Hey folks-
We decided on the "Roadkill/ Buttsteak" name for the site because (other than it just rolling off the tongue) most of the musical collaboration amongst our hardy group in recent years has been between Mike and me. Certainly, this site is not called "Just Keating" for a reason. Mostly, I think these things are more fun when a few cooks are in the kitchen. So for a minute there I was concerned that all I had in the hopper were Keating-only covers and re-dos of some originals. Boy, was I wrong!----
Happily, some "great" audio (and hopefully video) from this spring's inaugural Harpswell Hootenanny and Beer-Slaughterin' is just about ready. I recently recalled that we have some Buttsteak studio recordings from '09 that have never seen the light of day but which probably need only a little tweaking. For the brave of heart, there are some classic rock covers done last year by me and my old Iona Prep buddy John Stackpole, not to mention some stuff from me and my man Dillo. There's the remastering/ de-stanking of the RK-BS archives, so there should be no shortage of goods eventually, even if a new note is not struck for a long while. And, yeah, there's a big load of stuff I've been putting together in the laboratory on my lonesome. So no one's gonna be stahvin' Mahvin' ovah heah.
Anyway, first to a Evitts-Keating goody. This is an updated version of a tune I wrote back in the Wack-Keating Bath, ME days, as a celebration of life in the slow lane. It's a summer song and I always regarded it as a 4th of July composition, so there you have it:
Lesser Lights:
/ jk
Friday, June 24, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
$.02 worth
If you go back, way back... and include all the various bands, bars, basements, and those few precious moments we spent here http://www.invisiblesoundstudios.com/, I conservatively estimate there are several dozen recordings of Keating songs out there. (I wonder if he has kept count?)
This isn't a warning so much as a statement of wonder. The man is a Trappist dedicating weeknights in subterranean solitude, scribing lyrics and frying things in duck fat. Or maybe songs come to him in random moments of inspiration, diligently captured in that notebook of his? Who knows? What is he building in there?
Recording with him is also enigmatic in that he'll come to a session with upwards of half a dozen songs, many of which I've never heard before. There's a scratch guitar track and the occasional instructions, whispered through headphones, as I record the drums. It's rare we go more than three takes. He likes to keep things from getting too, you know, professional sounding. Once drums are recorded, the usual scenerio involves laboratory magic in one of Doc's many undisclosed locations. For all I know, he's got a battery of mandolin-laden elves shackled up in Grafton.
As we've gotten better at the whole recording thing lately it's not unusual for a single song to get worked on in Maryland, Massachusetts and Maine. (Thanks for this goes, in equal parts, to the Interweb and AirTran.) Despite their provenance and squeaky clean digital encoding (and, whichever of our gang is sitting in on the session) I think the songs maintain their intrinsic Keating-ness and that's not something you can accomplish with a cheap plug-in effect.
-RK
This isn't a warning so much as a statement of wonder. The man is a Trappist dedicating weeknights in subterranean solitude, scribing lyrics and frying things in duck fat. Or maybe songs come to him in random moments of inspiration, diligently captured in that notebook of his? Who knows? What is he building in there?
Recording with him is also enigmatic in that he'll come to a session with upwards of half a dozen songs, many of which I've never heard before. There's a scratch guitar track and the occasional instructions, whispered through headphones, as I record the drums. It's rare we go more than three takes. He likes to keep things from getting too, you know, professional sounding. Once drums are recorded, the usual scenerio involves laboratory magic in one of Doc's many undisclosed locations. For all I know, he's got a battery of mandolin-laden elves shackled up in Grafton.
As we've gotten better at the whole recording thing lately it's not unusual for a single song to get worked on in Maryland, Massachusetts and Maine. (Thanks for this goes, in equal parts, to the Interweb and AirTran.) Despite their provenance and squeaky clean digital encoding (and, whichever of our gang is sitting in on the session) I think the songs maintain their intrinsic Keating-ness and that's not something you can accomplish with a cheap plug-in effect.
-RK
Sunday, June 19, 2011
New Digs
Hey all- As long promised, your inboxes should finally be pretty much free of spammy MP3 delivery. The Keating-Evitts (and Cardillo, Bonanos, Sorkin, Faulkingham, Oken, Fitzgerald, Shalabi, Stackpole and whoever else) Recording Machine Corporation has these new digs, so now you can head over here, should the spirit move you, and stream, download (right click, etc...) and generally self-spam to your hearts' content. We'll let you know when we get some new audio/ visual up.
For starters, here are a couple songs from '09 or so that you've probably gotten in some form or other. I wrote them in tandem, and we recorded them in succession, and I always regarded them as a "single": "I've Changed" b/w "Let Me Sell You Something".
I've Changed:
Let Me Sell You Something:
As to the site itself, we're in beta testing right now, and hopefully will get the hang of our limited options and arrive at a good format soon. Suggestions as to format/ content/ anything else are always welcome though not always understood.
/jk
For starters, here are a couple songs from '09 or so that you've probably gotten in some form or other. I wrote them in tandem, and we recorded them in succession, and I always regarded them as a "single": "I've Changed" b/w "Let Me Sell You Something".
I've Changed:
Let Me Sell You Something:
As to the site itself, we're in beta testing right now, and hopefully will get the hang of our limited options and arrive at a good format soon. Suggestions as to format/ content/ anything else are always welcome though not always understood.
/jk
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