggested that she take another, and there she hit gold. All it took then was for Steve and I to do the minimal backing vocals we do and the track was set – except, of course, for Mary Lou’s backing vocal. We also extended the guitar interlude a couple of extra measures in hopes that our friend Karen Emerson could add a flute solo there. This song was a lot of work to get through, but I think it’s going to be a highlight of our CD.

With yet another ¾ finished track completed, we plunged ahead with “Take It Like a Man.” This is a sort of country rocker. It’s the first song that Steve and I wrote with neither of us in mind for the lead. The song is about how men need to shut up every once in a while and listen to the women in their lives. Naturally, the girls loved the concept. We’ve been performing it for several months now, and audiences seem to like it also. This four-part song features vocals by both Kathy and Mary Lou, with Steve and I only repeating the title at appropriate moments. It’s fun in performing but, as is the case with much of our material, there’s tempo changes that rely on visual cues. There’s a vocal tag at the end – Kathy’s voice alone – that I “dress” with some flat picking. This was a little hard to get down “one track at a time” but we managed. We like the sound of it. All we need to do with this one, sound familiar?, is to get Mary Lou home and into the studio.

At this point, we had about 35 minutes of studio time left, and Steve suggested that we should record our tune called “Tim and Bob Love Wait Staff.” This is a ditty that I dashed off one afternoon. We were trying to figure out an original way to remind patrons that their wait staff need to be remembered while also slyly pointing out the tip jar in front of the bandstand. It’s pretty goofy, but for some reason it gets applause from the wait staff everywhere we play it. It’s NOT going to appear on the CD, but Steve hopes to upload it to the site later in the week.

LESSONS LEARNED: Well, once again we benefited from how well Kathy reads Steve’s performance and how well Steve reads Kathy’s. They are very positively critical of each other’s work, and it has been great for us in live performing, and is doing very well for us in the studio. There’s a way to tell your spouse, “that sucks; do it again” and have the response be, “okay; I’ll do another take.” I know there is, because they do it. If there’s any other lesson to be learned from last night, it’s that there’s a price to be paid for doing a two-gig weekend followed by a four-hour recording session early the following week. We know because we’ve done it two weeks in a row now. The oppressive heat, and the lack of rain to clear the air we breathe have also contributed to us feeling “a little bit off,” but time, tide, and rock ‘n roll wait for no man or woman. Steve and I will be back in the studio on the 12th – this time without Mary Lou OR Kathy.

SECOND SESSION, Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Well, we reported back to Mandala Music after a weekend that featured a Friday night gig, a Saturday night gig, as well as two exhausting splashes in the pool on Sunday and Monday. Mary Lou was still in California, so we didn’t have the usual Memorial Day cookout, soiree, and ankle-bite, but we were still a little too much wined, dined and jaded by Tuesday morning. Thankfully, we had plenty of juice left for recording another four-hour shot that evening. As was the case the week before, Spring had completely disappeared and was replaced by full-on summer. It was right around 100 degrees when we reported for business.

Steve and I got there first, each of us having cashed in a food coupon that was part of our Saturday night payment at OrderUp [Colonnade]. Kathy was training at the gym and couldn’t join us until 7, so we jumped into the fire with the completion of “Fast.” When we play the song “live,’ we like to introduce it by saying “this is a slow song called ‘Fast.” The song’s inspiration was the passing of Steve and Kathy’s greyhound. Steve wrote most of the lyrics, asking my help with a second bridge. It’s a “personal” song that underscores the sorrow of loss by celebrating the vibrancy of life. It has caused many a listener to tear up, and Jöel and Bett were no different.

By the time Kathy showed up, we were well on our way to getting our stuff together for “(Some Days) Everything Sounds Like a Song.” This song has a sort of Irish folk song feel. I think it’s a bit sober and serious, but Mary Lou, Kathy, and Steve love the lyric and the sound, so who am I to disagree? This one we figured would be relatively simple to record since it features only Steve on the guitar and, with the exception of a small amount of harmony from Steve, all the vocals are mine. As with “Fast,” this number features the incredibly strong evocative sounds of Steve’s 2000 Taylor Koa K14c. Anything we do with this guitar gives us the equivalent of a third voice. It sounds gorgeous on this number.

We moved along to Steve’s arrangement of the Poco hit “Crazy Love” at this point. We knew that we couldn’t get it all down, since it’s a number that features all four voices, but we decided if we got everything down but Mary Lou’s vocals, she could come in a do a vocal track in a later session. Because this number begins with an a capella phrase, and because most of our performing cues are visual, Jöel suggested that we do a “scratch” recording – that is, record Steve’s guitar, Steve’s vocal, my guitar, and my vocal “live” on a single track. We could then use the “scratch track” as a template upon which we could record individual tracks, ultimately ditching the original altogether. However, we liked the “live feel” of the scratch track so much, that we kept it with only a few tweaks. Kathy then came in and recorded her vocal. Three-fourths of the song is complete. “All we need now is the girl!” Not bad; 8 hours in the studio and 4 ¾ songs down.

