For those who don’t know, Locals Covering Locals is a three album compilation recording project of local New England musicians covering songs from their favorite local New England musicians. The idea being that Red Line Roots gets a bunch of studio time and invites local songwriters to come into the studio and cut a song that one of their friends and/or local heroes wrote, further expanding and perpetuating the rich tapestry of local music, sharing audiences and spreading the songs of local artists as far as we could. An auditory love letter, of sorts, from songwriters TO songwriters. We would print a limited number of hard copies to give to audiences at the release celebration concerts, radio stations, friends, and so on at no charge and the project would remain a ‘free to download’ collection as long as it sat out there on the inter-web. It still is today.

Right away I knew that I wanted to partner with old pals Sam Margolis and Andrew Kramer at Riverview Sound in Waltham, MA. Sam and I were on the board for the New England Americana Festival together and he and Kramer had recorded two compilation projects for NEAF in previous years. I knew they were up for the challenge. But then came the question of “how do we pay for this thing?”

Enter Club Passim‘s Iguana Music Fund. Today I sit as Board President for one non-profit organization that essentially runs on grant funding and am on another board for a non-profit that also benefits from them. But, 9 or 10 years ago I wouldn’t have the first clue about grants or grant writing or how to get people to give me money to do creative things. Luckily, Passim made it easy and telling the story of wanting to do this project was a natural thing because I was so passionate about it. That first year we got a grant that paid for some of the studio time, some came out of my own pocket and a good friend and angel of a human Chuck Honnet swept in and helped us out with some additional funding for volumes 1 and 2. So, we had money secured, a studio secured, a studio day was scheduled and it was a matter of narrowing a list down, that first time around, to 11 artists who could be incredibly flexible and skilled with the time we had.

In my head it was a “hang up a vocal mic and an acoustic guitar mic and capture what we can” situation in my head, but that quickly evolved into much more when our very first session was with Chuck Melchin, Jess Fox, Michael Spaly and Jef Charland. 3 vocal parts, 4 instruments. Can’t be captured on 2 mics…well, I guess it can. But in this case, we wanted control over convenience.

We also expanded the project scope and “got by with a little help from our friends” as Eric Lichter of Dirt Floor Recording Studios in Connecticut graciously jumped in to help with the mastering of the project. I can never properly repay Eric’s generosity for jumping in.

Volume 1 really gave me and the fellas at the studio the confidence that maybe this is something that can work and we can do with a minimal amount of studio time (we only booked one day to do all of the tracking for this project…), while maintaining a high level of quality and creating and fostering a sense of community around the studio sessions themselves and the project as whole.

By the time it came time for Volume 2, I was getting requests from folks to be a part of the project. Folks I knew and some I didn’t. Which was both flattering and terrifying at the same time. Somewhere along the line Passim/the Iguana Grant had enough confidence in us that we received another round of funding which went to Volume 3, so we were a little on our own to keep the excitement going and try and get Volume 2 recorded. Luckily, Chuck Honnet was a great help to us and between he and funding under the umbrella of Red Line Roots (aka, my show gig money), we were able to get V2 moving.

A few weeks in, we fostered a relationship with the folks at The Loar guitars and mandolins. For Volume 2 associated costs, they donated an acoustic and for Volume 3 they donated an F5 mandolin for fundraising efforts. I, myself, was playing The Loar instruments and swore by their cost effective brilliance. The people behind the scenes at the company and their kindness and generosity only further cemented my love for the company and the instruments they were producing.

This time around we had a better idea and plan for things. Spreadsheets with instrument and vocal arrangements and mic positionings. We expanded to a slightly broader footprint as RLR began to cover more New England vs Boston-only centric artists. Where Volume 1 featured all musicians that called “Boston” their home, Volume 2 included songwriters from upstate-NY, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Some musicians that I was lucky to share in the round gigs with. Some I had written about their recent releases. And others that I merely admired from the audience for many, many years. Hell, this time around The Whiskey Boys even asked if they could cover one of my songs for the project. To me, that was the pinnacle. 

Jake Hill and Hayley Sabella covered each other. Dinty Child brought in and played a slew of instruments and played them all better than most. Sarah Borges, well, rocked as only Sarah Borges can…and sang harmonies/added a beautifully haunting break on Dinty’s take on Sean Staples’ “New Memories”. Julie Rhodes brought the blues. And, I filmed all of the 10 tracked sessions. Playlist below.

