"Good news. Just got the word that Glitterhouse Records will be releasing my next CD/LP! Recorded here in France in October 2012 I think “The Long Draw” might be my best yet. Can I say that? Basic tracks were recorded with Frantxoa Erreçarret on drums, Nicolas Chelly on bass and with overdubs added by Jack Endino, Glenn Slater, Jon Hyde and Marten Ingle. The recording has a very open and live feel to it. Big room, ambient mics and tube recording equipment played a big part in the overall sonic picture. There were no vocal, guitar or drum overdubs. And oh yeah, good songs to start with. I must say I'm quite pleased. Finding and connecting with producer Bob Coke and him living only 30k from me was really the key that helped me unlock and bring to focus the sounds I had been hearing in my head. Release date is scheduled Europe-wide for mid October of 2013. How's that for some good fortune?"
Nicolas Chelly- bass, Bob Coke-Producer, TLH, Frantxoa Erreçarret- drums. The Long Draw sessions band.
I'm flying to Prague this coming Wednesday evening for the Thursday morning commencement of the “Long Draw” mix sessions. “Long Draw” is also one of the songs on the record and seems to encapsulate the overall tone of the record. Long Draw as in “to draw in or inhale deeply”. As in ‘to hold inside, can't get enough of” kind of long draw. I'll let you know more about the album soon though. I must have it mixed and mastered first. I think it's going to be a good one. Finding Bob Coke for the producer's chair was the link that enabled me to actualize the sounds I was hearing in my head. A very fortuitous bit of luck I must say. The record will go out first to some labels for a very short solicitation period. In the mean time I will move forward with my plans to do a crowd funding campaign to get the record printed and pressed.
I want to remind you that we have a good selection of music at the online TLH store. Outside of a small portion that Fastpring claims for hosting the site, the money from these sales comes directly to us. These days, digital CD sales an important part of my income. The store site is easy to use with a variety of language and payment methods. I wish that all of them were available as hard copy but almost everything is out of print now.
I actually bought more than what is included on this list but of course not everything you buy on CD do you end up liking or thinking deserves to be on any ‘best of' list. I choose records for many different reasons but I suppose that I either: a. get a recommendation from a friend, b. read a review and take a chance or c. have a history with the artist or producer. And to be honest, this year my favorite records were 2 fantastic records made by Robin Hitchcock and The Venus 3, “Ole' Tarantula” (2006) and “Goodnight Oslo” (2008). Other recordings I bought this year that I really spent a lot of time with but that didn't qualify to be on a 2012 list included: Rolling Stone “Beggars Banquet (LP), Willie Dixon. “I Am The Blues” (LP), The Band, “The Band” (CD), The Doors (remastered!), “Morrison Hotel” CD and Link Wray, “Wray's Three Way Track Shack”.
The music below is listed in no particular order. I do want to say that the one thing this is common on all of these records is superb production (except the Link Wray record which has it's own lo-fi charms!). Great recording, mixing and production techniques are a very important consideration for me. As a friend recently told me, this part of the recording process is as important as the music itself although I also want to say that I don't listen to music with my computer, with ear buds or compressed digital files (i.e. MP3). Some fantastic books about music, which I read this year, deserve mention here: Phill Brown, “Are We Rolling?” Ben Ratliff, “The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music”, Elijah Wald, “Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues”, Neil Young, “Waging Heavy Peace”. All of these books are excellent!
Leonard Cohen - Old Stories I'm not sure I'm qualified to say this guy is the best songwriter around these days but it's a fact these songs are all excellent. It seems he recorded this project in a number of different studios with the different songs being arranged by his different band members. It's quite coherent though but also makes the whole disc interesting as hell. It's a lovely, lovely collection of intelligent songs and music by a master.
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again I love this recording. Produced by Paul Butler (The Bees) at his home basement studio over the course of 2 years (and who also played most of the instruments on this record), it's a remarkable debut for this young English singer/songwriter. I read a glowing review in Tape Op magazine and took the chance to buy it. The guys got a wonderful voice and the production is superb. This is also one of those nice music business stories about a newcomer gets some deserved recognition. From all accounts it seems the live shows are noteworthy as well.
