At Mole End

My friend Michael Card has a nice little studio at his house in Franklin, and we took him up on his offer to record there. He has a nice Baldwin piano, and we have a nice balding piano player. It was meant to be.

We recorded piano part after piano part with a nice break in the middle when Mike came by and rode with us to a place in Leiper's Fork called The Backyard Café. Mike's been kind to me over the last couple of years, recording "The Silence of God" on his latest album, letting me hop on the bus with him and his troupe and open for his gracious audiences. I've learned a lot in the relatively short time I've been around him.

When we got back from that glorious lunch we met a musician named Jeff Taylor, with whom I've corresponded a bit via email. He's one of those guys who can play about every instrument you could throw at him, and who rubs elbows with all manner of great musicians. He ended up pulling out a couple of accordions and played us some Irish tunes--I'm pretty sure Mike said that he'd played a bit with the Chieftains, which makes him cooler than I'll ever be. I'm hoping he'll play a bit on this record.

We got back to work and recorded straight until about six. Ben's a really great piano player, in case you haven't noticed. It was so nice finally hearing his addition to all these guitars and vocals we've been recording. We also had time to do a little reminiscing as you can see below.

We're off to Ocala, Florida to play at First Baptist Sunday morning; FB of Ocala has been very kind to me over the years, so it'll be nice to see some familiar faces. We'll also get to pay a short visit to my folks' place, Shiloh, where we'll eat fatteningly good food and hopefully play a game of horseshoes with my dad. Exciting times, these.

Thanks for reading, as always,

AP and the CC