For The Love Of Starting A Band

FOR THE LOVE OF STARTING A BAND

Last fall I was invited by Nancy Wilson of Heart to join with her and the amazing singer Liv Warfield in a new band, with the extremely talented musicians Ryan Waters, Dan Rothchild and Chris Joyner.  I thought I’d put down some thoughts about our rehearsal, recording and writing process.

We started getting together in November to rehearse.  Whenever I work with a new project, I have questions like :  What will our chemistry be like?  How will the songs come out?  Who’s doing the writing?  How soon can we record?

We started around or so, after Matt Sabin and Ed Mendoza got everything set up, turned on and wired up. From the minute I walked in the door, I was happy and pleased by the focus and friendliness that we generated that day.  We needed to communicate our audio needs to Matt and guitar choices to Ed, and decide what kind of sounds to go for.   We had little conversations with different combinations of us, then started working on a song, and I knew the communication was there.

Over that week in rehearsal, we put together 9 tunes to develop. Some original songs, some cool covers. The important thing in rehearsals is to be open to trying different things, to talk about what’s working and what isn’t, and to give everyone full respect for their input and ideas. Our rehearsals have taken that ethic, and built on it.

It was clear, after being with each other for a few days, that our band could work, both musically and interpersonally. We laughed, we questioned each other about parts and arrangements, we got intense about what worked and what didn’t and it all came together. The big question was, could we be a band together and make great music happen? That week proved we could.

It was only a few days after the first rehearsals that we booked another week with each other, and refined the songs more, exploring how big and how intimate the sound of the band could be. On the break, we put together some new song ideas, and brought em to the next rehearsals. We put together our coolest tunes, and made plans to go into the recording studio.

I have done lots of fun recording, and a few not so fun recordings. The difference is always the chemistry of the musicians, the quality of the music and sound of the studio. We decided to go into JJ Blair’s place in Los Angeles. JJ is a talented musician, engineer, producer and writer who a couple of our guys have had lots of experience with. He has a wonderful studio with the best mics, tons of experience working with signed and unsigned acts, and great live and control rooms.

In five days we recorded 99% of the parts we needed on 6 songs. Very fast and yet we didn’t sacrifice quality or consideration on any of the songs.

I can truly say that I’m super excited about our songs and our band!! I look forward to seeing the feedback music fans have for these tunes, and can’t wait to get this band out working! It’s be a killer band live, with real musicians playing real instruments and kicking ass!

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There are 4 comments on For The Love Of Starting A Band

  • Desha Dunnahoe on

    Well, it’s clear as an audience member that you guys have something special. You shred, you rock, and you genuinely relish what you’re doing – it’s obvious in your performance! It was a pleasure to see you and meet some of you at the Rose, and I’m excited to see where you ask take this!!

  • can’t wait to see ya’ll in Greenville SC this October

  • Hello Nancy, Liv and The Band. I hope you will come to Canada in the near future. Montreal are huge fans of Heart. I first saw them as a backup band and they stole the show at the old Montreal Forum. Im sure you guys will do the same. I wish you health and success. May the Lord Bless you all and keep you safe.
    Any chance of a signed pic for my collection. Would love one.
    David Maye
    12 Cornish Ave
    Pointe Claire, Quebec
    Canada H9P2X2

    I am 60 years young, married with 2 boys and play guitar and sing. Retired!

  • I am really excited to see you guys on 9/28. I will be standing, and singing along front row center! :)This show is going to be GREEEATTTTT!

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