Sacri Cuori - Rosario This Italian band (Antonio Gramentieri, guitars, Christian Ravaglioli, various keyboards and wind instruments and Francesco Giampaoli, bass) is very new to my world. It's my understanding that Antonio Gramenteire is the driving wheel but they seem to share equal playing time. This recording is mostly instrumental although there are some atmosphere vocals on a couple of takes from Isobel Campbell. A mélange of musical ideas very much influenced from the deserts of SW America but also very European with (of course) the emphasis on the Italian. A musically rich and fun recording to listen too, Rosario holds up extremely well with repeated listening.
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel... It took me awhile to get into this record and it's perhaps not for everyone's taste. That being said, I've found it to be highly addictive. This recording is a cauldron of emotion and a remarkable performance from this woman. Recorded with just her on her piano and her drummer adding percussive shadings along the way, the songs are deeply layed and far-reaching. Another record with many hidden secrets and charms.
Giant Giant Sand - Tucson Yet again Mr. Gelb has upped his already remarkable discography with this outing. The press release says it's an opera although I'm still trying to figure out what the ‘theme' is. Pure Howe Gelb. The songs are little stories that work well within themselves. Fun listening with wonderful players. He even shares singing chores. Great production (sorry, I know I keep saying that on these little reviews) with an honest to goodness southwest hot sun feel throughout. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this artist is an American treasure.
Dr John - Locked Down What a wonderful and welcome treasure this recording is. Occasionally I'd see his name at faraway festivals and such but with “Locked Down” Dr. John is center stage with smoke and flash. A cool, very ‘live' sounding recording spot-on produced by Black Keys guitarist and singer Dan Auerbach. With Dr. John's unique voice clearly front and center and supported by a stellar cast “Locked Down” is perhaps my favorite for 2012. A must have!
Neil Young - Psychedelic Pill Second year in a row for Neil Young to be on my list. Exactly the opposite of last years “Le Noise” though. He's here on this double CD with long time friends Crazy Horse. Definitely has a recorded live feel to it. It's a solid wall of classic rock and roll played by masters. I had just finished reading Young's fine autobiography (Waging Heavy Peace) when Psychedelic Pill arrived in the mail. It was a perfect sequence from book to music. It's great to hear loud guitar music played with such skill and generosity
Brian Eno - Lux Again, a recording I just took a chance to buy and I've happily not been disappointed. Very sparse keyboard contemplations, which, as the liner note say, were created for display at the Great Gallery of the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Italy. I can only imagine how this sounded in such a large and beautiful space! Eno says this work is part of his “Music For Thinking” series and I'd have to agree with him. Rich, beautiful, spacious and porous enough for whichever display you desire the music to share it with. This is NOT background music.
Terry Lee
December 24th:
Seasons Greetings friends,
A long overdue posting here. I’m not sure what’s happening with that actually. When I first started this Terry Lee Hale web page I was full of stories, news, songs, photo’s and the rest. Just full of words that I thought were fun to write down and share. And it’s not like I’m running out of things to say either. It just seems as though my days are busy as hell and I’ve never enough time on any day to get everything done that needs doing. Writing about it all I guess just doesn’t seem as important. But the webmaster has been chiding me (nicely) to write something new and he’s right. And it is Christmas!
Well, I kind of have a good excuse for being tardy. I’ve been working quite a lot on my new album and I’m happy to report the first phase is about 95% finished. That means that basic tracks which were recorded with bassist Nicholas Chelly and drummer Frantxoa Erreçarret were done by the end of November. Now, producer and recording engineer Bob Coke have been working one or 2 days a week with adding a few parts and with the editing. This process has gone on longer then I had wanted but that’s just how it is when it comes to recording these days. I was hoping that the 3 days of studio time would be enough to get the album mostly completed but that was not to be. Anyway, I do hope to have this all in the mail and to the mixer next week. In fact last week we sent one session file for the mixer to listen too. A big achievement for sure. I will say that I’m feeling pretty good about this project now. There’s still some elevating to do but I’ve got a really great team working with me and I’m feeling confident about the outcome.
