Kicking the Tires

Mixing was finished last Wednesday and CD's were made for the 4 of us to listen to as a final gut-check...only we're using our ears.  We are now in the "speak now or forever hold your peace" phase of the project, and after a few days of listening we'll either make a last-minute tweak or give Chris at Belle City Sound the OK to master it.

  

Listened to it myself numerous times on a round-trip drive to Minneapolis for work.  It sounded great to me, and my work buddy didn't need a single cup of coffee to stay alert behind the wheel.  You never know how you sound to other people, so I played it for Paul T who hosts our bad movie night group.  He thoroughly endorsed the CD saying..."I'd rather listen to this than the new Van Halen CD".  I guess we won't be seeing David Lee Roth at the next viewing of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians now.  Thanks a lot Paul...he was hilarious at Plan 9 from Outer Space!

In previous posts we failed to mention the contribution of the Orange Tiny Terror amp used on guitars.  Eventually we'll list all our instruments & hardware on this CD, but honorable mention goes to this little sucker that gives new meaning to the phrase..."It ain't the dog in the fight, it's the fight in the dog".  Tim approves above. 

Either way it goes, we'll  keep you posted and don't forget to come to Rock for Vets at Tom & Lee's Hiawatha in Sturtevant on April 28.  Great bands, great venue, great party and all for a great cause.  Details on the top-left of the blog.  Keep rockin'!

Mix Well

HWY 13 (the band) took the weekend off, while HWY 13 (the CD) now rests in the capable hands of Chris at Belle City Sound for mixing.  In the meantime, we've been tossing-around ideas for artwork & naming the CD.  Several suggestions have been made, with honorable mentions going to "One More for the Ditch", "One Way Ticket to Michigan" and "Change Yer Wipers".  Other suggestions shouldn't be repeated.  For simplicity's sake (and on a low cost-per-letter basis), we're leaning toward just "HWY 13".  The band is named HWY 13, we have a song named HWY 13, so we may as well have a CD named HWY 13 too.  It's a debut album of sorts anyway, with the new lineup and all never-recorded original songs.  Time will tell...

On a different note, it was great to be a part of Thoughts for Food again this year.  Pictured above is a shot of the check for $17,791.17 which was raised for the benefit of the Racine County Food  Bank.  This was a big increase in a tough economy, so great job by all the players, volunteers, venues and most importantly the paying fans who donated their hard-earned money & food items.  Also, thanks go to George's Tavern for hosting the TFF volunteer appreciation party (great food!), and to Full Flavor for hosting the open jam (great music!).


Thanks again for checking-in, and we'll keep you posted. 

Voice of Reason

Our multi-tasker in chief, Danno, nailed the vocals this week and wrapped-up the recording with a strategically placed vibraslap (sorry ladies, but it's a percussion instrument).  Chris' toy box at Belle City Sound had a metallic vibraslap, but we were looking for a more wooden-y sound and anyone who's seen us live knows what perfectionists we are...cough...cough....!  Inspired by Red Green, Chris used the studio engineer's secret weapon, black electrical tape, wrapped several layers around the gimmick at the end of the stick, and got us just the sound we needed.

We can't say enough about what a great job Chris at Belle City Sound has done for us.  Besides his technical expertise on the instruments & controls, he's a great musician, has a great ear, loves rock, kept us on task and had a great way of communicating his ideas for our sound.  With all that going for him, we'd be crazy not to ask him to lay some guitar on us for the CD.  We're not, so we did!  At just the right places in just the right songs, Chris' playing on his Flying V really got that mojo working.  Alas, keeping-up with HWY 13 can be hazardous to your health as shown by the blister on the tip  of Chris' ring finger below.  Sorry about that Chris!

  

Speaking of pictures, a Pictures page has been added behind the Home page with photos of HWY 13 in various states of working and/or slacking-off.  In addition, the blog's sidebar will also show our next gig coming-up, in this case Rock for Vets at Tom & Lee's Hiawatha on Saturday, April 28.  Lots of great bands will be there, and it's for a great cause, helping Racine area vets.

Thanks again for your support, and stay tuned for more to come.

    

Strings Attached

One week down and the bass guitar, rhythm guitars and Dino's solos (in that order) are now on top of the drum tracks.  The note-playing musicians (Danno, Dino & Tim) played their parts in the studio all week while I rested my tired arms cruising through sunny Iowa for work.  Wish I could have been there, but I'll have to stay away more often if they keep playing that good!


After Saturday off in observance of St. Patrick's Day (hic), we returned to Belle City Sound on Sunday to record Tim's solos and Danno's vocals.  Chris expertly manned the controls and If all goes well, only a few kickers of harmony vocals, harmony guitars and any other miscellaneous musical embellishments will be left to record before mixing.

The band and the songs sound great!  It's rock & roll with a punch, and every lick of it comes from the heart.  Our chemistry as players & friends (not necessarily in that order) really shows, and Chris' contributions as engineer & producer (in either order) are the icing on the cake.   


Thanks again for your support and stay tuned for future updates.               

Beat Down!

The drum tracks on our new CD are recorded, and work will soon begin on laying down the bass, guitars & vocals.  Day 1 began Friday night setting-up the instruments, and with some random jams & warm-up songs, we dialed-in the sound levels in the control room and our headphones.  It was great to hear all our parts without blowing out our eardrums! Day 2 was the four of us playing together like a live gig, only without the drunks (besides us), just to get the drum tracks in the barn.

The new CD, code-named "Smell the Sock", will feature eight original songs by HWY 13. Our band lineup is:

• Danno:  Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals
• Dino:  Lead & Rhythm Guitars
• Tim:  Lead & Rhythm Guitars
• Bob-o:  Drums

Also want to acknowledge the following contributors to our efforts on this CD:

• Chris at Belle City Sound:  "The fifth HWY 13-er".  Owner, engineer and producer extraordinaire!  Chris has a great ear for music, got a feel for the band's groove and is working his magic in recording & editing.
• Peg & Lou's Bar & Grill:  Friday night fish fry & burgers.  Great food, cold beer & soda, and service with a smile.
• Park Inn Restaurant: Saturday breakfast after 11am and dinner after 7pm.  Great food served on "musician time".

Thanks to all of the above, and to all of you, for making this CD happen.  We'll keep  you posted as things develop. 

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to our new blog site.  We are HWY 13 from Racine, and we play Rock & Roll!!!

The first order of  business is to thank all our fans for your support at gigs and online.  It was great seeing you and our fellow rockers at Thoughts for Food last week.  We had a rocking   good time for a great cause...filling the shelves & coffers at the Food Bank of Racine County.

As for new business...

• HWY 13 T-shirts are now available for $13 in both men's & women's styles.  Let's see those colors at the shows and around town!
• Just started recording a CD of our original songs.  Looking forward to working with Chris at Belle City Sound, who has a great studio and a fantastic ear for music.

Stay tuned for future updates on the CD, gig schedules and random thoughts on the band and music scene in general.  Thanks again for visiting, and keep on rocking!