Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 10 Mar 2009 1:40 pm |
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I received the following email from Mike DaSilva:
Hi,
When I began building ukuleles almost 5 years ago, I had no idea that it would also lead me to a close friendship with one of my longtime musical heroes and the building of a complete music recording studio and my learning the skills needed to record and engineer a CD album.
Before I had any interest in ukuleles, as far back as the late 70's, I was a big fan of The Cheap Suit Serenaders, a string band of some renown. I remember going to the original Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, which could maybe hold 20 people in the audience and just simply having the best time enjoying the musical antics of Allan Dodge, Robert Armstrong, Bob Brozman, Terry Zwigoff and Tony Marcus. I went to see them as much as I could and pretty much wore out the two LPs of theirs I owned. At the time, I personally knew only Tony Marcus because I had taken a couple of clawhammer banjo lessons with him. Their music stayed an overwhelming favorite of mine over the next couple of decades but I never got to meet any of the other band members and other priorities and interests diverted my efforts to keep going to their shows.
Now, fast forward to 2005. I end up meeting Al Dodge at a 78's record swap where our mutual uke interests prompts a subsequent visit to my shop. Before I know it, Al is visiting the shop regularly, sharing his vast music and instrument knowledge, introducing me to his friends and quickly becoming an important sounding board for my fledgling ukulele business. Except for helping him with some ukes he was building, I am not sure what he got out of it. But Al and his other band, Dodge's Sundodgers, would occasionally rehearse in the shop. I had a couple of decent mics and some stereo recording gear, so we ended up recording several tracks. These were mainly done as possible demos and never meant for an album. If you've ever been to the shop, you know how good the room sounds. It is perfect for recording acoustic string music. I was in heaven, getting to hear great music with a live band on a regular basis, learning bits and pieces of sound recording and just having fun being surrounded by the music I liked, being played and sung by some of the best musicians I know. And all without having to step outside the door of my shop where I was spending almost all my time.
At some point, the band decided to produce a CD. And they asked me to record it! Somehow, we jointly financed the equipment and software and started recording. That was close to three years ago. It was over a year of meeting once a week and recording track after track, and take after take. I learned the details of sound recording as I went. Then another long year of mostly never finding enough time to mix and edit all those takes. And finally, over the last few months, I was able to do the final mixing of the 14 tracks.
So, I can now proudly announce the release of Dodge's Sundodger's first CD - "Under The Sun".
Al Dodge's superb National steel-guitar playing is on most of the songs. While his lead solos will tastefully remind you of Sol Hoopii and Hawaiian steel-guitar from long ago, also listen to the embellishments and backup phrases behind the enchanting vocals of Kathy Sparling to see why he is still my musical hero. Al also provides some mighty tasty licks and accompaniment on ukulele, banjo, mandolin and jug.
If you don't fall in love with Kathy's voice, you just might be the first. Even with the multiple takes and the many hours of listening I put in, I never tired of her sweet singing. I do hope to hear much more from her soon. Then there is Zac Salem who grabs you with his strong, smooth vocals, especially on the Spanish tunes. And Zac will astound you on the mandolin, guitar, tenor guitar, and tenor banjo, trading licks with Al, and even though the piano is only on a couple of tracks, you'll see why the piano is Zac's main instrument.
And the solid rhythm provided by Fred Dortort on guitar and Glen Jordan on bass guitar and bass banjo (which he built) fills in the rest of the sound very nicely. Needless to say, the musicality, virtuosity and professionalism of everyone in the band made my job much easier and absolutely lots of fun.
So, please visit their website - http://www.dodgessundodgers.com to sample some tunes. Or better yet, purchase the CD from CD Baby, or go to Digstation to download.
Thanks for listening.
Best regards,
Mike
DaSilva Ukulele Co.
2547 8th Street, #28
Berkeley, CA 94710
510 649-1548
www.ukemaker.com
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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