5 - Magnetic North Project

promo shot with the original MNP lineup - photo by Otto Bost

I've talked about always wanting a blues band and the Magnetic North Project was that band for me. JJ Cale & Willie Dixon covers, mostly, is how it started. Kenny George was the original drummer, brought in by guitarist Zack Roth. Ray Hoffman played bass and, mostly, gav the band it's name. Ray also had a big house to himself in Kutztown, so we rehearsed there every Tuesday. Mostly. We did a few shows with Kenny before Zak Achenbach was found, but Kenny served as a necessary rhythm man while we found our legs, and I'll always be thankful he was there.

early rehearsal at Ray's with Kenny George, Ray Hoffman, Zack Roth & KK (l-r)

Marion Courtroom/Lancaster, PA with final line-up.

It was once Zak Achenbach took over on drums did some sort of picture start forming. I wrote Shining Through for this band to play, and Long Way from Home came about too, sparked by an odd riff from Zack (guitarist...yeah, two Zack/Zaks). The spark really arose out of the weekly jams we would have at rehearsal, excursions into whatever that sometimes held some real weight. I started recording these, and that process propelled me creatively. I would like to think for all of us, but you'd have to ask the guys. For me, a blues-based jam band was heaven, and our weekly get-togethers bared some fruit. Zaks playing, especially, inspired me. I think it's where I was able to find a sound with my electric guitar playing too.

River Street Jazz Cafe May 2013 - photo by Friendly Frank

My daughter Lily was born right at the beginning of alot of gigging with our new drummer, in the winter/spring, then summer of 2013. The gigs, thanks (mostly) to the booking of Casey Scherer, helped tightened up everything that could be tightened and provide some confidence. By the end of that summer we started falling apart for various reasons, but had a nice bunch of new songs. I talked about this a bit earlier in this blog series and quite honestly, it's stupid of me to throw any kind of negativity around. I really, really enjoyed playing with these guys and am so thankful for our time together. And to Casey for helping us so much and dealing with me during that time, as I was often just totally exhausted from having a newborn around.

   That band kept me sane and it was one of the best hard things I've ever done. I'm especially thankful I was able to record the original music not only I wrote at the time, but utilize the energy of the garage performances from that day in October. The jams and segues were all about the mood and vibe that we were able to emit. I've talked about how I added new things and took things out and so forth as the project moved on but make no mistake, I'm still in Zak's garage during the original recording sessions when I listen back to the album those original recordings became. It was a lot of fun - Really guys, thank you.

Here's a couple shows from the archives...
Longswamp Tavern 3/23/13
Puck Live 8/23/13
River Street Jazz Cafe - 5/30/13