V3 saw the likes of some of my new favorites in Lula Wiles, who at the time I almost missed a few of my own gigs for wanting to stick around or catch part of their set. Krista Baroni, who’s ‘The Alabaster Girl’ is a brilliant masterpiece. The Meadows Brothers, who not only became close friends, but their general “being” as musicians and performers is rivaled by very few. And for the first time in 30 sessions we had a mother / daughter collab with Allysen Callery and Ava Callery. Where, in Ava’s first time in a studio, she covered a song from her mom.

And, then it came to an end. In a year and a half these 3 compilations were released into the world. Volume 3 was released in February of 2016 and in June I moved to my new home in rural Vermont.

But sitting here, watching the mini-documentary, listening to these songs again. I well up a bit. My chest flutters. I cannot thank all of the artists involved enough for their participation. The time. Sam and Kramer for their tireless efforts and coming along for the ride that very few other engineers would even consider. Chuck for his support. Passim for ALL of their support. And you all, for reading, for listening. For supporting.

Maybe there will be a Volume 4 in the future. But for now, go and get after Volumes 1, 2 and 3. They are still online. They are still free. They are still as beautiful and special as the day they were released.

Well, this time around I kept my camera rolling the whole time we were in the studio and while a some of that video footage has seen the light of day, I have spent the last 5 or 6 days tying up all the loose ends and editing, editing, and editing a bit more to get all 10 of the tracks into their respective video form.

So, now you can be a fly on the wall as Dinty Child, Sarah Borges, Julie Rhodes, Hayley Sabella, Jake Hill, Wise Old Moon, The Whiskey Boys, M.R. Poulopoulos, Haunt the House, and Bob Bradshaw all pay homage to their favorite local writers.

Enjoy.

With the incredible generosity through the Iguana Fund and Club Passim that first volume saw the light of day. I tapped into my closest musician friends to come and quickly record a session in the studio with my pals Andrew Kramer and Sam Margolis at Riverview Studios in Waltham. The two of them quickly became invaluable partners for me and their support during the sessions was something I can’t being to thank them for properly. Very soon after I began receiving emails and messages from folks, asking if they could take part in it, and before there was even funding for it, volume 2 was starting to be planned.

Well…here we are. 10 new artists, 10 new cover songs from “local” musicians. The geography has slightly grown in this next volume with friends from upstate New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island adding to the flavor, but the mission behind this project remains the same: we need to share one another’s songs, we need to sing together, and we need to support the art that our friends and contemporaries are creating. That is what is important and community is something that we cannot ignore or take for granted.

Here it is…Volume 2 of Locals Covering Locals.

When I first reached out to her to take part in this I really wanted to see her do something super stripped down, acoustic, and sparse, which I think her take on “Ride With Me” by Evan Dando has aspects of. It builds really beautifully with electric guitar parts and the pump organ of the one and only Dinty Child. Sarah also wanted to layer in these mind boggling harmonies that just leave me in awe. The session was a blast and for me, is how I wish all of them would go. It didn’t feel rushed or stressed or anything, we dialed in sounds, changed things on the fly, made decisions here and there to add things. It just felt good. I hope that it felt that way for both Sarah and Dint as well!

What resulted here I think is a beautiful mix of that sparsity I originally saw and a new take on a song that Borges has included on a previous recording. For me, this is out of the park…and this gal still sits at the top of my “holy shit” list.

The track plays out a lot like the session did, it slowly built and built, and it just eased into itself. Dinty started with that warm and ringing tone of the ‘cello and floated his naturally pleasing voice over the top of it. There is something about his voice that is so fantastic. It’s strong but comforting, it feels so unforced but it forces a feeling upon you. Relaxed and purposeful and it brought this tune to a new height for me.

We were also lucky enough to have the fantastic Sarah Borges hanging around the studio when Dinty was recording as well and Dint had plans for her. She harmonizes with him on the chorus and follows the wandering pump organ line with her voice on the instrumental portion. The juxtaposition of Sarah’s usually gritty and badass bluesy voice with the gentle touches of Child’s voice and playing, man oh man, it just slayed me.

Check it out! Dinty is a musical magician.

15 artists (and there’s another extra track from some slouch on there too) who had been a part of the Locals Covering Locals project in the past responded to my call for helping out with a Local Music Sampler. This is true testament to how incredible and supportive these folks are and just further cements why they are such fantastic advocates for local music and its important that their voices are heard on these projects.

