Summer and Starlight

jay bennett was one of those rare individuals who operated equally from both sides of the brain.  his contributions to wilco’s music resulted in some of my favorite records, ever.   (yankee hotel foxtrot and summerteeth)

not only did he play a wide variety of instruments  (guitar, pianos, banjo, organs, a crazy array of synths, mellotron, drums, etc) with an easy grace but his talents in production and arrangement brought wilco’s music to fascinating new depths.

things weren’t going too well for him recently and its a shame he was taken from this world so young.

some of my favorite jay bennett moments on film:

jay isn’t on camera much in this one, i just love all the crazy keys and harmonies on this track:

people don’t come around every day who treat lead guitar with this much eloquence:

“pieholden suite” was, i believe, one of his personal favorite wilco recordings that he contributed to (along with the keys on “california stars.”) i love the tasteful brian wilson influence:

finally, wilco recorded the song “My Darling” for Summerteeth, but Jay wrote it and did an excellent version on his record with Edward Burch, The Palace at 4 A.M. it gives me chills.

here’s one of the first recordings i ever made when i first started getting into recording:

here’s how i play the song now:

Daylight from Justin on Vimeo.

also, i just finished mixes for the “Goodbye Blue” E.P. and sent them off for mastering.  In the works:  photoshoot, new artwork, more agressive booking / playing out… small summer tour?  We shall see…  also, this page will probably go through some sort of redesign in the near future, hence most of the links being missing.

1 ) start as a good idea

2 ) get adopted by some curious tech-savvy individuals

3 ) get adopted by some hipsters with tech-savvy friends

4 ) get adopted by college students

5 ) get adopted by the masses

6 ) get adopted by people who don’t even know why they’re signing up for it

7 ) become so convoluted with esoteric bullshit that people start to lose interest

8 ) become a wasteland of shameless self-promotion and product whoring

9 ) ???

10 ) Profit!

I Ain’t Freakin from Justin on Vimeo.

i don’t mind having a job that i like and that i excel at, especially when they give me hours that i like.  having evenings free is wonderful because i don’t think well until about 8 or 9pm anyway.  and the truth is never told between 9 and 5.

i have to crawl through an enormously impossible cave this weekend – finishing things that can finally be finished, turning coal into diamonds, teaching stones to talk, etc.  i hope i make it through.

also, i haven’t put up much music lately because:

a) i haven’t worked on any of my own recordings in a little while, i’ve been producing my friend jessi spreitzer’s e.p. (a crazy process because we had maybe 4 days of tracking, one in july, one in september, one last week, and one maybe in august or something) and it was recorded in like 4 or 5 different locations due to both of our transient natures.  it was a crazy process that re-ignited my faith in community (kind of.) i’m working on the final mixes right now.

b) i’m rehearsing with a real live rock band now.  i am being backed up by a brian ferwerda who plays bass (brother of the bass player from the amazing chicago-based band horse and the sea) and justin bardolph drumming (who is coincidentally the nephew of my favorite music store owner).  ben abney is also a part of it, playing keys, guitar, harmonies, and yamaka, though he will be leaving shortly to move back to chicago.

we will be having our first performance this coming thursday at jessi spreitzer’s cd release show at skelletones, playing with some other amazing musicians.  i’m starting to lose sleep which is usually a good thing.

for somebody who produced spinal tap and the wallflowers, elvis costello and gillian welch, and is pushing sixty, this song is just cool as hell.

there’s a bajillion different things i could say about this guy since Tom from the CMC turned me on to him a couple years ago, but i think anybody with even a hobby interest in music/recording/art in general should give this guy some attention and respect.

here’s his acceptance speech from his induction into the Hall of Fame at the TEC awards:

if you have the patience for this to load, he also says some wonderful things on Charlie Rose (he comes in around 22:20):

Also he had some really great things to say as a guest DJ on “All Songs Considered” this past summer.

i will never understand samantha crain.  (if you want the full effect you have to read the summary on the youtube page)