Altapass
is a celebration of the special relationship that often develops between
a band and a certain venue where they play time and again. The liner notes
in the CD describe this relationship in detail: "Something just clicks
between the staff, the audience, and the band, and the relationship becomes
some kind of ongoing process that acquires a life of its own and influences
the musical direction of the band." We say "long awaited"
because the basic tracks were recorded live at The Historic Orchard at
Altapass in Little Switzerland, N.C. in 2004. The tracks mostly languished
while the band continued to tour and tried to maintain their day jobs
and family lives. Jeff Haslam, mandolin player for the band, retired from
teaching in February 2006 and began work in earnest editing out the dog
barks and other glitches. He added parts from other mandolins to flesh
out the "old timey" feel of the songs, never having the luxury
of being able to switch instruments in mid-song onstage. Some studio effects
were added here and there, including creative left/right panning and occasional
reverb. Jeff and Keever's vocals were treated with megaphone effects on
Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue. A Waltz for Uncle John,
Marshall Ballew's heartfelt remembrance of Jerry Garcia was dressed up
with a rousing Cajun-style percussion and accordion celebration at the
end, featuring Greg Hils and Patti Peake (that's Marshall's holler during
the final romp, copied and pasted from a previous recording by Radiation
Blues Banned produced also by Scorpion Hill Sound). Says Jeff, "I
was able to combine the two bands that I play in to produce what was always
my ideal conception of how to record that song."
The result is a hybrid CD that
is both live and "studiofied." One of our good friends commented
after hearing the advance copy that he liked the songs, "particularly
the live ones." We weren't sure whether or not to take this as a
compliment (it's live, but it sounds studio-recorded, or, too bad we couldn't
get enough of the audience response to show they were all live). Because
there were no mics in the audience, the audience response is almost completely
edited from the songs, and seeing that the interaction with the audience
is what drives the direction of the music (Five Foot Two being
the best example), in future live recordings we hope to include the audience
in a bigger way. A lot of musicians will tell you that recording live
and then overdubbing is a wonderful way to catch the spontaneity you can't
get when you're in a room with partitions, dealing with headphones, etc.
and trying to get this take "exactly right." But the down side
is not being able to use high-end mics that one can stand 3 feet from
in an isolation chamber. So every puff of air can sound like a hurricane
and a lot of microsurgery is needed to bring down the loud notes and random
pops. Digital recording is both a blessing and a curse. It is remarkably
clear and at the same time, persistently unforgiving. We cheated and put
one song on the CD that was not recorded live, Sherill Keever's June
Bug Two Step, which was recorded in the studio while the band was
assembling the equipment to be used in recording at The Orchard. Keever
had his new "dulcilele" as he calls it, and had just composed
a new ditty. This version was one of those spontaneous "first takes"
that sounded so good and reflected the feel of Altapass so well that it
was the one chosen for inclusion on the album. Sherill recently recorded
a bone-chilling version of Shady Grove with this instrument, another serendipitous
one-off that we hope to make available in the near future. We expect that
the timing of our recording releases will improve now that Jeff has more
time to devote to the technical aspects. As a side note, we are still
very proud of our debut release, Alan Darveaux and Slight Departure
Live in Carolina, which received a favorable review in Sing
Out! magazine in 2002 (Vol. 41, No.2), and continues to be reprinted
and sold at Slight Departure shows and retail outlets.
Altapass has already been described to us as "very listenable"...
"singable"..."danceable." That works for us. After
all, that's how the songs were developed and we would never would have
thought of putting some of them on a CD except for the inspiration and
interchange we experienced in playing for a most unique group of locals
and travelers who visit this great American crossroads every weekend.
Slight Departure will make its last appearance of the season at The Orchard
on Sunday, September 24, 2006, from 2:00 - 4:30. Further information and
directions can be found at the website: altapassorchard.com.
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