We're shaking the band up for our next big show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 2, bringing in a cello and organ and saving the Brewer a trip up the coast. I wrote the note below to a local music writer who was asking about the change in our lineup and how we'll proceed moving forward, thought I'd share it on this here blog too.
My good friend Greg Peters played lapsteel and lead guitar on the album and we toured together for a couple years while living in different parts of the state, him in San Diego and me in Berkeley. He's a full time brewer at the Lost Abbey and plays in a kick ass rock band called Dead Feather Moon, I'm a papa throwing my roots back down in the Bay Area.
We produced Unfold together and since then I've written a bunch of new songs and been able to arrange and rehearse with cellist Shira Lee Katz and organist Micah Dubreuil, drummer Trent Boeschen and bassist Dennis Haneda. Greg and I agree that having the time and space to rehearse is critical to putting on a good show and stimulating the writing process. We'll keep on collaborating for the rest of our lives, and we'll collaborate with other musicians and songwriters along the way. So this weekend at Bottom of the Hill Shady Maples is playing a set with new arrangements of familiar songs and raw new material.
We'll be playing locally and regionally for the foreseeable future, working on new material, recording and releasing it as much as the bank will allow. Our sound is stepping sideways from the two electric guitar rock band and toward a wider range of instruments, like glockenspiel, percussion, strings, horns would be nice, and still the gritty and melodic electric and acoustic guitars, vocal harmonies and all that.
