4 - Guests Part 3

Cory Heller/Woobie Cat Kitchens

I'm really lucky sometimes, a project like this reminds me of that. The folks that have helped me find what's in my head were all the perfect fit.

Anthony Hannigan & Olive/Woobie Cat Kitchens

I've known Cory Heller for a very long time now, since the mid 80's I think. He was, as he is now, the man on keyboards on the Reading Jam & rock scene. He's got a beautifully expressive singing voice, and performs zillions of songs on a regular basis with one of his fine groups NEO TRIO, but to me his greatest gift is his intuitive piano & organ playing. He came in to Woobie Cat Kitchens near the beginning of the project and played through each song, then again. And I had all my keyboard backing tracks. Then he did a series of one take leads and went home. He plays on all tracks on the album but stands out (imo) on Traveling (organ), Long Way from Home (electric piano) & especially Morn In The Morrow (piano). He was brilliant, and I sat there next to him and watched him be that.

Bill Stetz, Julie & Olive

Anthony Hannigan is another one of these guys. Mando champion at some ridiculously young age, and insanely proficient on fiddle, banjo & guitar as well, Anthony and I have Garcia Grass together and I love every single time I get to perform with him, which isn't often enough. I asked him if he would lend his fiddle skills to 2 tracks, Morn In The Morrow and the album coda called 'Pasture'.He did not disappoint on either. Olive was mesmerized...

Olive is also a big Bill Stetz fan as we all are here at Woobie Cat, I've been personally playing with him since 1994, and we've done a ton of shows together over the years. Our acoustic duo at that time blossomed into what was Kris Kehr & Stone Poets and he recorded some beautiful stuff for my first album Long Year as well as Notes From the Crossroads ten years later. The acoustic duo still performs occasionally although more often recently with the addition of my wife Julie (who I will talk more about in a sec) and sometimes as the Kris & Julie Kehr Trio. Bill also performs with Garcia Grass and was one of my best men at my wedding (two bassists & a merch guy), so I love the guy.
When I started conceiving of the coda as a lusher instrumental piece, I started hearing the upright bass of Saturday Sun by Nick Drake, which was played by Danny Thompson, in my head. Bill and I saw a bunch of great live music together while I lived in State College years back, but one of the best was Richard Thompson & Danny Thompson at Lancaster's Chameleon Club, which was masterful & ridiculously inspiring and influential to our acoustic duo. Bill recorded a series of bowed tracks that were mixed together, then took a separate 'Nick Drake take', plucked that nailed it all.

Julie at work

    Julie is my secret weapon, I am so lucky to have her at my disposal. My wife Julie & I first met in the Recipe as I may have previously mentioned. I have a lot of respect for the type of singing she does, from a place of power and confidence. Fronting that band took balls and she could really let it fly, eventually to the detriment of her vocal chords. Later we started doing acoustic duo stuff, a more delicate soul/folk mix that still allowed for that her fronting prowess.

With this project, I knew I wanted a response harmony with the lead vocals on Long Way From Home and so Julie readily and easily, in one take, nailed that first. I have long been a fan of the vocal production on albums by Queen, especially the first couple. Many, many nearly identical vocal parts stacked on top of each other and panned around the stereo spectrum until it sounds like a cathedral. That and the Glyn Johns book that Julie got me for Christmas inspired me to find something new for myself and try the stacking process on Anymore and Shining Through. I did several on the lower register takes myself then had Julie do the upper harmonies....many times. The result is something cathedral and lush, and I'm very happy with it. It took the both of us a long time to find that special thing that was needed and I'm thankful for her patience.

Getting close to the end here, see you next time!

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