dalebakerdrummer via posterous

(I set this up so I could post to my blog via email and cellphone)

Drumming on LaLa (via dalebakerdrummer.com)

You've probably seen the new music search results that are being served up by Google when you search a band's name.  I've done a few searches and found search results that feature songs that I've played drums and percussion on.  I thought it was a pretty handy way to put together a quick little demo of sorts.  Of course, there are some songs that aren't featured (like these two of my favorites: Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers "Lisa" and The Rolling Creek Dippers "In My Hour of Darkness") but here are a few that I've found so far (and in no particular order).  It's a pretty diverse bunch of stuff...and this just scratches the surface. 

And yes, all the percussion you hear on Rebecca St. Jame's "Merciful" is me.  I think we laid down something like 48 tracks of percussion to create the "loops" that you hear.  But if memory serves,  I think I laid down even more percussion tracks on Steve Taylor's "Shortstop" (to create the "soft-shoe" and "Adam Ant" marching drum line feel).  

If you like what you hear and would like me to play on your next project, or help in any way...drop me a line.  I love the creative and collaborative process and am always looking for more opportunities to play, record and perform!

Sixpence None The Richer

Kiss Me - 3:30

Puedo Escribir
Sixpence None The Richer - 1996 - 3:45
The Ground You Shook featuring Emmylou Harris
Greatest Hits - 2009 - 4:18
Breathe
6 PICKS: Essential Radio Hits EP - 2009 - 4:06

Rebecca St. James

Merciful by Rebecca St. James
Transform - 2000 - 5:00


The Physics of Meaning

Why Can't We Fall in Love Forever by The Physics of Meaning
Snake Charmer & Destiny at the ... - 2008 - 3:41
Aeroplanes and Hurricanes by The Physics of Meaning - Snake Charmer & Destiny at the ... - 2008 - 5:02

Steve Taylor

Shortstop by Steve Taylor
Roaring Lambs compilation ... - 2008 - 2:59

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via dalebakerdrummer.com

This was a blog post from a few days ago...using LaLa I was able to put together a simple demo reel of sessions/ songs/ groups I've played for. By no means comprehensive, it's still pretty neat to be able to create a demo reel so easily.

Upcoming gigs:

via summitchurch.cc

Tomorrow night and Saturday I'll be playing with Nathan Fancher for a College Retreat at NC State. On Sunday, I'll be Worship Drumming (or rather I'll be playing drums for worship services) at Summit Church (Brier Creek Campus) here in Durham. Sunday afternoon I'll be playing at Emmaus Way in Downtown Durham and next Tuesday, I'll be playing with my friend Khris Weeks at St. Philips for their Talent Show and Pancake Dinner. Khris and I have been playing together with our laptops, triggering loops and sounds for a sound collage type ensemble. It's given me a chance to figure out how to use Logic Studio in a live setting, and allowed me to get more familiar with that program and other programs as well (such as Plogue Bidule and Augustus Loop).

Sixpence None The Richer: Greatest Hits

via amazon.com

I played drums on all but 1 of these songs, and of all the photos the record company could have chosen for this album cover, they used the one that was taken after I left the band. Ah man. What a drag!

So in case you were wondering, that is not me in the middle of the picture. That person is Rob Mitchell. He is the drummer who took over drumming duties once I left the band. He plays on Sixpence's version of "Don't Dream it's Over."

Holidays 2008

I'm here in Hendersonville, TN outside of Nashville.  Not as easy to access the internet liked I'd hoped, but still I've been able to get alot done. Life goes on even when I can't connect with my beloved Twitter/Facebook/Orkut/Flickr/Typepad worlds! 

Watched part one of the Tom Petty documentary by Peter Bogdanvich...brilliant.  Though Tom seems real cool, I'm thinking he's gotta be pretty ruthless...the way he stood up to those lawyers made me think about my time staring down a lawyer during a negotiation with Sixpence back in the day...

The doc makes me want to go out and purchase all of Tom's back catalog.  Really cool stuff and I've got such a better appreciation for Stan Lynch's drumming now.  What a great player.

Oh yeah, and we saw that movie "Doubt" with Philip Seymour Hoffman and a bunch of other great actors.  Brilliant stuff.

Well, off to eat a burrito and then tomorrow back on the road!

Dinner last night: You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch

So I was at dinner with my wife and what comes on the overhead speakers?  The version of "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" that Sixpence recorded oh so many years ago.  I still remember recording soft-shoe wood block, brushes, and old pie-plate hi-hats on that one.  And Phil Madeira's Mellotron/ Chamberlain strings gave it such an awesome vibe.  Plus, I think Russ Long panned the drums and bass to one side in the mix to emulate that old school recording style (or whatever you call it...).  Usually we hear "Kiss Me" or "Breathe Your Name" over the piped in music, but this was the first time I heard that specific Sixpence cover out in public.  Cool.

Come O Spirit: Anthology of Hymns

I just heard this album (Come O Spirit: Anthology of Hymns) last night and I can't stop listening to it.  The production on it is fabulous.  Unfortunately, I can't find much info about it on the web right now. 

There is a Facebook site and the requisite MySpace site.

And then there is this write up in the Belmont Vision:

"...Rev. Joseph Emery Pensak, RUF Campus Minister at UConn and Bifrost's executive director, and Mason Neely, producer/engineer extraordinaire, were able to put this record together with the help of over 200 musicians in 17 states who donated time and expertise to the project."

Wow.  200 musicians.  Really?  I wouldn't be surprised, but that sure seems like a whole bunch of people. Anyway...more about the album:

The album is full of luscious, funky, old school feeling arrangements with liberal sprinkles of metallic percussion (vibes, and bells!), plus (almost to the point of sounding gratuitous) wonderful mellotron-sounding instruments.  And there is this wonderful Choral Arrangement of Hard Times that would have made Stephen Foster proud.  Plus I like that it's a departure from the Eastmountainsouth version of the song. 

I wish I could figure out where to purchase a copy of this.  Rumor has it that there are "hymnbooks" that go along with the CD.  Normally, I'd be happy with the digital files but I'm hoping that the design of the CD and "Hymnbook" make it worth my while to track down an actual physical copy.

Anyway, if you get a chance, check this out.  It's one of the better "worship" projects I've heard in awhile.  It kind of makes me think of the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack. That record helped focus attention on the alt-country/ roots country / old-time genres, and I feel that Come O Spirit could do the same for the classic hymns and religious music that some of us grew up with and still cherish.

Have you heard this record or know anything about the BiFrost Arts community?  If so, please leave a comment. I'm fascinated with this project and the beauty and scope of it.