I had some time while Steve was playing and while Kathy was recording to wander around the “lobby” of the studio and to chat with Bett. There are several album covers on the walls – the most recent being Bett’s Myths and Fables. All the band members have been listening to that and loving it a lot. I also thought I recognized a guy in a photograph playing with a very young Jöel Dilley. Bett identified him as jazz guitar legend Herb Ellis. I also saw a photo of Jöel with a group of musicians one of which was Willie Nelson. Wow, I hope this isn’t a comedown for him!

LESSONS LEARNED: I think this time we learned that while it was a good idea to script out all the sessions – which songs first, which tracks to record first in each song – it was even a better idea to be a little flexible with our script. We recorded two songs “out of order” on this night, but for two very good reasons. First, we wanted to record three songs in a row that feature Steve’s finger-picking. This kept the koa as the primary instrument, and we were all very familiar with its dynamics. Second, we wanted to get Kathy in front of a microphone and in the can as early as possible. It was much fun for Steve and I to hear that clear soprano blending with Steve’s tenor and my baritone. Some time next month, we’ll have the alto back, and that will make all of us very, very glad – especially me.

FIRST SESSION – WEDNESDAY, May 21, 2008

The first thing you have to know about the location of Mandala Music’s recording studio, is that you have to KNOW about the location! Otherwise, you could drive aimlessly through the King William District for hours looking for a sign. There isn’t one. You have to drive around the back of a unpretentious block of professional offices and bang on a metal back door to be admitted. Luckily, we’d already scouted out the place and knew what to expect.

Our first session was from 6 until 10 that evening. Mary Lou was in California taking care of her mom who is recovering from surgery, so there were only three members of the group. Steve and I expected to do the actual performing, and Kathy came along to make sure we behaved and also to provide water and provisions – God bless Subway’s $5 footlongs! I wore my FulhamUSA.com tee-shirt as a good luck talisman. I believe it worked its magic well.

We were greeted inside by the two people who make up Mandala Music, San Antonio jazz legends Jöel Dilley and Bett Butler. Jöel is a very in-demand bassist and Bett is a singer-songwriter as well as an outstanding jazz pianist. The studio is very funky looking. There’s not a lot of their budget that goes to decorations, that’s for sure, but the sound board looked sophisticated enough and the pair seemed to be as enthusiastic about recording us as we were about being recorded. After a bite of food and a sound check or 12, we began.

Now, usually you’d be happy with one “in-the-can” song for each two hours of studio time, but we did much better on this night. We led off with "Light in the Night" one of our earliest compositions. Like a lot of our material, Steve and I trade off on who takes the melody, and this can make life just a little complicated using the “one track at a time” recording method. But after two vocal tracks and four guitar tracks, we pronounced ourselves satisfied and moved on.

The next song up was our rocker "Take It Outside." Although this song was added only relatively recently to our repertoire, it is a rare gig indeed when we don’t play it. After laying down the guitar tracks – my rhythm, Steve’s rhythm, Steve’s scorching lead – I went alone into the recording area and laid down the lead vocal. There was obviously something very good going on in the universe at this point, because we didn’t need a second take, nor did we need any “touch-ups.” Once we got Steve’s backing vocal in, we put that one to bed also.

Two songs in the can after barely 3½ hours of actual recording. Not bad for two guys whose ages add up to 111! With about 45 minutes of time left, Steve and I laid down the guitar tracks for a third original, "Fast." The vocals could easily wait for our next date. This was a very productive session, and all five of us were satisfied and looking forward to round 2.

LESSONS LEARNED: Well, we learned to trust Jöel and Bett completely. Neither got even slightly frazzled and both were wonderful to work with. We need to minimize the time that only Steve and I are recording. Having Kathy along to keep us both honest was invaluable. It was her suggestion that turned an excellent guitar phrase at the end of Fast" to something absolutely exquisite. On the other hand, I learned not to come directly from the gym without showering first – especially since we have to turn off the a/c each time we record!

OUR CD! PROLOGUE

The Tim and Bob Show was designed to be a cover band featuring familiar tunes from the 50s through the 00s. The band’s aural signature has always been tight harmonies to the accompaniment of amplified acoustic guitars. We’re popular because we play “locational music” – that is, people hear our songs and think “I was in college when that came out” or “that song reminds me of when we lived in North Carolina.”

Having said all that, almost from the beginning – August 2005 was our first paying gig – Steve and I have been writing songs together. Steve is primarily responsible for the melodies [and for arrangement and orchestration] and I’m primarily responsible for the lyrics. Generally, however, each of us has a suggestion or two about the other guy’s primary area of interest, and those suggestions almost always are incorporated into the song-in-development. Once they’re ready, we integrate our originals into our performances, and the audiences seem to enjoy them as much as our covers. When it came time for us to record, we decided to produce a CD with only two cover songs and fill out the album with songs first played by The Tim and Bob Show.

We still haven’t completely decided on what the CD will be called, but we’re aiming for a Fall 2008 release. Don’t worry, if you’re a relative, a friend, or a member of Tim and Bob Nation, you’ll find out when it is available for sale.