When will it be finished? What I do know is that if everything goes along smoothly I should have the mixed and mastered songs back here “towards the end of January”. If that can happen I’ll be totally happy. Once the album is completed we’ve got to either find a label to release it or do it ourselves. DIY baby!
I’m making plans for touring as always. So far I’m looking for solo dates and a trio tour is being planned for the Fall. If you’ve any ideas of places for us to play please do send them along. The time periods listed below indicate the start times with the end time to be determined.:
Germany February 22-?
Belgium March 29- ?
Italy June 12-19
France June 21
Norway July 16- ?
Germany (Band Tour) October 10- ?
It’s been a strange year especially here at the end. The American election took up a lot of energy but thankfully we did get a good result. Big changes happening all through the Middle East and of course Europe is trying to figure out to get people jobs. Then here at the end of the year with the tragedy in Newtown, CT. I suppose a lot of folks will be happy to see this one go. For me I have to say that being back in studio has been a great boost. I took some tough emotional hits earlier in the year but that’s all been behind me now and having the chance to back to the focus on my songs and music couldn’t have come at a better time. Please know that I’m working hard on the project everyday and I’m excited to get it completed. Everything in it’s time though.
I hope all your holidays are good ones my friends. And best of luck to you in 2013!
Terry is working hard on the new CD, no time for updates. Basic tracks have been done but still a lot of work to do. The record is expected for 2013, hopefully in springtime. Stay tuned.
July 31st:
Summer July 2012
Hello friends and music lovers.
It’s been mostly rainy, gray and depressingly dismal summer. The tomatoes have all died on the vine and the rest of the garden is not much better. Nothing seems to stop the zucchini. 2 days of sunshine this week is some kind of record. Cloudy and chilly almost daily. From American comes news of record breaking droughts. It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature!
I did want to let you all know what’s up musically. The big news is that I’ve found a good producer at long last. The purpose being to help me bring to life my next recording. It has made the most sense to keep my search centered here in France and for one reason or another I’ve not been able to put anything together until now. It has all been an interesting search though. I’ve been able to look inside some fantastic French studios and I’ve been fortunate enough to have meet some wonderfully talented producers and engineers along the way. Other factors like affordability, accessibility, language and compatibility have all played their part in elongating this search. And to be honest, a lack of vision from me has played a part. Finally though I’ve met an American man here in Paris who has a solid music production and engineering resume. And he is settled not so far from where I live which is a very nice luxury.
So… one goal has been achieved. Now of course, the real interesting work for me begins. I’m close to being sure which songs I want to use and that needs decided. I’ve been writing to 4 different themes this past year and so the challenge now is the time to choose one to choose. I also know the musicians that I’ll be using AND I have the studio that want to use in sight. And yes, I am being purposely vague here because I don’t want to jinx myself or give too much away just yet. Many details can and probably will change and it makes no sense for me get too far ahead of myself. I can say that I am totally focused on this next project and I’m feeling quite confident about who I’m working with and which direction I’m heading towards. And for now that is great!
I am looking at some touring dates for the fall but mostly now my main focus remains on my songs and this next production. I will keep any future dates posted here at this site for sure.
I also wanted to mention that I’ve been working hard this year to digitize my recordings. It’s not the complete collection but these albums are now available at my online store. You can pay securely and in a variety of ways in your own language and currency. The price for each is 5.99€, $7.99 etc.:
Proof Of A Promise- 2010 Shotgun Pillowcase- 2007 Celebration What For- 2004 Frozen- 2004 Blue Room- 2003 Old Hand- 1999
And I do send to you all best summer wishes! I hope the sun is shining on you and yours wherever you are!
Cigarette Run 
Please (Hale & Sarow) 
Swamp Walk 
Hearts 
Slow Poison 