I guess I can quit babbling on and let the music speak for it…but I just want to scream a giant ‘THANK YOU’ to all the folks who lended their songs and their voices to this sampler. If you are looking for a collection of new, fantastic music, here you go. The sampler is Pay What You Want and all donations will go to keeping Red Line Roots going (paying artists for the showcases that are put together and paying for costs incurred by the Locals Covering Locals projects).

Enjoy!

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Connor has spent some time fine tuning his sound with different players around him. At one point Wise Old Moon was a sort of collection (that I was lucky enough to join a few times – including on this recording) that revolved around Millican’s songs. For their Locals Covering Locals session 3/4 of the now incredibly solid line up was in the mix and the later addition of Dan Liparini on guitar, lap steel and whatever the guy can get his hands on firms this band as one of the most talented young Americana groups in the Northeast.

Connor also introduced me to another one of my favorite new groups, also out of Connecticut…the brothers Meadows: Ian and Dustin known as The Meadows Brothers. With a very David Rawlings/Gillian Welch type vibe that expands in to territories similar to Shovels & Rope / The White Stripes in instrumentation… these boys have got “it”. Beautiful harmonies and some intense guitar runs…oh and the harmonica parts. Its just plain exciting.

Wise Old Moon takes a previously stripped down tune and rocks it up a bit with electric guitars and drums…but stays true to the melody and inserts some really great breaks. And I mean come on, who doesn’t wish they wrote a song called “A Train Makes a Sad, Sad Sound”. In a genre filled with train songs, this is the ultimate hook.

I first met Poulopoulos as I meet most of my musical compadres, on a stage playing songs alongside one another for the very first time. With Mike it just felt natural, like we had been playing together for a long while. His songs have that wonderfully “simple to play but easy to expand” quality. There’s room to explore and inject your own style in a live setting with his songs, and it just feels right. He writes fantastic story songs, about nights on the town, barroom laments, and exploring the world, your own demons and an individuals triumphs. He is just one of those people that once you meet them you feel as though you should have known them for a long time, and now that you do you are damn glad that it happened.

Not only did he cover one of Scudder’s tunes, he also had him along to play viola on the track with his other guitar toting pal Andrew Olson for the ride. The result is a jazzy, roots influenced take on a great song and man oh man, do I dig t.

When I first asked Julie to be a part of this project she knew right away who she would cover. Someone who had done so much for her and been a big support system when she took that leap into being a singer-songwriter (a leap that can be scary as hell). Jonah is no stranger to the Red Line. When I first heard his latest release ‘Clover Lane” my thoughts were (here I go quoting myself again) “Jonah Tolchin is an old soul. There is heart and emotion baked into his music like southern red clay in the heat of a high summer sun…”. His music speaks in a fashion that displays a gentlemen who has seen a lot and feels a great deal about life and love and everything his wide eyes come across and he sings with a passion and deep love for music. The fact that Julie immediately knew who she wanted to, needed to, pay her respect to as a friend, musical colleague, and inspiration, I knew I made a great choice asking her to come on board the Locals Covering Locals family.

The track itself is short and sweet, just tripping over the 2 and a half minute mark, but it packs one hell of a powerful punch courtesy of Rhodes’ “bowl you over” vocal ability and the textured and untamed guitar work of Danny Roaman. Rounded out by the wails from Sonny Jim’s harmonica and the musical glue via Rich Dommings steady bass groove this is another beautiful testament to a friend. A friend that all these folks took the care and love to foster a killer cover of his song for. The blues influence remains intact here, and may even be injected a bit deeper in Rhodes and company’s take on Tolchin’s song…regardless of that, it absolutely grooves and slays each and every time I listen to it.

Another note: Julie Rhodes only has 6 days left on her Indiegogo campaign for her fantastic debut full length record (produced in part with Jonah). Head on over and check it out and give where you can! This will be a great album with a whole love and feeling weaved throughout. Check it: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/julie-rhodes-debut-album

http://www.julierhodesmusic.com/

http://www.jonahtolchin.com/

Bob also happens to be one hell of an accomplished guitar player…he may argue otherwise, but trust me, the guy has got some serious chops. His take on the blues man Paul Rishell’s tune “Louise” is exciting and engaging, while only using a voice and an old National Resophonic dobro. Just listen to the way he plays those lines, man its tasty.

Enjoy this. I know I do.

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